Every episode is chock-whole of mouthwatering regional specialties geared up by chefs all around the region.
For those people wanting to abide by in Stanley Tucci’s footsteps, down below is an episode-by-episode information to all the eating places — together with area hangouts and Michelin-starred establishments — the actor frequented during the show’s 2nd year.
LIGURIA
The Italian Riviera is extensively viewed as to be the most glamorous and picturesque shoreline in Europe. Portofino and Cinque Terre, located in Liguria, are two of Italy’s most visited places. With its steep cliffs and wild countryside softened by sporadic villages of sweet-coloured properties, this idyllic strip of mountainous land has breathtaking views. The harshness of the land has created the men and women creative. It is really Liguria we have to thank for pesto, a person of Tucci’s favored things.
Chef Carlo Cracco displays Stanley Tucci how to make pansotti pasta with preboggion and walnut sauce. “It can be incredibly diverse from nearly anything I have at any time tasted,” Tucci mentioned. “Stanley Tucci: Exploring for Italy” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
Cracco Portofino is run by Carlo Cracco — a single of Italy’s most well known, Michelin-starred cooks. His menu options dishes that are connected to the land. For Tucci, he cooked the traditional Ligurian dish of ravioli-like pansotti pasta with a mixture of greens and herbs known as preboggion and walnut sauce. “It is quite various than everything I have at any time tasted,” Tucci claimed as he raved about the meal.
Il Genovese is regarded for its pesto, which is crushed by hand in an historic mortar. Chef Roberto Panizza, recognized as the King of Pesto and the founder of the Pesto Planet Championship, made Tucci a pasta dish to showcase the delectable inexperienced sauce. He additional eco-friendly beans and potatoes to the pasta to make it additional creamy. “So humble, this dish. So humble, just like me,” Tucci joked.
Antico Forno della Casana makes some of the ideal focaccia in the location, in accordance to foods writer Laurel Evans. The bread with its signature dimples is a operating-course staple that originated in Genoa. The nearby trick is to take in it upside down so the salt hits your tongue to start with and the relaxation of the flavors observe.
When cappon magro — a seafood and greens dish arranged into a ornamental pyramid — strike the desk, Stanley Tucci was speechless. “Stanley Tucci: Browsing for Italy” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
The Prepare dinner is the hot new cafe of chef Ivano Ricchebono that is situated in a 14th-century palazzo in Genoa. “Wow! Wow! Wow!” Tucci exclaimed as he walked within and took in the architecture. Ricchebono specializes in seasonal and nearby elements. Tucci came to try corzetti, a Genoese pasta, and cappon magro, an ornate seafood dish. When cappon magro strike the desk, Tucci was in awe of the presentation.
Ittiturismo, developed into the cliffs of Cinque Terre, is each a family household and their cafe. The head chef is the son, Pietro Galletti, who cooks the contemporary fish foraged by his father, Guido. Tucci joined the spouse and children for lunch on their terrace. They feasted on pasta with fish sauce and fried anchovies stuffed with cheese and herbs then lined in breadcrumbs.
PUGLIA
Puglia is famous for its fragrant olive oil, lovely greens, delicious cheeses and flavorful durum wheat. Regularly known as the boot of Italy, this southern region represents the nation’s culinary scene at its most essential — uncomplicated, fresh, domestically manufactured delicacies. Even with remaining 1 of Italy’s poorest locations, Puglia is coming into its individual, and Tucci discovers that you will find a newfound pleasure in its gastronomic roots.
Italian chef Celso Laforgia cooks up spaghetti all’assassina, or assassin’s pasta. This spicy dish provides explosive heat. “Stanley Tucci: Browsing for Italy” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
At Urban Bistrot in Bari, chef Celso Laforgia cooks up pasta all’assassina (assassin pasta). The spicy and charred dish is made by putting the pasta in a pan with olive oil and spices — but no h2o — right up until it truly is burnt and crispy. “Actually, I have under no circumstances seen something like that in advance of,” Tucci reported. “And I have been all around much too.” According to Laforgia, the dish bought its name after the first human being who experimented with it identified as the chef a killer for the reason that it was so spicy.
With a title that suggests “historical flavors,” Antichi Sapori in Montegrosso is regarded for transforming straightforward, humble elements into entire world-class cuisine. Such is the situation with its signature dish, burnt attain orecchiette in a fava bean product served with burrata cheese and charred black olives. Fava beans are a preferred in Puglia they increase a sleek, creaminess to the pasta. “It can be the equilibrium of flavors,” said chef Pietro Zito as he served the dish to Tucci. “That is amazing,” Tucci claimed. “Now, I are not able to prevent feeding on.”
Trattoria Bere Vecchie, tucked in the labyrinth of alleyways of the hilltop city of Cisternino, is a butcher store that won’t just provide meats, it cooks them on the spot. The store is operate by young restaurateur Vito Zurlo. Historically, this constructing was a pharmacy, now it serves up meat spit-roasted in a way reminiscent of Turkish design and style kebabs. Tucci tried using bombette (rolls of pork stuffed with cheese, herbs and pink pepper) and gnumareddi (lamb wrapped in intestines).
Caseificio Dicecca is a just one-of-a-form cheese bar, in which cheesemaker Vito Dicecca designed a thing unparalleled in this region: Apulian blue cheese. About time, he’s produced 66 diverse types of blue cheese. He served Tucci focaccia with burrata, which Dicecca’s mother use to make for his school lunches.
Ristorante Vitantonio Lombardo is an deserted cave in the historic city of Matera that’s been turned into a Michelin star cafe. Chef Vitantonio Lombardo whips up dishes with inventive names like “I dropped the Egg in the Garden” and “Drone See of the Murgia.” For Tucci, he made “Poverty and nobility with a purple wine sauce.” The dish is a veal filet and veal throat, or sweetbread, protected in black breadcrumb to look like a black truffle — a symbol of decadence. It really is then served with a potato puree and a pink-wine reduction sauce. “That is f**king awesome,” Tucci mentioned.
SARDINIA
Sardinia is the most distant area of Italy. Cut off from the Italian peninsula, this island has produced its personal customs and delicacies. Consuming right here is like heading on the culinary equal of an archaeological dig considering the fact that so quite a few waves of settlers through historical past have motivated the food stuff. When halting below, Tucci uncovered two sides to this interesting area: the coastline with its seafood and a dazzling blend of cultures drawn from all-around the Mediterranean and the inside — a steep, rocky landscape where by locals stubbornly cling to their historic traditions and freedoms.
Fregola, a couscous-like dish, is a central aspect in Sardinian cuisine. Stanley Tucci visits the location and learns about its abundant historical past. “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
Fradis Minoris will get its offer of clean seafood each day from the bordering waters. The restaurant’s sustainable menu attained it a coveted Michelin Environmentally friendly Star — the 1st in Sardinia. When Tucci swung by, chef Francesco Stara designed fregola ai frutti di mare, a area staple. The star of the dish is the fregola, which is a North African-motivated, couscous-like pasta.
At Luigi Pomata, chef and proprietor Luigi Pomata is regarded as the king of tuna. Uncooked seafood, which includes tuna, requires center stage on his menu. For the duration of Tucci’s visit, Pomata cooked up neighborhood bluefin tuna with pesto in a standard pasta dish known as cassulli alla carlofortina. Much to Tucci’s shock, Pomata prepares it by using the refreshing tuna belly and boiling it. “That’s mouth watering,” Tucci reported right after sampling the dish.
Al Forno, found in the medieval metropolis of Alghero recognised as tiny Barcelona, is a little bakery. Tucci ordered panada — a type of Sardinian savory pie stated to have been given its name from empanada, a very similar pastry dish thought to have originated in Spain. “Oh my God!” Tucci proclaimed. “It is like Italy and Spain jointly in my mouth.”
Alghero is environment famed for its lobster. It can be so excellent Queen Elizabeth II herself requested it for her wedding day reception. “Stanley Tucci: Seeking for Italy” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HPN.
Mabrouk is a former 16th-century monastery converted into a restaurant. Chef Antonietta Salaris will work with the area lobster that’s recognised to be some of the finest in the environment. She makes the regionally common lobster a la Catalana. In the US, lobster eggs are typically thrown out, but Salaris provides them to the sauce for a salty sweetness. “That is so f***ing mouth watering,” Tucci reported.
Arimani, in the ancestral village of Battista in northern Sardinia, is a culinary college, so here you need to cook your individual lunch just before feasting. Chef Simonetta Bazzu has devoted her life to preserving Sardinia’s regular delicacies and historic recipes. For Tucci, she produced pane carasau — a skinny, crispy bread relationship again to at minimum 1000 BC — and a zuppa gallurese, pane carasau soaked in sheep broth, topped with heaps of cheese and wild mint and baked into the woodfire oven.
CALABRIA
Of all the areas of Italy, Calabria retains the most which means for Tucci. It truly is his ancestral homeland and a location he experienced dreamed of viewing considering the fact that he was a boy. “I want to get to know the area my spouse and children remaining at the rear of,” Tucci reported on the demonstrate. This wild, rugged location tends to make up the “toe” of the country’s boot-shaped peninsula. It is acknowledged for its sprawling beach locations, mountains and regional foods, including common salami, sweet purple onions and chili peppers.
Panificio Cuti, operate by baker Pina Olivetti, has been serving traditional Calabrian bread — a sourdough yeast bread referred to as pane de cuti — given that 1985. The location is located in Marzi, which is recognised as the valley of wheat. When Tucci swung by the bakery, he tried out pane di cuti, a 100-12 months-previous recipe. For Tucci and his hungry mothers and fathers, she also produced morsello, a bread bowl loaded with sausage and broccoli rabe. This portable food was after a most loved among the farmers and hunters who needed to have a not-so-minimal slice of property with them where ever they went. Right now, this dish is generally served at weddings and celebrations.
Tropea is famed for its red onions. They are so sweet, they can be served in pasta, preserves and ice cream. Tune in Sundays at 9 p.m. ET to enjoy all-new episodes of “Stanley Tucci: Looking for Italy.”
At Osteria della Cipolla Rossa (Crimson Onion Inn), run by Michele Pugliese and Romana Schiariti, the specialty is the unapologetically very simple purple onion spaghetti. The vital component is the region’s renowned sweet purple onions, termed cipolla rossa, which only develop alongside the compact stretch of coastline bordering the city of Tropea. The onions are so sweet that, during the episode, Tucci bit into a raw a person as if it ended up an apple.
Il Principe di Scilla is a household-run restaurant in Scilla, Italy, that is all about the nearby swordfish, the most highly regarded or prized sea creature in Calabria — and for a region surrounded by h2o on three sides, that is seriously saying a little something. “It is like prosciutto and smoked salmon had a really like little one,” Tucci claimed as he sampled the clean uncooked swordfish with restaurant operator Johnny Giordano. Tucci also tried out scialiatelli alla ghiotta, which is like a swordfish ragu. “It truly is very little quick of incredible,” Giordano mentioned of the pasta dish.
In the dishes at Qafiz, tucked in the Aspromonte mountains, chef Nino Rossi uses community components. He well prepared for Tucci the signature dessert that served the restaurant snag a Michelin star: hearth. Encouraged by the idea of renewed expansion following the 2021 wildfires, the aptly named dish is created of meringue flavored with charcoal, sliced apple and white chocolate foam. “It is really like a million distinct flavors in there,” Tucci stated as he dove in for seconds.
La Collinetta, found in the mountain city of Martone, is operate by farmer and chef Pino Trimboli. When Tucci frequented, Trimboli manufactured lamb in clay, an historic Greek dish. The lamb is surrounded by moist clay before it can be baked to seal in the sensitive flavors and juices. This ancient system comes with a tradeoff: Just about every dish requires above 4 hrs to prepare dinner. But Tucci claimed the resulting “slide off the bone” lamb was really worth the wait.
Keep tuned for updates as Tucci travels to two extra regions of Italy. Earlier this calendar year, Tucci traveled to Piedmont, Umbria, Venice and London. For a guidebook to all the spots he visited in the course of period one, click right here.
