Original subtitles

- If you strap on your skis in the Alps

and head straight down the mountains,

you'll find yourself in the fertile plains of Piedmont.

This region, tucked into the northern corner of Italy,

is a wonder offering up some of the best produce

in the world,

from exquisite white truffles

to rice for risotto

and the finest wines.

- It's incredible how, really, Barolo, um,

you put it in a glass

and in ten minutes, it's changed completely.

- The people here are fueled by passion and ambition.

- They just don't like to shout it up.

Oh, my God.

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.

- It resurrects a dead person.

Piedmont's a place that's always innovative.

- You have to be a little bit crazy.

Yes.

- Here, you have to expect the unexpected...

And come at things a little differently

to unearth its real treasures.

- Italy has a reputation for coffee.

But it's taken to another level in Turin.

Its graceful squares and elegant buildings

are the perfect setting to linger over something potent

and warming.

If you squint, you can even imagine yourself in Paris,

and that's no accident.

Turin is the capital of Piedmont...

A region in the extreme northwest of Italy,

directly on the border with France.

Having such a larger-than-life neighbor has left its mark.

French ideas, customs, and food are everywhere.

Oh, buongiorno.

But if there's a drink that sums it up, it's this:

Bicerin, a potion that's been all the rage since the 1760's.

Can I put my spoon in it?

I know that sounds like a naughty question.

That's really good.

coffee, chocolate, cream...

Different temperatures.

The French may have introduced chocolate to Turin,

but only Italians could have come up with a way

to suspend three ingredients like this.

- Bicerin packs a powerful punch...

Just the stuff to fuel revolutions.

One of its greatest fans was a 19th-century Turin aristocrat

with a big idea.

Food writer and local historian Paolo Vizzari,

has agreed to fill me in on the details.

So good to see you.

Well, we got a nice day for it.

So tell me about that guy.

- Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour.

He was the politician behind the Italian unification.

- Before unification,

modern Italy as we know it didn't exist.

Instead, it was a patchwork of dukedoms and kingdoms...

The Spanish controlling the south,

and the Austrians, the northeast.

The Kingdom of Sardinia, that ruled Piedmont,

led the fight to throw out the foreign powers

and build an Italy run by Italians.

What year is this now?

- 1861. - '61.

And Turin then becomes its first capital

for like... a minute and a half or something, right?

- Yeah, something like that.

But we still have a huge history,

especially in the feeding of people.

- Turin may have lost out to Rome in the long run,

but during its time as the capital,

Italy became a modern democratic nation

for the first time in history.

- This used to be the very first Italian parliament.

- And Cavour, Italy's first prime minister,

had good reason for choosing this location

for the center of government.

- In front of the parliament,

Cavour had his favorite restaurant.

Look at the distance.

- That's no more than 30 yards.

I see we have the same priorities.

Ristorante del Cambio

first began serving Turin's elite back in 1757,

and its doors have been open ever since.

Let's see... no, it's locked!

Oh, well.

We'll have to get some pizza.

Actually, there's a wonderful Chinese restaurant

around the corner there.

- Luckily, the staff take pity on us,

and we get in before the lunch rush.

Welcome to Versailles.

- It's a time warp, isn't it?

- And this is Cavour's table.

Every day, he used to have lunch in that seat,

and from there, he could see if his assistant was waving

his handkerchief from the balcony,

which was the signal that he had to go back to the office.

- And he had to go back, 'cause he would just stay here.

- Yeah, yeah, for hours.

My agent does that.

- Here, tradition is everything.

But Del Cambio's head chef, Matteo Baronetto,

has made it his mission to drag

this historical landmark into the 21st century

while still preserving the essence

of what makes the restaurant unique.

Matteo. - How are you?

- Stanley.

It's a high-wire balancing act

that's earned him a Michelin star.

- Matteo's not your typical chef.

- I can... I can see that, yes.

Okay, enjoy.

- Foie gras is served with a typically Italian vegetable,

cavolo nero... black kale.

Wow.

I don't have anything to say.

It's incredible. It's an amazing mix of flavors.

The acidity, the sweetness...

- Yeah, I think it's a good symbol for Turino

because it's super French in the base, but then...

- But then it becomes Italian.

Matteo's unique take on Piedmontese cuisine

pulls in Turin's chic crowd.

In the 19th century, Cavour was a fan

of aristocratic French food.

But he also loved more homey, regional dishes.

His favorite was a Piedmontese classic:

finanziera, a stew made from the cheaper parts of animals.

Brain. - Veal brain.

- So the tes... like testes. - Balls.

- Yeah, the balls. - All right.

And in the middle of... - Of the spine.

- The spine, yeah. - Ah.

- Offals, besides foie gras,

were not that used in the noble food.

So this used to be more regional food

than workers' food. - Peasant food.

- Peasant food.

- Finanziera is so associated

with Cavour and this restaurant, that Matteo

can't take it off the menu.

- It's almost a rough ragu.

- That's it? - It's like the opposite

of what people try to do, no?

Hide it.

- We must do taste. - Yeah, let's go.

The traditional finanziera.

This is really delicious...

and delicate...

'cause you think it's not gonna be delicate.

- That's also why Cavour loved these kind of dishes,

because he was grown up with French palate,

but in the end, he could recognize how delicate it was.

- Yeah.

Matteo's reinvention.

Dip in the sauce and you taste. - Okay.

Mmm.

I was afraid of the testicles.

But I'm not, no. - They're good in there, huh?

- They're absolutely delicious.

I have to say, I love offal.

I do. But even... even I

was a little, like...

But it is really, really delicious.

That kidney? - Yeah.

- I love it. - Like a cherry on the cake.

Oh, my God, I love it.

- In these dishes that Cavour loved,

we find the contradictions of Italy's birth.

Cavour thought French and ate French.

But he also believed in Piedmont and Italy,

and he loved the regional food.

You're amazing.

Amazing. Thank you so much.

You're incredible. - Grazie.

- Piedmont has many firsts to its name.

It's the birthplace of modern Italy,

and Turin was its first capital.

But now, I'm going to explore another first...

A food first.

So I'm heading to the

University of Gastronomic Sciences,

which is run by the slow food movement.

The genesis of the slow food movement was when they opened

a McDonald's at the Spanish Steps in Rome in the 1980s,

and a group of people protested, and that was

the beginning of the movement.

It has, without question, significantly changed

the world of food as we know it.

The campus is an hour south of Turin

in the small town of Pollenzo.

And when I say small, I mean... small.

Like, tiny.

Could we go on smaller streets?

It's like a test.

What an amazing spot.

- This is clearly not your average college campus.

Students here get to study in a 19th-century Gothic palace,

originally built for Piedmont's royal family.

All right, let's go.

- I'm meeting Carlo Petrini, the founder of the university

and creator of the slow food movement.

You might say a real-life caped crusader.

- Slow food's mission is to fight against bland,

industrialized food.

The university teaches the value of regional specialties

from olive oil to wine.

It's all about savoring food, drink, company,

the wonderful ritual of eating.

I've come back to Turin to see

slow food's philosophy in action

and understand the movement's wider impact

across this region and beyond.

- Hi. - Hi.

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet...

- I'm Carlo. Welcome to Piola Da Celso.

- Grazie.Hello.

- Elizabeta. - Elizabeta.

- Elizabeta.

- Piola Da Celso is a family-run business.

- Elizabeta does the cooking

and her son, Carlo, serves the customers.

Today, Elizabeta is making a Piedmontese specialty:

bagna càuda, a warm sauce made from anchovies and garlic

that you dip vegetables into.

It's a dish that a few years ago was in danger

of disappearing from restaurants.

- Bagna càuda is a traditional dish,

and not everyone wants to eat something

that is very traditional. - Yeah.

Is that because of the slow food movement?

Yes it is.

- I've been told Elizabeta's bagna càuda

is the best in town.

Where did bagna càuda come from?

- It was for poor people, because anchovies with salt

were very, very cheap.

- And it gives an incredible flavor too.

- I mean... - Incredible flavor

and incredible breath. - Bad breath?

- Oh, yes. - Does it?

- Yes... the garlic kills

almost everyone you can have in front of you.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've ended up

reeking of garlic.

The crew will just have to put up with it.

- Si, si, si.

- There are a lot of anchovies. - I noticed.

I don't think there are anymore left in the ocean.

- It's very particular dish.

You can find it only in Piedmont.

- Yeah. - And not in every restaurant.

It's very rare. - Yeah.

- Sorry. Sorry.

- It resurrects a dead person.

- She want to know if you just said "to put some energy."

- Finished? Oh, all right.

Elizabeta cooks everything herself, fresh every day.

But it seems embracing the traditional

means doing without modern appliances.

- Si. I would love it, actually.

- My new favorite word.

Mmm.

Oh, my God.

- That is amazing.

Mm.

Si.

Mmm.

If I smell of garlic, I don't care.

Well, I'm starving.

Is the chef good? - Yes.

- The classic, if slightly unusual combination

of veal with a tuna and caper sauce.

Meat-filled ravioli bathed in roasting juices

called agnolotti.

- Oh, my God.

Wow. Wow.

And finally, the local specialty:

roasted shoulder of veal.

- It's like a 11 out of 10.

Oh!

It's so good. - You are very kind.

- No, I'm not kind. Well, I'm not being kind.

In Piedmont, traditional, regional food

is very much alive and well.

- She should be.

- It's all about passion. - Yeah.

- What pizza is to Naples,

risotto is to Piedmont.

Half the rice grown in the country

comes from this region.

It thrives on flood plains in the Po River Valley,

northeast of Turin, where its irrigated

by melting glacier water from the Alps.

The town of Vercelli is Italy's rice capital

with the risotterie,

places specializing in risotto, everywhere.

But I've heard the best one is, rather surprisingly,

hiding at the back of 1960s hotel.

Oh, there it is.

Unassuming is the word.

Hi.

- Buongiorno. - Buongiorno.

Thank you.

- Brothers Christian and Manuel Costardi

pay homage to rice,

serving it in modern, inventive ways

to diners who travel the world to taste their risotto.

- We start with the rice.

- This is your rice.

- Yeah, this is, like, a selection that we do

with a farm close to Vercelli for the best rice for risotto.

It is carnaroli, and we do the roasting of the rice.

It's one of the most important procedure for the risotto.

We add salt and pepper.

- You're like toasting it almost, right?

- Yes... the only time that you can

give flavor to the rice.

After, you give flavor to the risotto.

We add vegetable stock. - Vegetable stock. Okay.

- Yes. Onion, carrot, celery.

- Yeah.

The Costardi brothers

celebrate the very best

of Piedmont's local produce.

Their signature dish is a risotto made

with Lavazza coffee, a beer reduction,

and grana padano cheese.

- And the risotto we do now is a tribute to Italy.

And what we want to do is to bring

four of the most important regions

of everything in the dish.

- Are you both from this area?

- Yeah. We are born in Vercelli.

The hotel was built by our grandparents in 1967.

In 2005, we decided to open our restaurant.

- Right. - To try to do something new.

We... our born idea,

the idea to have 22 different risotto in the menu.

- Christian and Manuel's restaurant

is a million miles away from a traditional risotteria,

which usually have only one or two classic cheese or mushroom

risottos on the menu.

The brothers' inventive approach has earned them

a Michelin star.

You are experimenting all the time.

- Yes. We like to take inspiration

from other penne in our life...

From music, from television,

from cinema, from art, from everything.

We'll never forget what we have outside our windows,

what we have around us, and the rice, and the territory,

and Piedmont is very important for us.

For this risotto is grana padano cream.

- Oh, nice.

- And after, we have the powder of coffee.

This is the coffee that arrived from Ethiopia.

- Oh, yeah. Ooh, yeah.

- The coffee idea arrived because I love the coffee.

What we try with each dish that we produce is to broke

what is in your mind normally.

- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

- Okay, this is unsalted water.

- Unsalted. Okay. - Yeah.

Music.

- Yes.

- You try? - Not like that.

- It's not difficult.

- It's not?

No. Go. You do it.

That's so cool.

- These tins are born in tribute to Andy Warhol.

Yes.

- This is the reduction of beer.

- Just beer? - We just used the sugar

of the beer. - Hmm, it's like caramel.

- Yes. - Yeah.

- Bitter. - Whoa!

- And when the mix from the beer, coffee, and cheese

in the mouth, it's like fresh mushroom.

- Now we add the grana padano cream on top.

- This is completely changing everything

I thought about risotto.

- Coffee on top and beer at the end.

- Kay. - What kind of spoon you want?

- I'll take that one. - Okay.

- Yeah. Thank you.

That's a revelation.

That's like 1,000 things... - Yes.

- In one can. - Yes.

- Wow.

Also, the way you cook the risotto...

It's so nice and firm.

- It's very important to have the flavor of the rice.

You have to bite and understand what is inside.

- That's unbelievable.

You're not doing it in Milan.

You're not doing it in Turin.

You're not doing it in Florence.

You're doing it here, where you grew up.

- People say we are crazy.

Not only people outside, but also our grandma.

- Yeah. She said you were crazy.

- Yeah, when we begin, our grandma say:

The brothers' love of rice

also inspires their dessert menu.

And Manuel's signature dish is "Rice Field in Winter."

- When I study this dish, I go in the rice field

for taste the ground, for smell the ground.

We use chestnut cream.

- What's that? - It's rice ground.

It's a biscuit of rice flour and chocolate.

We add some of the crispy rice.

- That one I used to have for breakfast.

- Yes. - I was a kid...

Not as good as that, but yeah.

- And the wintertime for us is one of the most poetic moment

of the year. - This is cool.

- You have to be a little bit... - Crazy.

Yes.

- Put some liquid nitrogen.

- So what did he put in there?

- And then you're freezing it?

- Like snow. That's cool.

So now it's snowing.

That's genius.

- A morning in Vercelli.

Yeah, yeah.

I love it.

You eat it with this? - Yeah.

- That's great.

It's not super-sweet.

I wanna have it in a cone.

- Thank you. - God damn it.

Guys, how come I never met you before?

My whole life, wasted.

- If you visit Piedmont,

there's something that grows here that's so special,

the white truffle.

It's so coveted that it's sold on the market

and at charity auctions for huge sums of money.

- This season's largest white truffles

are selling to bidders from Italy and around the world.

- The auctioneer is my friend from Turin,

food writer Paolo Vizzari.

He's got his work cut out for him.

Bids for the delicate fungi come in thick and fast.

- Luckily, the buyer isn't put off.

The white truffle's value

seems to be pretty much indestructible.

A truffle weighing close to two pounds,

pulling in bidders from Moscow and Hong Kong.

- That's $114,000.

When it comes to price,

white truffles from Piedmont

are in a league of their own.

Nice to see you again.

Nice to see you again.

Would any other truffle from any other part of Italy

garner that much... - No.

- Attention, and would they get that much money?

- I don't think so. - No.

- In the end, it's all about the nature around here.

- Yeah. I couldn't believe it, though,

when the guy dropped the truffle.

That was a chilling moment.

- No, there was one little piece left on the floor.

I saw it. - Did you pick it?

- No, no. I was too embarrassed.

Because it's probably like

20 grams. - Yeah, I know!

There was like... yeah.

- While the more common black truffle can be farmed,

white truffles grow only in the wild.

So auction houses rely on truffle hunters

to source the white gold in the forests of the Langhe,

an area of rolling hills 40 miles south of Turin.

Here, conditions are perfect.

Warm air from the south

pushes back cold currents from the Alps,

and summer rainfall feeds the mineral-rich soil.

White truffles sell

for extraordinary amounts of money

because they're so hard to find,

even if you know what you're doing.

I'm going to meet a truffle hunter,

and we're gonna catch a big one.

The competition between truffle hunters is intense,

and they're obsessed with guarding their secrets.

But I'm meeting someone who's agreed to show me some

of what he knows.

This is gonna be interesting.

Okay. Here we go.

- Stanley.

- Igor Bianchi is known as the king of truffle hunters.

Hi.

- They're border collie. - Border collie.

Well, shall we?

Let's go.

So beautiful.

- Lola and Susy have been trained

since they were puppies

to detect the truffles' unique scent.

Okay.

- Igor once found a monster truffle

weighing just over two pounds.

So you never know what we might find today.

Hey, Lola! Hey!

- For all of Igor's expertise,

the last few years have been tough for truffle hunters.

Climate change has meant less summer rainfall.

Hence, fewer truffles.

- It seems that the truffles are being shy today.

- With truffles harder to find,

they're becoming more precious than ever.

Luckily for me, Igor did find a truffle yesterday,

and he wants to cook up a classic truffle dish

in his garage.

Oh, my God.

- Nothing else in the world is like that.

Simple recipes are best when it comes to showing off

the truffle's flavor.

So Igor's cooking me eggs fried in butter,

topped with shaved truffle.

- Ah... I see. Mmm.

- Okay, now... right. Now it has to...

Despite all the razzmatazz and velvet cushions,

when it comes down to it, white truffles

are really a simple, earthy pleasure

straight from Mother Nature.

- Eh? - Mmm.

Grazie.

- In the Langhe, I'm on the trail

of another coveted treat that comes from this land

of coveted treats.

It's so beautiful.

Due to a unique combination of geography and climate,

these hills are home not only to the white truffle,

but also one of Italy's most celebrated red wines.

Giulia Negri is the first person in her family

to make Barolo from vines on this estate.

So you inherited this place?

- Yes. - From your family?

- They were a big family of engineer from Turina.

- Uh-huh. - And they bought it in 1870...

- Yeah.

- These slopes get a lot of sun...

Although, not today...

Making them perfect for growing Nebbiolo,

a thin-skinned grape that's hard to cultivate

outside this region.

It's the only grape that can be used to make Barolo.

So you have how many hectares of...

- We have six hectare and a half of vineyard,

so they are all around here the house, and 12 forests.

It's among the last forests in all the Barolo area.

- Oh, really? - And this is why

we're really protecting it a lot.

- Whereas a lot of winemakers might get rid of that forest

and plant more... - Vines?

Exactly. - Yep.

Barolo produced exclusively in this tiny corner of the Langhe

is one of Italy's finest and most expensive wines.

"Nebbia" is Italian for "fog."

And when the fogs of fall come,

that's when the Nebbiolo is harvested.

So I'm here at the perfect time

to see how Giulia transforms these grapes.

Come in.

So here, you can smell it, definitely.

- I definitely smell it.

- We finished the harvest two weeks ago.

- Mm-hmm.

- We are truly in the peak of the fermentations,

and if you listen...

Oh, yeah! Both: It's alive.

It's alive!

- Wow. - Our job is to keep the cap

always wet during the fermentation

because otherwise, it becomes like vinegar.

- Oh, vinegar? - Yeah.

- You're putting wine... - We are pumping it

from the lower parts.

- Oh, you're pumping it from the bottom into the top.

- Exactly. - Oh, I see, I see.

I'd like to have this in my kitchen.

- Did you go and study wine-making, or you just...

- I never studied wine-making. - Try it yourself?

- Not knowing nothing about it, uh, made me learn

really faster. - Yeah.

- Wine is more... Is like cooking.

- Yeah.

It's the same.

- It's more really...

- You feel it. - I don't know how to say.

- Now for the best part of the process.

For me, at least.

- Now it is a Barolo that is very young.

It will be a 2019.

It will stays two year here. So, easy.

- Right. - And the half of these aging.

- I'm not spitting that out.

It's delicious.

- Mm. - But you can tell it just

needs more time.

- Definitely. - Yeah.

How old are you?

- 30. Last week.

- That's incredible.

One of the region's youngest vintners,

Giulia's instinctive feel for the grapes,

plus her meticulous observation of the process,

makes her wine outstanding.

- So we will open another Barolo...

- Okay. - But the last vintage,

which is the 2017.

Cheers.

- Welcome, Stanley. - Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Mmm, that's really nice. - Mm.

- That's great.

It is distinctly different. - Yes.

- Than the 2019, which is still in the...

- Barrel. - In the barrel.

The tannins are more prominent.

And yeah, at the same time, it's sort of lighter

and more delicate. - Mm-hmm.

- Si, it's more balanced, no? - Literally,

it was off-balance.

It's going back and forth.

That's the longest description of any glass of wine

that anyone's ever made...

- And I'm really sorry. I am sorry.

I could say that... What, you know...

It has notes of strawberry.

But I won't say that,

'cause it doesn't.

I'll just say it's pretty good,

and it's getting better.

- Yep. - As it's opening...

- Open up, but it's incredible how really Barolo...

You put it in a glass, and in ten minutes,

it's changed completely. - Totally.

- So you need the truffle to pair it, and then...

- I know. Well, let's go look for one.

- I cannot resist the call of the Alps,

which dominate the skyline everywhere in Piedmont.

Finally going up in the world,

I've ascended to Italy's smallest and highest region:

Valle D'Aosta.

Nestled in the Alps, its cuisine is influenced

by close neighbors France and Switzerland.

As usual, I'm famished,

and there's a little restaurant at the foot

of the Matterhorn dedicated to Alpine food:

Alpage.

- Hello, nice to meet you. - Hello.

Welcome, Stanley. - Thank you.

Thanks... thanks for having me.

Cecilia Lazzarotto, a local teacher and sommelier,

knows a thing or two about the best this region has to offer.

Are we gonna eat? - Yes, we can go outside,

if you want. - Let's go outside.

- Yeah. - Okay.

- With views like these, you have to eat outside.

What do we have?

- This is, um... - Jambon.

- Oh, you're speaking French.

All right, go ahead.

This is one is Lard d'Arnad.

Yeah, lardo.

- Thank you. Very good. - Grazie.

- Look at that... How beautiful that is.

So this region, there are basically...

three different languages.

But I think most of the population of our region

is consider themselves Italian. - Italian.

- It's strange because we never seeing the other side

of the mountain.

But we know who are in the other side.

- And if there's one dish

that Valle D'Aosta's close neighbors are famous for...

- Oh! Grazie. - It's fondue.

On this side of the mountains,

it's called "fonduta,"

and over here, they make it a little differently.

- Yeah. - The difference between,

for example, Switzerland and France...

They have fonduta with different cheese...

- What do they use? - Gruyère?

- Gruyère? - Maybe a bit of frachet.

- Italian fontina cheese from cows fed on sweet grass

high in these mountains make the fonduta so luscious,

it doesn't need the white wine they add

in France or Switzerland.

Mmm. Oh, my God, that is so good.

- That is incredible.

- So delicious.

All these dishes are packed with calories...

Perfect for a day high in the mountains,

and I couldn't leave without going to the top of one.

I've actually skied here before,

and the view from the peak is spectacular.

I can't wait to see it again.

And then, as if on cue...

Look at... we're just enveloped in cloud.

Here we go right into it.

Well, that was a trip for nothing, right?

- We are on the border.

So we have to cross. - Okay, ready?

- Yeah.

You are ready? - Ciao, Italia.

- Okay. Wow, we are in Switzerland.

- We're in Switzerland.

Oh, wait, I forgot something.

- Is that where we're going? - Yeah.

- Rifugio. Rifugio. - Rifugio.

- What better way to end my journey to the Alps

than with a glass of the local liquor?

Génépi is a real winter warmer.

It's made with wormwood and Alpine plants

celebrated for its healing properties.

- Cheers. - Thank you so much.

- Thank you to you.

It's fantastic. - Whoa!

- From herbs... From, uh, from mountains...

- Oof! - Fantastic, no?

- Yes!

- The génépi has brightened things up considerably,

inside and out.

Oh, look. Now we can really see it.

- Yeah!

- Yeah.

It's difficult to describe sometimes, huh?

I see them and I shut up

because it's impossible to talk about.

- Beautiful.

Stretched out below is Valle D'Aosta

and Piedmont beyond,

where the Italian nation was born...

A region without which

I wouldn't be searching for Italy at all.