Tucci in Italy (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[wind]
[Stanley] I saw the angel
in the marble and I carved
until I set him free.
That's what
Michelangelo said,
a long time ago.
He was talking about
this marble here in Carrara,
which is in Tuscany.
I believe that the best way
to understand what makes
a country and its people
unique is through their food.
This is incredible.
Oh, man!
And this is true
nowhere more than Italy.
-Okay.
-Nice. Do you smell that?
-Mm, mm, mm, mm.
[Stanley] Where even the shape
of your pasta and the
sauce you serve it with,
speaks directly to identity.
-You like it?
-I love it.
Oh my God, it's so good.
And differentiates the
character and history of each
region sharply from the next.
Which is not what you expect.
I'm Stanley Tucci and
I'm exploring the complex
connections between the land,
the people and the
food they eat in order to
discover the essence
of each region in the
country I love, Italy.
-Good evening.
[Stanley] Good evening.
Well, that looks good.
And it tastes good too.
Every region of
Italy is beautiful,
but Tuscany is a masterpiece.
The cradle of the Renaissance.
[church bells]
Tuscan art and ideas have
shaped the way we see the world.
But while this historic
artistry is so clearly present
in the region's grandeur,
how is it reflected
in Tuscany's food?
I'm starting my journey
in the capital, Florence.
A city where I spent a
memorable year of my childhood.
This is the David,
but it's not the David.
This is where it
stood originally.
I just thought
I'd tell you that.
Just so you
didn't get confused.
He doesn't have a twin.
Florence blossomed in
the 1400s under a family of
impossibly wealthy bankers
known as the Medici,
whose opulent tastes
transformed the city into an
epicenter of art and culture.
But despite the
city's affluence,
many of Florence's surviving
recipes are peasant dishes,
like lampredotto.
It's universally beloved by
the locals and inexplicably
eaten for breakfast.
-Lampredotto is something only
Florentines seem to cook with.
Nobody else wants to touch it.
[Stanley laughs]
[Stanley] Australian-born
food writer Emiko Davies has
spent the last two decades
writing about Florentine food.
[Emiko] This is the spot.
The best lampredotto
I think, in Florence.
-The best Lampredotto?
-The best lampredotto
hands down.
[Stanley] Sergio Pollini's
kiosk has been here
for 25 years,
serving this Florentine dish,
popular since the Dark Ages.
So what's the history
of Lampredotto?
-So lampredotto is
fourth stomach of the cow.
-The fourth stomach?
-The fourth.
The Florentines, you know,
historically have been pretty
ingenious at using let’s say
leftovers and things that would
otherwise go to waste.
[Stanley] Gorgeous. Gorgeous.
[Emiko] This is the bit I love,
they dip the top
of the bread into the broth,
so it’s super juicy.
-Ooo.
-Look at that.
And only, only Florentine
bread does this, because it’s,
it’s really crunchy.
[Stanley] Wow.
[Emiko] We need some of these.
[Sergio] Eccolo.
[Emiko] We brought
our girls up on these.
This is how they-
[Stanley] Oh really?
[Emiko] We weaned
them on lampredotto.
-They went from,
from milk to lampredotto.
-To Lampredotto.
-That only makes sense.
-Natural progress.
-Of course.
[Stanley] Yeah. Alright.
Ready?
-Cheers.
-I’m going in.
-What do you think?
-I think it’s delicious.
I think it’s amazing.
[Emiko] It’s so different to
what people think tripe is.
-It’s so soft and,
and I don’t know,
and there’s a
sweetness to it too.
-Yeah, yeah.
[Stanley] It’s like you’re
eating a pastrami sandwich--
-But juicier.
-Juicier.
I love tripe, I love it,
but I was a little afraid,
I don’t know why.
It’s named after an eel right?
-Oh yeah.
-The lamprey eel?
-So these eels they used to live
in the Arno River they’re
-Right.
-no longer there.
You won’t find
them anymore there.
-I can imagine. Yeah.
-But eels were reserved
for nobility and aristocrats,
um so this was like, a,
this is the poor people’s
version of that special
fancy eel dish.
Everyone can have lampredotto.
[Emiko] So the, the
darker part is the lean meat
and then the whiter
part is fattier but tastier.
So he chops it all up together,
on the board right there,
and he spices it up so you
get a bit of everything.
[squeaky bike approaching]
-Can somebody
get a little olive oil for
that guy’s bike?
[Sergio] Chin Chin.
[Stanley] Though the Florentine
nobility took the best cuts of
meat for themselves,
the poor became adept at
imitating the food of the rich.
A tradition that's proudly
continued to this day.
On the other side of town,
in the working-class
neighborhood of Santo Spirito,
there's a restaurant
that is unashamedly celebrating
this creative type of cuisine.
-Hi.
-Hi.
-Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you too.
Chef and owner
Matilde Pettini comes from
a family of respected
Florentine restaurateurs.
But in 2021, she opened
her own place, Dalla Lola.
-So.
-So.
-This is our tiny kitchen.
Chef.
-Hi, Stanley.
-Hi Marteen.
-Nice to meet you.
[Chef Marteen] Today
we have quite a bit of
Tuscan specialties, we
have the Francesina di lingua.
Which is a very cool dish,
it’s basically a
stewed beef tongue.
[Matilde] It’s the best.
[Chef Marteen] We use a lot
of onions to stew it,
and that’s why it’s
called the Francesina.
Because the French they love to
use a lot of onions, basically.
[Stanley] Oh yes it’s true.
They do yes.
[Chef Marteen] Now we
have a very funny dish,
which is the fake tripe.
[Stanley] Oh yes I’ve
heard about fake tripe.
-It’s already
a poor dish and we decided to
make it even poorer.
-Make it poorer.
Yeah, yeah, that’s great.
Pretty soon, they’ll be
nothing on the plate.
[Chef Marteen] No, no.
Have a nice lunch.
[Stanley] See you later.
See you later.
Matilde's idea is to revive
long forgotten peasant recipes,
that to her, represent
true Florentine cuisine.
[Stanley] Yeah.
-This is the tongue?
-Yes.
-Ah, okay.
-May I?
-Sure.
-It’s my favorite
dish over here.
-Really?
-My favorite.
It takes like 24 hours.
-It does.
-From cooking and cool it
down and cooking again.
-Oh man.
And it’s so delicate.
All the things that we think
are so gross, tongue, trippa.
But it’s all so delicate.
-Super delicate.
-When it's made properly.
Matilde's signature dish,
fake tripe, is
an ancient recipe,
prepared by Florentine
housewives when even offal
was unavailable.
-Only the Florentines
would think of fake tripe.
-Only the Italians.
-Yeah, I know.
Okay, let’s eat this.
This is so exciting,
I can’t bear it.
-That’s amazing.
-I’m so proud.
-You are yeah.
Can we, can we.
-Thank you.
Elevating the poorest of foods
into these beautiful creations
is a Florentine art form,
still practiced today.
But elsewhere in Tuscany,
this craft is being
taken to even greater heights.
[Stanley] In the Northernmost
part of the region lie the
Apuan Alps, the
marble mountains that have
built cities all over Italy.
500 years ago,
Michelangelo would
have traveled up here,
looking for the finest stone
to carve his masterpieces.
I've retraced his steps to
this secluded mining town of
Colonnata to learn
about the people who make
Tuscany's white gold.
[Stanley] Fabrizio Cattani
comes from a line of
Colonnata quarrymen.
Their family owns one
of the local mines.
[Stanley] Really?
[Stanley] But marble
isn’t all they do here.
Fabrizio also helps run a
local butchery where he produces
one of Tuscany’s
most inspired dishes,
the most decadent of
Tuscan cold cuts, Lardo.
-The house of lard.
-The House of Lard.
Lardo di Colonnata has been
made here since the earliest
days of marble mining.
[Stanley] In fact, the same
marble used to create those
Renaissance masterpieces
plays a vital part in its
unique curing process.
[Stanley] A technique
likely born in the mines,
salting the back fat
and resting it in marble,
helped preserve it for longer.
-I didn’t know
that’s how you did it.
[Stanley] Wow.
[Stanley] Every lardo making
family has their own closely
guarded spice recipe that
usually includes cinnamon,
allspice and nutmeg.
[Stanley] Yeah you
couldn't do it no.
Carlo carries on this process
until the basin is full to the
brim and leaves it to
age for up to 10 months,
while the naturally insulating
marble keeps it cool.
[Stanley] These marble
mountains inspired creativity
for centuries.
But perhaps, the quarrymen’s
greatest invention was learning
to craft food from stone.
[Stanley] Beautiful.
[overlapping Italian chatter]
[Stanley] Like in many
of the local recipes,
the marbled lardo complements
whatever modest meat the
quarrymen could
get their hands on.
[Stanley] Oh wow who did this?
[Stanley] Beautiful.
[Stanley] I’m getting
hungry just looking at it.
[Stanley] But clearly, the men
derived some of that strength
from the women who
were feeding them.
[Stanley] While Roberta
lets the rabbit stew
for another hour,
Fabrizio, Carlo,
and I take the time to
chew the fat.
Were you born here?
[in Italian] Yes?
[Stanley] Oh my God.
[Stanley] Woah!
[in Italian] Thank you.
[Stanley] Gorgeous, gorgeous.
Woah.
How come when I make rabbit,
it doesn’t come out like that?
Man, that’s good.
It’s so moist.
[Stanley] It might seem
less grand than carving
angels from marble,
but food that melts in
your mouth like this is just
as worthy a creation.
Cheers.
-Cheers!
[in Italian] Thank you.
[Stanley] It's little
wonder that the people here
take such pride in these
humble artisan traditions.
But a very different kind of
artistry is required to create
Tuscany's most
prized ingredient.
-I'm in the Maremma,
which is a part of Tuscany
that is rather flat and dry.
And I'm going to meet some
cowboys and eat some cows.
The Southernmost corner
of Tuscany, the Maremma,
is Italy's wild west.
Tenuta di Alberese is
a 900-year-old ranch,
once owned by that
Medici family.
And home to one of the most
ancient Tuscan cattle breeds.
-Yah! Yee!
Yee!
[Stanley] These
are Maremmana cows,
reared for their
incredible steaks,
which were once reserved
exclusively for Tuscan royalty.
Today, they're still
looked after by a group of
unconventional cattle
ranchers known as Butteri,
who rear this
majestic beef according to
centuries-old traditions.
[Stanley] Stefano Pavin
is the head Buttero.
The leader of these
Tuscan cowboys.
[Stanley] Unlike most
modern beef farming,
The Butteri are
out here every day,
moving cattle around
this 11,000-acre farm,
in search of the best pastures.
A meticulous practice which
ensures the high quality of
this artisan beef.
[Stanley] Yes, right, yes.
-Wow.
This ancient form of cattle
ranching may be a dying art,
but in the past,
there was great
respect for this skilled
and dangerous profession.
For centuries, these local
cowhands were iconic figures of
this frontier landscape,
admired like heroes in a
Hollywood Western.
Though their pride in
their work hasn't wavered,
Stefano, Alessandro,
Luca, and Sara
have more responsibilities
as Butteri than ever before.
They train horses,
mend fences,
and even perform basic
veterinary operations.
And today, they're showing me
the product of their hard work.
Oh, look at that steak.
[Stanley] Yeah.
[Stanley] Shall we?
The modern technique of
dry aging means these steaks
are more tender than ever.
[Stanley] And still
amongst the most prized cuts
of the region,
fetching up to $100 apiece.
[Stanley] Oh I love that.
[Stanley] Oh my god.
Oh my.
[Stanley] That’s really good.
Delicious. Woah.
[Stanley] The butteri’s hard
work unquestionably pays off
with this incredible meat.
Wow.
But without young people
willing to take on the mantle,
this noble profession is
at risk of disappearing.
[Stanley] Thank you so much.
[Stanley] Oh my God, thank you.
Hopefully more young people
like Sara will keep fighting to
preserve the unique way
of life of the Butteri and
continue creating
something so perfect.
But perfection doesn't
always come from playing
by the rules.
Sometimes, you
have to break them.
[church bells]
[Stanley] There's an Italian
concept that to me sums up
why Tuscans are so keen to
fight for their traditions.
Campanilismo, from the
Italian for bell tower,
is a fierce belief that you
belong not to your country,
but to the area within
earshot of your bell tower.
But the word also carries
with it a darker connotation,
a fear of
anything that is foreign,
be it people, religion,
or even food.
[Stanley] Where did you grow up?
In this neighborhood?
[Giulio] Yes.
I grew up in this neighborhood.
And the 'mercato' it's really
the heart of Sant'Ambrogio.
[Stanley] Yeah.
I’ve come back
to Florence to meet up with
restaurateur Giulio Picchi,
whose provocative
vision for Tuscan food is
challenging the status quo.
[Giulio] This is a
market from local people.
[Stanley] For the locals.
[Giulio] It’s used
by Florentines,
and this is make it the best,
because it’s still authentic.
[Stanley] Yeah.
Located on a discreet
side road in the center,
this 16-seater restaurant
has been accused of breaking
some of Florence's
800-year-old culinary rules.
[Stanley] Thank you.
Originally, Cibleo
was set up by Giulio's father,
the late Fabio Picchi,
one of Florence's
most acclaimed chefs.
Beautiful.
[Stanley] Yes, thank you.
Today, it's run by Giulio,
alongside his
chef Masaru Kawai,
and serves a unique fusion
of Tuscan and Asian cuisine.
How long has it been here?
[Giulio] 2017.
[Stanley] And how did
people react to it?
-It's not easy you know
because we have to manage how
the Florentines react,
at the restaurant we
don't serve bread here.
You know the Italian people
without the bread is look,
you don't have bread?
Oh my god
[Stanley] Yes.
[Giulio] Uh, and also when
we opened Cibleo the city
came out with
this rules, Unesco.
In the center of Florence.
It can’t be open a restaurant,
it’s not a pure, Tuscan,
traditional restaurant.
-Wasn’t the rule also
they had to use a certain,
like a certain percentage
of the ingredients.
-Yeah, exactly.
You had to, to,
to find a way to
demonstrate that 80% of
what you have it’s
come from Tuscany.
So what we do is we,
we take some like traditional
Japan idea, like gyoza,
and then we stuff it
with pork from Tuscany.
-I understand
what they’re trying to do,
but it doesn’t, in practice
it doesn’t really make sense.
You can open a, a Tuscan
restaurant that does traditional
dishes but it could just
be a bad restaurant, right?
-Yeah. Exactly.
-Okay, now I'm starving!
First, a trio of
reinvented Tuscan classics,
including a new
favorite of mine.
-Fantastic.
-Thank you.
[Giulio] Go with the spinach.
[Stanley] Go with this, okay.
There we go.
-This is one of the recipes
from the beginning of Cibleo.
-Really?
-Indian. A lot of Indian.
-Yeah, you can taste it, yeah.
-Yeah, for the fried spinach,
with chickpea flour.
[Stanley] And what
was the red on top?
-Um, raspberry.
[Stanley] Oh my God.
Now I’m, I’m more hungry.
-Me too.
[Stanley] What
should I eat next?
[Giulio] The lampredotto.
You know
[Giulio] You risk to be killed.
-I think it’s incredible.
You know, now I
love lampredotto,
but this then takes it
to a whole ‘nother level.
[Giulio] The onions and the
miso transform the lampredotto
it’s a little sweet, and the
meatball is a little crunchy
and that’s uh, we are not
scared to propose this
lampredotto to
Florentine people because
we know it’s good.
-If they don’t
eat it they’re stupid!
-Ah right.
-Ok. So now.
-Its work like,
like a prosciutto.
The age, the salt, the smoke.
And I tell, "Are you crazy?
It doesn’t work."
Then we tried together
and it’s unbelievable.
[Stanley] Okay. Let's go.
Woah.
I would never put
the cheese with fish.
-At the beginning
you feel the smoke part,
then it’s okay, it’s ham,
then you have the,
the back of fish flavor.
[Stanley] Uh-huh.
That's amazing.
By working with local
produce Giulio and Masaru have
managed to circumvent
the city's red tape.
What's he doing?
[Giulio] I think he
have an extra.
-Oh.
-Something like that.
-Really?
-Yes.
-What Masaru wants to do is
use everything about this fish.
[Stanley] Wow this is amazing.
Absolutely, I’m
completely blown away.
Wow. Oh wait.
We have to try this.
-This is the, the end.
-Okay, aspetta.
The last provocation on the
menu is a Japanese Ossobuco.
Replacing veal shank with
raw swordfish bone marrow.
[Giulio] The point is not which
type of cuisine you propose,
the point is the
quality of what we do.
[Stanley] Yeah.
It’s absolutely delicious.
Everything. Thank you.
-Thank you so much.
[Stanley] Cuisine like this,
that creatively
challenges traditions,
yet still embraces them,
is a rarity in Tuscany.
Perhaps not surprising when
they are so proudly upheld.
But is this fixation
with the past stifling
Tuscany's creative spirit?
There's an event that
may answer that question,
quite dramatically.
[overlapping chatter]
[Stanley] Before it
was united in the 1500s
by the Medici family,
Tuscany was a
collection of warring
city-states and kingdoms.
None more powerful than
the Republic of Siena.
Located in central Tuscany,
Siena is split into 17 separate
districts or Contrade,
all centered around
the Piazza del Campo.
I've come here to witness
a remarkable spectacle
where Tuscan
history comes alive.
Siena.
I’ve been here many times,
the first time I came
here I was about 12 years old
with my family and I
was completely awestruck
by this incredible piazza.
[Stanley] Twice a year,
for four days and nights,
the whole city gathers here
for the Palio di Siena,
a medieval celebration
that culminates in a dramatic
three lap horse race.
The origins of this event date
back to the 13th century when
the city first decreed a
day of racing and feasting
to celebrate a brutal
victory over Florence.
We've been given rare access
to film this spectacular event
and see why the locals
are so deeply invested.
So today we’re here for the
practice run of tomorrow’s race.
The whole race only
lasts 45 seconds.
A huge amount of
work for 45 seconds,
so I guess it’s
something they enjoy.
[ceremonial music playing]
[Bell tolling]
[Stanley]
Ancient tensions and rivalries
still exist between the
competing Contradas.
Some going back centuries
to when the Palio was
a much bloodier affair.
They're riding bareback,
which as anyone knows
who's ever mounted a
steed is not an easy thing.
The colors are incredible!
[canon blast]
They're off!
[Stanley] The Palio's
archaic rules may seem
confusing to outsiders.
Jockeys can barge into
and whip each other freely and
the loser is
considered the horse
that comes in second place.
A rider got thrown
at the very beginning,
so the horse without the
rider is in the lead so far.
[canon blast]
I don’t
know what happened.
Now they’re trying to stop
the horse but they can’t.
And this is a race where
if the rider is thrown,
the horse can
still win the race.
[crowd singing in Italian]
[Stanley] Whatever
the result though,
these practice
races are just that,
practice for the big
event the next day.
But the real reason that
I've come to Siena is to
witness an event that,
to me, is even
more impressive.
On the third night, it is
tradition for all the competing
Contradas to take back the
streets of Siena and throw an
auspicious feast in
celebration of their district.
So I'm heading now to the,
to the dinner that is being
done by the Contrada who
were kind enough to let us film.
That we just passed through,
all that stuff we
just passed through is
another contrada and
that's a dinner for probably,
I don't know
1,000 some people.
In the upper part of medieval
city at Contrada Valdimontone,
the Contrada of the Ram,
a small army of cooks
has been up since dawn,
to get the preparations
going for tonight's feast and
spirits are high.
[Stanley] No! What?
Not only is it impressive
to pull off cooking risotto
for thousands of people,
many of these volunteers
have never worked
in professional kitchens.
-I’m a dentist. Yeah.
[Stanley] Really?
-Yeah, really.
-Good because I have
a pain, right here.
I’ll show you later.
-Not tonight.
It’s dangerous for you.
-Yes.
-Very dangerous.
[Stanley] Today each Contrada
funds itself via donations and
dinners like this one and
reinvests those funds into
activities that
benefit the community.
[Stanley] Amazing.
Outside thousands of
people are getting ready to
toast their Contrada.
Although these feasts are
a relatively new tradition,
one of the Contrada Chiefs
tells me that they've become as
meaningful to the locals
as the race itself.
[singing in Italian]
[Stanley] Despite the
ancient rivalries,
it seems clear to me that
the Palio is a unifying event.
It's a living monument to
the ability of Tuscans to walk
between past and present,
finding inspiration in ancient
traditions and creating
things of extraordinary beauty.