02x05 - Calabria

[bunniefuu]

- I really have very
few memories of it.

I've been dreaming of
coming back to Calabria

since I was a boy.

I don't remember it
being this green.

It's absolutely beautiful.

It's a wild and rugged region
steeped in mystery and myth.

A place that's as troubled
as it is beautiful.

But Calabria means
something more to me.

It's my ancestral homeland.

And I want to get
to know the region

that my family left behind
all those years ago.

Is this jogging
your memory at all?

- That's a long time ago.

- 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.

Caught between a
rock and the sea,

the Calabrese are
notoriously tough.

- But this is a place

where southern hospitality
is a way of life.

- Oh, my gosh, look
at the size of it.

- You should open a restaurant.

- And in this poor region...

All right.

Every meal is a celebration.

Oh, wow.

There's like a million
different flavors in there.

- Buon appetito.

- Calabria sits in the
toe of the boot of Italy,

connected to
Basilicata in the north

and separated from
Sicily in the south

only by the narrow
Strait of Messina.

It's a region of
rugged landscapes,

dramatic mountain ranges,

and some 500 miles of
incredible coastline.

It doesn't have
that infrastructure.

It's still a lot of
abandoned buildings,

a lot of poverty, a
lot of corruption.

It's really unfortunate
because it is magnificent.

Like millions of Calabrians,

all four of my grandparents
emigrated from this region

with nothing but the
clothes on their backs.

So I'm headed first
to see the birthplace

of my grandfather,
Stanislao Tucci...

The man whom my father
and I are named after...

The town of Marzi,
population 900.

And happily, I'm being joined

by two semi-experienced guides,

my parents, Joan and Stan Tucci.

- Wow, look at that.
- Oh, look at the door.

- That's beautiful.
- Wow.

- Well, this is nice. We're
walking down Via Morti.

- Yeah, I saw that.
- The street of the dead.

How nice.
- I'm not going down there.

No, don't go there.

- My father has been
to Marzi once before.

And because our family is
obsessed with our ancestry,

he suggested we pay a visit
to the local town hall

to see what we can dig up
about my grandfather's life.

Okay, so what year?

1889?

- My father, 1889.

- Okay, '89.

- '89. Wait a minute.

- Come over here, Stan.

- There you go.

- Stanislao.
- Yep.

- Ooh, wow.

- Scarpellino, that was his...
- Mother?

- No, no, no.
- No, scarpellino

was your vocation.

- Yeah.
- Stone carver.

- Stone carver.
- Oh, a stone carver.

So he was born in '89.

- Yeah.
- When did he come to America?

- 1904.

So that makes him...

- Yeah.
- 15, 16 years old.

- Did he ever come back
to see his parents?

- Once.
- They never came to America?

So he only basically only saw
his mother one more time...

- That's right.
- From the time he was 16...

15, 16.
- It's amazing, isn't it?

- Yeah, yeah, it's incredible.

- And a lot of
immigrants didn't.

- I know. I know.

- For a culture that is
so family oriented...

- I know.
- To just move away,

it's hard to believe.

- Oh, there you go, Dad.

Look, it's your family
home, Famiglia Tucci.

- Does it?
- Yeah.

- That's it.
- Let's go in.

- Wow, it could be a relative.
- Yeah.

- As it turns out, being a Tucci

isn't that remarkable over here.

- Buongiorno.
- Buongiorno.

- Over half of Marzi's
population shares

our last name...

Is this what you remember?

- Which turns out
to be a big problem,

as my dad wants to find
his father's house.

- My recollection, it
was perfectly flat.

- Yeah.
- And there was a place

with a huge...
- Well, let's...

Let's go ba...
- Huge clock at the top.

- This is the clock that
you just said, right?

You remember a flat area.
- Yeah, yeah, a flat area.

- But do you remember
where the house is?

- I think it was down here.

What street is this?
- Watch your...

Watch your step.
- Gennaro Tucci, yes.

- Is this jogging
your memory at all?

- That's a long time
ago. That I remember.

I remember the square.

28.

Where are we?
- That's number 30.

- Then that's it.

- So this, we think,

could be the house where
your father was born.

- It's only the second time,
and obviously, memory fades.

- Yes, I know, I know.

I've always wanted to
come here, you know,

'cause I never came...
- No.

- When we were young. But
I'm glad we saw the town.

- And the square.
- Beautiful little town.

Yeah, so pretty.
- Yeah.

- Should we eat?
- Sure.

- Sounds like a good idea.

Is there a Ristorante Tucci?

- Maybe, but I'm not gonna
let you try to find it.

Marzi sits in the
valley of the Savuto,

known as the Valley of Wheat,

where fed by the mineral-rich
waters of the mountains,

there's a thousand-year-old
history of bread-making.

And there's a place
nearby still making bread

according to ancient
Calabrian tradition.

- Wow.

Buongiorno.

- Stanley, Stanley, Giovanna.

- Pina Olivetti
runs Panificio Cuti,

one of the most famous
artisanal bakeries

in the region.

- Si.
- Ah.

- Oh, my God, that
is very heavy.

- Oof-ah.
- That's a heavy bread.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Oh.

- Si.

- Si, si.
- Si, si, si, si.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- Sourdough is a
living, breathing bread

that has been made
since the beginning

of human civilization,
but is somehow still

notoriously tricky to get right.

Oh, my gosh.

That's so hot.

- Si, si, si.

It's slow, natural
fermentation means

this bread stays
fresh much longer

than ordinary bread.

No trivial matter in a region

where food wasn't
always plentiful.

- Si, si, si.

- Si, si.

- Si.

- Knowing we've come to Marzi
in search of things past,

Pina's prepared us a little
treat that would have been

on every family table
a hundred years ago,

a filled bread bowl
calledmorzello,

which is typically
stuffed with meat

and seasonal vegetables

like local favorite,
cime di rapa,

or broccoli rabe.

- Oh, you smell it...

The bitterness of the cime.
- Yeah.

- This ingeniously portable
dish meant that farmers,

hunters, and even stonemasons
like my grandfather

could carry a
not-so-little slice of home

anywhere they went.

- Buono.

- Si.

- That's beautiful.

Not so bad.

- Oh, my gosh, look
at the size of it.

- No, you're first.

- There you go.

- Delicious.
- Delicious.

- So good 'cause
it's all soaks in.

- Mm.

- Mm.

- That's good for
you. That's great.

- It was. Really good.
- That's delicious.

As we head out of Marzi,

I think of my grandfather
Stanislao leaving Calabria

and of that special bond
that Italian immigrants have

to food that reminds
them of home.

Perhaps that's why bread is
never missing on our table.

- While my parents are relaxing

by the pool or the bar,

I'm heading out to a place
I've always wanted to visit.

Built atop a 150-foot cliff

overlooking the warm waters
of the Tyrrhenian Sea,

Tropea is Calabria's
crown jewel.

Over the centuries,
it's been prone

to almost constant invasions
from neighboring empires

who all wanted to possess
this enchanting town.

But I'm here to wrap my
head around something

of a botanical mystery.

Tropea is renowned
all across Italy

for its singular red onions.

They are so sweet,
they can be served

in everything from
pastas to preserves,

even in ice cream, if
you're so inclined.

I'm not.

- Si.

To find out what makes
these onions so special,

I'm meeting up with
Tropean restaurateur,

Michele Pugliese.

- Si.

- Si.

- Yeah.

- Ah.

- Yeah. Yeah.

- Yeah.

Despite their
incredible popularity,

the Tropea onion only
grows in a small stretch

of coastline
surrounding the city.

Just a few miles further out,

and it loses that sweetness
that makes it unique.

- Yeah.

- All right.

Wow, yeah.

That's gorgeous.

- Dolcissimo.

- Si.

- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

- First grown here
over 3,000 years ago,

Tropea onions were
an unexpected gift

brought by foreign conquerors
from the Middle East.

- Ah. Yeah.

- Ah.

- Si, si.

- Your madre.

- Tropiano.

- Si. Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Okay.

- Though today the
Tropea onion is beginning

to be produced commercially,

there are still a
few farmers left

like Francesco and Onofrio who
harvest their onions by hand

using only traditional
irrigation methods.

- Dalle... le montagne.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Si.

Yeah.

- Despite having
suffered invasions

for over 3,000 years,

Calabrians are
tenaciously hospitable.

So Michele's not allowing
me to leave Tropea

before eating something
at his restaurant,

l'Osteria della Cipolla Rossa,

the Red Onion Inn.

- Si.

The restaurant is run by
Michele's wife, Romana,

who is so obsessed with
farm-to-table dining

that she refuses
to own a fridge.

- Buongiorno.

- Hi, Romana.

- The Osteria's specialty is
the unapologetically simple

red onion spaghetti.

But don't underestimate
simplicity.

- Si.

- Si, si.

Si.
- Si, si.

- Si.

- Oh, si.

- Si.

- Oh, my gosh.

Mm, mm, mm, mm.

That's delicious.

There's nothing to this but
onions, broth, and pasta.

But the combination of these
three simple ingredients

become something sublime.

It's oniony, but
it's not oniony.

I don't know how to describe it.

- Huh?

- No.

No.

- Okay.

It's hard not to be enchanted
by the beauty of Tropea

and its unique red onions.

But to me, the real
magic of this place

is the warmth and
hospitality of its people.

- The Calabrians have
always had to rely

on the sea for sustenance.

And surrounded by
water on three sides,

the catch here is as
unique as it is plentiful.

Look at that.
- Silver snake.

- God, they're incredible.
- Yes.

- They look fake.
- Yeah.

- I've come to a
Calabrian fish auction

to get a sense of the catch.

- But because I'm a
fish out of water,

respected restaurateur,
Johnny Giordano,

is showing me around.

Is it octopus and...

- Octopus.
- Everything?

Even squid and everything?
- Everything you can try here.

Tuna, swordfish,
scorfano, sharks.

- Whoa.

- This is a big squid, calamari.

- He doesn't want them to...
- No, he scream all the time.

He got to fight with everybody

because nobody
gotta take the fish.

- No sea creature is
more respected or prized

in Calabria than the swordfish.

Catching one of these sabered
sea monsters is not easy,

but it is lucrative.

A single fish can
fetch up to $5,000.

- Yesterday, 20.

- 20?
- Yes.

- Really?
- Today, only one.

Every day is different.

- Every day's different, yeah.
- You want to buy it?

- Uh, I don't have
room in my hotel.

- Johnny's promised
some fresh swordfish

awaits me at his place.

But before getting lunch,

we stop off to have a look
at his hometown, Scilla.

This town dates back to a time

when Calabria was at the
heart of Magna Graecia,

Greece's empire in Italy.

Wow.

That's Sicily?

- Yes, this Sicily, Ganzirri.

The other side of this
is Scilla and Charybdis.

- Ancient Greek legends
like "The Odyssey"

told of the perilous passage
in this narrow strait,

where sailors were
forced to choose

between a vicious sea
monster called Scylla

and a deadly whirlpool.

- Is this true or is...
- No, it's true.

It's true.
- It's not mythical?

- Wow.

They catch swordfish.

- Remarkably, a traditional
form of swordfishing

passed down from the ancient
Greeks is still practiced

here in the waters around
Scilla to this day.

- With their hands?

- Mm-hmm.

- We're heading to the
family's restaurant,

the Prince of Scilla.

And I'm in for the
royal treatment.

- This one.
- Nice fish.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This swordfish was
caught so recently,

you can eat it
straight off the bone.

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.
- Fresh parsley.

- Caught this fresh
and sliced this fine,

it's like prosciutto
and smoked salmon

had a love child.

Oh, it's so good.

Wow, it's incredible.

- Next, Johnny wants to cook
me something more traditional,

scialatielli alla ghiotta,

long, thin strands of pasta
in a swordfish ragu of sorts.

Mm-hmm.

He starts things
off with a sofrito

of garlic and
sweet Tropea onion.

- Si.

- Yeah.

- I'd like to have a
shirt made out of basil.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- That's ready.

- Yeah.

- Si. Si.

Cheers.
- Thank you for coming.

- Thank you for having me.

- Yes.

- Mm.

- Mm.
- Is it good?

- Delicious.
- Mm.

Yeah.

Yep.

You should open a restaurant.

- That's really good.

- And see the swordfish boats?

- And they're up in the...
- Yes.

- Sort of crow's nest up there.

- It's really beautiful.

- It's curious to think of
Calabrians still heading out

into these perilous waters

to battle against
ancient sea monsters.

But in this land
of myth and legend,

the sea is a mirror to the soul.

- Wow.

Look at those mountains.

I'm leaving Calabria's
coast behind

and heading deep
into the back country

of the Aspromonte mountains.

Rugged and shrouded in folklore,

few tend to venture through
its impenetrable forests.

But I'm heading to meet a
chef who's opened a restaurant

in this most remote
corner of Calabria.

- This river that
flows in our property

is called the Calabretto
and comes directly

from our big mountain,
the Aspromonte.

All the southern
part of Calabria

is just surrounded
by Aspromonte.

- Nino Rossi has been
living and working out here

since 2016 making
food that celebrates

the unique biodiversity
of this mountain.

And this land's
been in your family

for many generations?

- I think we are
sixth generation.

- Did you grow up here?

- I grew up in Rome.

But I've never stopped
being a Calabrian child.

- Growing up in a
well-to-do family

a thousand miles away from here,

Nino's keen interest in
traditional Calabrian cooking

came as a bit of a surprise
to his friends and family.

You didn't train as a chef?

- I am a self-taught chef.

But at the same
time, in the past,

I had opportunity to learn

from an ancient housekeeper...

- Yeah.
- Called Maria.

- Yeah.
- And that way,

I got all the cuisine
from the people.

- Yeah, of course.
- Then I put all the things

together and I start
just experimenting.

Once I would like to learn
how to make pastry...

- Yeah.
- I start only make pastry.

So if you invite
myself to a dinner...

- Yeah.
- I would just show up

with one of my cakes and
say, oh, this is for you.

- Right. You became obsessive.
- Yeah, obsessive.

- Yes.

Over the last few years,

Nino's obsession has driven him

to turn this remote area
into his culinary playground.

So this is where you
do your foraging?

- Yeah. I used to
walk along the river

and then go also higher
into the mountain.

- Uh-huh.
- But here you can find

a lot of special things.

This is the water mint.

It's wild and has a strong
citrus taste, orange taste.

- Yeah.

- You know that once
I poisoned myself.

- So this is safe?
- No, this is safe.

- I'm gonna make it through.

Right?
- Yeah, yeah.

- What did you
poison yourself with?

What was it?
- With the crocus.

And I thought it
was white garlic.

And it was really...

- Yes, that can be very
bad for you, I've heard.

- Yeah, yeah, but
I studied a lot.

That's good.

- And I pretty know
everything about this place.

- Right.
- From the upper part,

we take the silver fir.

I show you.

- It's just a fir tree?

- White fir.

- Yeah, it's nice.

Really aromatic.

- Yeah.

I love it.

- So should we go cook?

- Yeah, I'm gonna cook for you.

- All right.

Nino's restaurant, Qafiz,

is a love letter
to the Aspromonte

and the unique and
undiscovered ingredients

that can be found only
here on the mountain.

Today, he's preparing me a
dish that has helped cement

his Michelin star, a
dessert called Fire.

- This is a meringue.

- So it's just egg
white and sugar and...

- Yeah. We put this
vegetable carbon powder.

- So this is just charcoal?
- Yeah.

- What did people
think about it?

- A lot of people thinks
that putting charcoal

in the meringue, it was
something a little bit crazy.

- In 2021, over 60
wildfires ravaged Calabria,

leaving a trail of
death and devastation

in Nino's beloved mountains.

- Foraging was completely
different after the fire.

Because you can see a
lot of mountainsides

completely black.

But at the same
time, walking around,

you can see all
this strong nature

and colors going
through the ground...

- Right.
- And just go up

and show its greatness.
- Yeah.

- Then I came back
home and say, okay,

I have to tribute the mountain.

- Nino's obsessive
baking has paid off

in this tribute to the mountain.

It looks like glass.

After three hours in the oven,

the notoriously
temperamental meringue

is perfectly light and crisp.

- Here we have silver fir ba*ls.

These are silver fir
extract, water, and lemon.

We make a base like this.

And then we bring the apple.

- So the apples come
from the mountains, too?

- Yeah, it comes
from Aspromonte.

I put the white chocolate foam.

I put back the white fir.
- Mm-hmm.

- We had to call this dessert
New Life After the Fire.

Because what we are
building now is a new life,

giving the second
opportunity to the mountain.

And this is like the
last minutes of a fire.

- Yes, absolutely.

- So you have to taste it.
- I will.

Thank you.

Oh, wow.

There's, like, a million
different flavors in there.

- Yeah.
- That's amazing.

- Citric and balsamic.

- Yeah.
- And I love it.

- Oh, that's amazing.

And it just keeps, like...

- And with the apple...

- Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

That's just so good.

Just that's great.

Wow. Thank you.

It's not fancy tricks
nor strange ingredients

that make Nino's
food extraordinary.

It's that he's managed
to perfectly capture

the alchemy and enduring
beauty of this place.

- I've come to the
northernmost point

of Calabria's Aspromonte,

to the mountain
hamlet of Martone.

It's a town that's
ailing from an issue

that's rampant
throughout the region.

- Blighted by social
and economic hardship,

there are over 200
mountain towns in Calabria

that are at risk
of being abandoned.

- But not everyone is
packing up their bags.

Annalisa Fiorenza is a
farmer and local activist

who is using organic
agriculture as a means

to create opportunities
in her community.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

- Si.

- Si.

- But Annalisa
has had to contend

with some deep-rooted issues
that come with the territory.

These mountains are a stronghold

of the 'Ndrangheta, the
notorious Calabrian mafia.

Formed in the 1800s, this
brutal criminal syndicate

took root in the
most impoverished

and rural parts of the region.

Today, they're one of the most
powerful criminal networks

in the world

with an estimated $60
billion annual turnover.

- Mm.

- Yeah.

- The only way Annalisa
has been able to survive

is by joining forces with a
cooperative of local farmers

called GOEL Bio,

which helped her rebuild
after she was attacked.

Today, a few members
are meeting up

for their monthly lunch
at a local restaurant,

La Collinetta, and
Annalisa and I are joining.

- The restaurant is run
by fellow farmer and chef,

Pino Trimboli,

who is preparing us a
feast of Calabrian dishes.

Pino decided to join
the cooperative in 2019

as a means to promote his
incredible organic produce

outside of his restaurant.

- This is time-honored cooking.

And by time honored, I
mean, like, the Stone Age.

Cooking in clay
perfectly seals in

the flavors of the meat.

But there's a trade-off.

It takes over four
hours per dish.

Oh!

- Oh, nice. Nice.

Pino's down-to-earth
cooking would have been

a surefire success
anywhere in Italy.

But running a thriving business

in this part of Calabria
often comes at a price.

- Si.

- Ah, si, si, si, si, si.

- Si.

- Mm.

- Si.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Whenever somebody like Pino
is threatened or attacked,

the cooperative gather around
the victim to protect them,

even funding rebuilding efforts.

- Wow.

- Oh, my.

- Yes.

- Oh, yeah, put it down.

- It's a bold approach,
but one that's working.

The cooperative hasn't
suffered an attack

in five years.

And that's something
worth celebrating.

Wow.

The bones.

- Come on.

This battle is by no means won.

But Pino and Annalisa's
stories are a reminder

that food can be a powerful
tool for social change.

It just falls apart.

- Si.

- It's delicious.

And there's reason
to be hopeful,

because, as Pino says,

Calabria is made
up of good people.

To Pino.

- A Pino.
- Pino.

- To all of you.

- I remember this
very distinctly.

But I don't remember it
being as verdant as this.

Obviously, it was 48 years
ago, so the trees were smaller.

Oh, yeah.

But, uh...
- But you must have come

with neighborhood children.
- Yeah, I guess.

My time in Calabria
is coming to a close.

So my parents are joining
me for one last trip.

We've come to visit my
maternal grandparents' home,

Cittanova.

- And I never saw this all
the times we've been here.

- No, I don't remember this.

Oh, time's up.

- Time's up.

- My grandfather, Vincenzo,
was a b*ttlefield medic

in World w*r I who emigrated
to Westchester, New York,

where he met and married
a girl from his hometown,

my grandmother, Concetta.

- That's an awful lot of
people from a small city.

- "Italia, caduti in guerra."

Those who fell in the w*r.

This is our family,
Tropeano... Tropeano, Tropeano.

- I'm so happy we saw this.

Never even known it was here.

- But there's another reason
why we've come to Cittanova.

The last time we were here
was on our first family trip

to Calabria in 1973.

We stayed then with my
grandfather's family

and made a promise to return.

- Today we're
keeping that promise

and finally getting to have
an intimate family reunion...

Or as intimate as you can get
with a family of this size.

- Si.

- I know, I know.

It's a lot of people.

- Hey.
- Si, si.

- Let's go. Let's go.

In typical Calabrian fashion,

my relatives have been up
day and night for half a week

preparing a feast of some
of our favorite dishes.

Like this, stockfish
Cittanova style.

This is a Tropeano family dish

that is very similar to the
baccala and tomato sauce

that I grew up with.

- Si?

- Ah.

My mother would make
this with, um...

- Si.

- Yeah.

Wow.
- Wow? Si.

- It's so good. Si, si.

But no family feast, at
least in our household,

is complete until you
have these, zeppole.

- Si.

- These delicious deep
fried beignet-like things,

often smothered in
confectionary sugar,

are a staple at Italian
American festivities.

But here in Calabria,

zeppole are made savory
instead of sweet.

- What you think, Stan?

- They're good.
- They're good.

- Mm.

It's a meal, though.
- Are they as good as mine?

- I'm not answering
that question.

Delicious.
- Terribile.

- But another dish, a
simple nameless preparation

of roasted goat, reminds
me of that trip here

almost 50 years ago.

- Oh, si, si.

- Si.

Si.

- Si.

- Si.

I don't know, it had a
great influence on me,

just driving up, getting
it, putting it into the back

of the car, into the
trunk of the car.

I mean, it was dead.
But it was so good.

It was probably
prepared like that.

- Yep.
- Right?

Beautiful.

For our family,
there's always been

a strange and magical
bond with food

that drives so
much of what we do.

- I believe that the
food we enjoy together

strengthens the bonds
we will share forever.

- Buon appetito.

- I'll take some potatoes.

- Oh, I love that.

- Grazie.

- Salute e cin cin.
- Cin cin.

The region my family left
behind all those years ago

is still as troubled
as it is beautiful.

Oh, my God.

But the true magic of this land

is how it inspires
people here to do things

that are equally as beautiful

and how everywhere you go...

Mm, mm, mm.

you will be treated like family.

A tutto noi.