Tucci in Italy (2025) s01e03 Episode Script

1
-Here is a land
of soup and noodles
of beer and wine.
Where am I?
Naturally, in Italy.
Trentino-Alto Adige,
to be precise.
-Where the food is as
complex as the region itself.
[Stanley] 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.
[Stanley] Let’s go and eat.
-Okay.
-Nice. Do you smell that?
Mm, mm, mm, mm.
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.
I don't know why every
time I'm in a place like this
I'm so happy.
Snow, sun, it's just gorgeous.
Something very relaxing
about it and the food's
pretty good too.
Trentino-Alto Adige is on
the Northeastern edge of Italy.
[Stanley] Here, the border
separating Italy from Austria
has shifted back and forth
over the Alps for centuries,
creating multilingual
communities where the locals
are just as likely to greet
you with a German 'Wilkommen'
as an Italian 'Benvenuto.'
But how has that
duality shaped the people
and their cuisine?
I'm starting in
the Alpe di Siusi,
a 56 square kilometer
highland meadow cradled
by the Dolomite mountains,
which form an alpine
playground for locals
and visitors alike.
I'm with Christina Demetz.
Okay let's go.
-Let’s go!
[Stanley] Born and
raised in Alto Adige,
she’s invited me to a
very special event in the
Dolomite ski season.
-Ah. Look at that view!
Okay, you have to
imagine a little bit.
-Yeah I have to imagine
-Yeah.
-a view, yeah.
So, you're wearing a dirndl.
-Yes, we have the
International
-Yeah.
-Woman's Day today, and here
we have this charity race
-Yeah.
-for women.
We celebrate it with
our dirndl because this is
our traditional dress.
-Yes.
-You will see many women today.
-Yeah. Okay.
-With different colors
-Yes.
-of dirndl.
-I’m looking forward to that.
-Yeah.
-Okay.
Ready?
-Yeah.
[Stanley] International
Women’s Day is heartily
celebrated across Italy
where women often take
the day off work and don
the traditional mimosa flower.
A resilient bloom meant to
symbolize the strength and
spirit of women.
Here in Alto Adige,
or South Tyrol as
the locals prefer,
they clearly have their
own take on tradition.
[Christina] Oh,
this is the Schuhplattler.
[waltz music playing]
-Uh oh.
-Oh, oh, oh!
-Oh. Oh! Woah!
[cheering and applause]
-Woah!
-Okay let’s have
a glass of wine?
-Alright.
The Dolomites are renowned
for humble-looking slopeside
huts that serve delicious food.
This one, Baita Sanon,
is no different.
It’s enticed famished
skiers with traditional fare
for over half a century.
I’m meeting Maddalena Kostner,
head chef here
for over 30 years.
[Stanley] So,
what are we eating?
-Good morning!
- Nice to meet you!
-What are we
going to eat today?
-Today, we have
so many tasty foods!
-Really?
[Maddalena] We
have some goulash.
[Stanley] Goulash?
[Maddalena] Beef goulash.
[Stanley] Oh my gosh.
[Stanley] And then, what else?
-Then there's
-May I?
-Sure.
The sauerkraut
[Stanley gasps]
-Look at that.
[Stanley] I like this!
The face. It's nice.
-Then we
have some polenta.
-Po-polenta.
Oh yeah. Oh, oh, oh.
[Maddalena]
Do you like it?
-Mmm yes
-Yes?
-I love polenta.
-Oh.
-But I want one of these.
-Do you?
-Yes. Instead of
-Yes!
-Yeah.
[Stanley] I can’t wait to eat.
-But here in South Tyrol
we are 600,000 people.
-Oh my god.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
[Stanley] Beautiful.
Mmm. Mmm!
[Stanley] Let’s eat!
-Mangiamo.
-It’s delicious.
-Yeah. Yeah.
-Actually, delicious.
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
-This is typical goulash,
Hungarian goulash
-Yeah.
-of the Habsburg empire.
-Yeah, yeah.
-We have been Austrian till
the end of the First World War.
-Yeah.
-So, uh 1919
-Mm?
-the population of South
Tyrol became Italian
-Yes.
From one day to the other.
So this was really
hard times for them.
You have to imagine
that under Mussolini
-Mm-hmm.
-he wanted to Italianize
then this region and so he
changed the names of the
villages and of the towns.
-I know.
-And even of the people.
So, it's why when you
come to South Tyrol you find
all the signs
-Mm-hmm.
-of the villages in two
-Yeah.
-names.
I see South Tyrol
like a connecting region
you know, because
-Mm-hmm.
-between the German
speaking Europe,
they're connecting to Italy.
-Yeah.
-And you found it
also at the food,
you find typical South Tyrol
food, like like dumplings,
Speck Knoedel
-Mm-hmm.
-or this Sauerkraut,
this is typically Bavarian.
-Yeah. Yeah.
-And then you, Lasagna,
what we have
-Yes. Yeah.
-seen here or
other Italian pasta.
-Right.
-And we live also the Italian
lifestyle with Aperitivo time.
-Well, that’s good. Yeah.
-Yeah, that's very good
-Yeah.
-yeah.
-Yeah.
-So you find also.
-It’s an incredible mix. Yeah
-This mix of the culture
-Yeah.
-in the cuisine.
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
We feel the roots, our root
-Mm-hmm.
-very strongly you know.
-Right.
-I think this is
the, the thing what,
what makes this
region so special, no.
-Yeah.
-Maybe you could wear a dirndl?
-A Dirndl? I could.
I could wear a dirndl.
I mean, my career would be over.
[laughter]
The hearty cuisine on
these snowcapped mountains comes
from both sides of
the border, Austrian,
with a hint of Italian.
The remote villages of
Alpe di Siusi are perched
along mountainsides
that reach nearly two miles
above sea level.
The air is thin and
produce is sparse,
which influences
what’s eaten here.
Not far from Baita Sanon,
I’m meeting Franz Mulser,
who like his forebears,
grew up speaking German.
He’s a chef known for
foraging the few unexpected
ingredients of this
area and turning them
into delicious cuisine.
[Stanley] So, Franz.
Where are we going?
[Franz] We're going
to get some ingredients
for our dish.
You should bear in mind,
that in winter here
it's really hard
to find food to use.
So, here is my favorite tree.
This is a stone pine.
I collect this mainly
in this season.
Its scent is almost
indescribable.
-Oh yeah it’s
beautiful, beautiful.
[Franz] And we use this
to make our pesto.
[Stanley] Franz is taking
me to a very special place,
a 200-year-old hut that
his family has used as both
home and dairy.
-Oh my God.
This is fantastic!
He’s going to show me two
family recipes made with his
unique mountain ingredients.
[Franz] This type of
pasta’s called
schlutzkrapfen.
[Franz] So take it
here on one side
and then you pull it a little.
-Uh huh.
[Franz] And then you
stick these two sides together.
Just like that.
Oh, you’re good at that!
-Incredible.
[Franz] Perfect.
[Stanley] The schlutzkrapfen
dough is made with a mixture of
durum wheat and
dried pear flour.
They’re stuffed with a variety
of Franz’s homemade cheeses
and topped with
a tomato compote.
[Franz] Then at the end
[Stanley] Pesto.
[Franz] Our stone pine pesto.
-Woah.
Wow.
That's amazing.
[Stanley] It’s really complex.
[Stanley] Franz’s second dish
is perhaps even more special
because it played an important
part in his family’s history.
[Franz] We make a really special
dish from all these herbs.
It’s this cream made
with herbs and flowers.
This cream is made
of a mix of 25 herbs
all picked by hand.
[Stanley] This recipe was
Franz's grandfather's.
He was Austrian,
drafted unwillingly into the
Italian army in World War II.
Forced to leave his pregnant
wife and family behind,
he eventually fled.
[Franz] So when all the
soldiers were on the train
going towards Stalingrad,
he jumped off
the train at night.
There was another man with him.
They killed him.
So, my grandfather had
to survive in the forest.
[Stanley] For how long?
[Franz] For four years.
[Stanley] Four years
in the woods?
[Franz] So grandfather
made this soup with herbs
from the woods.
-Incredible.
[Franz] Now we’ll serve
our herb and flower soup.
There we go.
Lovely.
Do you want to put the
little flowers on top?
[Stanley] Small flowers?
[Franz] Super.
[Stanley] So.
-Oh my god that's delicious.
That is so good.
-Thank you.
-Oh my god that’s good.
Franz’s food is a powerful,
personal response to survival
in this conflicted region,
while slopeside fare is a mix
of national influences.
So how do these mixed
identities present themselves
when food is more elevated?
[train announcements in Italian]
[Stanley] Trentino-Alto Adige
is the wealthiest region
in Italy per capita.
Because of this,
it boasts one of the
most efficient rail networks
in the entire country.
-It's so nice
traveling by train.
And um, it's just vineyard
after vineyard after vineyard,
and very good wine
up here, by the by.
[voice] (German)
Next stop Bozen Kaiserhau.
(Italian)
Next stop Bolzano Casanova.
[Stanley] I’m
heading to Merano,
the spa-filled leisure
capital of the region,
where Austrian influence and
Italian sensibility collide,
creating some of the most
luxurious cooking in this part
of the country.
In this well-heeled community,
the cold alpine peaks can
comfortably be admired from
the warm and sunny terraces.
This makes Merano an
oasis from which to enjoy the
region's complex fare.
You have all this pasta,
all these Italian products,
and then you have sauerkraut.
That's Merano in a nutshell.
This little town's affluence
has made it a hotspot for
Michelin-starred restaurants.
At Castel Fragsburg, one of
these starred restaurants is
run by Egon Heiss,
who has a high-end
take on the duality of
the region’s cuisine.
Today he’s making dumplings.
Knoedel from the Austrian
tradition and gnocchi
from the Italian.
How long has
knoedel been around?
-I think um, the
the first knoedel,
they are about
the 13th century,
some soldiers came in from,
I think from Bavaria.
-Uh-huh.
-And then they went to a farm
and they were very hungry.
So they told to the
ladies that they are hungry and
they want to have
something to eat.
They had nothing
else than some old bread,
some milk and eggs.
So they were just boiling
it for eight minutes doing these
knoedel and you know the
soldiers they were so happy.
So we got the onions
with the speck.
[Stanley] Egon has
elevated the knoedel,
way beyond these basic origins.
-So we’re gonna do
some flat knoedels.
When we go to have
the speck knoedel,
Stan it's very important
never use a knife to cut your
knoedels only with
a fork and a spoon.
They are very tender so if you.
-Oh they should just fall apart?
-Definitely.
[Stanley] He makes
a trio of knoedel,
the classic speck, his
own colorful beetroot.
[Egon] So, that is gorgonzola.
[Stanley] And a
Tyrolian grey cheese,
which is crumbly and sharp
and gets its name from the
color of the mold
that grows on its outside,
which sounds
gross but isn’t.
[Egon] Now we're
going to do the gnocchi.
The most important thing if
you do gnocchi is the potato.
You have to get
the right potatoes.
-Yeah, what do you use?
-So, this is a Keebec.
-It has to have the
right amount of starch
-Mm-hmm. Definitely.
-but it has to have
the depth of flavor.
-Exactly.
-But it can’t be too starchy.
-Exactly.
-Oh you don’t do
it with a ricer.
-This, no, no, no, no,
this you have to do whilst
the potato is very, very hot.
And now we're gonna
-Yeah.
-add just some butter.
[Stanley] A bit of butter.
-And one egg yolk.
-Just the yolk. Yeah.
-Just the yolk.
And very important,
you just finish the base
whilst the potato is still hot.
-See, this is why you
have a Michelin star.
-Now I got cheese fondue.
-Yeah, so what kind
of cheese is that?
-We've got some alp cheese,
and we got some
parmesan cheese.
Now this I'm gonna
put them in the freezer.
And then you see I
got all those little.
-And that’s what it becomes?
-That’s what it becomes.
So you’re gonna eat the
gnocchi and you’ll get like this
creamy soft fondue in them.
-That’s so genius.
-Nice small gnocchis.
[Stanley] The finishing touches
are made to the dumplings,
and they’re whisked
to the table.
First up, Knoedel.
[Stanley] Thanks.
-There you go.
-Stop it.
Cheers.
-Cheers.
-Salute.
-Bon Appetito.
-Cheers.
-Cheers.
We’re joined by
Alexander Ortner,
owner of Castel Fragsburg.
See I almost went for my knife.
-Don’t use the knife, remember.
You remember?
-I won’t, I won’t, he told me
-Yeah, no.
-He told me.
Oh my god.
It's so good. It's so good.
Mmm.
So, this place has been in
your family for how long?
-So my grandfather bought
this place in 1955.
–Mm-hmm.
-And at that time this
place was a very poor place,
ruined by fascism.
-Okay so Mussolini basically
imposed laws that prohibited
you from speaking German.
-I'll tell you a short
story about my father.
At that time my
father was very,
he loved to playing guitar,
to sing songs and so on,
to have fun with,
with his friends.
So, one day they went
to a mountain hut
-Mm-hmm
-they had a party and
sang some German songs.
-Mm-hmm.
-Which was normal for everyone.
And then the police,
the Italian police came.
-Uh-huh.
-They put him in
jail because of that,
because he sang German songs.
It sounds incredible,
but it was at that time.
But now it changed,
it changed completely.
So, maybe my family,
my sons, they’ve never
spoken an Italian word together.
-Really?
-They never do this.
We use sometimes we
use Italian words.
So, maybe for the
number plate of a car,
we never say number plate,
we say targa,
which is an Italian word.
But it’s funny.
-What, what would
it be in German?
-Nummernschild.
-Nummernschild.
-Yeah. A number shield. Yeah.
-A number shield.
-Yeah. That makes sense.
It’s so long though.
-Yeah, yeah.
Targa is easier.
-Targa is easier.
-Yeah.
We can laugh about these
things but at that time.
-No you couldn’t.
-The people had a
really terrible time.
But it’s good to to, to think
about, to to speak about,
and to forget about, I think so.
-Yeah.
Thankfully now the people
here can choose their language
and their cultural
identity and the region
is all the richer for it.
-Our little gnocchi.
-Come on, look at that.
And you have a different
herb on top of each one.
-Exactly.
Usually, normally we put
on top of each gnocchi the
herb you have
inside the cream.
-That’s really incredible.
-Good?
-Mm.
[Stanley] Gnocchi and knoedel,
a delicious unification of two
cultures in one meal.
-Thanks guys, thank you so much.
-Cheers.
-It’s a great honor.
Thank you.
But does this balance exist
further from the border?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah gentle.
Is more important, a bit
more energy to go back than,
than the energy to
need to go in front.
[Stanley] I’m under the expert
supervision of local angler
Stefano Fedrizzi.
-Okay, yes.
[Stanley] This morning
we’re trying to catch lunch,
with his two pals,
Diego and Paolo.
Stefano and Paolo grew
up fishing these waters.
-Oh. [bleep]
-Rock!
It was a stick fish.
-Very common in these parts.
-Yeah.
[Stanley] We're on the
banks of the Sarca River.
The Sarca flows through the
Genova Valley in Trentino,
the southern half of the region.
At the end of the winter,
the Adamello Glacier
melts into these waters.
That glacial water creates
the perfect environment for
slow-growing fish that
are lean and full of flavor.
But of course,
you have to catch one first.
-What are we fishing for?
-We are fishing
for marble trout.
-For marble trout?
-Marble trout.
-Which is just like,
from this area?
[Stefano] Yeah, it’s a
timid fish, it’s a predator,
he likes to live
under the rocks,
feed during the night.
So, is a, a unicorn,
for a fisherman.
-Okay. Should we
go hunting instead?
[Stefano] Yeah,
hunting is easier.
[Stanley] Happily I've
brought a backup meal.
[Stanley] Want a beer?
-Gladly.
[Stanley] I'm cooking
the second-best fish
in these parts, the
alpine arctic char.
-Do you eat the fish you catch?
[Stefano] Yes, sometimes we,
we like to eat fish and
what we catch.
-Yeah.
-My best dish is
-Bread and Nutella.
[Stanley groans]
-I'm really bad at cooking.
-I’m just gonna put
some herbs in it.
The char of the Dolomites.
It’s really restricted, right?
-Yeah.
-How many can you catch?
-Two per day.
-Two per day per fisherman?
-Per fisherman,
thirty per year.
-Oh, that’s not so bad.
You grew up here, right?
-Yeah.
-You too?
-Yes.
-From this area?
-Yes.
-Why do you like fishing?
-It’s a good office and a
good way to live and explore
the nature around
me and our area.
-I’ve found in fly
fishing my church,
you know, my religion.
-Really?
-Yeah. I’m not joking.
I’m not kidding.
[Stanley] What does that mean?
-When I, when I’m
in the river alone,
I can touch the sky.
I can talk to God.
-Really?
-Yeah
-Nice.
-Nice, you smell that?
Mmm-mmm-mmm
-Yeah.
[Stanley] Okay so how
is it different than other
regions in Italy?
-The, the main difference is
we still have a lot of heritage,
of our ancient time.
My grandfather and grandmother
were born in Austria.
Because here it was Austria.
[Stanley] Even here,
down in the Southern Valleys,
the Germanic influence
seems just as strong.
-Nice.
-Alright, plates.
Hey, Diego.
C'mon.
Obviously you're not
catching anything so you might
as well eat.
[Diego] I’m coming!
[Stanley] Let’s eat!
[Stanley] Buon appetito.
[Stefano] Buon appetito.
-That’s a beautiful fish.
[Stanley] Do you like it?
-It’s very well cooked.
-Very good.
-Do you consider
yourselves Italian?
Do you consider yourselves
more Austrian, what?
[Stefano laughs]
[Diego] It’s different.
-I think everyone
is different here.
[Stefano] I’m
definitely proud to be Trentino
but I’m Italian.
Paolo?
-Trentino.
-Just Trentino!
100%.
What about you,
how do you feel?
Italian, Trentino, or German?
[Diego] I feel
whatever I don't know!
I feel like Diego!
Diego! I'm just Diego!
[Stanley] They may not
share one cultural identity,
but the people
here do share a deep
connection with their land,
bringing them
produce that's both
hard earned and delicious.
Understandable in
these surroundings,
but is the city different?
[Stanley] The capital of
South Tyrol province, Bolzano,
has long been a
stopping point for outsiders
crossing over the Dolomites.
I'm in a market,
on a street
named after Goethe.
And it's really beautiful.
Puntarelle.
Artichokes.
-So totally different
than Southern Italy.
It's very quiet.
Very organized.
Very tidy.
It might be too quiet.
On its surface,
Bolzano appears
similarly divided between
the Italian and
Austrian influences.
I’m gonna get a wurst.
Hi, sorry.
[Stanley] A sandwich.
-Hot dog-o?
-No, this one.
-This one, right?
[Stanley] Yes, alright.
[in German]
Thank you, thank you.
-That is so good with that,
like, perfect mustard.
Not spicy but it has all
that beautiful peppery flavor
and the smoked wurst.
C'mon.
I just love that you can get
all the great Italian produce,
the Austrian bread and
sausage and it's amazing,
a great mix of two
different kitchens.
But the city has more to offer
than just those two kitchens.
The number of immigrants
here has tripled over the
last two decades.
Its position near the
Brenner Pass at the border
means there's a constant
flow of new arrivals bringing
with them their
culture and cuisine.
Rahma, who came here
from Ethiopia 14 years ago,
is preparing a
meal to celebrate
that growing diversity.
She’s part of a
community supper club called
Cooking Without Borders,
which brings together
recent immigrants with local
Bolzani to share in
a home-cooked meal from one
member’s country of birth.
[Stanley]
What’s this called, again?
-Teklel gomen.
-Okay
-Teklel gomen.
-Yeah.
Gor, gornan?
[Rahma] Teklel gomen.
-I can’t say that.
-What’s in these pots?
The smell is amazing.
-Yes, this is the zigni gravy.
Yes, with beef, onion
and Ethiopian spices.
This is called alicha.
It’s cabbage,
carrots and potatoes.
-So potatoes,
but no onions?
-Yes, there are.
-Always onions.
[Rahma] Always.
[Stanley] I like onions.
[Rahma] Here’s the dough,
it was made three days ago.
I should put two ladelfuls.
[Stanley] What kind of flour?
[Rahma] Teff, it's a
grain that's also from Ethiopia.
[Stanley] Rahma uses
the teff dough to make a
classic injera bread,
a sour fermented
flatbread served
all over Ethiopia.
[Stanley] Look at
all of these little holes!
-That’s beautiful.
At the table today are
some of Rahma’s family,
others raised in Alto Adige,
and still others who moved here
from places as far
away as Japan and Peru.
-This is the
traditional platter.
[Stanley] Heavy!
-Ok.
-OK, let’s eat.
There you go.
-Thanks.
[Stanley] Over Rahma’s
injera platter,
this group of diners has space
to discuss their different
points of view on
life in Bolzano.
-That’s tasty.
Are you friends?
-Yes.
[Stanley] Why?
-We met
because her younger sister
and my daughter
went to school together.
Then one thing led to another
and we started
talking about cultures
and organizing
these dinners.
-OK. I like this idea
of Cooking Without Borders.
What’s it like here?
-I’ve been accepted
and I’ve got friends like Gloria
I’m happy and content.
-Yes, it’s good.
But as we’re foreigners
it was hard to begin with
to speak the language,
to know things, to meet people.
-Bolzano,
the way I see it
from my experience,
has some difficulties
with foreigners.
For example, you
can't find a home.
-You can’t find a home?
-Because when
you reply to a listing,
we write emails to
all of them
we then view four
or five houses.
Then they see us and are like,
"No, they're not available."
[Stanley] After
they've seen you?
-Yes, exactly.
I have a studio apartment.
It's about 25 or
23 square meters.
There are six of us.
Seven with my mom.
-Italy doesn't have a
huge tradition of immigration.
We’re just the first
generation to experience it.
As for this region,
there are Germans,
Italians and then after that
new populations come in,
new fellow citizens.
They're not immigrants,
they're new fellow citizens
to get to know.
Italy is slow to change,
but when it does, it
gets there in its own time.
-Do your
children speak Italian?
-German.
[Stanley] German? Right.
-They go to a German school.
-Really complicated.
-Yes, very!
[Stanley] With immigration
levels remaining high,
Rahma and her friends
represent hope in this
historically troubled region,
when what side of the
border you come from,
will matter less than what
you bring to the table.
But there’s one community in
this region that’s been here
since before borders as
we know them even existed,
one with a very different
take on identity.
[Stanley] Deep
in the mountains,
is the town of San Vigilio.
It is in Badia, one of only
five valleys in the Dolomites
populated by an ancient
community speaking a
2,000-year-old language.
They're known as the Ladins.
The family I’m
visiting have been farming
here for generations.
With the fluctuating
identities in this area,
the Ladins are the ones who
have just moved forward,
and stayed the same for
centuries and centuries.
So I'm very interested
to go and meet them.
How old is this farm?
-So the first trace,
written trace, is 1296
[Stanley] This is Uli Ties, she
and her husband take pride in
preserving the area’s
traditional ways of living.
The Ladin communities are
spread amongst some of the
highest and least
arable regions of Italy.
Ingredients here are
few and far between.
-Here we are.
[Stanley] So traditionally,
food preservation is an
important skill.
Oh my God.
[Uli] This is our speck cellar.
[Stanley] The Ladins been
making speck for centuries.
It’s pork, cured and smoked
in a mixture of juniper,
bay leaves, and other spices
before being hung to
age for months.
-That smell, it’s incredible.
-Every piece has
a special taste.
The piece I love more
is this one here
-Yeah.
-because I am ah,
very, yes, a tough girl
-Yeah.
-and it's, it's quite spicy.
It's very--
-Yeah, yeah.
[Uli] Very pronounced.
-Yes.
-Yes.
-It’s interesting the
profumo--
[Uli] The aroma
[Stanley] because it’s
a bit sweet
a bit
smoky?
A bit
strong
fragrant.
[Uli] A bit intense,
-Yeah, yeah.
[Uli] like us Ladins!
[in Italian] Yes.
[laughter]
[Stanley] I’m so hungry.
-Yeah come on.
-Alright, let’s go.
-Come on.
-I’m like starving.
-That’s my job.
[Stanley] It’s not just
speck Uli preserves.
She makes it her mission to
preserve Ladin traditions
through time-honored recipes.
Oh I love this.
Which they serve in
the family’s restaurant
Tlo Plazores.
So, what are we making?
-Now we are going
with canci checi.
It’s potato yeast dough.
[Stanley] Yeah.
-And it’s filled seasonally
now with potato and ricotta.
So, ready?
-Yeah.
-Go.
[Stanley] What type of oil?
[Uli] I work with refined lard.
It's what was
used in the past
because they didn't
have the money to buy oil.
-My appreciation is more
for the ladies cooking here
inside this house
maybe for 24 people with
a little bit of flour, with a
little bit of speck, with a
-Yeah.
-little bit of
herbs they have in summer.
-Yeah, yeah.
-And ricotta and potatoes and
cabbage in winter, and not more.
-Yeah. And that’s it?
-And that’s great.
-Yeah.
You had what you
had and that was it.
-You had what you
had and nothing else.
-Yeah.
[Uli] It’s called canci checi.
-Would be translated to red
ravioli because of the color.
-Red ravioli?
-Yes.
-Yeah.
-Because the ladies
cooking here um.
-Oh my God,
that smells so good.
[Uli] Five centuries ago,
they had very less
ingredients but they always
tried to work it out
in another way so that
people has the
imagine of another dish.
-Yes, right, right.
-And that’s what I find amazing.
-Yeah.
-Oh so beautiful
-Beautiful, aren’t they?
-Oh. Oh-ahah!
-So here we have
toasted poppy.
-Toasted poppies!
[Uli] And you put
it on here and it’s
[Uli] Crushed.
-And now to make the
thing more interesting we
have melted butter.
-Ah that’s gorgeous.
-Smell.
-Yeah, yeah.
-Oh.
So that’s an
authentic Ladin dish.
-With dried raspberries?
-Yes, a little bit to have
a little bit of color.
-How pretty.
-This is one of my
adds to this tradition,
but I like it because it adds
a little bit of sourness.
-Yeah, yeah.
-And it’s quite tasty.
-Yeah.
-Do you want to open one?
-Sure, can we?
-You see?
-Oh yes!
-Here we have the
ricotta e patate.
[in Italian] Yes.
[Uli] Then, we
could also do this, see?
"Bom pro" like we say here!
-Yeah.
-“Bom pro.”
-Bon appetito.
-Bon
Mm.
[Uli] It’s not bad, is it?
[Stanley] No, it’s not bad!
No, it’s perfect!
[Stanley] But this
is just an appetizer.
Inside the family’s restaurant,
Uli’s prepared a multi-course
feast imbued with the
flavors of the past.
[Stanley] I'm joining
Uli, her husband Roman,
her sons Andre and Jan,
and her father Jep for
a typical Sunday Ladin meal
made with ingredients
produced only in this area.
[Stanley] Tell me,
what do we have?
[Roman]
Here I cut some speck.
The traditional cut
is from the thigh.
[in Italian] Yes.
[Roman] Then we have pancetta.
This is a coppa.
[Stanley] Coppa?
[Roman]
Pork coppa, the neck.
-Buon appettito.
-Bon appétit.
-Bom pro.
[Stanley] What kind
when you smoke it,
what kind of
wood do you use?
-From larch to fir
to ash.
It depends on what I have.
[Uli] And juniper
-That’s delicious
-Pancetta is the most
wonderful thing in the world.
-Yeah. Yeah. Oh boy.
[Stanley] What is in there?
[Uli] Furtaies
[Stanley] Furtaias are a
sweet, funnel cake-like dish.
-Do I dip?
-Yes.
[Stanley] Today served with
cranberry and strawberry jam.
Mmm, I love that.
I love it.
So, Ladin is a combination
of different languages, right?
-Two languages.
-Two.
-Yes.
-Which, which are what?
-The old population
from this region
-Mm-hmm.
-was called the
Rhaetic people.
The languages mixed with
Roman and with Rhaetic.
-Yeah.
-So, yeah.
[Uli] There you go.
A special kind of
potato gnocchi.
[Uli] With pancetta
and sour cabbage.
-Oh my God.
-And now for you, another
working out of speck,
here you get a little
bit of speck powder.
-Speck powder!
-Yes.
-That's truly exciting.
Mmm.
Oh my god, but with
the sauerkraut.
It's Italian, it's
Austria-Hungarian,
it's Ladin.
-Yes.
[Stanley] It’s everything
[Uli] Yes.
Because all the cultures
left something behind.
We are still Ladins but
we can pick and choose.
But without compromising
our way of life.
-How do tourists react to
the food and to the place?
-We see very different
reactions but most of them are
amazed by the beauty of our,
of our ancient house
that we have here
[Stanley] Yeah.
-and because it's, it's
really something that you don't
see that often in nowadays.
-It, it is amazing that, that,
that you have sustained this
culture for thousands of years.
We talk about the,
the warring factions that
have decided now we’re Austria,
now we’re Italy but
you’ve stayed the same.
-Yes.
-Like the mountains.
-Yes, something like that.
-We never really had
like a national identity,
because we are just a
language group and not like
a country or a nation
-Right.
-and I believe because we
always had these insecurities,
like unsure where
we belong to
[Stanley] Mm-hmm
-our identity stayed
strong because we knew
that us as a small population,
we need to be
strong to live out our language.
For me personally, I'm not an
Italian and I'm not an Austrian.
I'm a Ladin.
-We, we belong to ourselves
so it’s not a problem if on my
pass there’s written Italian
citizen or Austrian citizen,
it, that’s no matter.
-That doesn’t matter.
-No.
-Yeah.
-We are
-Yeah.
-that what we are and
-Yeah.
-uh, we are also very
tolerant with other people.
-How do you stay cheers again?
-Viveres!
-Alla vita.
-Alla vita! Viveres.
-Viveres. Alla vita.
[Stanley] Trentino-Alto Adige
is a complex region.
The resilience of its
communities shows that their
identity means so much
more than just some lines drawn
on a map.
The more the people here have
to flex with political whims,
the richer their
pantry becomes,
in spite of a sparse landscape.
They take the best
from all cultures,
wherever they originate,
to enrich their food
and their sense of self.