Two Greedy Italians (2011) s01e01 Episode Script
The Family
I am Antonio Carluccio.
Wonderful.
I live for food.
I always dream of that.
I am Gennaro Contaldo.
I too find food irresistible.
For years, I was Antonio's assistant.
Gennaro, from time to time can you look at the meat, please Now he's my best friend.
Tonight, I'm going to try to seduce you.
He is a silly boy but a brilliant cook.
Why I'm cooking so good! It has been nearly 50 years since we lived in Italy.
Home sweet home.
Unbelievable.
And we have come back to see what has changed.
This is a very different place to the country of our youth.
And we are searching for the new Italy, the real Italy.
Do you know, this is the first time - I saw a green aubergine.
- Yeah, me too.
When we were young, religious festivals were an excuse for wonderful treats.
Every mamma showed her love through cooking.
And everyone thought his own town was the best.
But what is Italy like now Eh, it's pretty obvious that the 21st century is taking place here.
And how much of an appetite do we still have for the country where we were born Frankly, with Gennaro on board, this whole trip could be a disaster.
That's for you.
It will be fantastic, as long as there is plenty to eat.
- Are you greedy - Yes, I'm greedy for life.
I'm greedy with food.
So two greedy Italians.
Do you know what For the first time after 27 years, I agree with you.
- Is it 27 years - 27 years.
Oh.
yes, yes, I still have to teach you how to cook.
'In my opinion, life has two principle functions, nourishment and procreation, food and family.
'When we were boys, Italians were very good at both.
' You know, in all those films, you always see this wonderful scene of Italians eating together and it's still happening, but I am very worried.
Surely, Antonio, a family is such a big thing in Italy.
I am not so sure any more.
We have come to Emilia Romagna.
We want to see if Italian families still eat together like they used to.
And if the Italian mammas are still teaching their daughters how to cook.
And do the old ideas about Italian family even still apply We are off to lunch with some old friends near Modena, the home of balsamic vinegar.
Gennaro, I always believe that Italy has at least - two or three millions of Michelin star chefs.
- Who - The mamma, the mothers - Oh, yes, oh, yes, oh, yes.
Then grannies, all those people that really teach you, me and everybody else what real Italian food is about.
And tonight we are invited, do you know by who - A mamma.
- Yeah, obvious.
Ciaocomo esta they are a classic Italian family.
'The mammas look after the house and do all the cooking.
'The men, when they are at home, just relax.
'We headed straight for the kitchen.
Tortellini.
'Fresh pasta filled with a family recipe of pork, parmesan and balsamic vinegar.
'All Italian recipes started like this, in families, handed down from mamma to daughter, to granddaughter and refined over centuries.
' Look how many people she has to teach.
So they love to do the job because they want to carry on the tradition of this wonderful food.
'They call them "Venus navels", symbols of love.
'Wrapping each fiddly little parcel is hard work.
'It can take a whole day to make just enough for Sunday lunch.
'So no weekend shopping sprees for these young girls.
' 'But they don't seem to mind.
' When you close a tortellini, all your love close in this tortellini and every little piece of pasta is love.
It's really nice.
In an Italian home, the most important thing is the dining table.
This is a family table.
I think what is the experience of this table, it's seen almost everything, this table.
It is where you cry, table where you actually fell in love with somebody, table where you leave somebody, table where you divorced.
Table is happiness and joy, you know, wedding, christening, celebration, all happens at a table.
Table where you kiss somebody on side of on the table and even can make love.
Even jump on it in joy, dancing on the table.
Table is so important.
This is the joy of family and it's all along here.
Bless this table.
High up in the villa, the family fortune silently ferments in ancient barrels.
Balsamic vinegar.
There is a feeling of calm in here.
It's like entering the vault of family ancestors.
Still vinegar.
The balsamic is made by the women of the house.
The secrets have been handed down five generations by grandmothers.
'This is traditional Modena balsamic, matured for up to 35 years.
'A complex, warm taste.
' Still a lot of fruit after so many years.
'A litre of this velvety nectar would cost 2,000 pounds.
It is a pleasure stuff.
I could stay here forever together with the vinegar.
The most wonderful thing is the tortellini in brodo.
They're exactly how it should be.
'Little parcels of love.
'Every one unique, made with time, patience and devotion.
'It must be comforting for to the the grandmather to know that she will always be a presence at this table.
' 'This is how I remember things when I was a little boy.
'Maybe not quite such a beautiful house, but the whole family eating Mamma's food together like this.
' No, I enjoyed it very much.
I know you have enjoyed it yesterday.
I can see you.
It is fantastic to have the feeling of being in a family again because, well, I don't have a family.
I have some a brother, a sister, but I live alone and it's quite good to be, from time to time, confronted with what a family is and the advantage of a family.
I have six children, Antonio.
Wait a minute.
I know of Antonio, I have Antonio! Antonio, listen to me.
Yeah.
I am glad that somebody produces children.
Ah, children is love.
Yeah.
Stay there.
Tell me, who give you flowers first thing in the morning - That's perfect.
- Don't eat it.
This particular dish is actually bringing a lot of memory back.
- I never heard of it.
- Well, it is a dialect.
It means ricotta dumpling.
Then I have a picture there.
That is my mum.
Every time I do a dish which my mother used to make, I don't understand why the way - my mother used to make I can never get near.
- No.
So when I actually cook this dish, - is your mum here - Yeah, obviously.
Well, that is a nice memory.
First I will have the flour, which is 200 grams.
- More, more, more, more, more, more.
- More.
Fine.
200 grams, dead on.
Then I need 220 grams of ricotta.
- Tell me when.
- Yeah, now.
Yes, OK.
Then you only use the yolk of egg.
One.
Two.
- Yeah, three yolks.
- And now with the ricotta inside.
- Can you pass me a fork, please - Where's the fork Here.
That's good.
Then I mix a little bit.
The eggs will hold it all together.
Then I will add Parmesan.
20 grams to 30 grams of Parmesan.
Which you grate Parmesan inside.
Then you have just a little touch of nutmeg.
Pinch of salt.
Pinch of pepper.
And then you have the flour inside.
Then you use the best tool, - your hands.
- Very delicately.
You just see everything just get together, such an easy dish to make.
- Yeah, just mix well, Antonio.
Go on.
- That's what I'm doing.
Just the other side as well.
That's it, you're doing nice.
And then you take a little bit.
Probably judging by - Too much.
- Too much So this Well, we got Just do this one.
That's enough, that's enough.
Put it there, not here.
Well, your hands is underneath.
It is nice to see you do that.
So then you have a little flour on top.
- Gnocchi.
- Try to cut it like that, come on.
Very difficult, doing that But let me show you how quick is the sauce.
I have two tins of tomato, then I have three cloves of garlic.
- One chilli.
Beacuse I need for you to cut this chilli.
- Pleasure.
And a bunch of basil.
Meanwhile, I slice this.
Very finely chopped Roughly chopped, Antonio.
- Have you done the chilli - Yeah, it's here.
The frying pan is already hot.
Olive oil.
Olive oil.
Oh, lovely and oily.
Now I put the garlic and the chilli inside.
It's in a flash.
Quick, cooked sauce.
And I'll get the dumplings here.
Here inside.
Wonderful.
Great.
Cover.
Now it will cook for about three to four minutes.
Don't worry.
Don't take very long.
I've got to chop basil roughly.
- Shall I grate the Parmesan for you - Yes, please.
Oh ho! The smell is very good, Gennaro.
- Yeah.
You shocked - Yeah.
The smell, Antonio.
I'm closing my eyes.
I can see my mum, I can see my sister inside the next room, trying to prepare the table, and me running around.
- Even the cats and the dog.
- My goodness.
You have tears in your eyes.
I do, Antonio.
I'm sorry.
- That's very touching.
- Oh, hold on.
It's not tears, it's joy.
My little baby, you can see they start to come up, every single one.
They're a little bit heavier than other dumpling with the potato, because potato makes it light.
But they're probably tastier.
You're right.
Oh, bless you.
I love it when you say that.
I want to taste that.
Taste one.
Because I never had it before.
- Put it down.
- Yeah, fantastic.
- You see, here we use Parmesan.
- Yes.
- But we used to use goat cheese.
- Yes.
- Can I just - Yeah, you can do, yes.
Mm.
I can understand that you remember your mother with them.
The smell and the flavour.
Bless her.
Cooking for the family was the most important thing in the world for grandmothers.
But in the 1950s, Italy got richer.
Many housewives went to work in the factories and working mammas have no time to make tortellini.
Then in the '60s, a clever baker's son from Verona invented a machine to mass produce those little parcels of love.
· Now Giovanni Rana's very famous and a multimillionaire.
We went to see one of his factories.
Oh, wow, look at this.
- This is the one you close - Yeah, yeah.
.
.
By mechanical mechanism.
- Can I - Yeah, of course.
Semolina Eggs and flour together, and eggs.
No water.
I managed to find out how many eggs are used every day.
800,000.
But I am still very sceptical about the end result and I want to see it and taste it.
In the old days, Mr Rana delivered his pasta on this little moped.
He's now the biggest fresh pasta producer in Europe.
· I'm very happy to present and introduce you to Mr Giovanni Rana.
Giovanni.
I love it, I love it! "In a certain way I am sorry," He says.
Now maybe if you are hungry we can go to taste.
- I am hungry.
- Me too.
I put my hands up.
Mr Giovanni's cooking Signor Rana has also a chain of 21 restaurants serving his fresh pasta.
Now tortellini have become a cheap, quick lunch.
But the proof is in the tasting.
The pasta is remarkably good and I really don't know what could be the difference between these and the hand-made.
Probably is a touch of love that is missing.
I don't know.
I find them OK, you know, but I still prefer those you make at home.
'Nowadays, fast-food places are springing up all over Italy.
'Could this be the beginning of the end for Mamma's cooking' We are off to Bologna, city of towers.
They call it La Grassa, the Fat One, because the people in Bologna are very The Bologna people are not fat.
They call it La Grassa because it has the richest, most fantastic food in all of Italy.
That's the one.
Stop, stop, stop.
Oh, my God.
Bless her.
Gennaro, this is the very, very famous Madonna Grassa.
Even the Madonna can be fat, come on! I love this way they made the Madonna.
She so beautiful.
Do you know what - Here in Bologna they say there's such beautiful women.
- Really And I'm going to fix a date with one of the most beautiful women in Bologna.
- I can guarantee.
- No.
You will die for it.
I am not sure, but please help yourself.
OK, can we go now Can we go and see the rest of Bologna OK, here we go.
Ciao, Madonna.
It's obvious why the mamma means so much to Italians.
They also call Bologna La Rossa, the Red One, because it's left wing and liberal.
If family traditions are changing anywhere, they change here first.
But the first thing is to get our hands on those Bologna cheeses and hams.
My God, Antonio, look at that.
Salami, San Marino, I can't believe it.
As soon as you walk in, your eyes start to get hungry.
There's just so much you don't know where to go, what to pick.
Two years aged prosciutto di Parma, the real Parma ham.
This is wonderland here.
Grazie.
Grazie.
Is this supposed to be mine Grazie.
I am just like a child in a toy shop.
The mortadella is the most underrated salami of Bologna and it is fantastic.
Everybody believes it's just like Spam.
Absolutely not.
It is the most wonderful thing ever and you cut it very thin.
Possibly you put in focaccia.
Ah! What about cheese What kind of cheese shall we get We have come to the perfect place to stay in the city of towers.
Oh, my God.
That's my surprise for you.
Oh, my God.
The Prendiparte Tower, a mediaeval bed and breakfast.
Look at this.
Look at this.
That's just wonderful.
And here's the bell.
- That's the bell - Yeah, I believe so.
Antonio, this is unbelievable.
Even your Madonna here, Gennaro.
Let's have a look.
Mmm, a chocolate.
Ah, Gennaro, even a chocolate.
Anyway, I'm going out now.
Have a nice rest.
He's the king of the castle because there is a servant downstairs.
"Gennaro, can you get me this" But I love him to bits and he loves me.
But he really does live in a bit of a ivory tower.
I live alone.
I couldn't have children for various reasons.
First wife couldn't have some, second wife, within seven months of marriage The last one already had children and didn't want any.
It's not that I feel a failure.
I was a bit unlucky or perhaps unprepared or whatever.
Don't have a wife and I would love with all my heart for him to meet somebody and really enjoy that bits which I enjoy with my family.
Yes, and I hope one day Antonio will do it.
I feel sometimes very alone.
Money and all of that, it comes and goes.
What now I'm looking for, a bit of love.
Just what I want from life actually, just that.
Seven in the evening is the best time in Bologna.
Everyone comes out in search of an aperitif.
We were on a mission to find out if women still cook.
But first Antonio wants his favourite aperitivo, Lambrusco e culatello.
They say it's so thick you can cut it with a knife.
It's wonderful.
Antonio Do you forget me - No, no, no.
- Thank you very much.
I was wine merchant for many years.
Yes, I know that you were.
I was wine taster for many years.
That's a delicious wine.
Mamma mia, Antonio.
Typical of this region.
It's almost like a bull's blood.
Fantastic.
Ah, Culatello, the finest ham in Bologna.
Ah, the smell of it.
The flavour.
Mm, Antonio, I wanna give you some, come on.
Gennaro, shall we have some more Francesca! Grazie, Francesca.
Grazie.
Grazie.
Four or five portion later and we carried on with our mission.
We were asking the question if young ladies in Italy they are still cooking I'm not interesting in cooking.
I'm a crime journalist.
I love my career and I prefer to use my spare time in doing something else.
Probably in the old days you couldn't have been a journalist.
- You have the freedom today.
- No, si.
But you have rejected completely the food, which is one of the most important things of life.
Maybe it's a kind of total rebellion, you know.
Yeah, but you cut into yourself because you know a rebellion about food Maybe not because I live by myself.
What do you eat usually Antonio, I don't understand.
The old days, you know, if you could cook, you can get married.
I don't know.
- I've never thought about that.
- Try, try to get married.
Maybe not.
Why can't we find a man who can cook It should be so lovely.
Usually the man loves to make the chef, wow.
He's doing something really creative or original and the woman is the one that have every day to carry the dishes to the table.
That's really funny, you know.
My girlfriend works very hard so if I want to eat at home when I come back from work, I have to cook something.
- Very sad.
- It is very, very sad.
And where you learn to cook From your mother or your grandmother, from your sister Yeah, more from my grandmother and I really, really miss the old Italian family tradition.
Anyway, I hope that you all pursue whatever you like to pursue, but remember one thing, that cooking is the second best thing in life.
Like after that 'I couldn't believe it.
'When I was young, every woman in Italy knew how to cook.
' The next day, I went to the art gallery to have a think.
That's beautiful, to look at a scene like that, the family, mother feeding the child, a typical, idyllic family scene.
Some young women have clearly rebelled against all this.
Do you know what I did not expect it.
I'm really surprised and I'm a chef.
This is my life.
I know that love and passion is on it, you know.
My girls, I'm teaching them to cook.
My wife knows how to cook.
I come from a generation of everybody cooks inside the house.
Italian women are having less children nowadays and it seems being the mamma in a big family has lost its appeal.
When I see these beautiful girls, all this lovely generation that can't cook, what are we gonna do tomorrow in Italy Come on.
Come on.
Don't move, Antonio.
I'm going to take the water.
Yeah Don't move.
Don't move.
Don't move.
Don't move.
Y-es! Did you see the sign over there "Cherry.
" Look.
"Agenzia Matrimoniale.
" Yes.
So it's a agency for dating.
People in the past used to meet at family reunions, little village feasts, was a kind of romance Well And now we have a place like that.
And I want to take you in just for pure curiosity.
And do you think I need a dating agency No, you don't need, you got me anyway, so what do you need it for - But for curiosity - You are really insisting that I got you.
I don't have you, I don't like you.
No! Now you say now you don't like me, but you like me.
- Yeah, but not as you think.
- No! Can we go Do you know what The best thing is to do it for curiosity.
No, it's only out of professional curiosity I do this.
'Dating agencies didn't exist when we were young.
'There was no divorce.
'Now it's on the up.
I was intrigued.
'I had a little plan up my sleeve.
' About six million people live alone, especially women.
- Six million people - Yeah.
'My goodness, that's one in ten.
' That's very bad for the food because being sort of solo, probably they don't have to cook any more.
Tell me, you know, somebody comes along saying, "I want to get married, I need to find a wife" you can help - Yes.
- Can you tell me one thing So there are girls that can't cook and even that they don't wantto cook, what chances do they have to have a husband I don't know, but it's difficult for women if she is not able to cook.
Would you like to date somebody Why not Why not It's a chance.
Do we have somebody 'My little plan was working.
' Antonio, yes! I've done it.
Yes, but I am not very sure.
Well, no, it's all right.
And anyway, it's only a joke, you know that.
Of course it is a joke.
Cos I don't want anything very serious here.
No, no, there is nothing serious.
- I don't need it.
- I am there.
- OK.
- So, no worries.
- You defend me.
- OK, defend you, but I promise you that I was going to find it, just because we need to It was time to get Antonio in the mood for love.
Senior Carluccio must become Senior Casanova.
Gennaro, what is going on here - Sit down here, come on.
- What are you doing Sit down here, sit down first.
- So what is going on - Tonight, I'm going to try to seduce you.
You seducing me! You're mad in the head.
I'm going to make hot amaretti chocolate pudding, which you love.
- That's right.
- Look me - Inside a pot here - Yes.
- I'm going to put two tablespoons of sugar - Yes.
Then one tablespoon of flour.
- It's good so far.
- And I have here Oh, yes.
The smell Vanilla, yes.
The proper vanilla.
But did you take the seeds out of that I you making or - OK, OK, OK.
Stay there.
- I enjoy myself.
That's it.
Inside here is the seeds of love, fertility, the lot.
What has got into you today I have a half a litre of milk which I'm going to put in just for starter, just a little bit.
We'll stir it.
Yes.
The reason why I do this, because I don't want my chocolate amaretti pudding to get lumpy, then I will put the rest of the milk inside.
- Now two shots of amaretto liqueur.
- Lovely.
Marvellous.
You just taste it.
This is really a potion, it's a love potion.
A love potion.
One and two.
It's about 80 mil.
Keep stirring.
I am very curious to see how you can let it thicken with a little flour.
Of course it will.
Why you never trust me You know what I can never seduce you because you are - No, you can't.
- We already argue before we seduce you.
No, no, no, you can't.
Either sitting or not sitting, you can't.
I stir them around.
Remember, we never throw away anything to Italy, we use everything.
Do you want to put it for me Go.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
There you are.
Gentle.
Such a gentle And you keep stirring.
Then out of the blue, look, it start to get thicker and thicker.
Out of the dark, actually, yes.
Out of the dark.
Such a romantic evening.
Romantic for you, Gennaro, but certainly not for me! Inside that I will put 100 grams of plain chocolate.
Be very careful, because sometimes You can cut your fingers.
You know, chocolate, it can be very hard.
You want to try to help me, you can't.
Very hard work to seduce somebody, eh Come on, go on, get on with it.
Did you ever make this for a woman - Yes, I have.
- For the seduction - Yes, I have.
- And what happened And she loved it.
Now, slowly we melt, and now I'm going to add 50 grams of butter.
And what does the butter do here The butter will silken it, the amaretto gives a lovely flavour, the vanilla is inside, plus the seed inside.
Oh, my goodness me.
It's done.
Now I remove the vanilla pod, just I want to taste it.
We are the Two Greedy Chefs, but I know who is more greedy than me.
- It's ready now - It is ready.
And you want to seduce me with that You wait and you taste it.
And I'm going to crumble an amaretti biscuit on top.
- My goodness, you are strong.
- It's started working.
- What did I say! - It's started working! Just try and tell me, look me first Abracadabra! You silly man! Don't burn yourself.
Come on, tell me the truth.
It is fantastic chocolate.
I appreciate your intention.
You remain a good friend, but I can't be seduced by it.
Let me seduce you properly now.
Are you ready Gennaro, go and seduce somebody else.
That's what I can tell you.
Pronto.
'Oh, no, the dating agency.
' - Gennaro - Si, Antonio.
That's funny.
She comes.
Oh, yes! Are you ready You got everything ready up there Nice new shirt you needed.
Not rubbish you wear every day.
Have you thought what I could have, food for the occasion - I think, Antonio - Something that has to do with love.
We'll haveantipasti for start, you don't want to eat too much.
- Antipasti, everybody has.
- Well, let's have some aperitivo.
Yeah, but something very specific too.
Shall we do zabaglione Zabaglione, yeah, that's a good one.
And soft, full of love I'm making it.
Three hours later I was deeply regretting Gennaro's ridiculous idea.
The silly boy, he had gone completely over the top.
It was eight o'clock.
The time had come.
All we knew, her name was Erica, and she was looking for a serious husband.
Erica, I will be there in one second.
Erica.
Hello.
Welcome.
Thank you very much for coming.
Thank you.
Come inside the tower.
Fantastic.
Careful here.
- You all right - Yes.
OK.
- Antonio - Yes Hello.
Erica.
- Hello.
- My goodness, that's a date.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hello.
Antonio.
- Your name is - Erica.
Gennaro, can you open the wine, please 'I wanted to kill Gennaro.
The poor girl was half my age.
' I am sorry, actually, I can't marry you.
I would like to, but you are very young.
- Yeah, I know.
- So, this date is the organisation of this gentleman here.
Thank you very much.
'But still we could have a lovely evening, and I wondered if she could cook.
' Do you like a little bit the speciality here, this is prosciutto, I think.
- Take whatever you like.
- I like this most.
Take a plate myself, because I like this I like mortadella, actually typical thing from Bologna.
Yes.
She's so beautiful.
Let me just put the sugar inside, yeah.
Put roughly six tablespoons of sugar inside and I will beat him up.
I put eight eggs inside, yolk of egg.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Still waiting.
Anyway, it's extremely interesting.
Can you tell me, why do you go to the agency Because I want to find a serious man.
- A serious man - A really serious man.
I mean, someone who wants to build a family.
I like to cook for someone because cooking for yourself is a little sad.
You know, that says to me something very important - when you say you like to cook for someone.
- Yeah.
Because this is majorly an act of love.
If you cook for somebody, it means that you are able to love people.
Then I'm going to put some marsala inside.
You can actually put some other different alcohol, as long as it's sweet wine.
Mix, mix, mix all together.
Come on, it's fluffing up.
Come on! When I was a child, I used to cook with my - Granny Oh, that's interesting.
- Grandmother, yeah.
- Is she still alive - Yes.
You have to extract from her everything because then this come a time when you can't any more.
Perhaps you write it down because it's very interesting.
Yeah, I will, I will.
You gave me good advice.
Thank you.
This zabaglione is full of love, and you never know, you know.
Out of the joke sometime a big romance is coming out.
So, we are in a tower here.
If you wouldn't have come from there, if you'd have come from there, I would have thought you were a ghost of the tower.
A nice ghost, but you have a Because you are very pretty and I am very glad to be with you.
Well, thank you.
Gennaro Jesus.
I wish I could find a little plate.
I'm shaking.
Yes.
- So, I really wish you all the best.
- Thank you very much.
Really from the heart.
I envy the man that would get you.
Somehow.
I drink to this.
Thank you.
Ah, Gennaro, look at this.
It's fantastic.
Wow.
Zabaglione.
Wow.
That's a fantastic thing.
Gennaro, you are fantastic, yes.
Gennaro, just go and leave us alone.
Excuse me, signorina.
Every day I have to do something! So, Antonio, tell me, did you think it was worth it Erica was very sweet.
I agree she was very sweet, very genuine and very frank and I think that she will find a good man.
And the food was good The food was good.
The zabaglione was a bit sort of thin, but OK.
What do you mean, a bit thin A bit thin.
What do you mean I told you to do it with less liquid and you didn't.
It was too liquid.
Tell me when you say, "You done good.
" Gennaro, when you do perfection, then I tell you that.
- You know what, I'm going to bed.
- OK.
It's quite time to go.
Yeah, it's quite time to go because you're never happy, you always complain.
After I've done all this for you! I go to bed.
Gennaro, good night.
Yes, good night.
Good night.
Sleep well.
Gennaro, I had a lovely evening, thank you very much.
Oh, bless you.
Good night.
The next day, we heard of a new development.
Things were looking up.
Apparently, cooking schools for foreign tourists were being inundated with Italians.
We wanted to have a look and even asked Julia, the kitchen-hating crime reporter, to give it a try.
- Buon giorno.
- Buon giorno.
You've got to have a lot of friends if you're able to make the tortellini.
Maybe I can just have less crime scenes and - More alive people than dead people.
- Yeah.
More alive, you said, more smiley people.
Imagine, you know, you can see this lovely man, you really like him, you don't know what you tell him.
"Yes, I'm a very sensual" Hello! I can make tortellini! And you say, "Come round my house and I'll make you a few tortellini.
" You tell me which is an Italian man - which will refuse a plate of tortellini.
- No-one.
- There is no-one.
- I can guarantee.
You never learned to make pasta from your mother My grandma a little bit, but not so much.
So, you want to do the ravioli and the tortellini and all of that - because you are really adamant to do it yourself.
- Yeah.
That's fantastic.
From tagliatelle to tortellini to - Ravioli, caramelle.
- Ravioli, caramelle, cannelloni.
Cannelloni, lasagne.
Lasagne.
Bravo! 'Alessandra, the owner of the school, has found a whole new role in life.
' Who doesn't have a mother that can teach comes here.
So, she's the mother of everybody.
- Two little folds.
- OK.
- with ends malaxate.
- Ok.
- And it's done - Wow, that's good! Look at her! She's done it! - Give me five! - Ole! Gennaro, look at this.
Look at the tagliatelle.
- Look at that.
- Ooh, that's fantastic.
So, we will have a lovely meal today.
'We had learned a lot in Bologna.
'Even if today's mammas are not teaching their children, 'young women are still learning to cook.
'Not because they are expected to cook but because they want to.
' Scottiglia di cinghiale Scottiglia di cinghiale, or the stew of wild boar.
It is one of the most wonderful dishes to share in a family because it's a very social affair.
So, you starting cooking carrots and celery.
- Would you like to help me - Of course.
It's a little bit of work, but it's fantastic because it gives incredible results.
- Gennaro, don't chop my hands.
- I'm far away from you! And naturally, when you cook for a big family or big group of people, it is very usual that everybody participates.
Don't start to be the very chef that does like this I don't like it.
Slowly.
I have to cut the onions my own way.
No, you want to show off.
Yeah, I want to show off.
Then we also put the oil on.
- Tell me when.
- Go on, go on, go on.
- Where do I have to go - Go on.
It's enough.
One teaspoon of peppercorns and one tablespoon of juniper berries.
And I will start to chop the meat.
We have here rabbit and sausage, pork sausage, wild boar and pork.
You have about 200 grams of meat per person.
I like this mixture of everything.
If you have got no wild boar you could just use pork and chicken and rabbit.
It's a bit of fat in it.
It will melt right through.
What a dish.
- Shall we start to put them inside - Yes, yes, yes.
That looks fantastic.
And put some red wine in it.
And we get the lovely colour.
Just a little bit of colour, Antonio, yeah Just a little bit, yes.
So 200ml of red wine will give the lovely, lovely flavour.
We put a little bit of rosemary, a bit of sage and bay leaves, and now it comes the Italian thing, which is polpa di pomodoro, so tomato pulp.
- How much is it - This is 1.
5 kilos all together.
Can you stir it, please You notice I didn't put any salt or pepper Not yet.
I'm waiting for you.
It comes later, otherwise it makes the meat tough.
Here's the nutmeg.
Gennaro, you have wonderful fingers.
Don't grate your finger! How much Half Quarter Half.
I love it.
So now you put the whole tin of tomato paste, because I would like the sauce to be very concentrated with tomato.
OK.
Let's turn it down.
- Shall I cover now - Cover it.
So that means I have to stay here about one hour and a half But that is what you are trained to be done.
Bye-bye, Gennaro.
Look, look at this wonderful chair.
Ah, Gennaro, that's life.
Ahh.
Somebody's working and somebody's resting.
Gennaro, from time to time can you look at the meat, please - Little baby.
- What is it Come on.
Did you were sleeping I had a wonderful snooze.
Gennaro, would you be so kind to move, please That is the way I like.
- Thank you.
- I wanted to see now the way you make polenta.
So, polenta.
We have here three litres of water and the polenta is the flour of maize.
It's a five-minute polenta and very delicious, because it goes perfectly with the stew here.
Now I can already put the butter, which are 100 grams.
- Yeah, put it all in.
- There.
Wonderful.
- How much cheese - 250 grams of that.
This is the taleggio that I use this time.
A wonderful cheese, very creamy.
Could be done with fontina as well.
Can you grate also about 100 grams of Parmesan, Gennaro Yeah.
Stir it, stir it.
Let me just remove all this from here.
Wonderful.
Look at this.
This is just like a cream.
What you do now, you put just in the middle here.
Antonio, hurry up.
- You work that way.
- Cut a little channel there, and the best thing is to share it.
This is a small version, but there are versions that are as big as a table, with lots of polenta, lots of stew, just fantastic.
Nice with a lovely big family.
Mmm.
It's fantastic.
Cheers, Antonio.
But what if you don't have a family What if you have fallen out with them or turned your back on them We were off to the countryside near Rimini to meet a huge family, one which breaks all traditions but thrives on its passion for food.
- Look at the grapes hanging off the vine there.
- Yeah, incredible.
Antonio, look, there's a complex there.
It is unbelievable.
This is a medical centre.
We have for everybody here free medical care and there's people suffering from HIV and they can stay here - So you have got everything here - Yes, it's alittle town.
'People join this family when they stray off course 'and find themselves in a dark place in life.
'This is a refuge for people 'who have cut those family ties everybody needs.
'San Patrignano is an extraordinary charity which helps people with serious drug problems.
'It's home for nearly 2,000 men and women.
'People come here from prison, from the streets, from the chaos of broken lives.
'They stay at least four years and learn to live again.
'And they do it by producing fantastic Italian food which sells round the world.
· 'The charming Monica Luppi showed us how 'everything grown on the 600 acres is used to train recovering addicts.
'The home-grown meat goes to these butchers.
'Their salamis and their hams are famous in Italy.
'With the grapes they learn to make wonderful award-winning wines.
' Mamma mia! 'Half a million litres a year.
' There's just so much wine.
'And in a family with so many mouths to feed, everyone learns to cook.
' Monica, all those people, before coming here, they didn't have anything to do with food Most of them, no.
I think when you're in a situation of drug addiction, you don't give importance to the small things in life that are at the end the real pleasures.
Food is one of these, so one of the basics here is appreciating the hard work that goes into it, so nothing here is made, you knowthe short cut, because with patience and love and passion is the only way that you will reach the final product.
'We were so impressed.
'It's hard to believe that not long ago clever boys like Federico were sleeping rough.
' How do you feel to be inside here for about a year now At the beginning it was very strange, I was a little disappointed and I was not used to staying together with people without drugs, because outside I was using heroin.
- Heroin - Yes, heroin - And now it's off - Now it's off.
Good, and the most important thing, - that you see that life has another aspect.
- Yes.
And you can use life for different things.
Every day, making cheese, you can improve every day, step by step, see your limits and go - Further.
Further every day, yes.
- One step at a time.
And also here in San Patrignano we always make cheese, not by our own, but we make it with other persons.
We have a big family.
Tell me, how many litres of milk inside here 550 litres.
And how much cheese do you get out About 100 kilos.
So, 20 kilos of ricotta 100 kilos of squacquerone and 25 kilos of ricotta.
Mamma mia, Antonio! The taste is fantastic.
'Andrea is very proud of all the different cheeses they produce.
' - Oh, Bastardo.
- Si.
'These are not just cheeses.
They are Andrea's passion and joy, 'a passion which may have saved his life.
' Viva Italia! That's very interesting.
Have a look.
This is to produce holes so that the sausage can - Breathe.
- Breathe.
So if I do, cho, cho, cho, cho, cho and then, because you're always losing weight, and you go · This Antonio Carluccio and a different style.
- Bullshit.
- No, it's not! This is the easy way to lose weight.
- I lose weight without it.
- Yeah, I know.
It's 25 years, I'm still waiting.
This is our dining room.
Oh, my God! One important thing is this is always called the dining room.
It's not a cafeteria, it's not a mess hall, it's a dining room, because it's a big version of your home.
'Mealtimes are important here.
'It's a rule that everyone eats together, just like in a traditional Italian family.
' When somebody arrives here, they arrive alone, but they always meet right away one person that will be like their big brother.
Around that there is a group, like you see in the cheese shop or in the butcher's shop, that becomes like their family, cos most people here never really felt like they fit somewhere and they were accepted.
I never eat at home with other people, only by myself.
So it's a new feeling.
In one year you just start a little to know yourself.
Just a little.
We are eating here home-made tagliatelle and little pomodorini, little tomatoes, with a bit of arugula and a little bit of sausage.
It is delicious.
A little Parmesan on top.
Very light and easy, cooked by chefs that have been instructed here.
Maria is one of the mothers of this family.
She's been here since the '70s.
Maria has taught very many people here how to cook through the years.
The Italian mothers show their love through food.
Who produces food gives love to the people, and if you miss that you're going to miss the rest of life.
We're always running around, but to really sit here and enjoy and taste something and say to somebody else, "Taste this," That's like a connection that you made with someone.
I really am flabbergasted with what I can see here.
Congratulations.
Don't have to congratulate me.
Congratulate all those people behind you.
They are the ones that were always considered hopeless.
And I want to welcome you to our family as well.
That's fantastic.
I feel I feel really part of it.
It is marvellous.
I don't know what to say.
Thank you.
You're part of our family now too.
Any time, you know, you can come here.
The medicine here is love and you cannot buy it.
It's free.
'Ah, it's the old story.
'Life's two principle functions.
'All you need is food and love.
' Through the journey, I thought that the Italian sense of family was sort of abandoned, but altogether I must say that it's a transformation and I am very sort of pleased to see that in certain forms the family goes on, even if the families, they take another sort of twist.
So do you agree with me the love and passion of food is still here Yes.
Gennaro, I see here something fantastic.
You always see right at the end something.
Ripe from the tree and you just put in the mouth and is delight.
Make less noise, please.
A fruit of Italy.
Next time, we are going to Naples and Amalfi coast.
Where Antonio was born and I grew up.
But this is the bell which I've been hearing since I was a little boy.
'We'll see how the most popular food in the world was invented by the coolest people.
' Pizza fritta.
Instant food.
'Gennaro will be reliving his youth.
'And we'll find out what change here since we were boys.
' 24K Oh, 24 carat gold.
It must cost quite a bit of money.
'We'll be cooking some fantastic food from my region.
'And eating it.
' Oh! Direct from the tree.
Wonderful.
I live for food.
I always dream of that.
I am Gennaro Contaldo.
I too find food irresistible.
For years, I was Antonio's assistant.
Gennaro, from time to time can you look at the meat, please Now he's my best friend.
Tonight, I'm going to try to seduce you.
He is a silly boy but a brilliant cook.
Why I'm cooking so good! It has been nearly 50 years since we lived in Italy.
Home sweet home.
Unbelievable.
And we have come back to see what has changed.
This is a very different place to the country of our youth.
And we are searching for the new Italy, the real Italy.
Do you know, this is the first time - I saw a green aubergine.
- Yeah, me too.
When we were young, religious festivals were an excuse for wonderful treats.
Every mamma showed her love through cooking.
And everyone thought his own town was the best.
But what is Italy like now Eh, it's pretty obvious that the 21st century is taking place here.
And how much of an appetite do we still have for the country where we were born Frankly, with Gennaro on board, this whole trip could be a disaster.
That's for you.
It will be fantastic, as long as there is plenty to eat.
- Are you greedy - Yes, I'm greedy for life.
I'm greedy with food.
So two greedy Italians.
Do you know what For the first time after 27 years, I agree with you.
- Is it 27 years - 27 years.
Oh.
yes, yes, I still have to teach you how to cook.
'In my opinion, life has two principle functions, nourishment and procreation, food and family.
'When we were boys, Italians were very good at both.
' You know, in all those films, you always see this wonderful scene of Italians eating together and it's still happening, but I am very worried.
Surely, Antonio, a family is such a big thing in Italy.
I am not so sure any more.
We have come to Emilia Romagna.
We want to see if Italian families still eat together like they used to.
And if the Italian mammas are still teaching their daughters how to cook.
And do the old ideas about Italian family even still apply We are off to lunch with some old friends near Modena, the home of balsamic vinegar.
Gennaro, I always believe that Italy has at least - two or three millions of Michelin star chefs.
- Who - The mamma, the mothers - Oh, yes, oh, yes, oh, yes.
Then grannies, all those people that really teach you, me and everybody else what real Italian food is about.
And tonight we are invited, do you know by who - A mamma.
- Yeah, obvious.
Ciaocomo esta they are a classic Italian family.
'The mammas look after the house and do all the cooking.
'The men, when they are at home, just relax.
'We headed straight for the kitchen.
Tortellini.
'Fresh pasta filled with a family recipe of pork, parmesan and balsamic vinegar.
'All Italian recipes started like this, in families, handed down from mamma to daughter, to granddaughter and refined over centuries.
' Look how many people she has to teach.
So they love to do the job because they want to carry on the tradition of this wonderful food.
'They call them "Venus navels", symbols of love.
'Wrapping each fiddly little parcel is hard work.
'It can take a whole day to make just enough for Sunday lunch.
'So no weekend shopping sprees for these young girls.
' 'But they don't seem to mind.
' When you close a tortellini, all your love close in this tortellini and every little piece of pasta is love.
It's really nice.
In an Italian home, the most important thing is the dining table.
This is a family table.
I think what is the experience of this table, it's seen almost everything, this table.
It is where you cry, table where you actually fell in love with somebody, table where you leave somebody, table where you divorced.
Table is happiness and joy, you know, wedding, christening, celebration, all happens at a table.
Table where you kiss somebody on side of on the table and even can make love.
Even jump on it in joy, dancing on the table.
Table is so important.
This is the joy of family and it's all along here.
Bless this table.
High up in the villa, the family fortune silently ferments in ancient barrels.
Balsamic vinegar.
There is a feeling of calm in here.
It's like entering the vault of family ancestors.
Still vinegar.
The balsamic is made by the women of the house.
The secrets have been handed down five generations by grandmothers.
'This is traditional Modena balsamic, matured for up to 35 years.
'A complex, warm taste.
' Still a lot of fruit after so many years.
'A litre of this velvety nectar would cost 2,000 pounds.
It is a pleasure stuff.
I could stay here forever together with the vinegar.
The most wonderful thing is the tortellini in brodo.
They're exactly how it should be.
'Little parcels of love.
'Every one unique, made with time, patience and devotion.
'It must be comforting for to the the grandmather to know that she will always be a presence at this table.
' 'This is how I remember things when I was a little boy.
'Maybe not quite such a beautiful house, but the whole family eating Mamma's food together like this.
' No, I enjoyed it very much.
I know you have enjoyed it yesterday.
I can see you.
It is fantastic to have the feeling of being in a family again because, well, I don't have a family.
I have some a brother, a sister, but I live alone and it's quite good to be, from time to time, confronted with what a family is and the advantage of a family.
I have six children, Antonio.
Wait a minute.
I know of Antonio, I have Antonio! Antonio, listen to me.
Yeah.
I am glad that somebody produces children.
Ah, children is love.
Yeah.
Stay there.
Tell me, who give you flowers first thing in the morning - That's perfect.
- Don't eat it.
This particular dish is actually bringing a lot of memory back.
- I never heard of it.
- Well, it is a dialect.
It means ricotta dumpling.
Then I have a picture there.
That is my mum.
Every time I do a dish which my mother used to make, I don't understand why the way - my mother used to make I can never get near.
- No.
So when I actually cook this dish, - is your mum here - Yeah, obviously.
Well, that is a nice memory.
First I will have the flour, which is 200 grams.
- More, more, more, more, more, more.
- More.
Fine.
200 grams, dead on.
Then I need 220 grams of ricotta.
- Tell me when.
- Yeah, now.
Yes, OK.
Then you only use the yolk of egg.
One.
Two.
- Yeah, three yolks.
- And now with the ricotta inside.
- Can you pass me a fork, please - Where's the fork Here.
That's good.
Then I mix a little bit.
The eggs will hold it all together.
Then I will add Parmesan.
20 grams to 30 grams of Parmesan.
Which you grate Parmesan inside.
Then you have just a little touch of nutmeg.
Pinch of salt.
Pinch of pepper.
And then you have the flour inside.
Then you use the best tool, - your hands.
- Very delicately.
You just see everything just get together, such an easy dish to make.
- Yeah, just mix well, Antonio.
Go on.
- That's what I'm doing.
Just the other side as well.
That's it, you're doing nice.
And then you take a little bit.
Probably judging by - Too much.
- Too much So this Well, we got Just do this one.
That's enough, that's enough.
Put it there, not here.
Well, your hands is underneath.
It is nice to see you do that.
So then you have a little flour on top.
- Gnocchi.
- Try to cut it like that, come on.
Very difficult, doing that But let me show you how quick is the sauce.
I have two tins of tomato, then I have three cloves of garlic.
- One chilli.
Beacuse I need for you to cut this chilli.
- Pleasure.
And a bunch of basil.
Meanwhile, I slice this.
Very finely chopped Roughly chopped, Antonio.
- Have you done the chilli - Yeah, it's here.
The frying pan is already hot.
Olive oil.
Olive oil.
Oh, lovely and oily.
Now I put the garlic and the chilli inside.
It's in a flash.
Quick, cooked sauce.
And I'll get the dumplings here.
Here inside.
Wonderful.
Great.
Cover.
Now it will cook for about three to four minutes.
Don't worry.
Don't take very long.
I've got to chop basil roughly.
- Shall I grate the Parmesan for you - Yes, please.
Oh ho! The smell is very good, Gennaro.
- Yeah.
You shocked - Yeah.
The smell, Antonio.
I'm closing my eyes.
I can see my mum, I can see my sister inside the next room, trying to prepare the table, and me running around.
- Even the cats and the dog.
- My goodness.
You have tears in your eyes.
I do, Antonio.
I'm sorry.
- That's very touching.
- Oh, hold on.
It's not tears, it's joy.
My little baby, you can see they start to come up, every single one.
They're a little bit heavier than other dumpling with the potato, because potato makes it light.
But they're probably tastier.
You're right.
Oh, bless you.
I love it when you say that.
I want to taste that.
Taste one.
Because I never had it before.
- Put it down.
- Yeah, fantastic.
- You see, here we use Parmesan.
- Yes.
- But we used to use goat cheese.
- Yes.
- Can I just - Yeah, you can do, yes.
Mm.
I can understand that you remember your mother with them.
The smell and the flavour.
Bless her.
Cooking for the family was the most important thing in the world for grandmothers.
But in the 1950s, Italy got richer.
Many housewives went to work in the factories and working mammas have no time to make tortellini.
Then in the '60s, a clever baker's son from Verona invented a machine to mass produce those little parcels of love.
· Now Giovanni Rana's very famous and a multimillionaire.
We went to see one of his factories.
Oh, wow, look at this.
- This is the one you close - Yeah, yeah.
.
.
By mechanical mechanism.
- Can I - Yeah, of course.
Semolina Eggs and flour together, and eggs.
No water.
I managed to find out how many eggs are used every day.
800,000.
But I am still very sceptical about the end result and I want to see it and taste it.
In the old days, Mr Rana delivered his pasta on this little moped.
He's now the biggest fresh pasta producer in Europe.
· I'm very happy to present and introduce you to Mr Giovanni Rana.
Giovanni.
I love it, I love it! "In a certain way I am sorry," He says.
Now maybe if you are hungry we can go to taste.
- I am hungry.
- Me too.
I put my hands up.
Mr Giovanni's cooking Signor Rana has also a chain of 21 restaurants serving his fresh pasta.
Now tortellini have become a cheap, quick lunch.
But the proof is in the tasting.
The pasta is remarkably good and I really don't know what could be the difference between these and the hand-made.
Probably is a touch of love that is missing.
I don't know.
I find them OK, you know, but I still prefer those you make at home.
'Nowadays, fast-food places are springing up all over Italy.
'Could this be the beginning of the end for Mamma's cooking' We are off to Bologna, city of towers.
They call it La Grassa, the Fat One, because the people in Bologna are very The Bologna people are not fat.
They call it La Grassa because it has the richest, most fantastic food in all of Italy.
That's the one.
Stop, stop, stop.
Oh, my God.
Bless her.
Gennaro, this is the very, very famous Madonna Grassa.
Even the Madonna can be fat, come on! I love this way they made the Madonna.
She so beautiful.
Do you know what - Here in Bologna they say there's such beautiful women.
- Really And I'm going to fix a date with one of the most beautiful women in Bologna.
- I can guarantee.
- No.
You will die for it.
I am not sure, but please help yourself.
OK, can we go now Can we go and see the rest of Bologna OK, here we go.
Ciao, Madonna.
It's obvious why the mamma means so much to Italians.
They also call Bologna La Rossa, the Red One, because it's left wing and liberal.
If family traditions are changing anywhere, they change here first.
But the first thing is to get our hands on those Bologna cheeses and hams.
My God, Antonio, look at that.
Salami, San Marino, I can't believe it.
As soon as you walk in, your eyes start to get hungry.
There's just so much you don't know where to go, what to pick.
Two years aged prosciutto di Parma, the real Parma ham.
This is wonderland here.
Grazie.
Grazie.
Is this supposed to be mine Grazie.
I am just like a child in a toy shop.
The mortadella is the most underrated salami of Bologna and it is fantastic.
Everybody believes it's just like Spam.
Absolutely not.
It is the most wonderful thing ever and you cut it very thin.
Possibly you put in focaccia.
Ah! What about cheese What kind of cheese shall we get We have come to the perfect place to stay in the city of towers.
Oh, my God.
That's my surprise for you.
Oh, my God.
The Prendiparte Tower, a mediaeval bed and breakfast.
Look at this.
Look at this.
That's just wonderful.
And here's the bell.
- That's the bell - Yeah, I believe so.
Antonio, this is unbelievable.
Even your Madonna here, Gennaro.
Let's have a look.
Mmm, a chocolate.
Ah, Gennaro, even a chocolate.
Anyway, I'm going out now.
Have a nice rest.
He's the king of the castle because there is a servant downstairs.
"Gennaro, can you get me this" But I love him to bits and he loves me.
But he really does live in a bit of a ivory tower.
I live alone.
I couldn't have children for various reasons.
First wife couldn't have some, second wife, within seven months of marriage The last one already had children and didn't want any.
It's not that I feel a failure.
I was a bit unlucky or perhaps unprepared or whatever.
Don't have a wife and I would love with all my heart for him to meet somebody and really enjoy that bits which I enjoy with my family.
Yes, and I hope one day Antonio will do it.
I feel sometimes very alone.
Money and all of that, it comes and goes.
What now I'm looking for, a bit of love.
Just what I want from life actually, just that.
Seven in the evening is the best time in Bologna.
Everyone comes out in search of an aperitif.
We were on a mission to find out if women still cook.
But first Antonio wants his favourite aperitivo, Lambrusco e culatello.
They say it's so thick you can cut it with a knife.
It's wonderful.
Antonio Do you forget me - No, no, no.
- Thank you very much.
I was wine merchant for many years.
Yes, I know that you were.
I was wine taster for many years.
That's a delicious wine.
Mamma mia, Antonio.
Typical of this region.
It's almost like a bull's blood.
Fantastic.
Ah, Culatello, the finest ham in Bologna.
Ah, the smell of it.
The flavour.
Mm, Antonio, I wanna give you some, come on.
Gennaro, shall we have some more Francesca! Grazie, Francesca.
Grazie.
Grazie.
Four or five portion later and we carried on with our mission.
We were asking the question if young ladies in Italy they are still cooking I'm not interesting in cooking.
I'm a crime journalist.
I love my career and I prefer to use my spare time in doing something else.
Probably in the old days you couldn't have been a journalist.
- You have the freedom today.
- No, si.
But you have rejected completely the food, which is one of the most important things of life.
Maybe it's a kind of total rebellion, you know.
Yeah, but you cut into yourself because you know a rebellion about food Maybe not because I live by myself.
What do you eat usually Antonio, I don't understand.
The old days, you know, if you could cook, you can get married.
I don't know.
- I've never thought about that.
- Try, try to get married.
Maybe not.
Why can't we find a man who can cook It should be so lovely.
Usually the man loves to make the chef, wow.
He's doing something really creative or original and the woman is the one that have every day to carry the dishes to the table.
That's really funny, you know.
My girlfriend works very hard so if I want to eat at home when I come back from work, I have to cook something.
- Very sad.
- It is very, very sad.
And where you learn to cook From your mother or your grandmother, from your sister Yeah, more from my grandmother and I really, really miss the old Italian family tradition.
Anyway, I hope that you all pursue whatever you like to pursue, but remember one thing, that cooking is the second best thing in life.
Like after that 'I couldn't believe it.
'When I was young, every woman in Italy knew how to cook.
' The next day, I went to the art gallery to have a think.
That's beautiful, to look at a scene like that, the family, mother feeding the child, a typical, idyllic family scene.
Some young women have clearly rebelled against all this.
Do you know what I did not expect it.
I'm really surprised and I'm a chef.
This is my life.
I know that love and passion is on it, you know.
My girls, I'm teaching them to cook.
My wife knows how to cook.
I come from a generation of everybody cooks inside the house.
Italian women are having less children nowadays and it seems being the mamma in a big family has lost its appeal.
When I see these beautiful girls, all this lovely generation that can't cook, what are we gonna do tomorrow in Italy Come on.
Come on.
Don't move, Antonio.
I'm going to take the water.
Yeah Don't move.
Don't move.
Don't move.
Don't move.
Y-es! Did you see the sign over there "Cherry.
" Look.
"Agenzia Matrimoniale.
" Yes.
So it's a agency for dating.
People in the past used to meet at family reunions, little village feasts, was a kind of romance Well And now we have a place like that.
And I want to take you in just for pure curiosity.
And do you think I need a dating agency No, you don't need, you got me anyway, so what do you need it for - But for curiosity - You are really insisting that I got you.
I don't have you, I don't like you.
No! Now you say now you don't like me, but you like me.
- Yeah, but not as you think.
- No! Can we go Do you know what The best thing is to do it for curiosity.
No, it's only out of professional curiosity I do this.
'Dating agencies didn't exist when we were young.
'There was no divorce.
'Now it's on the up.
I was intrigued.
'I had a little plan up my sleeve.
' About six million people live alone, especially women.
- Six million people - Yeah.
'My goodness, that's one in ten.
' That's very bad for the food because being sort of solo, probably they don't have to cook any more.
Tell me, you know, somebody comes along saying, "I want to get married, I need to find a wife" you can help - Yes.
- Can you tell me one thing So there are girls that can't cook and even that they don't wantto cook, what chances do they have to have a husband I don't know, but it's difficult for women if she is not able to cook.
Would you like to date somebody Why not Why not It's a chance.
Do we have somebody 'My little plan was working.
' Antonio, yes! I've done it.
Yes, but I am not very sure.
Well, no, it's all right.
And anyway, it's only a joke, you know that.
Of course it is a joke.
Cos I don't want anything very serious here.
No, no, there is nothing serious.
- I don't need it.
- I am there.
- OK.
- So, no worries.
- You defend me.
- OK, defend you, but I promise you that I was going to find it, just because we need to It was time to get Antonio in the mood for love.
Senior Carluccio must become Senior Casanova.
Gennaro, what is going on here - Sit down here, come on.
- What are you doing Sit down here, sit down first.
- So what is going on - Tonight, I'm going to try to seduce you.
You seducing me! You're mad in the head.
I'm going to make hot amaretti chocolate pudding, which you love.
- That's right.
- Look me - Inside a pot here - Yes.
- I'm going to put two tablespoons of sugar - Yes.
Then one tablespoon of flour.
- It's good so far.
- And I have here Oh, yes.
The smell Vanilla, yes.
The proper vanilla.
But did you take the seeds out of that I you making or - OK, OK, OK.
Stay there.
- I enjoy myself.
That's it.
Inside here is the seeds of love, fertility, the lot.
What has got into you today I have a half a litre of milk which I'm going to put in just for starter, just a little bit.
We'll stir it.
Yes.
The reason why I do this, because I don't want my chocolate amaretti pudding to get lumpy, then I will put the rest of the milk inside.
- Now two shots of amaretto liqueur.
- Lovely.
Marvellous.
You just taste it.
This is really a potion, it's a love potion.
A love potion.
One and two.
It's about 80 mil.
Keep stirring.
I am very curious to see how you can let it thicken with a little flour.
Of course it will.
Why you never trust me You know what I can never seduce you because you are - No, you can't.
- We already argue before we seduce you.
No, no, no, you can't.
Either sitting or not sitting, you can't.
I stir them around.
Remember, we never throw away anything to Italy, we use everything.
Do you want to put it for me Go.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
There you are.
Gentle.
Such a gentle And you keep stirring.
Then out of the blue, look, it start to get thicker and thicker.
Out of the dark, actually, yes.
Out of the dark.
Such a romantic evening.
Romantic for you, Gennaro, but certainly not for me! Inside that I will put 100 grams of plain chocolate.
Be very careful, because sometimes You can cut your fingers.
You know, chocolate, it can be very hard.
You want to try to help me, you can't.
Very hard work to seduce somebody, eh Come on, go on, get on with it.
Did you ever make this for a woman - Yes, I have.
- For the seduction - Yes, I have.
- And what happened And she loved it.
Now, slowly we melt, and now I'm going to add 50 grams of butter.
And what does the butter do here The butter will silken it, the amaretto gives a lovely flavour, the vanilla is inside, plus the seed inside.
Oh, my goodness me.
It's done.
Now I remove the vanilla pod, just I want to taste it.
We are the Two Greedy Chefs, but I know who is more greedy than me.
- It's ready now - It is ready.
And you want to seduce me with that You wait and you taste it.
And I'm going to crumble an amaretti biscuit on top.
- My goodness, you are strong.
- It's started working.
- What did I say! - It's started working! Just try and tell me, look me first Abracadabra! You silly man! Don't burn yourself.
Come on, tell me the truth.
It is fantastic chocolate.
I appreciate your intention.
You remain a good friend, but I can't be seduced by it.
Let me seduce you properly now.
Are you ready Gennaro, go and seduce somebody else.
That's what I can tell you.
Pronto.
'Oh, no, the dating agency.
' - Gennaro - Si, Antonio.
That's funny.
She comes.
Oh, yes! Are you ready You got everything ready up there Nice new shirt you needed.
Not rubbish you wear every day.
Have you thought what I could have, food for the occasion - I think, Antonio - Something that has to do with love.
We'll haveantipasti for start, you don't want to eat too much.
- Antipasti, everybody has.
- Well, let's have some aperitivo.
Yeah, but something very specific too.
Shall we do zabaglione Zabaglione, yeah, that's a good one.
And soft, full of love I'm making it.
Three hours later I was deeply regretting Gennaro's ridiculous idea.
The silly boy, he had gone completely over the top.
It was eight o'clock.
The time had come.
All we knew, her name was Erica, and she was looking for a serious husband.
Erica, I will be there in one second.
Erica.
Hello.
Welcome.
Thank you very much for coming.
Thank you.
Come inside the tower.
Fantastic.
Careful here.
- You all right - Yes.
OK.
- Antonio - Yes Hello.
Erica.
- Hello.
- My goodness, that's a date.
- Nice to meet you.
- Hello.
Antonio.
- Your name is - Erica.
Gennaro, can you open the wine, please 'I wanted to kill Gennaro.
The poor girl was half my age.
' I am sorry, actually, I can't marry you.
I would like to, but you are very young.
- Yeah, I know.
- So, this date is the organisation of this gentleman here.
Thank you very much.
'But still we could have a lovely evening, and I wondered if she could cook.
' Do you like a little bit the speciality here, this is prosciutto, I think.
- Take whatever you like.
- I like this most.
Take a plate myself, because I like this I like mortadella, actually typical thing from Bologna.
Yes.
She's so beautiful.
Let me just put the sugar inside, yeah.
Put roughly six tablespoons of sugar inside and I will beat him up.
I put eight eggs inside, yolk of egg.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Still waiting.
Anyway, it's extremely interesting.
Can you tell me, why do you go to the agency Because I want to find a serious man.
- A serious man - A really serious man.
I mean, someone who wants to build a family.
I like to cook for someone because cooking for yourself is a little sad.
You know, that says to me something very important - when you say you like to cook for someone.
- Yeah.
Because this is majorly an act of love.
If you cook for somebody, it means that you are able to love people.
Then I'm going to put some marsala inside.
You can actually put some other different alcohol, as long as it's sweet wine.
Mix, mix, mix all together.
Come on, it's fluffing up.
Come on! When I was a child, I used to cook with my - Granny Oh, that's interesting.
- Grandmother, yeah.
- Is she still alive - Yes.
You have to extract from her everything because then this come a time when you can't any more.
Perhaps you write it down because it's very interesting.
Yeah, I will, I will.
You gave me good advice.
Thank you.
This zabaglione is full of love, and you never know, you know.
Out of the joke sometime a big romance is coming out.
So, we are in a tower here.
If you wouldn't have come from there, if you'd have come from there, I would have thought you were a ghost of the tower.
A nice ghost, but you have a Because you are very pretty and I am very glad to be with you.
Well, thank you.
Gennaro Jesus.
I wish I could find a little plate.
I'm shaking.
Yes.
- So, I really wish you all the best.
- Thank you very much.
Really from the heart.
I envy the man that would get you.
Somehow.
I drink to this.
Thank you.
Ah, Gennaro, look at this.
It's fantastic.
Wow.
Zabaglione.
Wow.
That's a fantastic thing.
Gennaro, you are fantastic, yes.
Gennaro, just go and leave us alone.
Excuse me, signorina.
Every day I have to do something! So, Antonio, tell me, did you think it was worth it Erica was very sweet.
I agree she was very sweet, very genuine and very frank and I think that she will find a good man.
And the food was good The food was good.
The zabaglione was a bit sort of thin, but OK.
What do you mean, a bit thin A bit thin.
What do you mean I told you to do it with less liquid and you didn't.
It was too liquid.
Tell me when you say, "You done good.
" Gennaro, when you do perfection, then I tell you that.
- You know what, I'm going to bed.
- OK.
It's quite time to go.
Yeah, it's quite time to go because you're never happy, you always complain.
After I've done all this for you! I go to bed.
Gennaro, good night.
Yes, good night.
Good night.
Sleep well.
Gennaro, I had a lovely evening, thank you very much.
Oh, bless you.
Good night.
The next day, we heard of a new development.
Things were looking up.
Apparently, cooking schools for foreign tourists were being inundated with Italians.
We wanted to have a look and even asked Julia, the kitchen-hating crime reporter, to give it a try.
- Buon giorno.
- Buon giorno.
You've got to have a lot of friends if you're able to make the tortellini.
Maybe I can just have less crime scenes and - More alive people than dead people.
- Yeah.
More alive, you said, more smiley people.
Imagine, you know, you can see this lovely man, you really like him, you don't know what you tell him.
"Yes, I'm a very sensual" Hello! I can make tortellini! And you say, "Come round my house and I'll make you a few tortellini.
" You tell me which is an Italian man - which will refuse a plate of tortellini.
- No-one.
- There is no-one.
- I can guarantee.
You never learned to make pasta from your mother My grandma a little bit, but not so much.
So, you want to do the ravioli and the tortellini and all of that - because you are really adamant to do it yourself.
- Yeah.
That's fantastic.
From tagliatelle to tortellini to - Ravioli, caramelle.
- Ravioli, caramelle, cannelloni.
Cannelloni, lasagne.
Lasagne.
Bravo! 'Alessandra, the owner of the school, has found a whole new role in life.
' Who doesn't have a mother that can teach comes here.
So, she's the mother of everybody.
- Two little folds.
- OK.
- with ends malaxate.
- Ok.
- And it's done - Wow, that's good! Look at her! She's done it! - Give me five! - Ole! Gennaro, look at this.
Look at the tagliatelle.
- Look at that.
- Ooh, that's fantastic.
So, we will have a lovely meal today.
'We had learned a lot in Bologna.
'Even if today's mammas are not teaching their children, 'young women are still learning to cook.
'Not because they are expected to cook but because they want to.
' Scottiglia di cinghiale Scottiglia di cinghiale, or the stew of wild boar.
It is one of the most wonderful dishes to share in a family because it's a very social affair.
So, you starting cooking carrots and celery.
- Would you like to help me - Of course.
It's a little bit of work, but it's fantastic because it gives incredible results.
- Gennaro, don't chop my hands.
- I'm far away from you! And naturally, when you cook for a big family or big group of people, it is very usual that everybody participates.
Don't start to be the very chef that does like this I don't like it.
Slowly.
I have to cut the onions my own way.
No, you want to show off.
Yeah, I want to show off.
Then we also put the oil on.
- Tell me when.
- Go on, go on, go on.
- Where do I have to go - Go on.
It's enough.
One teaspoon of peppercorns and one tablespoon of juniper berries.
And I will start to chop the meat.
We have here rabbit and sausage, pork sausage, wild boar and pork.
You have about 200 grams of meat per person.
I like this mixture of everything.
If you have got no wild boar you could just use pork and chicken and rabbit.
It's a bit of fat in it.
It will melt right through.
What a dish.
- Shall we start to put them inside - Yes, yes, yes.
That looks fantastic.
And put some red wine in it.
And we get the lovely colour.
Just a little bit of colour, Antonio, yeah Just a little bit, yes.
So 200ml of red wine will give the lovely, lovely flavour.
We put a little bit of rosemary, a bit of sage and bay leaves, and now it comes the Italian thing, which is polpa di pomodoro, so tomato pulp.
- How much is it - This is 1.
5 kilos all together.
Can you stir it, please You notice I didn't put any salt or pepper Not yet.
I'm waiting for you.
It comes later, otherwise it makes the meat tough.
Here's the nutmeg.
Gennaro, you have wonderful fingers.
Don't grate your finger! How much Half Quarter Half.
I love it.
So now you put the whole tin of tomato paste, because I would like the sauce to be very concentrated with tomato.
OK.
Let's turn it down.
- Shall I cover now - Cover it.
So that means I have to stay here about one hour and a half But that is what you are trained to be done.
Bye-bye, Gennaro.
Look, look at this wonderful chair.
Ah, Gennaro, that's life.
Ahh.
Somebody's working and somebody's resting.
Gennaro, from time to time can you look at the meat, please - Little baby.
- What is it Come on.
Did you were sleeping I had a wonderful snooze.
Gennaro, would you be so kind to move, please That is the way I like.
- Thank you.
- I wanted to see now the way you make polenta.
So, polenta.
We have here three litres of water and the polenta is the flour of maize.
It's a five-minute polenta and very delicious, because it goes perfectly with the stew here.
Now I can already put the butter, which are 100 grams.
- Yeah, put it all in.
- There.
Wonderful.
- How much cheese - 250 grams of that.
This is the taleggio that I use this time.
A wonderful cheese, very creamy.
Could be done with fontina as well.
Can you grate also about 100 grams of Parmesan, Gennaro Yeah.
Stir it, stir it.
Let me just remove all this from here.
Wonderful.
Look at this.
This is just like a cream.
What you do now, you put just in the middle here.
Antonio, hurry up.
- You work that way.
- Cut a little channel there, and the best thing is to share it.
This is a small version, but there are versions that are as big as a table, with lots of polenta, lots of stew, just fantastic.
Nice with a lovely big family.
Mmm.
It's fantastic.
Cheers, Antonio.
But what if you don't have a family What if you have fallen out with them or turned your back on them We were off to the countryside near Rimini to meet a huge family, one which breaks all traditions but thrives on its passion for food.
- Look at the grapes hanging off the vine there.
- Yeah, incredible.
Antonio, look, there's a complex there.
It is unbelievable.
This is a medical centre.
We have for everybody here free medical care and there's people suffering from HIV and they can stay here - So you have got everything here - Yes, it's alittle town.
'People join this family when they stray off course 'and find themselves in a dark place in life.
'This is a refuge for people 'who have cut those family ties everybody needs.
'San Patrignano is an extraordinary charity which helps people with serious drug problems.
'It's home for nearly 2,000 men and women.
'People come here from prison, from the streets, from the chaos of broken lives.
'They stay at least four years and learn to live again.
'And they do it by producing fantastic Italian food which sells round the world.
· 'The charming Monica Luppi showed us how 'everything grown on the 600 acres is used to train recovering addicts.
'The home-grown meat goes to these butchers.
'Their salamis and their hams are famous in Italy.
'With the grapes they learn to make wonderful award-winning wines.
' Mamma mia! 'Half a million litres a year.
' There's just so much wine.
'And in a family with so many mouths to feed, everyone learns to cook.
' Monica, all those people, before coming here, they didn't have anything to do with food Most of them, no.
I think when you're in a situation of drug addiction, you don't give importance to the small things in life that are at the end the real pleasures.
Food is one of these, so one of the basics here is appreciating the hard work that goes into it, so nothing here is made, you knowthe short cut, because with patience and love and passion is the only way that you will reach the final product.
'We were so impressed.
'It's hard to believe that not long ago clever boys like Federico were sleeping rough.
' How do you feel to be inside here for about a year now At the beginning it was very strange, I was a little disappointed and I was not used to staying together with people without drugs, because outside I was using heroin.
- Heroin - Yes, heroin - And now it's off - Now it's off.
Good, and the most important thing, - that you see that life has another aspect.
- Yes.
And you can use life for different things.
Every day, making cheese, you can improve every day, step by step, see your limits and go - Further.
Further every day, yes.
- One step at a time.
And also here in San Patrignano we always make cheese, not by our own, but we make it with other persons.
We have a big family.
Tell me, how many litres of milk inside here 550 litres.
And how much cheese do you get out About 100 kilos.
So, 20 kilos of ricotta 100 kilos of squacquerone and 25 kilos of ricotta.
Mamma mia, Antonio! The taste is fantastic.
'Andrea is very proud of all the different cheeses they produce.
' - Oh, Bastardo.
- Si.
'These are not just cheeses.
They are Andrea's passion and joy, 'a passion which may have saved his life.
' Viva Italia! That's very interesting.
Have a look.
This is to produce holes so that the sausage can - Breathe.
- Breathe.
So if I do, cho, cho, cho, cho, cho and then, because you're always losing weight, and you go · This Antonio Carluccio and a different style.
- Bullshit.
- No, it's not! This is the easy way to lose weight.
- I lose weight without it.
- Yeah, I know.
It's 25 years, I'm still waiting.
This is our dining room.
Oh, my God! One important thing is this is always called the dining room.
It's not a cafeteria, it's not a mess hall, it's a dining room, because it's a big version of your home.
'Mealtimes are important here.
'It's a rule that everyone eats together, just like in a traditional Italian family.
' When somebody arrives here, they arrive alone, but they always meet right away one person that will be like their big brother.
Around that there is a group, like you see in the cheese shop or in the butcher's shop, that becomes like their family, cos most people here never really felt like they fit somewhere and they were accepted.
I never eat at home with other people, only by myself.
So it's a new feeling.
In one year you just start a little to know yourself.
Just a little.
We are eating here home-made tagliatelle and little pomodorini, little tomatoes, with a bit of arugula and a little bit of sausage.
It is delicious.
A little Parmesan on top.
Very light and easy, cooked by chefs that have been instructed here.
Maria is one of the mothers of this family.
She's been here since the '70s.
Maria has taught very many people here how to cook through the years.
The Italian mothers show their love through food.
Who produces food gives love to the people, and if you miss that you're going to miss the rest of life.
We're always running around, but to really sit here and enjoy and taste something and say to somebody else, "Taste this," That's like a connection that you made with someone.
I really am flabbergasted with what I can see here.
Congratulations.
Don't have to congratulate me.
Congratulate all those people behind you.
They are the ones that were always considered hopeless.
And I want to welcome you to our family as well.
That's fantastic.
I feel I feel really part of it.
It is marvellous.
I don't know what to say.
Thank you.
You're part of our family now too.
Any time, you know, you can come here.
The medicine here is love and you cannot buy it.
It's free.
'Ah, it's the old story.
'Life's two principle functions.
'All you need is food and love.
' Through the journey, I thought that the Italian sense of family was sort of abandoned, but altogether I must say that it's a transformation and I am very sort of pleased to see that in certain forms the family goes on, even if the families, they take another sort of twist.
So do you agree with me the love and passion of food is still here Yes.
Gennaro, I see here something fantastic.
You always see right at the end something.
Ripe from the tree and you just put in the mouth and is delight.
Make less noise, please.
A fruit of Italy.
Next time, we are going to Naples and Amalfi coast.
Where Antonio was born and I grew up.
But this is the bell which I've been hearing since I was a little boy.
'We'll see how the most popular food in the world was invented by the coolest people.
' Pizza fritta.
Instant food.
'Gennaro will be reliving his youth.
'And we'll find out what change here since we were boys.
' 24K Oh, 24 carat gold.
It must cost quite a bit of money.
'We'll be cooking some fantastic food from my region.
'And eating it.
' Oh! Direct from the tree.