Original subtitles

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Ch chae chael: Chael: La chael: Lazi chael: Lazio.

Best known for the grandeur of rome,

an unspoiled countryside,

and the relics of a past empire.

My lazio menu features these classic dishes.

Mint fava bean soup.

My primo is a creamy spaghetti carbonara.

A secondo of veal,

with sage and prosciutto.

And a dolce of cake made with almond-flavoured cookies.

♪

♪

Lazio was once the centre of the roman empire.

And there you'll find cosmopolitan rome

and the vatican city.

But in the pristine countryside,

life is a little simpler.

And this guanciale

is the cured jowl of pork.

And it, along with pancetta,

are used very similarly in italian cooking.

♪

(Sizzling)

There's no oil in the pan right now,

so the heat is gently rendering down

that lovely, luscious fat

between the layers of the meat.

But this'll take some time,

and it's just a case of giving it a stir...

Every once in a while.

In the meantime, onto my other aromatics.

Celery, garlic and onion.

In french, it's called mirepoix.

In italian, sofrito.

It adds depth of flavour to any simmering dish.

♪

A good, hot chilli, finely minced,

adds just the perfect amount of heat to the dish.

This, lightly fried in the bottom of the pan,

soaking up all that luscious,

rich, rendered-down fat,

is the base to this amazing soup.

♪

This is a fresh fava bean.

And fava beans are a favourite in lazio.

This is what they look like when they're fresh.

A simple boil, toss in butter,

mash with a fork, they're good to eat.

In go all the beans, along with the tomatoes.

Fresh or canned.

Whatever you've got.

All moistened down

with a lovely drop of light chicken broth.

And now my scafata just needs time

to come up to a gentle simmer.

And allow all the flavours to come together.

One of the last ingredients to add to the soup

is a good amount of swiss chard.

Or whatever you have.

And the reason i'm adding it late in the cooking

is so that it doesn't turn colour.

It'll keep that wonderful, vibrant green,

have lots of great taste, and add wonderful texture.

Into the soup they go.

And they will just melt down within minutes.

Another great flavouring for this soup is mint.

And romans love their mint.

They love it on vegetables. They'll toss it in salads.

They'll even have it with tomatoes.

And it adds a wonderful fragrant pop of flavour

that is unmistakable.

And you can't possibly have a soup like this

without a good piece of crunchy, crusty,

toasted hearty bread.

Just a good old rub...

With a freshly cut clove of garlic.

Just to get the aromatics. Nothing overpowering.

Just subtle background flavours...

Of freshly cut garlic.

A good drizzle...

Of olive oil.

♪

And this is a soup

that is the pride of lazio.

Scafata.

And these fava beans...

As it pops in my mouth,

it adds a little creamy texture.

The richness of the guanciale.

The sweet sort of savoury meatiness

is absolutely wonderful.

It's nothing complicated.

It's just taken years and years and years to perfect.

And now for my primo.

A pasta dish that is known the world over.

And it's a classic.

Do you know what it is?

This world-famous pasta dish is a real favourite in rome.

And this creamy concoction of pasts

actually has no cream in it.

It has eggs, cheese,

and a little guanciale.

And if you guessed that the dish i'm talking about

is spaghetti alla carbonara,

you are right on the money.

It is a simple and quick pasta to prepare.

And by the time my noodles are done,

my sauce will be ready for the dish.

It's the egg yolks in the spaghetti carbonara

that add to that creamy texture.

But those egg yolks

are very susceptible to heat.

So not overheating the eggs is essential.

The other ingredient

that gives a nice, creamy texture to this dish

is a little cheese,

called pecorino.

Or pecora.

This has a light sharpness to it,

and a salty hit.

But combined with the egg yolks,

adds to that creaminess.

♪

A little salt.

And a good amount...

Or cracked black pepper.

Because the pepper adds depth of flavour to the dish.

And that unmistakable peppery tingle on your palate.

We're just about done.

(Sizzling)

My guanciale has crispened up really nicely.

And released those delicious flavoury fat content.

It's the perfect time to add in the pasta.

(Sizzling)

Along with the all-important pasta water.

Add the egg mixture in.

There's enough heat in the pan

to slowly cook the eggs,

melt the cheese,

to become the perfect carbonara.

And this is the kind of pasta that waits for no man.

When it's ready,

you serve.

♪

Going to sprinkle more cheese.

Who knows who made the very first spaghetti alla carbonara?

All i know is, i love to eat it.

That creaminess...

Without cream.

Just gently cooked egg yolks.

The wonderful rendered-down fat from the guanciale.

The pecorino cheese.

And that peppery finish.

All of that coats and enrobes

the perfectly toothsome al dente spaghetti.

Buonissimo.

It's beautiful.

And for my secondo,

surely you've heard of saltimbocca.

♪

Veal with prosciutto and sage

is served practically in every trattoria in rome.

It's even called saltimbocca alla romana.

And what makes this saltimbocca

such a delicious scaloppini dish

is that each of these little scaloppinis

get their own sage leaf.

Held in place securely...

With a lovely little slice

of prosciutto.

And saltimbocca means jump in your mouth.

And this one jumped in my mouth.

Mm.

That is good.

Now...

A quick dusting of seasoned flour.

And i like to add a little cornstarch to my flour,

because i find it just helps add a little crispy coating

to anything i'm pan-frying like this.

♪

Just roll it over once or twice.

And off to a hot pan.

(Igniter clicking)

♪

(Sizzling)

It is the simplest and quickest

of all meat dishes to cook.

And that's why scaloppini is often served

at a big platter at a table.

Because they cook so quick and easily.

They're really delicious.

It's that quick.

And there's a lot of good stuff in the bottom of this pan

that quickly becomes my sauce.

A splash of masala.

(Sizzling)

Which is an italian fortified wine.

And it has quite a unique, slightly sweet flavour.

Splash of meat broth.

And to finish off my sauce...

A couple of nobs...

Of good old butter.

This, the french call monté au beurre.

I like to think of it as just adding goodness and richness

to a sauce.

Back in go the scaloppini

to get bathed in that masala.

Butter and broth.

And that is it.

Ready to serve.

To serve these scaloppini...

Just lay them out...

Onto a platter.

Saltimbocca alla romana.

And just look at that sauce on these scaloppini.

♪

So tender. so juicy.

Succulent.

And that sauce, done in seconds flat.

After a rich saltimbocca,

how about a little sweet dolce?

An amaretto cake.

Amaretti biscotti

are a crisp, slightly chewy biscuit

flavoured with almonds.

A little like the french macaron.

And in lazio,

they love to use these amaretti biscotti

as part of a soft, fluffy cake

called torta alla amaretti.

And it really is quick easy to make.

Butter, and a little sugar.

♪

Room temperature butter and a little sugar,

when mixed together,

to become light and creamy,

changes to a beautiful pale-colour yellow.

That tells me it's ready for the next ingredient.

A couple of fresh eggs.

And eggs are such an important ingredient in cooking.

They lighten, enrichen,

help to keep moist.

And they bind.

Now another italian classic here.

Ricotta cheese.

That is often used in both baking and savoury dishes.

But it adds a certain lightness,

texture and moisture

when baked in a cake like this.

I'm a sucker when it comes to vanilla.

And i think vanilla is such a great base

when it comes to baking.

It's that big platform

that you can literally stand anything on.

And i love the smell. I love the taste.

And now, one of the key ingredients.

Almond liqueur.

And if you can't find an almond liqueur,

use a little almond extract.

But be gentle with it.

It's pretty powerful stuff.

That is my wet ingredients done.

The dry ingredients.

Flour, baking powder and salt.

And these dry ingredients

are what will keep this batter together.

Nothing complicated.

This has got to be any and every baker's friend.

A springform mould.

Easy to get things out of. Lightly buttered.

Dusted with flour.

And it's good to go.

Just work the dough a little to the edges.

And even all over.

And that takes care of the soft, tender,

moist part of the cake bottom.

Now for the crunchy topping.

And that starts off with good old egg whites

and a little muscle.

Lightly stiffed egg whites.

Crunchy amaretti biscotti.

More crunch.

Toasted almonds.

All folded...

Into that soft, fluffy, whipped egg white.

Doesn't that sound amazing?

And this is ready to head off to the oven.

It's that simple.

Look at that.

And the smell.

You know, the smell of fresh-baked cakes,

it's one of the best aromas in the whole wide world.

♪

I'm a lucky fella.

This amaretti cake

is as much about texture as is it the taste.

That crunchy, crispy, crackly topping.

And then that soft, moist, succulent cake.

Easy to put together.

Easy to enjoy.

We started with a springtime mint

and fava bean soup.

A primo that's everybody's favourite.

Spaghetti alla carbonara.

Pan-fried scaloppini veal,

crisp pancetta and a little sage.

Saltimbocca alla romana.

And a perfect amaretti cake.

Some of my favourite recipes from lazio.

An entire meal.

Buon appetito.

(Man singing in italian)

♪