South African host, Justin Bonello, and his motley crew are loading up the combi once again for a second series of Cooked - the cooking, eating, travelling and jolling show which starts next month on BBC Food (Channel 70 on DStv).

After the huge success of the first series, Cooked - "Weekends Away" is still all about the joy of food shared with friends but this time the troops travel further afield - including to Namibia. Once again they're out to find fresh, local ingredients and create uncomplicated but tasty dishes. For Justin, who is a self-trained cook (he is not, he stresses, a 'chef' which he sees as someone more to do with restaurants and reputation than to do with simple enthusiasm for cooking and eating together), this is a chance to build on the knowledge and experience he gained from series one. "I never stop learning. Now I'm beginning to understand the alchemy of food, how ingredients combine to create something magical. I think there's more of that in this series. I hope people are inspired to get out there, to explore and to rediscover where real food comes from. We have forgotten why we work. We need reminding that we do it so we can afford to travel to different places, embrace new experiences and revel in exciting flavours. That's what Cooked and Cooked - 'Weekends Away' are about."

The journey starts in South Africa. The first four episodes include a relaxing weekend in a Pringle Bay beach house, a houseboat on the Langebaan Lagoon, a boys fishing trip on the Breede River and a stay in the Cedarberg treetops. Dishes include abalone baked in seaweed, pan-fried mullet, ravioli stuffed with mussels, jaffles (toasted sandwiches), 'drunken' birds and the wonderfully named, Tarzan roast (lamb on a vertical spit). Then it's away upcountry taking in a river trip with Unite Brothers and Fish River Canyon along the way before crossing the border into the extraordinary landscape of Namibia. Here they go off the beaten track to the Kolmanskuppe Ghost Town near Luderitz for a seafood poitjie, inland to Klein Aus Vista to check out the feral horses and on to the red dunes of the Sousassvlei for, amongst other things, chicken in a bucket. Then there's a hot air balloon ride after which Justin cooks and eats his national emblem (that's a springbok). The series is rounded off with some truly memorable South African places and food including a 'smiley' (that's a sheep's head) in the vibrant Cape Town township of Gugulethu and strandloper kos (beachcomber food), a prison breakfast and a crab curry on Robben Island.

BBC Food had no hesitation in commissioning a second series. "Cooked - 'Weekends Away' has the same unique combination of travelogue, cookery and the pure entertainment value of these friends together on the road that made series one so successful" says David Weiland, BBC Food Commissioning Editor. "Justin's enthusiasm for the food and the extraordinary locations and people he discovers is irresistible and our audience loves it." There are already plans for a third series that will include Mozambique.