Original subtitles

[upbeat music]

It's hard to believe that just a few months ago

the first wave of COVID-19 had emptied

the streets of Naples

and Italy was in lockdown.

Thankfully, I've arrived during

a brief moment of normality.

Restaurants are open and

masks are not required outside

and we'll be sticking to the local rules.

Napoli is a truly thrilling city.

The second you arrive you're engulfed

by a magnificent chaos

and there's no point in fighting it.

People here do things their own way.

Take the energy of New York,

mix in the gritty elegance of New Orleans,

add 3,000 years of history

and cook it all up in the heat

of the world's most famous volcano.

That is Napoli.

I'm Stanley Tucci.

I'm Italian on both sides and I'm traveling across Italy

to discover how the food in

each of this country's 20 regions

is as unique as the people and their past.

This place may be looked down on

as the poverty-stricken underdog of Italy.

But the people who live in this region

have their own way of doing things.

For me, this is our philosophy.

This is our style and tradition.

They've given the world its favorite food.

Pizza margarita!

Just don't forget where it was invented.

[UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC]

If pizza was going to be born anywhere,

it would be here in Naples.

The city is hot, fast,

and a feast for the senses.

Naples is situated in Campania.

It's the unofficial capital of the Italian south

and is even older than Rome.

It's a region of volcanic landscapes, magical islands

and the world-famous Amalfi Coast.

The southern sun nurtures tomatoes

that are the envy of the world

and out in the hills, buffalo

produce the milk for the finest mozzarella.

But pizza wasn't born in the lush hills.

It came from the darkest, poorest streets of Naples

and its story combines two of Italy's favorite subjects,

food and death.

[TV ANNOUNCER] Vesuvius explodes.

Italy's historical volcano

bursts into the most fearsome and devastating eruption

At least once in every century,

it has heralded disaster.

The volcano is this sort of ever-present threat, isn't it?

It is. You know, it is on the landscape,

you always watch it, and have it in your mind and in your eyes.

Professor Elisabetta Moro is

one of the three million Neapolitans

who live in the shadow of the mighty volcano.

People are obsessed with the possibility of dying

because there is a volcano, because there are earthquakes,

-because there are epidemics -Yeah.

so it's very hard for them.

Life can be tough in this volatile city.

It's no wonder everywhere you go

in Naples you see handmade shrines

keeping a light shining for loved ones who have died.

This is all over the city you see this.

Yes, they are included in the architecture of the city.

You know these are kind of temples of memory,

you remember the people of your family or your friends,

especially young people who died.

Coming from a southern Italian family,

death was always talked about.

I remember my grandmother used to call my mother,

my mother would pick up the phone and she'd say,

-You know who died? -Yeah, exactly!

-That's what it was! -My grandmother did the same.

But it was also a way for feeling alive.

Elisabetta is showing me the historic heart of the city.

For hundreds of years the poorest people in Naples

were packed into these narrow streets.

Terrible sanitation meant that life

could be snatched at any moment

by the brutal epidemic of their age,

cholera.

People really got scared, because

you know, it was an epidemic

like more or less the COVID-19 virus...

Yes.

...so you could transmit it very easily.

Right. Right.

Cholera was spread by water and by food

so people here cooked pieces of bread in hot oil.

So the frying is simpler.

It's simpler, it's easy,

you can get a very good point of hygiene

because you know, frying really sterilizes everything.

It was probably one of the few times in life

that frying something might actually be healthy for you.

So this is where we're going to get fried pizza?

Alright, ciao.

Okay, so...

[Stanley] Beautiful.

[Stanley laughing]

You know since a century her family's doing this.

For a century?

For a century

These streets were once full of places like this,

but Fernanda is now the last of an historic lineage.

[Stanley] It all puffs up, doesn't it?

It's beautiful.

-Alright thank you. Thank you. -You're welcome.

[laughing] Ready?

This delicious pocket of history

was pizza before pizza was pizza.

-With the pork and the ricotta -Yeah, it's very tasty.

[street vendor] Pizza margarita!

As we walk off some of those calories,

Elisabetta tells me how pizza was born in these streets

from quite unpromising beginnings.

Well mostly they were selling bread

with a little bit of fat on it.

Sometimes pepper,

because people were really poor.

Then at a certain point, people here invented pizza.

But for many years it was just a Neapolitan taste,

a Neapolitan dish.

Because cholera also played a significant role...

-Yes it did. - ...in its attitudes.

It did for centuries. [Vespa engine]

Thankfully for us, by the late 19th century,

the Italian prejudice against Naples

and its food began to change

and Elisabetta's taken me to the place where,

according to legend,

in 1889 the Italian Queen ordered a pizza

that went on to bear her name, the Margherita.

Do you make pizza at home ever?

In Naples it's almost forbidden.

There's no point.

The only problem was during lockdown,

all the pizzerias were closed.

-That was really bad. -Yeah.

You know the first day after lockdown,

60,000 pizzas were made same day.

Really?

Yes and they were not sufficient

because everybody wanted a pizza.

-Because they were desperate. -Yeah.

First the pizza then the vaccine.

In the streets of Naples,

pizza grew out of one pandemic

and sustained the city through another.

What was born in a place consumed by death

is now a food the entire world finds life-affirming.

[upbeat piano music]

[upbeat trumpet music]

[pizzaiolo] Pizza with ham.

In this city of pizza-makers,

there is a man whose reputation towers over the town

like Vesuvius.

Enzo Coccia wrote the

globally recognized standards

on making the best Neapolitan pizza in the world

and was the first ever pizzaiolo

to be recognized by the Michelin guide.

Enzo?

The only thing he loves more than pizza is Naples itself.

[upbeat violin music]

Before he makes me a pizza,

the Maestro needs to go shopping.

And when you're in Campania, who needs the store

when you can go straight to the source?

Buffalo were brought to work the Southern Italian land

by Arab conquerors almost a thousand years ago

and early each morning, their milk

is turned into the finest mozzarella.

This masked man is Mimmo la Vecchia

and he's acknowledged as one

of the greatest cheesemakers in Italy.

Once this morning's collection of buffalo milk is heated,

Mimmo adds rennet to separate out the curds and the whey.

The curds are chopped and boiling water is added.

The result is incredible.

It's like he's a magician.

Do you know what I mean?

In Italian, "Mozzare" means "to cut off"

and this ancient process gives the cheese its name.

The mozzarella then rests in a salt bath for a few hours.

Unlike other cheeses which get better with age,

mozzarella is best eaten fresh.

Which is great news for me.

Oh my God!

[upbeat guitar music]

If you're going to make the greatest pizza

in Naples, once you have the bestmozzarella,

you need the perfect tomato.

There's a place whose name is whispered in awe

by pizza fans everywhere

from Brooklyn to Bangkok and Enzo is taking me there.

As a pizza lover, I only ever

buy cans of San Marzano tomatoes

and now I'm heading to the promised land.

Although I hadn't quite expected it

to be a small farm under a freeway.

We're meeting Enzo's special supplier, Uncle Vincenzo.

Behind his rusty gates I'm reminded that here in Italy,

treasures are to be found in the most unlikely locations.

I've eaten San Marzano tomatoes all around the world,

but the bright, balanced flavor of these

is like nothing I've ever tasted.

[Stanley] That's it?

Yeah, no, impossible. Yeah.

Varieties using the San Marzano name

are grown everywhere from New Jersey to New Zealand.

But only the tomatoes grown right here

are fed by the nutrient-rich soil

gifted by our old friend looming on the horizon.

[Stanley] Wow. Wow!

After our little shopping trip, we're back in the city

and finally, finally, the maestro

is making a pizza for me.

Mass-produced pizza brands always add sugar,

fat and flavorings,

but in Napoli it's just water, flour, salt,

yeast, and a lot of skill.

Incredible.

Nice.

The crushed San Marzanos from Uncle Vincenzo go on first.

Next, the creamy nuggets of mozzarella di bufala

to counteract the sweet sharpness of the tomatoes.

And a final flourish

to add saltiness

and fragrance.

And then, in a matter of moments,

food magic happens.

[Stanley] Incredible.

Oh, my God!

Thank you.

-Mmm! -Is that not perfect?

It's delicious!

Perfect, perfect, perfect!

Pizza making is one tradition we all hope will never die out

and that the pizziaoli of Naples

will always keep the flame of pure,

simple perfection burning.

In Napule.

-In Napule. -In Napule.

Good!

[upbeat piano music]

[police sirens]

So, this isn't what it looks like.

Let me explain. In this city,

it sometimes seems like everyone's

making up their own rules,

but somehow the place hangs together.

I'm meeting the man who tries to keep some order here.

Chief of the Municipal Police, Captain Capuano.

In true Neapolitan style,

he wants to explain how it works

over a coffee.

The Captain orders three coffees for the two of us.

I figured he just really likes coffee.

But paying for one extra is actually

a hugely important tradition here in Naples

It's called "suspended coffee"

and when a person in need shows up,

the coffee-seller gives them a free drink

that their fellow citizen paid for earlier.

Cheers.

That's nice.

The people of Naples have unofficial

ways of helping each other out that go back centuries.

They "suspend" essentials like coffee,

food and even toys

for families that can't afford them.

Campania is the second-poorest region in Italy

and community help is the only safety net

some people have.

When that fails, the powerful Neapolitan Mafia,

here known as the Camorra,

is only too ready to swoop in.

Poverty and crime has always

been part of life in this city,

but in 1960s an experiment to improve things

went badly wrong.

Five miles from the city center,

a new world was built.

It was called Scampia.

The poorest Neapolitans were moved out

of those dark slums

into futuristic new homes.

But the dream quickly turned into a nightmare.

The place had neither jobs nor transport

and people here were trapped.

Camorra crime gangs stepped in

where the state had failed.

Drugs were sold on the streets

and things got so bad, even the police stayed away.

Ordinary residents were caught in the middle.

More recently, a new chapter

in the neighborhood's history began

when hundreds of nomadic travelers called

the Romani people arrived.

They came from Eastern Europe and set up camp

under a freeway here.

The Romani sought a better life in Italy

despite no access to running water or electricity.

All across this neighborhood thousands of people

like Samantha saw their lives going to waste,

unfairly labeled as criminals,

while the authorities turned their backs.

But still, this is Napoli and

people look out for each other

in the most creative ways.

So, the kitchen was a very powerful instrument

to overcome stereotypes but also to create work.

Right.

We decided to make a small revolution

through the kitchen.

In a hut on the edge of Scampia,

local activist, Emma and her friends realized

that they had a talented community

of Neapolitan and Romani women,

each with unique food traditions

and decided to take matters into their own hands.

In the south we're used to fighting,

with or without the institutions.

I think this is a very southern Italian quality.

That small idea grew into something astonishing.

The hut is long gone.

It's now a restaurant and catering company called Chiku

based in a large, disused building here.

Samantha, whom I met over at the Romani camp,

got a job as a cook here.

Her recipes proved so popular they now star on the menu.

Customers now come to Scampia from across the city

to taste the delicious fusions

of Neapolitan and Romani food they create here.

This place receives no government help,

but the success of the social enterprise

allows them to also offer childcare

and education to all the residents of Scampia.

This neighborhood still has huge problems,

but in the face of unimaginable bleakness

the volunteers at Chiku have opened up

a space to mix food with talent...

Delicious! Delicious!

...and create hope.

This is just the most wonderful experiment, but reality now

which is that you've taken two cultures

and brought them together

with a frying pan.

[upbeat piano music]

[harp music]

The greatest joy of traveling

is that sometimes you discover a place by chance

and it winds up staying with you

for the rest of your life.

14 years ago, my late wife Kate and I

took a ferry from Naples to the island of Ischia,

just an hour away

One night we went to a family-run restaurant

where they served food that we never expected to have

on an island in the Gulf of Naples.

I try to come back whenever I'm lucky enough

to have the chance

and the family's eldest, Silvia,

is meeting me at the dock.

Silvia

-Ciao. -Welcome.

-Welcome to our island. -Nice to see you.

Now we start your adventure.

-Are you ready? -[laughing] I'm ready!

Now you may well be thinking,

"time for a beautiful drive along the coast

for some tasty seafood."

But no.

This restaurant stands defiantly away

from the seaside crowds,

through the woods,

and halfway up a mountain.

Ischia is one of a handful of volcanic islands

just off Naples.

Tourists started coming here in the '60s

to enjoy the thermal waters,

but before that it was pirates and foreign armies

washing up on the shore.

Welcome.

So island families chose to live up

in the safety of the mountains

and instead of catching fish,

they caught rabbits.

The place is overrun with them

and coniglio al'ischitana is famous across Italy.

In the States we rarely eat rabbit now,

but the delicious, lean meat draws the crowds up here

to this secluded restaurant.

But before we can eat it...

-Do you want me to open this? -Yes, please.

...we have to catch it.

Above the restaurant, wild rabbits are caught

with an ingenious and sustainable method

the islanders have been using for centuries.

A pit is dug close to the rabbit hole

and tasty food is thrown down to tempt them out.

Fragrant leaves and berries are specially selected

to add flavor to the rabbit's meat.

-The taste of the meat... -Comes through into the meat.

...the natural way.

Then, all you've got to do is hop in,

catch one and, I'll spare you the rest...

Silvia's little brother, Agostino,

runs the kitchen at Il Foccolare.

He's brilliant at bringing out the best flavours

from the wild game here.

He's worked at the finest restaurants

in New York and London.

But he came home to apply his skills

to traditional rustic cooking.

The last time I saw him, I ran into him

on the streets of New York.

-Yeah -He was in a bad way.

No, I'm kidding.

-That was a long time ago. -Yeah.

But I love rabbit, I cook it at home a lot

and the thing about rabbit...

No, no, no, no.

Because this rabbit is wild.

This is fine, we put olive oil.

Garlic, this style

And after we start to put rabbit.

OK?

The juice.

You can smell.

I like that you put the garlic in as a whole.

Now white wine.

It's beautiful.

The ingredients are very simple, tomato, herbs, garlic,

white wine, olive oil.

Knowing how to make the best of what you

have is vital up here.

While the rabbit cooks, I notice something

I've never seen before,

the Nonna of the family, Loretta,

is showing her grandchildren

how to tie tomatoes to local vines.

Today the restaurant is closed,

but I'm honored to be invited to family lunch.

This is the first time the family has come together

since their father passed away earlier

this year during lockdown.

[Silvia] A toast!

-[Silvia] To dad. -[all] To life.

It's an emotional time,

but also one of celebration.

Oh, my God!

As delicious as the food is,

traditional cooking like this also tells you

the story of a place,

how they lived and what was important to them.

For as long as anyone can remember,

there's been a strict hierarchy

to how Ischia's rabbit is served.

-The head of our family.-You're very kind, thank you.

Just one?

Sadly, in this traditional hierarchy,

the mother of the family is left

with the bony neck and skull.

The neck side, right?

Traditional food like this connects us

and makes us part of a bigger story.

She's my daughter.

That's why, even today, families across Ischia

sit down every Sunday

to enjoy a rabbit in a pot together.

[upbeat piano music]

As if the awe-inspiring majesty of Vesuvius

and volcanic islands aren't enough,

Campania has one final crowning glory.

Just a half hour outside of Naples,

some of the most famous and fabled landscape

on earth begins,

the Amalfi Coast.

It's the backdrop for a thousand romantic movies

and once-in-a-lifetime vacations,

and home to a restaurant where I had

a simple zucchini and pasta dish

that honestly, changed my life.

I've been longing to come back.

The family have agreed to show me how it's done.

My wife has come to join me

and we're in one of the most

beautiful places in the world.

What could possibly go wrong?

[thunder cracks]

OK, so there's this once-in-a-decade

storm forecast

and everyone's taking shelter,

[upbeat guitar music]

but that doesn't stop the morning delivery

coming down from the family's farm up in the hills.

Every morsel grown by the father, Peppino.

Hello.

Pride of place this season is

the star of my favorite dish,

zucchini.

The first time I had this dish,

I insinuated myself into the kitchen

to wheedle out the recipe

from Peppino's daughter, Antonia,

who runs the place.

We now make spaghetti alla Nerano at home every week

but it's never as good.

Chef Tomasso is giving me a masterclass

and my wife, Felicity, has even flown in

to make sure we get it right.

We came here two years ago,

the reason we're in this restaurant,

-right? -Yeah, we've made it everyday.

Practically everyday, yeah.

-It's a favorite, it's amazing. -We love this dish.

Everybody always thinks there's garlic in it or onion,

but it's just the sweetness of the zucchini.

I know.

-Oh wait, he put it in. -Oh, we missed it.

-Sorry.-We're so unprofessional.

The chopped zucchini are fried in sunflower oil,

and that's our first mistake.

We need about three gallons more

than we've been using at home.

It's frustrating to see him do it like this with ease

when we've been laboriously frying them in a shallow vessel.

-I know, it's so sad. -Hours of our lives.

-Literally hours. -I know.

Once fried, Tomasso leaves the zucchini overnight

to soften up.

With oil and basil?

No.

I feel like we've been doing a lot wrong.

All wrong.

Tomasso then heats up the zucchini.

Aw. Look at that amazing liquid.

It's beautiful, yeah.

And finally, a whole ingredient they didn't even tell us about.

See, they put butter.

-So basically-- -I asked your sister

two years ago, I said, "Do they put butter?"

Where is Antonia?

Yes a little bit of butter.

You didn't tell me that.

-I'm so upset.

No! No!

I won't hold it against you.

-You've moved on. -It's my mistake.

-Oh, my God. -Oh, look at that.

OK maybe it wasn't deliberate,

but then why wouldn't you want

to keep a recipe this good to yourself?

People come here from all around the world just for that.

-Yeah. -That's crazy.

-Round of applause. -It's too exciting.

-Oh, my God, look at that! -And on an induction hob.

20 minutes of ecstasy.

Mmm! Oh, my God.

Even better than I remember.

Such a simple dish, but you make it so beautifully.

One of the best things I've had in my life.

-Thanks for everything. -Thank you so much.

Antonia, thank you so much.

Oh, look at the wind.

-The sea is almost black. -Look at it.

We'll just be inside eating carbs.

This is great.

[low tone piano]

Any other day this sun-drenched spot is buzzing

with diners thrilled to be eating in one

of the most beautiful places on earth,

but as the storm clouds roll in

for the first time this year,

every single one of the expected 300 customers

today has canceled.

[thunder rumbling]

By evening, Felicity, the film crew and I

are the only guests.

Rather than allow all this incredible food

to go to waste,

they're making a feast for all

the brave souls still here.

While the kitchen team works serenely,

the film crew help me capture some views

of the famous Amalfi Coast

you won't normally see on a postcard.

Isn't it so gorgeous?

-Look at this! -I know.

-Whoa! -Yeah.

until nature sends us all running back inside.

[thunder cracks]

Hail storm.

It was like hail the size of Amalfi lemons.

It just came down. Holy shit!

You know, I've had dreams about having

this place all to myself,

being brought platters of beans, mushrooms and olives

from the family farm,

fried squid, zucchini flowers

and mussels au gratin.

But I didn't expect it to be

in quite these circumstances.

Here in Campania, nature can be cruel

but it can also be really, very kind indeed.

[upbeat piano music]

The storm has passed.

The natural order has been restored

and It's another heavenly day here on the Amalfi Coast.

I've traveled along to the little town of Minori

known for one of the most beloved desserts in Italy,

a blast of southern sunshine in a creamy light cake.

It's called Delizia al Limone, or Lemon Delight,

and to make it, you need to head for the hills.

Yes, incredible.

Up in the lemon groves above Minori

I'm meeting the man who introduced

the unique Amalfi Lemons to the dessert

and became one of the most

famous pastry chefs in Italy as a result,

Sal de Riso.

Yeah, no, it's incredible.

These lucky lemons are an ancient hybrid

of bitter and sweet citrus fruits

and the locals put them in everything they can.

Thank you. Cheers.

We head down to Sal's shop on the shore

where every year thousands of tourists

take a break from the natural wonders of the coast

to gasp at some man-made culinary marvels.

Beautiful!

At a time when Italian desserts

were dominated by northern and French creations,

Sal put the south of Italy firmly on the map

by capturing the essence of this place

in one particular cake,

Lemon Delight.

So, we know where the lemons come from

but how do you get the delight?

Oh Jesus, alright.

Of course! Cream.

Three creams, in fact.

And for good measure, you fill the cake with cream.

You just stick it right in.

And when the creams are mixed

you add more cream.

And more cream. And more cream.

A splash of lemon liqueur.

Oh, my God!

But how does he get that delicate, smooth coating?

-Wow! -No!

Really?

I thought you'd do something incredibly elegant but, yeah...

A little swirl of cream to finish

and a pinch of Amalfi lemon zest.

Okay, Okay.

I love lemon, I love lemon, but that's like...

[Sal] Look how beautiful the sea is here.

Well, we've had coffee and now dessert,

so what better way to end my journey to Campania

than with a glass of local limoncello

made with Amalfi Lemons,

of course.

OK.

I'm sure most of us have had a shot or three

of this with friends,

probably after gorging on Campania's

other great contribution

to the world, pizza.

Wherever we are, the food of this place

can't help but bring us together.

Thanks for everything, you're amazing.

Thank you.

-Cheers. -Cheers.

Cheers. Cin, cin.

[slow piano music]