Nadiya's American Adventure on BBC1 - start date, destinations, dishes and everything you need to know

Nadiya Hussain outside a home on the Mississippi
(Image credit: BBC/Wall to Wall Media Ltd/Tom Kirkman)

Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussein explores how immigration has shaped the food of America in a new two-part series.

Nadiya's American Adventure is a new two-part series for BBC1, in which the series five Bake Off champion heads to the US. She's on a mission to explore the diversity of dishes in American food culture, and the role that immigration has played in bringing new foods to the country.

Here's everything we know about the series.

Nadiya's American Adventure start date: when does it begin on BBC1?

Episode one will air on Thursday 10 December at 8pm on BBC1. The second and final part will air a week later on Thursday 17 December at 8pm.

Nadiya's American Adventure destinations: where is she going?

In the first episode, Nadiya visits Louisiana and arrives in New Orleans just in time for Mardi Gras. And as it happens, a key part of the festivities is one of Nadiya's favourite things...

"I only learned about Mardi Gras when I watched The Princess And The Frog with my little girl!" says Nadiya. "That is one of my favourite Disney movies, and when I told her that I was going to where The Princess And The Frog was based, that was it. I was doing all the research with my nine-year-old looking over my shoulder!

"I had no idea that Mardi Gras goes on for three months. And they celebrate by eating cake! Could I be in a better place?"

Nadiya poses with the women of the Bywater Bakery in New Orleans and their king cakes for Mardi Gras

Nadiya at the Bywater Bakery in New Orleans (Photo: BBC/Wall to Wall Media Ltd/Tom Kirkman)

Episode two sees Nadiya heading to California, and in Los Angeles she finds a variety of people hailing from different cultures. As she travels around LA and San Francisco, Nadiya discovers how the foods from all of these different homelands have contributed to California's vibrant food scene.

"The cook in me is naturally intrigued about what people eat," says Nadiya. "What I love about the travelogues I've done so far is that the heart and soul of it has always been about the food and the people - the two things I love most. This time, my pull to go was immigration and the kind of food that it has created. Because of immigration, we eat some incredible food."

MORE: Christmas TV Guide and when the shows are on

Nadiya's American Adventure dishes: what will she be cooking?

Along the way, Nadiya will be putting her own twists on some classic dishes from the areas she visits. This includes a fried chicken po' boy sandwich and a catfish and okra stew with a Bangladeshi twist in Louisiana, and a ginger prawn biryani inspired by her travels in California.

Nadiya cooks a po' boy sandwich for Burnell Cotlon and his mother

Nadiya cooks a po' boy sandwich for Burnell Cotlon and his mother in New Orleans (Photo: BBC/Wall To Wall Media Ltd/Tom Kirkman)

"It's always really nerve-racking!" says Nadiya. "But part of what I love about cooking is taking traditional, classic dishes and just changing them a little bit. When I cooked catfish at the bayou, the family had never heard of turmeric. So it was a real compliment later when they said 'can we have that jar of turmeric?' I was like, 'yes, you absolutely can!'"

What else do we know?

  • The series sees Nadiya attending a quinceñera, the extravagant celebration of a girl's 15th birthday in Mexican culture. She also finds out more about escaramuza, an women-only Mexican equestrian event.
  • In San Francisco, Nadiya visits a factory where fortune cookies are made and has a go at making them herself. It's harder than it looks!
Steven Perkins
Staff Writer for TV & Satellite Week, TV Times, What's On TV and whattowatch.com

Steven Perkins is a Staff Writer for TV & Satellite Week, TV Times, What's On TV and whattowatch.com, who has been writing about TV professionally since 2008. He was previously the TV Editor for Inside Soap before taking up his current role in 2020. He loves everything from gritty dramas to docusoaps about airports and thinks about the Eurovision Song Contest all year round.