01x06 - Sicily

[bunniefuu]

So we're coming down
through Calabria,

on a train obviously.

We're going to Sicily,

the biggest island
in the Mediterranean.

Because there is no bridge,

they take the train and
put it onto a ferry.

Oh, we're getting on it!
Well, that's exciting.

And you can see the tracks here,
where the other cars will go.

I love trains, but
I like the idea

that the train goes on a boat.

I think we should get
a car on top of this

and be in a car on
a train on a boat

and then have a horse
on top of the car.

I'm Stanley Tucci.

I'm fascinated by
my Italian heritage,

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.

Sicily is a mythical
land of contrasts -

fire and water,

dry and fertile,

refined

That's very French.

And rough.

How did one of the
poorest regions in Europe

- What do you think?
- I love it.

Create the richest of cuisines?

That's so good.

Get ready

This is delicious. I want
to take a bath in it.

Every mouthful here

Mmm, that's wonderful.

Is an eruption of flavor.

My god that's so
good. Mmm, my god!

Before I arrive in Sicily,

there's one
delicious food ritual

that I have to experience.

It's a tradition to eat these

while you're a boat passing
this statue of the Madonna.

These are arancini.

Look at that.

These beautiful little cones

are rice with
saffron, peas, meat.

The story goes that the
Arabs brought these to Sicily

in the 9th Century.

Hand-rolled rice,
with a meat filling.

Breaded and fried.

That's good.

The taste of
arancini, I am told,

is the taste of home
for all Sicilians.

Just a few miles off the
toe of the boot of Italy

lies the island of Sicily

it's southernmost region,

and with volcanic
soil so fertile,

it's nickname is God's Kitchen.

But Sicily is also said to
be home to the gates of Hell.

Impoverished for centuries,
conquered by everyone

from the Arabs to the French,

and haunted by its
mafia connections.

The locals have learned
to make the most

of what they've got.

In this fiercely
traditional region,

things are changing.

And I want to discover the
effect it's having on the food.

Classic Sicilian cuisine

is harnessing the power
of simple ingredients

and allowing them to shine.

Don't mistake
uncomplicated for bland.

Seafood, vegetables and pasta

only need a little
local olive oil

and salt to reveal
their sublime qualities.

Just outside the
capital, Palermo,

in a seaside town
called Bagheria,

an amazing self-taught chef

has built his reputation
on the basics.

- Ciao.
- Ciao.

Tony Lo Coco left school at 17

to work with his dad making
stained glass for churches

but he fell in love with food

and now owns a Michelin-starred
restaurant called I Pupi.

Tony is cooking his version
of the Sicilian classic,

spaghetti alla bottarga.

Oh I see, it creates
a little texture to it

which helps the
sauce stick to it

which ends up giving
everything a better flavor.

What could be more Italian
than spaghetti, right?

Well, wrong.

It's said that spaghetti
was invented by the Arabs

who brought it to Sicily
a thousand years ago.

But the Arabs ate
their spaghetti

with raisins and cinnamon.

Very different to the
savory dishes of today,

like this one.

Bottarga is a solid
block of dried fish eggs,

tuna in this case.

Tony is so proud of
his signature dish

he has named it Spaghettony.

Garam. This is like what
the Romans used to make.

Right. This is the
secret to the flavor.

This gives it that intensity.

Garam was sort of
like Roman ketchup

sort of, maybe.

Tony then adds lemon
zest, Sicilian of course,

and an avalanche of bottarga.

On top he adds salted,

dehydrated fried
capers for crunch

and dried breadcrumbs
ground down with anchovies,

which is called mullica.

This is the mullica that people
used to use who lived by the sea

because they didn't have cheese,

this in essence took
the place of cheese.

Voila. Come on.

- Oh!
- Oh no!

That'’s beautiful.

g*dd*mn it, mm!

Thank you.
That's so good.

My god that's so
good. Mmm, my god!

The core, the soul
of your restaurant,

is taking really simple food
of Sicily and elevating it.

Yes.

It turns out Tony is
a culinary linguist.

Jesus, I feel guilty.

I just love this idea.

I want to live with you.

Tony created something

that a lot of people
aren't able to create.

He's able to take
these traditional foods

and elevate them.

He loves where he comes from

and he just wants to
make everything better.

That's not a bad trait.

Look at that little cluster
of buildings up there.

All these old abandoned farms.

In the south east of the island

the picturesque baroque
town of Victoria

rises surrounded by
stark, hilly fields.

This area is known for
its grapes and I'm parched

so I'm in the right place.

Sicily has a reputation
for being a traditional,

rather macho society

so until recently, wine-making,
like many professions here,

was controlled by men.

But the wine-maker
I'm about to meet

is definitely bucking the trend.

This is 38 year old
Arianna Occhipinti.

So, tell me everything.

What is the grape?

And Nero d'Avola

is a very common grape
in Sicily, isn't it?

Sicily is one of the oldest

wine-producing
regions in the world,

but it's wine is often
thought to be too bold,

perhaps fine to blend
with other wines

but nothing to be
celebrated on its own.

But Arianna is said
to be producing

a more delicate vintage.

So what should it be?

- It should be brown?
- Yeah.

It is sweet.

It's very sweet,

it's actually much sweeter than
I thought it was going to be.

Next to Arianna's vineyard
lie abandoned farms,

a reminder that Sicily has
the worst unemployment rate

in Italy.

Thousands of young Sicilians

have left the island
in search of work.

So you had a lot of
friends who left,

and where did they go,

what did they end up doing?

So the farm
ends up shutting down

or the vineyard ends
up shutting down.

Yes.

Arianna was inspired

by the potential of the
southern Sicilian soil.

Her organic vines produce lower
yields but fruitier aromas,

and her varieties are deeply
rooted in the local land.

So you're from here?

Arianna's dedication is evident

in every aspect of her business.

I always wondered
how this was done.

It's your piece of art.

It's beautiful.

How many bottles
do you make a year?

Wow.

- Yes! I thought you'd never ask.
- Perfect.

Now I'm hardly a wine expert
but I do know what I like

and that I like drinking it.

This is delicious and I
want to take a bath in it.

- Yes, yes.
- Yeah, yeah.

A lot of Sicilian wines
are quite heavy but it's light...

Arianna's impressive
achievements in the wine world

come from her
steely determination

to choose the artisanal
over the industrial.

That's really good.

And in a region where
only a quarter of women

have joined the workforce,

her success is nothing
short of revolutionary.

Did you find it difficult,
particularly as a young woman,

to start a business?

And they respect you.

That's great. Well, thank you.

- You're welcome.
- Thank you so much.

Arianna's wine is
ground-breaking

and I have no doubt that in
the hands of people like her

this land will
certainly flourish.

Today I'm in Palermo,
the capital of Sicily,

which is a kind of gritty city.

But in recent years
it's seen G*ntrification

with the opening of new
shops, restaurants and bars.

The architecture
is extraordinary

and a lot of it is
mostly old structures,

most of which are
completely falling apart

but they're so beautiful.

It's not what I expected,
it's kind of a revelation.

I'm excited to go through
it and explore it.

Palermo was first settled
by Venetian traders

in the 8th Century B.C.

Then the Arabs and the Normans

arrived, or conquered,

and these waves of migration

created an incredibly
beautiful city.

It almost looks
like New Orleans.

When you look down,

you see it's like the
French Quarter, parts of it.

But Palermo's beauty
has come at a cost.

This magnificent architecture

is the legacy of
wealthy land owners

who built grand palazzo's on
the profits of their estates

while their workers
lived in poverty.

When this system collapsed
in the 19th Century

workers moved out of the
countryside and into the city

where poor and rich
now live side by side.

Hidden behind this
400 year old door

is a world I've
never encountered.

I've been invited to dinner
by a real life princess.

Stanley.

Princess Stefania di Raffadali

is one of the last
surviving members

of the Sicilian royal family.

Nice to see you.

Thank you very much.

I'm very happy to be here.

The princess became a royal

through marriage to
a direct descendant

of the Norman conquest.

This palace has been
in her husband's family

since the 16th Century

and is preserved
like a living museum.

How long were you married?

We married in '57.

And when did he pass away?

Just 10 years ago.

He loved this house very much.

So the only thing
that I could do

was to keep it and maintain it.

Well, it's
absolutely beautiful.

But as thrilled as I am
to meet the princess,

that's not the only reason
I wanted to come here.

I'm on the hunt for
the perfect timballo.

Look at that, so pretty.

A baked mold of pasta or
rice with rich ingredients.

It's a dish I'm obsessed with.

Oh wow.

Every family has a
different way of making it.

Yes.

And I've heard that
Maria, the princess' chef,

is a much sought-after
authority on timballo making.

In my family, we have our
own version of this dish

and it's the centerpiece
of a film I made

calledBig Night,
back in the 1990s.

So it's macaroni

Macaroni

We had great fights

because the old recipe was sugar

but she doesn't like sugar.

She's always saying
"Too much sugar."

Maria is making three
very different versions

of her timballo for dinner.

One with eggplant

one with rice

and this one with
a pastry crust.

The princess's son, Bernardo,

and her granddaughter,
Alessandra,

are joining us for this
rather formal dinner,

complete with a
white-gloved butler.

Thank you.

So this is the
first one, which is

Eggplants with cheese

- And the pasta.
- Aneletti.

Tell me about the
tradition of timballo.

They came from France.

All the families
of the aristocracy

thought it was smart
to have a French cook.

They brought with them,
for example, bechamel,

that wasn't known here in Italy

because we had
more Arab cuisine.

Is this like, what?
How many years

- 1856.
- 1850s.

I find it fascinating that even
this most Sicilian of dishes

has origins elsewhere.

Yeah, it's a huge
amount of work.

You need to make it
with somebody. Yeah.

This one is with rice, with
bechamel, cheese and ham.

That's very French.

Which is the best one for you?

The eggplant. I could
eat the entire thing.

- It's very funny this.
- Which one is yours?

I prefer the rice one.

It's certainly fitting
to be eating this dish

in such an opulent
and unique setting.

I feel like I've stepped
into a time machine

to experience the
origins of timballo.

So tell me how
Palermo has changed.

Now it has become an
international town.

Everybody's coming.

I did notice when I
went out last night

all these young people out

and it was much more youthful

than I thought it
was going to be.

I have a lot of friends

that come from France or Germany

and I've seen people
falling in love with Palermo

in a moving way.

There's something in
the light of Palermo.

One of the reasons for
Palermo's regeneration

is the decline of the
infamous Cosa Nostra.

The Mafia.

And the connection between
the Mafia and the government

is not as great as it once was?

- Yeah.
- Of the judges.

Falcone and
Borsellino were judges

who brought large-scale
legal action

against the mafioso,

exposing the government's
support for the Mafia.

They paid the ultimate
price for their bravery.

Both men were assassinated
within months of each other

in Palermo in 1992.

To change.

That was a turning point.

- Yeah.
- Right.

It's been a very
memorable evening.

But Palermo's ancient
aristocratic families

are a dying breed,

however much we might
want to preserve the past.

The heart of this beautiful
city has moved elsewhere.

To the young. To the new.

And to the future.

Thank you very much, thank you.

If you thought Sicily was
Italy's southernmost island,

you'd be wrong.

Because 173 miles
even further south

is the beautiful
island of Lampedusa.

With just 5,000 inhabitants,

this paradise island was famed

for its waters
chock full of fish.

Situated 70 miles off
the African coast,

it's become a beacon for
migrants and asylum seekers

trying to get to Europe.

Thousands arrive on
these shores every year.

I've come to the port to meet
third generation fisherman

Beppe Billeci, who's
bringing in the daily catch.

Beppe's been fishing
here since he was nine,

catching anchovies and alacce,

a type of sardine that was once

the main form of
sustenance in Lampedusa.

He's invited me for lunch.

His wife Rina is rumored to be
one of the island's best cooks.

Rina's preparing some
traditional Sicilian dishes

with her daughter Enza,

using some of the fish
that Beppe's just caught.

It's so simple.

All she does is dress the
dish with a simple salsa verde

which is made of parsley,
capers, olive oil

and bread soaked in vinegar.

Her second dish
is more elaborate.

Rina is making sarde a beccafico

which literally means,
fig-pecker sardines.

But the fig-pecker is
a bird, not a fish.

For me, this dish embodies
the whole philosophy

of Sicilian cooking,

if you can't afford the
food of the aristocracy,

make do with what you've got.

Thank you for having us.

It's so good.

With the salsa verde,
it's so simple.

It's absolutely delicious.

She just
said "The fish is good."

It's delicious.

But the sea that has
provided us with this feast

is also the arena of
an ongoing tragedy.

Over the last six years
it has claimed the lives

of an estimated 18,000 migrants
fleeing poverty and w*r.

As a fisherman, Beppe
has first-hand experience

of this crisis.

I just want to ask you about
the immigrant situation,

the migrant situation.

In a country where migration
is the leading political issue,

Lampedusans stand out
for their compassion.

The whole island was nominated
for the Nobel Peace Prize

in 2014.

Beppe has bravely saved
migrants in the past,

pulling them from the sea,

but after a
government clampdown,

captains who saved them faced
fines and even imprisonment.

The situation for refugees
remains extremely precarious.

I've come to what's
known on the island

as the boat graveyard.

A place where refugee
boats are discarded.

The desperation

has to be so profound

to come across the ocean
in a boat like that.

You still see everybody's
clothing left, shoes left.

The integration of
immigrants into a society

makes that society
so much better

and stronger and richer
and more interesting.

To turn people away
is not natural.

I'm back in mainland Sicily
and I'm heading east.

I'm going to Catania,

an ancient and
beautiful port city.

It's a bustling
vibrant metropolis

and the island's
second largest city.

But it does have one problem.

It sits right in the
shadow of Mount Etna,

one of the most active
volcanoes in the world.

Don't you wonder who said

"I have an idea, let's
just build a house up here

at the base of the volcano."

"Don't you want to be
closer to the sea?"

"No, no, no, no. I want to be
right at the fiery maw of it."

But there's a very good
reason why Catanians risk

living so close to
this volatile volcano.

Because centuries of eruptions
have created mineral-rich soil

which grows some of the finest

fruits and vegetables
in the world.

I'm here to visit a restaurant

that uses this
beautiful local produce

to make classic Sicilian dishes.

It's owner is Roberta Capizzi.

- We can come this way.
- OK.

Roberta's chef is
making pasta alla norma,

a Sicilian favorite
made with eggplant.

It was named after
the opera, Norma,

composed by one of
Catania's most famous sons,

Vincenzo Bellini.

So pasta alla Norma is a
very famous Sicilian dish.

And the recipe we're gonna
make today is from your family?

Eggplants are a gift

left by the Arab domination
in the 9th Century

and in Sicilian cooking
they often replace meat

because they're cheaper
and they grow everywhere.

And then tomato?

What kind of
pasta are you using?

Of course, homemade, fresh
cut macaroni. What else?

And it wouldn't be a Norma

without salty baked
ricotta on top.

- What do you think?
- I love it.

I love it, it's so simple
and it's really delicate.

- Thank you.
- Oh my god, it's so good.

For the next dish, Roberta's
promised me something special.

I never imagined myself, or
anyone else, eating donkey.

- It's a donkey.
- Yes.

- It was a donkey.
- Yes.

Donkeys are a
favorite around here

This is delicious.

Because they've always been

hardworking companions
for Sicilian farmers.

The meat is sweet.

Yes.

Believe it or not,
it's really good.

It's like beef carpaccio
but even sweeter.

Tell me about the big change
you made in your life.

- Wow.
- Yeah.

And the name
of the restaurant,

tell me the name
of the restaurant.

Which means?

- Everything from Sicily.
- Everything.

True to its name,
the restaurant,

like the house of a good friend,

stays open all day.

Which isn't usual in
this part of the world.

Most places close
between lunch and dinner.

Are Sicilians different
than other Italians?

Grazie, thank you.

Like a true Sicilian,

Roberta's passion for life,
for family and for this island

has found a perfect
expression in her food.

It's just extraordinary.

It's some of the best food
probably that I've ever had.

The food is great, but
the magic ingredient

that makes this
restaurant so special

is the wonderful
Sicilian hospitality,

which also helps
take your mind off

that active volcano
looming nearby.

I'm staying in Catania
to explore some more.

A busy industrial hub, once
known as the Milan of the south

it has a growing
migrant community.

Catania is the main reception
center for newcomers in Sicily

and this new wave of migration

is already changing
the city and its food.

Emmanuella and Mimmo
Pistone run a supper club

where young refugees
and migrants

cook the food from
their homelands

and share their stories.

- Mustafa, ciao.
- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you too.
- Hi. Joy.

Hi Joy, how are you?

Joy, from Nigeria, is
now a close family friend

and Mustafa, a young
migrant from Egypt,

has become their foster son.

And I've heard they're
both amazing cooks.

This one, we have carrots,
green beans, and the shrimps.

And little
shrimps? The little

They are fried already.

- Oh delicious.
- Yeah.

Oh I can't wait.
It's very exciting.

Tonight they're making a
fusion of African dishes.

This one is called
Nigerian fried rice.

Joy's special rice is
being served alongside

spicy chicken flavored with
curry, ginger and rosemary.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah, yeah. For you.

- Plantains
-And plantain.

It's my favorite.

A type of banana
fried in coconut oil.

I can see that Nigerian
and Italian hospitality

have a lot in common.

Oh that's wonderful.
That's delicious.

Emmanuel and Mimmo took
Mustafa under their wing

shortly after he arrived
in Sicily six years ago.

He was only sixteen
when he left his family

to make the dangerous journey
across the Mediterranean.

- How did they arrive?
- With a small boat

on the main beach of Catania,

which is called Playa.

It was the 10th
of August in 2013.

How big was the boat?

- The boat stopped.
- It hit a sand bar.

- Yes.
- Yeah.

They started walking.

Just in front of the shore.

It was terrible. Yeah.

They couldn't swim.

This is the thing.
So many people imagine

that people leave
their countries

to come and take advantage

when, in fact,
they're just coming

because they live
in fear - Yeah.

They're incredibly poor.

They need
somewhere safe as well.

Yes, they need somewhere safe
and they want to work hard.

- Yeah. Yeah.
- To have a good life.

So when people say that we
are good because we help them

but I always say it's not true

because they are helping us

in finding a reason to give
a sense to this moment,

you know, that the
world is living.

So we have to thank them.

The story of immigration seems
to have changed very little

over the years.

And one of its most
beautiful consequences

is the imprint it
leaves on the cuisine.

The spices that are
part of all this,

from Egypt have been
in Italy for centuries.

It's what created Italian food.

It's why Italian food in
Sicily is completely different

than the Italian food
in Piemonte or in Rome.

Well I really want
to thank you so much.

You're pretty great parents,
that's all I can say.

Even if from time
to time we quarrel.

Throughout history, Sicilians
have shared the bounty

of their generous
land with newcomers,

evolving the culture,

and creating new
culinary traditions.

Cheers, cheers. Cheers,
cheers. Thank you.

Every new arrival brings change

and the opportunity for
regeneration and renewal.

But one thing that
won't change here

is that, at the
home of a Cumpari,

the door is always open

and you are always
welcome to join the feast.