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Italian food is the most popular cuisine in Britain. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
And there is one woman who's been at the heart of this. | 0:00:05 | 0:00:08 | |
-Hello, love. How are you? -Hi, gorgeous. Mwah! | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
An unsung culinary hero, who's changed the way we all eat. | 0:00:14 | 0:00:18 | |
And yet, too few of us know her name. | 0:00:19 | 0:00:21 | |
Now 91, she's the Italian food writer, Anna Del Conte. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:28 | |
Anna Del Conte was a pioneer | 0:00:28 | 0:00:30 | |
of Italian food here in Britain. | 0:00:30 | 0:00:33 | |
When she started to write Italian cookbooks, we were ready for them. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:38 | |
When I was writing my first book, | 0:00:38 | 0:00:39 | |
I think Anna was probably the leading influence. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:43 | |
Ever since she arrived in the culinary wasteland of | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
-post-war Britain... -Pour in some of your lovely sauce. | 0:00:46 | 0:00:50 | |
..Anna's waged a quiet war of words to open our hearts to the joy | 0:00:50 | 0:00:55 | |
of eating al Italiano. | 0:00:55 | 0:00:57 | |
And there it is. | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
Along the way, she's inspired a battalion of chefs and writers | 0:01:01 | 0:01:05 | |
who've been eager to spread the word on TV. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:08 | |
If I ever want a reference, I'll probably go to Anna Del Conte. | 0:01:08 | 0:01:12 | |
She's got it, she's nailed it. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:14 | |
But if our faces have become familiar, | 0:01:14 | 0:01:17 | |
our guiding light has remained quietly in the shadows. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:20 | |
-Thank you. -Thank you, thank you, very, very much. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
I have to say, next to my mother, | 0:01:22 | 0:01:24 | |
there's no-one who has influenced me more. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:27 | |
Don't make me cry, please. | 0:01:27 | 0:01:30 | |
To get a flavour of how she inspired us, | 0:01:30 | 0:01:32 | |
we'll be cooking three of Anna's classic recipes... | 0:01:32 | 0:01:35 | |
That's enough. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:36 | |
..her quick and easy pesto with a special twist, | 0:01:36 | 0:01:39 | |
an authentic ragu a la Bolognese... | 0:01:39 | 0:01:42 | |
It's all a question of nurturing. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:45 | |
..and a very festive tiramisu. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:48 | |
Perfect. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:50 | |
This is Anna's story. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:52 | |
The godmother of Italian food in Britain. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:57 | |
The cook who changed our lives. | 0:01:57 | 0:01:59 | |
Today, Anna Del Conte lives in Dorset, | 0:02:09 | 0:02:11 | |
next-door to her daughter and four grandchildren. | 0:02:11 | 0:02:15 | |
At the age of 91, she's published 15 defining books on Italian food. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:21 | |
For me, food is my country, very strongly. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:24 | |
And I wanted to talk about my country, Italy, | 0:02:24 | 0:02:27 | |
to my new country, England. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:30 | |
And she's still writing and cooking for the whole family. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:33 | |
Now, let it cook gently. It absorbs, you see? | 0:02:33 | 0:02:38 | |
Anna's recipes are infused with the knowledge of | 0:02:38 | 0:02:41 | |
-and a passion for the ingredients... -This is arborio. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:45 | |
..built up over 80 years in the kitchen. | 0:02:45 | 0:02:47 | |
Now, risotto is a dish of the north, | 0:02:47 | 0:02:49 | |
like pasta is a dish of the south, simply because rice grows there. | 0:02:49 | 0:02:54 | |
Today, Anna and her granddaughter Coco are cooking risotto al limone. | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
Now, go on, stir. You've got to stir it because you | 0:02:58 | 0:03:01 | |
didn't want it to stick to the bottom. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:03 | |
This recipe combines lemon juice, herbs, egg yolks, | 0:03:03 | 0:03:07 | |
-cream and Parmesan. -Like that. | 0:03:07 | 0:03:10 | |
It's the perfect example of Anna's quintessential Italian style - | 0:03:10 | 0:03:14 | |
a few simple ingredients, perfectly balanced. | 0:03:14 | 0:03:18 | |
Put it there. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:19 | |
When I read Anna's books or when I look through the recipes, | 0:03:19 | 0:03:22 | |
it reminds me a lot of my grandmother cooking. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
Very essential, very straightforward. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:28 | |
It's Anna's unique family quality that | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
has encouraged us Brits not just to eat Italian, but to cook it at home. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:36 | |
The great thing about Anna's books is they are authentic, | 0:03:36 | 0:03:39 | |
but they are written for an English audience. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
She doesn't assume that you're going to know what she's talking about. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:46 | |
And it's her un-chefy approach to Italian food | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
that has been so inspiring. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
When I was writing my first book, | 0:03:51 | 0:03:53 | |
I think Anna was probably the leading influence. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:57 | |
I was so relieved to see a book of recipes written by a home cook | 0:03:57 | 0:04:01 | |
for home cooks, I knew that I could read that and it would doable. | 0:04:01 | 0:04:05 | |
-It's delicious. -It's really good. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:07 | |
I first met Anna more than 20 years ago. | 0:04:15 | 0:04:18 | |
But this is where we're meeting today, Bar Italia in Soho... | 0:04:19 | 0:04:23 | |
Hello. Buongiorno. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
..one of Anna's favourite places in London. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:28 | |
We're grabbing a quick drink before we go shopping for our lunch. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:35 | |
Anna used to come to Bar Italia for a real espresso when she | 0:04:39 | 0:04:42 | |
first came to England in 1949. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:46 | |
It was a refreshing break from British food. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:48 | |
-Were you completely shocked by the food? -Oh, God, yes. Yes, I'm sorry. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:54 | |
-No, no, no. -It was... I found it was the smell, | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
the thing that really put me off. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:00 | |
It was the smell of fried and fried fat. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:05 | |
But there still must have been rationing. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:07 | |
Oh, yes. Certainly the butter and the meat went on till 1954. | 0:05:07 | 0:05:14 | |
'When Anna first arrived, she found Britain was a culinary wasteland.' | 0:05:14 | 0:05:18 | |
The war had shrunk the British larder. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:23 | |
We ate bread and dripping, but meat only if we were lucky. | 0:05:23 | 0:05:26 | |
Rationing was worse after the war than during the war. | 0:05:28 | 0:05:33 | |
Spam fritters and snook, omelettes made with dried egg, | 0:05:33 | 0:05:39 | |
would have been the norm. | 0:05:39 | 0:05:41 | |
Toast and dried egg breakfasts aren't much to shout about. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:44 | |
But now, even they're going. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
Honestly, I'm beginning to dread each new day. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
There were some signs of improvement. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
A transatlantic phenomenon has at last made its mark in British shops, | 0:05:53 | 0:05:56 | |
the self-service store. | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
Its advocates believe that when the customers see more, | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
they'll want more. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:03 | |
But with rationing still casting its shadow, | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
more wasn't really an option. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:07 | |
There was no choice. You ate what was put in front of you. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:13 | |
Stand by of the British diet is the meat pie, but it is just these foods | 0:06:13 | 0:06:18 | |
which are most likely to harbour bacterial infections and poisons. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:22 | |
And lunch was often just a stale and sorry sandwich. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:26 | |
Was it a bit of a culture shock? | 0:06:27 | 0:06:29 | |
-I don't think I felt very attuned for a long time. -Yes. Yes. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:34 | |
It's no surprise Anna wasn't feeling quite at home. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:40 | |
After all, she'd arrived in a world where Mediterranean flavours | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
were unknown. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:45 | |
If you said the word garlic, people held their noses. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:48 | |
"Garlic!" they'd say. | 0:06:48 | 0:06:49 | |
And they thought olive oil was something you put in your ear. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
You know, if you had earache, you put olive oil in it. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:54 | |
You got it from the chemist. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:56 | |
That was the only olive oil you could get, from the chemist. | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
And when it came to pasta, a BBC spoof had us all fooled. | 0:06:59 | 0:07:03 | |
The last two weeks of March are an anxious time | 0:07:03 | 0:07:06 | |
for the spaghetti farmer. | 0:07:06 | 0:07:08 | |
There's always the chance of a late frost, which, while | 0:07:08 | 0:07:10 | |
not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavour. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
But in fact, even in the 1950s, | 0:07:17 | 0:07:19 | |
there was a little piece of Italy in Soho. | 0:07:19 | 0:07:22 | |
# Magic moments... # | 0:07:24 | 0:07:26 | |
So, every week, Anna would make a pilgrimage for olive oil | 0:07:26 | 0:07:31 | |
and cheese, pasta and salami. | 0:07:31 | 0:07:33 | |
Her destination was Lina Stores, a culinary oasis of wonderful | 0:07:35 | 0:07:39 | |
Italian ingredients, still there more than 60 years on. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:44 | |
-We are now. -Here we are. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:46 | |
Let's go in. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:50 | |
-Now, let me get my list. -Let me get a basket. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:57 | |
On Anna's list are the ingredients for | 0:07:57 | 0:07:59 | |
a gorgeous lunch we're going to cook together. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
On the menu are three British favourites, | 0:08:03 | 0:08:07 | |
dishes we all love, but we often get wrong or simply buy ready-made. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:11 | |
We've got some serious shopping to do. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:16 | |
I've got a huge bit, sorry. | 0:08:16 | 0:08:17 | |
TRANSLATED FROM ITALIAN: | 0:08:19 | 0:08:21 | |
For the antipasti, we're making a very special pesto. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:28 | |
Anna's hunting for the perfect piece of cheese. | 0:08:28 | 0:08:31 | |
-You taste it. -I will, with pleasure. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:34 | |
As any Italian will tell you, | 0:08:34 | 0:08:35 | |
small variations in flavour can make or break a dish. | 0:08:35 | 0:08:39 | |
No, it is very salty. I love that it somehow tastes lemony and salty. | 0:08:39 | 0:08:43 | |
Yeah, it's very good. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:44 | |
-Oil. -Oil, oil, oil. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:47 | |
'Finding olive oil in an Italian deli is easy. | 0:08:47 | 0:08:51 | |
'The trick is to buy the right one. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:53 | |
'For a pesto, a light Ligurian oil is perfect. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
'Though it appears they've got everything but.' | 0:08:56 | 0:08:59 | |
I... Probably Marche. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
-ANNA SPEAKS ITALIAN -Exactly. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:12 | |
So that's similar to the Ligurian one. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:13 | |
So I presume you want a light one so it doesn't overwhelm the pesto. | 0:09:13 | 0:09:17 | |
-On the pesto, yeah. Shall we do the salumi? -Do. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:21 | |
'No antipasti would be complete without some beautiful cured meat.' | 0:09:21 | 0:09:25 | |
-Felino. -Felino... -Ah. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
'Anna chooses a Felino salami from the north of Italy...' | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
SHE SPEAKS ITALIAN | 0:09:32 | 0:09:33 | |
Very good. The flavours. Chilli. It's just... | 0:09:37 | 0:09:41 | |
pig. Beautiful, lovely pig. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
'..and some luscious lardo, or back fat. It's delicious on warm toast. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:48 | |
'Now we just need some pancetta for the ragu, and mascarpone | 0:09:50 | 0:09:54 | |
'for the tiramisu. Oh, and the olives.' | 0:09:54 | 0:09:57 | |
-They look lovely. -They're huge! | 0:09:57 | 0:09:59 | |
-After you. -Bye. -Ciao, grazie. | 0:10:00 | 0:10:03 | |
-Goodbye. -Bye-bye. -Thank you very much. | 0:10:03 | 0:10:05 | |
Being with Anna's a reminder that at the heart of real Italian | 0:10:05 | 0:10:09 | |
cooking is good shopping... | 0:10:09 | 0:10:11 | |
and an encyclopaedic knowledge of ingredients. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
And that know-how certainly shines through in our first recipe. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:18 | |
-We're going to have lunch, and I'm going to cook for you. -I'm honoured. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:25 | |
And first we are having pesto. I'm making pesto for the antipasti. | 0:10:25 | 0:10:29 | |
This is the basil. Quite good, actually. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
It is quite nice and smelly. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:34 | |
So I think what we'll do... Shall we do it in this one? | 0:10:34 | 0:10:38 | |
-Are you ever going to be allowed back in Italy? -Yes. Don't tell them. | 0:10:38 | 0:10:41 | |
Don't tell them. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:43 | |
'In Italy, pesto is traditionally made in a pestle and mortar.' | 0:10:43 | 0:10:46 | |
-That's enough. -'But Anna's as pragmatic as she is passionate.' | 0:10:48 | 0:10:51 | |
-Do we have the pine nut? -Yeah. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
'And using a processor, | 0:10:57 | 0:10:58 | |
'it's surprisingly easy to make pesto at home.' | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
Mm. It really smells fantastic. | 0:11:01 | 0:11:03 | |
-You think a little more? -Always. -Always. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
'Next is the vital ingredient for a good pesto.' | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
-This is... -A light one. -It's very mild. And for... | 0:11:14 | 0:11:17 | |
And you... You taught me that about 20 years ago, | 0:11:17 | 0:11:20 | |
-and everything you tell me, I remember. -Press it down and I pour. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:24 | |
'If the oil's too strong, | 0:11:25 | 0:11:27 | |
'it'll overpower the essential flavour of the basil.' | 0:11:27 | 0:11:30 | |
Ah! Pesto here is so popular. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:36 | |
I know, because when you think what | 0:11:36 | 0:11:38 | |
-a teeny, teeny part of Italy it comes from. -Now... | 0:11:38 | 0:11:40 | |
pecorino and Parmigiano. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:44 | |
'The flavour of the two cheeses gives the pesto silky depth.' | 0:11:44 | 0:11:47 | |
Can you manage? | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
-I didn't mean to be rude. -THEY LAUGH | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
-I meant to be kind. -You are kind. | 0:11:54 | 0:11:56 | |
-It's quite extraordinary. -Yes. -We, in Italy, | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
-mainly use pesto only on pasta. -Yes. -That's it. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:03 | |
-And here we use it on everything. -Yeah, on everything. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:06 | |
Well, I have to say, in my experience of feeding children, | 0:12:06 | 0:12:09 | |
if you put pesto in something, they'll eat it, whatever it is. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:12 | |
-It's lovely to have you around. Come again. -I'll stay forever. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:19 | |
'For a classic pesto, you can stop here. | 0:12:19 | 0:12:22 | |
'But Anna's transforming hers | 0:12:22 | 0:12:24 | |
'with another gorgeous Italian ingredient.' | 0:12:24 | 0:12:27 | |
-Where is the ricotta? -It's in the fridge, but... | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
What are you doing eating my cheese? | 0:12:29 | 0:12:33 | |
Um, I'm clearing because I can't bear.... | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
-to have things around that I don't use any more. -OK. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
Here's your ricotta, I'll get rid of this. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:43 | |
Now, what we do is put it in. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:45 | |
'Anna's twist turns the pesto into an incredibly moreish dip. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:50 | |
'Perfect for parties.' | 0:12:50 | 0:12:52 | |
-Go on, add, add, add. -Add, add, add, add, add. | 0:12:52 | 0:12:55 | |
But not so much more. All done. | 0:12:57 | 0:13:00 | |
It would be nice on pasta, even like this. | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
-Because in a way, when you stuff pasta, you use ricotta. -Yes. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
-I might have to steal this from you. -Now, can we taste it? | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
-Mmm! -Mmm! -Lovely. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
'Now, time to assemble our antipasti misti.' | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
-The Felino. -The Felino. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:20 | |
And here we've got some wonderful culatello. | 0:13:20 | 0:13:24 | |
'Antipasto means before the meal, and misto, mixed. | 0:13:24 | 0:13:28 | |
'It's a careful curation of flavours, | 0:13:28 | 0:13:31 | |
'a lesson in the essence of Italian food. | 0:13:31 | 0:13:34 | |
'We've got the obligatory bread and some choice pieces to dip | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
'into the ricotta pesto.' | 0:13:40 | 0:13:41 | |
This is a lovely spread. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:45 | |
'The perfect accompaniment is Anna's trademark cocktail | 0:13:45 | 0:13:49 | |
'of Prosecco and Campari.' | 0:13:49 | 0:13:50 | |
That's lovely. Chin-chin. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
-Mmm! -Lovely. Now... | 0:13:56 | 0:13:58 | |
-I'm going to have some of this. -I love... | 0:14:00 | 0:14:04 | |
-You don't need to have such a big array anyway, do you? -Oh, no. | 0:14:04 | 0:14:07 | |
This is more what you might have in a restaurant. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:10 | |
We're managing quite well, just the two of us. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:13 | |
'The secret to good antipasti is simplicity. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:17 | |
'Beautiful, fresh ingredients, lovingly prepared. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:21 | |
'It's the key to Italian cooking, | 0:14:21 | 0:14:23 | |
'and it's a lesson Anna learnt as a child in her hometown of Milan.' | 0:14:23 | 0:14:26 | |
It was here that Anna's fierce culinary intelligence took root. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:38 | |
She's brought her granddaughter Coco to the house where she | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
was first inspired to cook. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:43 | |
-And that is the flat where we were. -The top one? | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
Yes. And this was the kitchen. The second floor. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:49 | |
Maria's kingdom, our cook. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:53 | |
I spent hours in the kitchen with her. | 0:14:53 | 0:14:55 | |
Coming home from school, we used to run into the kitchen and say, | 0:14:55 | 0:14:59 | |
-Maria... -SHE SPEAKS ITALIAN | 0:14:59 | 0:15:01 | |
"What are we cooking?" And she used to... | 0:15:01 | 0:15:03 | |
Oh, she used to make the most fabulous gnocchi di patate. | 0:15:03 | 0:15:07 | |
Very quickly. And polpette with... | 0:15:07 | 0:15:09 | |
And seasoned with a little truffle inside. Heaven. | 0:15:09 | 0:15:13 | |
She was a very, very good cook. She inspired me a lot. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:17 | |
Maria's truffle-laced meatballs showed Anna how to use one | 0:15:17 | 0:15:20 | |
very special ingredient to make a dish really sing. | 0:15:20 | 0:15:25 | |
And Anna's mother, Ernesta, knew just where to buy the very best. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:29 | |
At Milan's smartest deli, | 0:15:30 | 0:15:32 | |
the shelves are lined with lavish treats. | 0:15:32 | 0:15:34 | |
But Anna's making a beeline for truffles. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:38 | |
How wonderful. These remind me so much of my mother. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:44 | |
We used to buy the small one, | 0:15:44 | 0:15:46 | |
and we used to go back all the way to where we lived. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:49 | |
Like that. Smelling it, with the truffle in my hand. | 0:15:49 | 0:15:54 | |
What does a good one smell of, Nonna? | 0:15:54 | 0:15:57 | |
Some people say they smell of armpit, Parmesan... | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
SHE LAUGHS | 0:16:00 | 0:16:02 | |
-Armpit, Parmesan and garlic. -OK. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:04 | |
The luxurious flavours of Milan | 0:16:07 | 0:16:09 | |
kindled Anna's love affair with food. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:12 | |
But when the Second World War broke out, | 0:16:12 | 0:16:14 | |
bombing raids and food shortages | 0:16:14 | 0:16:16 | |
forced the del Contes to leave the city, | 0:16:16 | 0:16:18 | |
taking refuge with friends in Emilia-Romagna. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:23 | |
Anna arrived in a land of plenty. | 0:16:23 | 0:16:26 | |
In this rich farmland, she discovered the beauty of fresh, | 0:16:26 | 0:16:30 | |
seasonal ingredients. | 0:16:30 | 0:16:32 | |
Here, her mother knew the family would never go hungry. | 0:16:32 | 0:16:36 | |
I think probably she had the inkling that we would never be starved, | 0:16:38 | 0:16:41 | |
and we never starved. I never ate so well in my life like here. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:44 | |
Anna's returning to the farm where she learned some of the most | 0:16:44 | 0:16:47 | |
important culinary lessons of her life. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:50 | |
There it is. Yes. | 0:16:50 | 0:16:52 | |
This one is it, yes, I'm sure. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:55 | |
Lessons that shaped her cooking, and ours. | 0:16:55 | 0:16:58 | |
Back then, a family friend took them in, | 0:16:59 | 0:17:02 | |
and it's his great granddaughters who are meeting Anna today. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:05 | |
THEY SPEAK ITALIAN | 0:17:10 | 0:17:12 | |
Brings back a lot of memories. Let me see, let me see, let me see. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:20 | |
It's more than 70 years since Anna stepped through these doors. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:25 | |
Thank you. | 0:17:27 | 0:17:28 | |
Yes, yes, yes. Oh, yeah, that's the same. | 0:17:29 | 0:17:33 | |
When they took us in, they gave us this room, | 0:17:33 | 0:17:36 | |
which was my parents' room. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:39 | |
-And here was our little sitting room. -Ah, OK. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:42 | |
Anna's room was on the first floor. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:45 | |
Oh, gosh, yes. Isn't it beautiful? | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
Now, these are all vineyards, are still vineyards, I presume. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:56 | |
-Yes, they are all vineyards. -Peaches. -Apricots, peaches. | 0:17:56 | 0:17:59 | |
-Apricots. -Apricots, peaches. And some apples, but just a few. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:04 | |
The ingredients were incredibly good. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:06 | |
They would all come from here, they were all local. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:09 | |
The chickens were here, the eggs were here. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:11 | |
The milk was there, the butter was there. The wine was there. | 0:18:11 | 0:18:15 | |
So I learnt here what materia prima, "the good ingredients", are. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:19 | |
And that gave a tremendous impression on my palate, I think. | 0:18:19 | 0:18:24 | |
My food culture. And I will never forget that. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:29 | |
Anna ate some of the best meals of her life at the farmhouse. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
But the cooking had a very different flavour to the sophisticated meals | 0:18:34 | 0:18:38 | |
she'd enjoyed in Milan. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:40 | |
The pig, which was slaughtered once a year. | 0:18:40 | 0:18:44 | |
It was a real feast, because you ate everything. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:47 | |
Pig is like the music of Verdi, there is nothing to throw away. | 0:18:47 | 0:18:52 | |
And everything is ate, from the ear to the tail. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:56 | |
They made the salumi and they made the prosciutto. | 0:18:56 | 0:18:59 | |
And it was slightly more salty than the one of Parma. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:03 | |
But they were quite delicious. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:05 | |
At the farm, Anna learnt that with a little creativity | 0:19:05 | 0:19:09 | |
and loving attention, even the most basic ingredients could be turned | 0:19:09 | 0:19:13 | |
into something sumptuous. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:15 | |
It's the secret to cucina povera, or peasant cooking, | 0:19:15 | 0:19:19 | |
the heart and soul of Italian food. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:22 | |
And it's a lesson she'd take with her when she left Italy | 0:19:22 | 0:19:25 | |
for England in 1949. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:27 | |
When she came to London to work as an au pair, | 0:19:29 | 0:19:32 | |
cooking Italian was the one way Anna could connect to her country. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:36 | |
There were two things that I missed terribly when I came here. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
One was the light. Nothing I could do about light. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:45 | |
And the other thing was food I missed. | 0:19:45 | 0:19:47 | |
But I could try to do something about food. And I did. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
After meeting her husband Oliver, Anna started a family, | 0:19:53 | 0:19:56 | |
and she was soon serving up soulful Italian food. | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
60 years on and she's still at it. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
Today Anna is making a classic Tuscan bruschetta with Coco. | 0:20:04 | 0:20:08 | |
First, the skin, | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
and you cut it in half. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
I always take the germ of the garlic out. You see, that's the germ. | 0:20:12 | 0:20:16 | |
The garlic is much sweeter if you remove that. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
And brush. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
-Rub. -OK. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:24 | |
-Squeezing it so the juice comes out. -OK. -With any luck. | 0:20:25 | 0:20:30 | |
And we go like that. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:31 | |
You do the garlic and I do the tomato. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
The bruschetta is an example of Italian simplicity. | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
What's the most important thing for a bruschetta, do you think? | 0:20:41 | 0:20:45 | |
It's good bread. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:46 | |
The bread should be, I think, a ciabatta type of bread. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:50 | |
-Yeah. -Good tomato. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:52 | |
Excellent olive oil. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:54 | |
Bruschetta can take a rather nice, strong oil. | 0:20:54 | 0:20:58 | |
There's some lovely leaves. Now... | 0:20:58 | 0:21:00 | |
And there it is. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:05 | |
These days, we take good Italian ingredients for granted. | 0:21:06 | 0:21:10 | |
But when Anna was raising her family, it was a different story. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:14 | |
There was no mozzarella, for instance, no mascarpone, no ricotta. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:19 | |
Peppers were unknown, | 0:21:19 | 0:21:21 | |
courgettes practically unknown. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:22 | |
There was marrow, but, frankly, not very good to eat. | 0:21:22 | 0:21:26 | |
There was no squash. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
Very boring. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:29 | |
And if the family wanted to eat out, | 0:21:32 | 0:21:34 | |
restaurants were a rather stuffy affair. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:37 | |
English restaurants right at the beginning of the '60s | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
had white tablecloths | 0:21:40 | 0:21:41 | |
and an incredibly snotty head waiter, | 0:21:41 | 0:21:43 | |
who would look down his nose at you if you ordered the house wine. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:47 | |
And it was all holy hush - you know, you were in the presence | 0:21:47 | 0:21:50 | |
of gastronomy, so you had to be very quiet. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:53 | |
And the food wasn't very good. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:54 | |
But in the '60s, the pendulum started to swing. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:02 | |
The British were slowly developing an appetite | 0:22:03 | 0:22:06 | |
for more sun-kissed flavours. | 0:22:06 | 0:22:08 | |
More and more people were able to travel to the Mediterranean. | 0:22:09 | 0:22:13 | |
You know, it was that whole thing about sun and olive oil | 0:22:13 | 0:22:16 | |
and garlic and tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
It meant that when they came back home | 0:22:19 | 0:22:22 | |
they wanted something different. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:24 | |
This isn't Rome. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:29 | |
It's a London restaurant which hasn't been slow to cater | 0:22:29 | 0:22:32 | |
for the Italian craze. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:34 | |
Mm-hm! How would YOU like to be waited on by a vestal virgin? | 0:22:34 | 0:22:38 | |
Offering flamboyant spectacle, | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
the new Italian trattorias made an exciting change. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:46 | |
I think they really turned a page | 0:22:46 | 0:22:48 | |
and really put the fun into having dinner. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
Italian restaurants, they were like really cool and trendy. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:56 | |
It would be noisy, there'd be lots of Italians yelling, | 0:22:56 | 0:22:59 | |
and they enjoyed serving. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
And their whole attitude to food was so different. | 0:23:01 | 0:23:03 | |
With affordable prices and unchallenging menus, | 0:23:03 | 0:23:07 | |
they opened up restaurants to the people. | 0:23:07 | 0:23:10 | |
Sometimes I have the spaghetti, which I like very much. | 0:23:10 | 0:23:13 | |
I mean, I'm just a common chap, like, you know, | 0:23:13 | 0:23:15 | |
which likes his pint and all that. | 0:23:15 | 0:23:17 | |
But in their efforts to pull in the punters, | 0:23:17 | 0:23:20 | |
the food on offer wasn't always authentic. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:23 | |
They were doing recipes... | 0:23:23 | 0:23:26 | |
able to attract British. So... | 0:23:26 | 0:23:30 | |
Rightly, Anna Del Conte said it was Britalian food. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:34 | |
They did have a few uniquely British dishes, | 0:23:34 | 0:23:37 | |
the most famous of which I suppose was called pollo sorpresa, | 0:23:37 | 0:23:41 | |
which was the Italian version of chicken Kiev. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:44 | |
And it was always served with a great deal of ceremony, you know. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:49 | |
You had to cut it open in a very particular way | 0:23:49 | 0:23:53 | |
so there wasn't this sort of Vesuvius-like eruption | 0:23:53 | 0:23:57 | |
of garlic butter all over the place. | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
I thought it was crazy. | 0:24:01 | 0:24:02 | |
I thought, "That's got nothing to do with Italy." | 0:24:02 | 0:24:05 | |
Whatever their shortcomings, | 0:24:08 | 0:24:10 | |
Italian restaurants had awakened a love for pizza and pasta. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:14 | |
What we in Britain weren't yet doing | 0:24:14 | 0:24:17 | |
was cooking Italian food at home. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:19 | |
For that, we would need guidance. | 0:24:19 | 0:24:22 | |
I thought pasta was an unknown ingredient. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
And I wanted the English to know more about it, to know the right... | 0:24:25 | 0:24:29 | |
how to cook the right sort of pasta. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:31 | |
Partly, it was my feeling that the cooking of my country, Italy, | 0:24:31 | 0:24:37 | |
should be better known. | 0:24:37 | 0:24:38 | |
It was a hymn...hymn to my country. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
That hymn to her homeland kick-started Anna's career. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:46 | |
Anna Del Conte was a pioneer of Italian food here in Britain. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:53 | |
She touched the pulse of the British | 0:24:53 | 0:24:56 | |
and said, "Something has to be done." | 0:24:56 | 0:24:58 | |
There is this sense of the personal connection. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:02 | |
It's her experience, it's her life, | 0:25:02 | 0:25:05 | |
erm, you know, in a series of dishes. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:08 | |
She's your friend in the kitchen. | 0:25:08 | 0:25:10 | |
There she is at your elbow, telling you what to do. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:12 | |
It's a marvellous sensation. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:13 | |
I think Anna just hit the right moment, didn't she? | 0:25:13 | 0:25:16 | |
I mean, when she started to write Italian cookbooks | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
we were ready for them. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
Anna's first book introduced us to the extraordinary variety | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
of Italian pasta and how to cook it all. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:27 | |
And in the '70s, Delia took up the baton. | 0:25:27 | 0:25:30 | |
Hello, and welcome again. | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
This week's programme is all about how to cook pasta, | 0:25:35 | 0:25:37 | |
which does come in a great big array of sizes and assortments. | 0:25:37 | 0:25:42 | |
These are egg noodles, sometimes called tagliatelle. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
And that's called lasagne | 0:25:45 | 0:25:46 | |
and that makes a really delicious dish, one of my very favourites. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
# Golden brown, texture like sun... # | 0:25:49 | 0:25:53 | |
Delia showed the way, but when Britain began attempting bolognese, | 0:25:53 | 0:25:57 | |
the results were often shockingly inauthentic. | 0:25:57 | 0:26:00 | |
Burn an onion, abuse a bit of nasty, grey, grisly mince. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
Chuck a bit of ketchup in. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:05 | |
It was pretty filthy. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:06 | |
And that Parmesan we used to get, that was very much... | 0:26:06 | 0:26:09 | |
And it smelt of puke. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:10 | |
Thankfully, Anna's book showed us how to cook ragu alla bolognese | 0:26:10 | 0:26:15 | |
the proper Italian way. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:17 | |
And that's exactly what we're cooking for lunch. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:20 | |
-We are going to do a ragu for lunch, aren't we? -Mm. I love that. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
And we're going to have it with tagliatelle, not with spaghetti. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
I know, I know, I know! | 0:26:32 | 0:26:33 | |
-Not spag bol. -Not spag bol. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:35 | |
-Anyhow, can we start with the pancetta, please? -I certainly can. | 0:26:35 | 0:26:38 | |
You've got the non-smoked one. | 0:26:38 | 0:26:40 | |
Absolutely, because we don't have a lot of smoked food in Italy. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:44 | |
It's not very... I'm sure you know. Not smoked such a lot. | 0:26:44 | 0:26:48 | |
There is masses of ragu. There are as many ragus as there are cooks. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:52 | |
The one we're making today - the classic one, so to speak, | 0:26:52 | 0:26:56 | |
the real, proper, the true ragu. | 0:26:56 | 0:26:59 | |
Now, where is the oil? | 0:26:59 | 0:27:01 | |
People in this country always think extra virgin olive oil | 0:27:01 | 0:27:04 | |
always is better. But you don't cook with it. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:07 | |
No. Because it's very...strong. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:11 | |
-Strong... I mean, deliciously... -Mm. -..but rather peppery flavour, | 0:27:11 | 0:27:15 | |
which wouldn't go with that. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:17 | |
'Anna starts by heating olive oil and butter.' | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
You want the garlic? I can remember what you said to me | 0:27:21 | 0:27:25 | |
a long time ago, which is that you just peel the garlic... | 0:27:25 | 0:27:28 | |
-And put it in and take it out. -..and when it is golden | 0:27:28 | 0:27:30 | |
you take it out again so it has just got like the breath of the taste. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:33 | |
Very seldom in Italy, I'm sure you've noticed, | 0:27:33 | 0:27:35 | |
there is onion and garlic. | 0:27:35 | 0:27:37 | |
-No, I haven't. -In the old...old fashion | 0:27:37 | 0:27:39 | |
they would never put the two together. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:41 | |
My mother never put garlic and onion, because one... | 0:27:41 | 0:27:44 | |
seemed not to kill, but interfere with the flavour of the other. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:48 | |
'After removing the garlic, Anna adds the pancetta.' | 0:27:49 | 0:27:53 | |
I love that smell. | 0:27:53 | 0:27:54 | |
Oh, it does smell. | 0:27:54 | 0:27:56 | |
So, you've got three different fats going on. | 0:27:56 | 0:27:59 | |
Three different fats going on, yes. Do you not approve? | 0:27:59 | 0:28:02 | |
I approve wholeheartedly. | 0:28:02 | 0:28:05 | |
Can you please chop a little bit? | 0:28:05 | 0:28:07 | |
-No, you can do some work for a change! -Good. | 0:28:07 | 0:28:10 | |
Oh, my... How old is that? | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 | |
-My great-grandmother. -So... | 0:28:17 | 0:28:19 | |
And she died in 1936. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:22 | |
We lost the house, we lost everything during the war. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
-Not this one! -Kept hold of that. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:28 | |
It followed my mother everywhere. | 0:28:28 | 0:28:30 | |
Once the onion is chopped we add it to the pan | 0:28:30 | 0:28:33 | |
with a pinch of salt to stop the onions burning. | 0:28:33 | 0:28:36 | |
Now, this is the soffritto starting. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:39 | |
Now I'm going to put carrots and celery. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:43 | |
-The soffritto is just giving the dish the basic. -The foundation. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:47 | |
It's the base of a lot...a lot of Italian dishes. | 0:28:47 | 0:28:51 | |
-There. -Thank you. | 0:28:52 | 0:28:53 | |
After the soffritto has softened, we add the meat. | 0:28:53 | 0:28:57 | |
This is beef. | 0:28:57 | 0:28:59 | |
It should be lean, not too fat. | 0:28:59 | 0:29:01 | |
-We've got enough fat there. -Yes. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:03 | |
-Well, it's just beef. -It's only beef. | 0:29:03 | 0:29:05 | |
And this is the closest. | 0:29:05 | 0:29:06 | |
-I want it to be the real regional thing, etc, etc, you know. -I do. | 0:29:06 | 0:29:12 | |
-OK, do you want to swap? -Yes. -Here. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:15 | |
Don't burn yourself, cos it's quite a small fork. | 0:29:15 | 0:29:17 | |
It's very good, though, this, isn't it? It's not too finely minced. | 0:29:17 | 0:29:21 | |
No, it shouldn't be, it shouldn't be again. | 0:29:21 | 0:29:23 | |
-You should feel the grain in your mouth. -Yes. | 0:29:23 | 0:29:25 | |
-It should get just slightly crusty. -Yes. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:29 | |
Otherwise it's become a stew instead of... | 0:29:29 | 0:29:31 | |
-Yes, it braises then. -Yeah. -Yeah. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:33 | |
-Now... -Crumbly. -..the tomato puree. | 0:29:33 | 0:29:36 | |
-Tell me when to stop. -No, I don't want you to stop. | 0:29:36 | 0:29:39 | |
-We certainly need all that. -Yeah. | 0:29:39 | 0:29:41 | |
'And in a classic ragu, that's where the tomato ends.' | 0:29:41 | 0:29:45 | |
Some people put... er, peeled tomato. | 0:29:45 | 0:29:48 | |
This is a meat sauce, not a tomato and meat sauce. | 0:29:48 | 0:29:51 | |
-It is a meat sauce. -Mm-hm. -Fundamentally, you're right. | 0:29:51 | 0:29:54 | |
That's correct - it is not a tomato sauce, it's a meat sauce. | 0:29:54 | 0:29:57 | |
'Next, we add a touch of grated nutmeg...' | 0:30:00 | 0:30:02 | |
That's it. Thank you. | 0:30:02 | 0:30:04 | |
-'..some red wine...' -That's lovely. | 0:30:04 | 0:30:06 | |
And then we put the wine. | 0:30:06 | 0:30:09 | |
-Barbera! -Yeah. -How lovely. That's it. | 0:30:09 | 0:30:11 | |
'..and a glug of stock.' | 0:30:11 | 0:30:13 | |
Er, did we put salt? No. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:17 | |
Hmm, only on the onions. Not much. | 0:30:17 | 0:30:19 | |
I'll put a little more. | 0:30:19 | 0:30:20 | |
'The final crucial ingredient is milk, | 0:30:23 | 0:30:25 | |
'often neglected in a British bolognese.' | 0:30:25 | 0:30:28 | |
Now, we put the milk in. The milk softens it. | 0:30:28 | 0:30:31 | |
-Milk is... It's a gentle flavour. -Mm-hm. | 0:30:31 | 0:30:33 | |
It's all a question of nurturing your dish. | 0:30:33 | 0:30:37 | |
-A ragu needs nurturing. -Yeah. | 0:30:37 | 0:30:39 | |
And then we put the bay leaves. I think two. What do you think? | 0:30:39 | 0:30:42 | |
Yeah, I think two is absolutely fine. | 0:30:42 | 0:30:45 | |
And then we taste it. | 0:30:46 | 0:30:47 | |
-Oh! Very, very rich. I love that. -Good. -Really rich. -Mmm. | 0:30:50 | 0:30:53 | |
-You cook it for a long time. -Mmm. -It won't be cooked yet. | 0:30:53 | 0:30:56 | |
-No, but it will be fantastic. -I think minimum is two hours. | 0:30:56 | 0:30:59 | |
But frankly, the more longer it is... | 0:30:59 | 0:31:01 | |
One used to cook it for four or five hours. | 0:31:01 | 0:31:04 | |
-Yeah. Is that all right? -That's more than all right, darling. | 0:31:07 | 0:31:10 | |
MUSIC: That's The Way I Like It by KC and the Sunshine Band | 0:31:10 | 0:31:12 | |
For most of us in the '70s, | 0:31:12 | 0:31:14 | |
Italian food was something you could enjoy only in restaurants. | 0:31:14 | 0:31:17 | |
For many who ate pasta at home, the chances were it came out of a tin. | 0:31:17 | 0:31:22 | |
Well, I sort of belong to a generation where, in fact, | 0:31:22 | 0:31:25 | |
it was tinned spaghetti and spaghetti hoops. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:27 | |
Remember spaghetti hoops? | 0:31:27 | 0:31:29 | |
Most people's idea, in the '70s, | 0:31:29 | 0:31:31 | |
of Italian cooking would probably be tinned ravioli. | 0:31:31 | 0:31:34 | |
And it was in a sort of weak tomato sauce | 0:31:34 | 0:31:38 | |
and slimy overcooked ravioli, which slopped out and was horrible! | 0:31:38 | 0:31:42 | |
I mean, how much more Britalian can you get? | 0:31:42 | 0:31:45 | |
Tinned ravioli on toast! | 0:31:45 | 0:31:48 | |
Great! | 0:31:48 | 0:31:50 | |
Of course, Anna's authentic version might take a little more time, | 0:31:50 | 0:31:54 | |
but the difference is more than worth it. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
-It's been cooking for about 2-2½ hours, hasn't it? -Mm-hm. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:01 | |
'And with the ragu nearly ready, it's time to cook the pasta.' | 0:32:01 | 0:32:05 | |
-Yes. -Aw, does that make you happy? -Beautiful. | 0:32:05 | 0:32:08 | |
And so, what did I learn from you, that I quote all the time? | 0:32:08 | 0:32:11 | |
"The water you cook pasta in must be as salty as the Mediterranean." | 0:32:11 | 0:32:14 | |
-Yes. Not the Atlantic. -No, no, no! | 0:32:14 | 0:32:17 | |
It's about 15ml, which is one good tablespoonful, | 0:32:17 | 0:32:21 | |
-for one litre of water. -Oh, right! | 0:32:21 | 0:32:24 | |
And we do it with tagliatelle. Ragu is never done with spaghetti. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:28 | |
No, I suppose, if you did it with this, it would be too heavy for it. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:31 | |
-It just slips through it. -Yes. -That's right. | 0:32:31 | 0:32:33 | |
-Put them all in. Don't you think so? -Of course. | 0:32:36 | 0:32:39 | |
-Bring it back as quickly as possible to the boil. -Yeah. | 0:32:39 | 0:32:44 | |
-And then you give it a good stir... -Yes. | 0:32:44 | 0:32:46 | |
-..and you boil it without the lid. -It's boiling. | 0:32:46 | 0:32:48 | |
-You need a roaring boil. -A "roaring" boil - fantastic! | 0:32:48 | 0:32:53 | |
-LID RATTLES -There it is. | 0:32:53 | 0:32:55 | |
-Yeah. -Yes. | 0:32:55 | 0:32:57 | |
'The pasta has to be cooked al dente, still with a bit of a bite. | 0:32:57 | 0:33:00 | |
'Finally, Anna dresses the pasta with sauce. | 0:33:03 | 0:33:05 | |
'It's a delicate art we all too often get wrong over here.' | 0:33:05 | 0:33:09 | |
-We can dress a little bit. -So just a bit? | 0:33:09 | 0:33:11 | |
So you don't want too much, otherwise you're turning into us. | 0:33:11 | 0:33:14 | |
Ah! Otherwise it becomes a Britalian dish... | 0:33:14 | 0:33:17 | |
-Yes! -..and not an Italian dish. The proportion of sauce to pasta | 0:33:17 | 0:33:21 | |
should be two tablespoons of sauce per portion of pasta. | 0:33:21 | 0:33:24 | |
How much do we want? | 0:33:33 | 0:33:35 | |
Just carry on. ANNA LAUGHS | 0:33:35 | 0:33:36 | |
We're sharing it now. | 0:33:36 | 0:33:38 | |
-No, that's for you alone, darling! -Yeah! | 0:33:38 | 0:33:42 | |
OK. | 0:33:42 | 0:33:44 | |
Again, don't overdo it with the Parmesan... | 0:33:44 | 0:33:47 | |
-Yes. -..because it's quite a strong thing. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:49 | |
It should be grated and not shaved. | 0:33:49 | 0:33:52 | |
I haven't got a fork. Oh, here it is. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:54 | |
-I'm hungry. Are you? -Very, actually. | 0:33:55 | 0:33:57 | |
Oh, dear. I've got too much. | 0:33:58 | 0:34:00 | |
Obviously, I wasn't born to twirl like you. | 0:34:00 | 0:34:03 | |
-Good. -It's very good. -Mm-hm. | 0:34:06 | 0:34:08 | |
Thank you. | 0:34:10 | 0:34:12 | |
Lovely. | 0:34:12 | 0:34:14 | |
-It's the lovely Barbera that I put in there. -Yes. | 0:34:14 | 0:34:17 | |
Well, that's the rule, isn't it? | 0:34:17 | 0:34:18 | |
Don't use anything in cooking you wouldn't drink. | 0:34:18 | 0:34:21 | |
-Grazie. -A te. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:22 | |
MUSIC: Take On Me by Aha | 0:34:25 | 0:34:27 | |
Anna's first book was a success, | 0:34:27 | 0:34:29 | |
but she couldn't change our lives overnight. | 0:34:29 | 0:34:31 | |
And with the '80s in full flow, | 0:34:33 | 0:34:35 | |
it wasn't looking good for Italian food in Britain. | 0:34:35 | 0:34:38 | |
Microwaves were in and people just couldn't get enough of them. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:42 | |
It'll be two minutes, OK? | 0:34:42 | 0:34:43 | |
So, although lasagne may have been on the menu, | 0:34:43 | 0:34:46 | |
Mama certainly hadn't made it. | 0:34:46 | 0:34:49 | |
And, of course, pizza came in a box! | 0:34:49 | 0:34:52 | |
People were in love with convenience food. | 0:34:52 | 0:34:55 | |
My sister and I were obsessed with all the really rubbish crap foods. | 0:34:55 | 0:34:59 | |
My mum wouldn't let us have them - | 0:34:59 | 0:35:00 | |
you know, lasagne, microwaved lasagne - all these things that... | 0:35:00 | 0:35:04 | |
We weren't exactly sort of, you know, it wasn't poor us, but, yes, | 0:35:04 | 0:35:07 | |
we wanted to get deeper into this white heat of food technology. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:12 | |
-Cheers. -Cheers. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:13 | |
And some of our much-loved Italian restaurants | 0:35:13 | 0:35:16 | |
had become a bit of a joke! | 0:35:16 | 0:35:18 | |
-Pasta! -Thank you. -Thank you. -A bit of fattening, eh? | 0:35:18 | 0:35:21 | |
Something to...grab hold of! Nice one! | 0:35:21 | 0:35:25 | |
They're all like that in 'ere - | 0:35:28 | 0:35:29 | |
jamming their groins into your tortellini! | 0:35:29 | 0:35:32 | |
The big comedy pepper grinder! | 0:35:33 | 0:35:35 | |
-Pepper, ladies? -Thank you. -Thank you. | 0:35:35 | 0:35:38 | |
Make-a you nice and hot! | 0:35:38 | 0:35:40 | |
Nice-a big one, eh? | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
Trattorias in Britain were a poor imitation of the original. | 0:35:47 | 0:35:51 | |
We still hadn't cracked the art of cooking real Italian food. | 0:35:51 | 0:35:55 | |
-ANNA: -Good ingredients are the base of the Italian cooking. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:59 | |
They've got to be pure and simple. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:02 | |
All the other ingredients that goes in are simply to | 0:36:02 | 0:36:06 | |
emphasise the flavour of the main ingredient, not to distract from it. | 0:36:06 | 0:36:11 | |
It's a mantra Anna picked up in her early years in Italy. | 0:36:12 | 0:36:16 | |
And it's the inspiration behind the food at Da Mandarein, | 0:36:17 | 0:36:21 | |
a rustic trattoria near the farm where she stayed during the war. | 0:36:21 | 0:36:25 | |
Now, we're going to have... some of the best food in Italy. | 0:36:25 | 0:36:29 | |
HUM OF CONVERSATION | 0:36:29 | 0:36:30 | |
The restaurant is buzzing with regulars - | 0:36:30 | 0:36:32 | |
workmen who flock there for an authentic hearty lunch. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:36 | |
Here, the food's inspired by cucina povera, which elevates | 0:36:39 | 0:36:43 | |
the humblest ingredients by cooking them with loving respect. | 0:36:43 | 0:36:48 | |
Anna's keen to compare recipes, | 0:36:48 | 0:36:50 | |
-so she's joining Signora Gigliola in the kitchen. -What are we doing? | 0:36:50 | 0:36:54 | |
-Oh, zucca! Pumpkin! -Zucca. | 0:36:57 | 0:36:59 | |
Her signature dish is home-made tortelli - | 0:36:59 | 0:37:02 | |
fresh egg pasta filled with whatever's in season. | 0:37:02 | 0:37:05 | |
Can I check what is inside there? | 0:37:05 | 0:37:07 | |
-Zucca, amaretti... -Pumpkin, amaretti. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:10 | |
-..Parmigiano-Reggiano. -Yes. Amaretti? -Si. | 0:37:10 | 0:37:14 | |
How fascinating! The biscuit? | 0:37:14 | 0:37:16 | |
The pumpkin filling is carefully wrapped in her home-made pasta. | 0:37:20 | 0:37:23 | |
-And like I do - al dente. -OK. | 0:37:33 | 0:37:34 | |
Because now the fashion is to put only the yolk. | 0:37:34 | 0:37:37 | |
-No. -It doesn't work. | 0:37:41 | 0:37:43 | |
The final touch is to cut the pasta into parcels, | 0:37:43 | 0:37:46 | |
a process Anna fell in love with as a child. | 0:37:46 | 0:37:49 | |
I loved the... I loved as a... | 0:37:49 | 0:37:52 | |
-These are the pumpkins one - zucca? -Zucca. | 0:38:00 | 0:38:03 | |
ORDER GIVEN IN ITALIAN, SHE ACKNOWLEDGES IT | 0:38:03 | 0:38:07 | |
Within the lunchtime rush on, Anna's getting involved. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:10 | |
Now, I've got to work. | 0:38:10 | 0:38:12 | |
I can't just talk. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:14 | |
Along with tortelli dressed with sage butter, | 0:38:14 | 0:38:17 | |
they're dishing up a rich ragu alla bolognese. | 0:38:17 | 0:38:20 | |
And roast quails wrapped in prosciutto. | 0:38:23 | 0:38:25 | |
Not bad for an everyday lunch! | 0:38:27 | 0:38:28 | |
Prosciutto's much nicer than bacon. | 0:38:29 | 0:38:32 | |
But the Italians do care deeply about their food. | 0:38:32 | 0:38:34 | |
And here, everyone eats well. | 0:38:34 | 0:38:37 | |
That's the asparagus one. | 0:38:37 | 0:38:38 | |
-Grazie. I'm going to eat... -Mangiare? | 0:38:40 | 0:38:42 | |
That's right. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:47 | |
In Italian trattorias, all ingredients are worshipped. | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
Cooks here know a modest pumpkin | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
can be as delicious as the regal truffle, if cooked the right way. | 0:38:57 | 0:39:01 | |
Mmm! | 0:39:01 | 0:39:02 | |
The trick is to lead each flavour shine. | 0:39:02 | 0:39:05 | |
It's a philosophy Anna was | 0:39:07 | 0:39:09 | |
determined to pass on to us in Britain. | 0:39:09 | 0:39:11 | |
-Molto buono. -I really like it. -Mm-hm. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:14 | |
And, in 1984, she did just that. | 0:39:14 | 0:39:18 | |
Anna's third book, The Gastronomy Of Italy, | 0:39:19 | 0:39:22 | |
was a lovingly-researched encyclopaedia of Italian cuisine. | 0:39:22 | 0:39:27 | |
As well as introducing us | 0:39:27 | 0:39:28 | |
to a comprehensive array of Italian ingredients, | 0:39:28 | 0:39:31 | |
Anna gave us easy-to-follow recipes that we could cook at home. | 0:39:31 | 0:39:34 | |
The Gastronomy Of Italy is an absolute monument of food writing. | 0:39:36 | 0:39:43 | |
To me, it's one of the half-dozen indispensable books on food. | 0:39:43 | 0:39:49 | |
It's about simplicity, authenticity and integrity. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:54 | |
All that knowledge, all that learning, all that elegance, | 0:39:54 | 0:39:57 | |
is all in her work, it's there, and that's why she's such a good writer. | 0:39:57 | 0:40:01 | |
For Giorgio Locatelli, Anna's recipes were a godsend. | 0:40:01 | 0:40:05 | |
HE SHOUTS ORDERS IN ITALIAN | 0:40:05 | 0:40:09 | |
He'd spent eight years cooking French haute cuisine when | 0:40:09 | 0:40:12 | |
a friend asked him to be the chef at a new Italian restaurant. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:15 | |
-..off the bone. To share as well. -ALL: -Yes! | 0:40:15 | 0:40:19 | |
I had a few ideas, but you know, in one week, | 0:40:19 | 0:40:23 | |
I was already running short of that, kind of thing, | 0:40:23 | 0:40:25 | |
so I ran down to Books For Cooks down in Notting Hill | 0:40:25 | 0:40:31 | |
and I saw Anna Del Conte and I bought The Gastronomy Of Italy. | 0:40:31 | 0:40:35 | |
As prescribed reading for kitchen staff in Giorgio's restaurant, | 0:40:37 | 0:40:41 | |
Anna's book still influences his modern Italian style. | 0:40:41 | 0:40:45 | |
And they're still firm friends today. | 0:40:45 | 0:40:48 | |
-Anna! -Hello! -How are you? -Very well. | 0:40:49 | 0:40:53 | |
He's invited Anna to his restaurant for a little thank you lunch. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:57 | |
-Buongiorno! -Buongiorno a tutti! | 0:40:57 | 0:40:59 | |
-ALL: -Buongiorno! -Buongiorno. | 0:40:59 | 0:41:01 | |
Giorgio, what are we doing, then? | 0:41:01 | 0:41:03 | |
I think we're going to do a fish soup inspired by your book. | 0:41:03 | 0:41:06 | |
The boys are always reading your book. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:08 | |
-It's one of our favourite things. -Well, I'm delighted. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:10 | |
If you use it, it means that it's good. | 0:41:10 | 0:41:12 | |
Anna's Brodetto Abruzzese is a simple and hearty fish stew. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:16 | |
But as a Michelin-starred chef, | 0:41:17 | 0:41:19 | |
Giorgio's adding a few celebratory flourishes of his own - | 0:41:19 | 0:41:23 | |
Sicilian prawns, razor clams from Wales and some beautiful plaice. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:28 | |
Oh, look at that! Gosh! | 0:41:28 | 0:41:29 | |
We're going to put a little bit of this as well in it. | 0:41:29 | 0:41:31 | |
-I'm going to fillet it out. -That's so lovely. Oh! | 0:41:31 | 0:41:35 | |
-It's a very big plaice. -Very big, yeah. | 0:41:35 | 0:41:37 | |
-You obviously love fish. -HE LAUGHS | 0:41:37 | 0:41:39 | |
-You handle it as if you love it. -Ha-ha! | 0:41:39 | 0:41:42 | |
Oh, good. Look at that. | 0:41:42 | 0:41:44 | |
To be Italian is to love food. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:47 | |
There's a fierce national pride in the cuisine, | 0:41:47 | 0:41:50 | |
to the exclusion of all others. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:52 | |
When my dad came here, you know, | 0:41:52 | 0:41:54 | |
I never could take him to a Chinese restaurant. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:56 | |
-"I'm not coming to a Chinese restaurant!" -No, no, no. | 0:41:56 | 0:41:58 | |
-"I want a plate of pasta!" -Absolutely! | 0:41:58 | 0:42:00 | |
"I don't go to restaurants where they don't give you bread!" | 0:42:00 | 0:42:02 | |
Absolutely! I have an Italian friend that walked out | 0:42:02 | 0:42:04 | |
-because you couldn't have bread! -THEY LAUGH | 0:42:04 | 0:42:07 | |
But when it comes to food, | 0:42:07 | 0:42:09 | |
we in the UK are a rather more accommodating tribe. | 0:42:09 | 0:42:12 | |
I've found that the British have got a much more wider palate | 0:42:12 | 0:42:17 | |
-than the Italians. -Yes. -In a way. -Yes, yes. | 0:42:17 | 0:42:20 | |
The English are able... | 0:42:20 | 0:42:22 | |
-It's the only cuisine that's been influenced so strongly. -Yes. | 0:42:22 | 0:42:25 | |
Let's cook this brodetto now. OK, here you are. | 0:42:25 | 0:42:29 | |
Giorgio begins by adding the shellfish | 0:42:31 | 0:42:33 | |
to a pan sizzling with olive oil, garlic and chilli. | 0:42:33 | 0:42:36 | |
Then he adds some lovely chunks of sea bream and red mullet. | 0:42:37 | 0:42:40 | |
-Put a little bit of white wine. -LOUD SIZZLING | 0:42:41 | 0:42:44 | |
-Sometimes, people put too much wine. -No, that's... -Look at it. -Yeah. | 0:42:44 | 0:42:47 | |
-The little one you put. A little more. -No, just tiny. Tiny. -Yes. | 0:42:47 | 0:42:51 | |
I really want it also... I let it really almost all evaporate. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:55 | |
Once it's cooked, Giorgio puts the shellfish aside to add at the end. | 0:42:55 | 0:42:59 | |
These are opened. These are all right. | 0:42:59 | 0:43:02 | |
And the...? Oh. | 0:43:02 | 0:43:04 | |
And this one I put on top and it stays there. | 0:43:04 | 0:43:07 | |
He intensifies the flavour with some rich tomato sauce | 0:43:07 | 0:43:10 | |
and a glug of fragrant fish stock. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:13 | |
..calamari... | 0:43:13 | 0:43:14 | |
Each piece of fish is added at just the right time, | 0:43:14 | 0:43:18 | |
to ensure every element is cooked perfectly. | 0:43:18 | 0:43:21 | |
I'm looking forward very much. Look at it! | 0:43:22 | 0:43:25 | |
-I think it's ready, don't you? -It looks delicious! | 0:43:25 | 0:43:27 | |
-Ha-ha! -Perfect! Perfect! | 0:43:27 | 0:43:31 | |
Oh, I'm excited that I cook a nice fish soup, | 0:43:31 | 0:43:33 | |
but I also cook it with you, so I'm double excited! | 0:43:33 | 0:43:35 | |
Giorgio finishes his beautiful brodetto with | 0:43:37 | 0:43:40 | |
a round of toast rubbed with garlic and doused in oil. | 0:43:40 | 0:43:44 | |
Now, Giorgio, you said that I've inspired you a lot, but this is... | 0:43:49 | 0:43:53 | |
This is much better than any I've done. | 0:43:54 | 0:43:56 | |
-HE LAUGHS -Yeah! | 0:43:56 | 0:43:58 | |
For a Michelin-starred chef, the instinct is to experiment. | 0:44:00 | 0:44:04 | |
But Anna's unpretentious style is a reminder not to overdo things. | 0:44:04 | 0:44:09 | |
This is what is very important for a chef, | 0:44:10 | 0:44:13 | |
because we tend to really overwork! | 0:44:13 | 0:44:16 | |
And overworking with Italian food doesn't work. | 0:44:16 | 0:44:18 | |
Can you read admiration? | 0:44:20 | 0:44:22 | |
"To Giorgio, a great chef, with admiration and..." | 0:44:22 | 0:44:25 | |
-Love. -"..love." -Love. -Affetto! -Love! -THEY LAUGH | 0:44:25 | 0:44:28 | |
-Thank you. -Thank you. Thank you very, very much! | 0:44:31 | 0:44:34 | |
With The Gastronomy Of Italy, Anna had reached a vital audience. | 0:44:34 | 0:44:39 | |
The book had become a Bible for a generation of chefs fired up | 0:44:39 | 0:44:43 | |
to change the way Britain ate. | 0:44:43 | 0:44:45 | |
Suddenly, chefs came from their sweaty, hot, sweary, dank kitchens | 0:44:45 | 0:44:52 | |
and came in front of the cameras. | 0:44:52 | 0:44:54 | |
MUSIC: Vogue by Madonna | 0:44:54 | 0:44:55 | |
As the '90s dawned, the celebrity chef had arrived. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:59 | |
I love cooking fish. | 0:44:59 | 0:45:00 | |
It's so light and full of flavour and perfect for a romantic meal. | 0:45:00 | 0:45:03 | |
Now, to make the risotto, what you need is... | 0:45:03 | 0:45:06 | |
-Had you going! -As TV fell in love with food, they began | 0:45:06 | 0:45:09 | |
-visiting our sitting rooms each week. -Beautiful, isn't it? | 0:45:09 | 0:45:12 | |
So is the church! | 0:45:12 | 0:45:13 | |
Orvieto white wine - splendid stuff! | 0:45:14 | 0:45:16 | |
And Italian was top of the menu. | 0:45:16 | 0:45:19 | |
It wasn't long before MasterChef | 0:45:21 | 0:45:23 | |
was serving up Mediterranean flavours to the nation. | 0:45:23 | 0:45:26 | |
Good luck. Have a really good time. And let's get cooking. | 0:45:26 | 0:45:29 | |
Loyd's guest of honour was none other than Anna Del Conte. | 0:45:32 | 0:45:36 | |
'In the forefront of those | 0:45:36 | 0:45:37 | |
'extolling the virtues of Italian cookery is Anna Del Conte.' | 0:45:37 | 0:45:42 | |
Welcome, Anna. Tell me, why has the last five years witnessed | 0:45:42 | 0:45:48 | |
this unbelievable explosion of interest in Italian cooking? | 0:45:48 | 0:45:52 | |
Well, I think that maybe more people are going to Italy than they ever | 0:45:52 | 0:45:56 | |
did before, but I think mainly it's because, having discovered it, | 0:45:56 | 0:46:00 | |
they found that it is very good and very healthy. | 0:46:00 | 0:46:03 | |
Anna had certainly wowed the other guest that night. | 0:46:03 | 0:46:06 | |
Can we just mention your bedside reading at the moment? | 0:46:06 | 0:46:10 | |
-What's on your...? -It's just the most wonderful coincidence. | 0:46:10 | 0:46:14 | |
I have and I have had your book, The Gastronomy Of Italy, | 0:46:14 | 0:46:17 | |
cos, in a way, it's almost like a history of Italy. | 0:46:17 | 0:46:20 | |
Anna's MasterChef appearance was unusual. | 0:46:20 | 0:46:23 | |
She's never been a TV chef. It's just not her style. | 0:46:23 | 0:46:26 | |
MUSIC: Holding Back The Years by Simply Red | 0:46:26 | 0:46:29 | |
-Mmm! -But her writing had reached | 0:46:29 | 0:46:30 | |
disciples willing to take her message mainstream. | 0:46:30 | 0:46:34 | |
And it was the discovery of her fifth book, | 0:46:34 | 0:46:36 | |
Entertaining all'Italiana, that inspired me and brought us together. | 0:46:36 | 0:46:42 | |
I had three copies of it - in the kitchen, the bedroom, in a loo - | 0:46:42 | 0:46:46 | |
and, um, I became a bit obsessed with her. | 0:46:46 | 0:46:51 | |
I read somewhere that she was doing a cooking demo and I was charmed | 0:46:51 | 0:46:54 | |
and I went to speak to her afterwards to try and tell her, | 0:46:54 | 0:46:57 | |
you know, how wonderful I thought she was and we made friends. | 0:46:57 | 0:47:01 | |
'I was happy to pass on what I'd learned from Anna.' | 0:47:05 | 0:47:08 | |
I do know that there is so much more to Italian food than pasta, | 0:47:08 | 0:47:11 | |
but you've got to admit - | 0:47:11 | 0:47:13 | |
it is something that makes our daily lives so much better. | 0:47:13 | 0:47:17 | |
I'm making linguine with mushrooms, garlic and thyme. | 0:47:17 | 0:47:21 | |
And this is so easy. You don't even cook it. | 0:47:21 | 0:47:24 | |
By the time the pasta's ready, the sauce is done. | 0:47:24 | 0:47:27 | |
MUSIC: Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack | 0:47:27 | 0:47:30 | |
-And Giorgio was obviously keen to spread the word. -One of the secrets | 0:47:30 | 0:47:34 | |
to making a good risotto is that we add butter to that at the end. | 0:47:34 | 0:47:39 | |
With proper Italian recipes being broadcast loud and proud | 0:47:39 | 0:47:43 | |
to the nation, we were finally cooking them at home. | 0:47:43 | 0:47:46 | |
We had rediscovered a desire for the fresh and the home cooked. | 0:47:46 | 0:47:50 | |
In the '90s, the entire thing exploded. | 0:47:50 | 0:47:54 | |
You know, everyone talked about the Mediterranean diet. | 0:47:54 | 0:47:57 | |
Food that was colourful, that was simple, | 0:47:57 | 0:48:00 | |
that was delicious and that was good for us. | 0:48:00 | 0:48:04 | |
We could embrace it. It wasn't scary. It was easy to cook. | 0:48:04 | 0:48:07 | |
Smart Italian restaurants opened to critical acclaim | 0:48:07 | 0:48:11 | |
-and leading the pack was London's River Cafe. -OK? | 0:48:11 | 0:48:14 | |
So, when we, when we opened the River Cafe, we thought, | 0:48:15 | 0:48:18 | |
"Why can't we have the kind of food | 0:48:18 | 0:48:20 | |
"that we cooked and ate in Italy in a restaurant in London?" | 0:48:20 | 0:48:26 | |
The River Cafe dared to serve peasant food. | 0:48:26 | 0:48:30 | |
Bean soup with a trickle of olive oil on top. | 0:48:30 | 0:48:33 | |
Really simple pared-down ingredients of real quality. | 0:48:33 | 0:48:37 | |
The River Cafe's devotion to quality seasonal ingredients | 0:48:38 | 0:48:42 | |
echoed Anna's own. | 0:48:42 | 0:48:44 | |
Anna communicated real authenticity about what Italian food was | 0:48:44 | 0:48:50 | |
and what it meant and her A to Z of, you know, Italian food | 0:48:50 | 0:48:55 | |
was something that I still refer to. | 0:48:55 | 0:48:58 | |
But it was one of her junior chefs | 0:48:58 | 0:49:00 | |
who would take that message to the masses. | 0:49:00 | 0:49:03 | |
Good olive oil on the bruschetta. | 0:49:03 | 0:49:05 | |
This bruschetta's been rubbed with garlic. | 0:49:05 | 0:49:08 | |
Lovely jubbly. | 0:49:08 | 0:49:09 | |
Discovered on a TV series about the River Cafe, | 0:49:09 | 0:49:12 | |
Jamie Oliver's easy approach to Italian food | 0:49:12 | 0:49:15 | |
-was an immediate hit. -The flavours will be fantastic. | 0:49:15 | 0:49:17 | |
People understood Italian food. But when Jamie came along - bang! | 0:49:17 | 0:49:20 | |
You know, this was... We totally fell in lust, | 0:49:20 | 0:49:24 | |
you know...chucked off all our clothes and dived in. | 0:49:24 | 0:49:28 | |
People loved that. People loved the idea that it was | 0:49:29 | 0:49:31 | |
a bit of this, a bit of that, throw it in a pan. | 0:49:31 | 0:49:33 | |
I just want a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. | 0:49:33 | 0:49:36 | |
And in the end, this amazing reinvention of Italian food, | 0:49:36 | 0:49:41 | |
through the River Cafe and then widely interpreted by chefs | 0:49:41 | 0:49:44 | |
everywhere, I think it's really in tune with what Anna | 0:49:44 | 0:49:48 | |
has been writing about and telling us about for years. | 0:49:48 | 0:49:51 | |
Oooh! # I like pasta! # | 0:49:51 | 0:49:54 | |
Through TV chefs, cooks and her books, Anna's passion for | 0:49:54 | 0:49:58 | |
proper Italian food was finally filtering through to the nation. | 0:49:58 | 0:50:03 | |
The risotto with dried ceps and field mushroom on the top. | 0:50:03 | 0:50:08 | |
And it was about to become very big business indeed! | 0:50:08 | 0:50:12 | |
By now, the advertising industry | 0:50:12 | 0:50:14 | |
had spotted the moneymaking potential of Brand Italia. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:18 | |
Short cut sauces weren't just convenient, they seemed | 0:50:18 | 0:50:21 | |
a passport to la dolce vita. | 0:50:21 | 0:50:23 | |
It feels like the people buys into a little bit of a dream | 0:50:23 | 0:50:26 | |
when they cook that plate of pasta. | 0:50:26 | 0:50:29 | |
They're not just having a meal that time, | 0:50:29 | 0:50:31 | |
they're not just having something to stuff themselves, | 0:50:31 | 0:50:33 | |
but they just, they feel Italian, they feel like | 0:50:33 | 0:50:35 | |
they're around the table with their family and so and so. | 0:50:35 | 0:50:37 | |
Everything in Italy is good, everything in Italy is romantic, | 0:50:37 | 0:50:40 | |
it's passionate, it's sunny, it's beautiful, it's cultured, um... | 0:50:40 | 0:50:43 | |
Everything in Britain's a bit grey and boring, so, you know, | 0:50:43 | 0:50:46 | |
go look on the sunny side of life. | 0:50:46 | 0:50:48 | |
Eat some pasta, eat some Dolmio, become a great lover. | 0:50:48 | 0:50:51 | |
Mega chains of Italian restaurants opened up on our high streets, | 0:50:53 | 0:50:57 | |
Italian ingredients filled our shops, | 0:50:57 | 0:51:00 | |
and pasta began to appear on every pub menu. | 0:51:00 | 0:51:03 | |
Today, Italian food brings in the big bucks. | 0:51:03 | 0:51:06 | |
But for Anna, it's never been about the money, | 0:51:06 | 0:51:09 | |
it's always been about the food. | 0:51:09 | 0:51:11 | |
What has been brilliant about her is the humility of it. | 0:51:11 | 0:51:14 | |
You know, there hasn't been big fanfares | 0:51:14 | 0:51:16 | |
and, "Oh! Anna Del Conte" and razzmatazz, you know. | 0:51:16 | 0:51:19 | |
She quietly writes her books, her recipes are authentic. | 0:51:19 | 0:51:22 | |
And there's no better example of Anna's essential joyful style than | 0:51:24 | 0:51:29 | |
the festive tiramisu we're making to round off our sumptuous lunch. | 0:51:29 | 0:51:33 | |
We're going to do the Tiramisu Natalizo. You know what it is? | 0:51:36 | 0:51:40 | |
-Christmas, I would work out. -Well done. -It's a Christmas one. | 0:51:40 | 0:51:43 | |
Now, you converted me to tiramisu, cos I was so snobbish about it. | 0:51:43 | 0:51:46 | |
-I always used to call it "The Black Forest Gateau of the '90s." -Yes! | 0:51:46 | 0:51:50 | |
Now, this is made with marrons glace, which is very different... | 0:51:50 | 0:51:53 | |
-Yeah. -..because we are Christmassy after all. -Yes! | 0:51:53 | 0:51:56 | |
'We get cracking by whisking egg whites with a little lemon juice.' | 0:51:56 | 0:52:00 | |
-Not like meringue, but nearly like meringue. -OK. | 0:52:00 | 0:52:03 | |
I'm going to live dangerously. Excuse me, I'm going up a notch. | 0:52:03 | 0:52:05 | |
-LOUD WHIRING -That's fine. Lift it up. | 0:52:05 | 0:52:07 | |
Perfect. | 0:52:09 | 0:52:10 | |
'We beat egg yolks and sugar | 0:52:10 | 0:52:11 | |
'until the mixture becomes light and moussey.' | 0:52:11 | 0:52:14 | |
-No, can you do it, please? -I can do it. | 0:52:14 | 0:52:16 | |
-I'm a bit small, you see. -NIGELLA LAUGHS | 0:52:16 | 0:52:18 | |
That's it. That's all right. | 0:52:20 | 0:52:22 | |
This is the mascarpone. | 0:52:23 | 0:52:25 | |
I put it in not so much at a time. | 0:52:25 | 0:52:27 | |
'With the mascarpone mixed in, we add the egg whites.' | 0:52:27 | 0:52:31 | |
I mean, it's something of a modern classic, isn't it - tiramisu? | 0:52:34 | 0:52:37 | |
-Fundamentally, it's a trifle. -An Italian trifle. -An Italian trifle. | 0:52:37 | 0:52:42 | |
'For the sponge layer, Anna dips madeleines | 0:52:42 | 0:52:44 | |
'in a mixture of milk and white rum.' | 0:52:44 | 0:52:47 | |
When you do an English trifle, you just do the same, | 0:52:47 | 0:52:49 | |
-but you pour it over, don't you? -Yes. -The Italians like less liquid. | 0:52:49 | 0:52:53 | |
-Yeah. -This applies to everything - that we don't like sloppy food. -Yes. | 0:52:53 | 0:52:56 | |
The English prefer sloppy. | 0:52:56 | 0:52:58 | |
-I'm sorry, I know it's a nasty word to use. -Yeah. | 0:52:58 | 0:53:00 | |
-But I... -I know... -I use sloppy for the sake of a better word. | 0:53:00 | 0:53:03 | |
No, that's why you call our trifle Zuppa Inglese - "English soup." | 0:53:03 | 0:53:07 | |
Zuppa Inglese, you are right. | 0:53:07 | 0:53:09 | |
'And then, we add Anna's star ingredient - | 0:53:09 | 0:53:12 | |
'candied chestnuts, or marrons glace.' | 0:53:12 | 0:53:14 | |
Beautiful. But even now they're used a lot in Italy, | 0:53:14 | 0:53:17 | |
you call them the same, by the French name? | 0:53:17 | 0:53:19 | |
Yes, and it was invented in Italy, in fact. | 0:53:19 | 0:53:21 | |
-First created in Piedmont... -Yes. -..the marron glace. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:24 | |
-You're on crumble. -I'm on crumble duty? | 0:53:24 | 0:53:26 | |
Very extravagant crumble. | 0:53:26 | 0:53:28 | |
-You're not complaining. -Mmm. -You enjoy it. -I do. I love these. | 0:53:28 | 0:53:32 | |
'After adding another layer of dipped madeleines, we slather on | 0:53:32 | 0:53:35 | |
'more of the eggy mascarpone and pop some marron glace on the top.' | 0:53:35 | 0:53:39 | |
-Another one. -OK, I've got room for another one here. -That's enough. | 0:53:39 | 0:53:42 | |
'Finally, to allow the flavours to meld together, | 0:53:42 | 0:53:44 | |
'we give the tiramisu some standing time in the fridge.' | 0:53:44 | 0:53:47 | |
And now we have to be patient. | 0:53:51 | 0:53:52 | |
-You want a marron glace, don't you? -Yeah, I do, thank you very much. | 0:53:53 | 0:53:58 | |
-Beautiful. Shall we just share this bit? -Oh! | 0:53:58 | 0:54:00 | |
You start. | 0:54:00 | 0:54:02 | |
-Shall I try? -OK. | 0:54:02 | 0:54:03 | |
-Mmm! -If you like it... -It's perfect! -Do you like it? | 0:54:05 | 0:54:07 | |
The way that the mascarpone and the rum and the madeleine fuse together | 0:54:07 | 0:54:12 | |
contrasts with that crumbliness of the marron glace. | 0:54:12 | 0:54:15 | |
-Oh, I see what you mean, yes. -It really works. | 0:54:15 | 0:54:17 | |
-I like... -It is... -..that slightly waxy crumbliness in the middle. | 0:54:17 | 0:54:20 | |
-I love marron glace with anything. -Mm-hm, I know! | 0:54:20 | 0:54:23 | |
This is a triumph! | 0:54:23 | 0:54:25 | |
Over 40 years, Anna Del Conte helped transform our culinary landscape, | 0:54:26 | 0:54:32 | |
masterminding Britain's love affair with Italian food. | 0:54:32 | 0:54:35 | |
I think that the cooking is one of the greatest expressions of love. | 0:54:35 | 0:54:39 | |
At least it was for me. I hoped, with my books, | 0:54:39 | 0:54:42 | |
that they would bring a little bit of Italy into their home. | 0:54:42 | 0:54:46 | |
A little bit of sunshine, a little bit of what actually Italian, | 0:54:46 | 0:54:50 | |
real Italian food is like. | 0:54:50 | 0:54:51 | |
Her quiet authority has inspired some of our best Italian chefs. | 0:54:51 | 0:54:56 | |
For me, Anna's cooking really illustrates | 0:54:56 | 0:54:59 | |
the essence of Italian food. | 0:54:59 | 0:55:00 | |
She taught us all an enormous amount. I have a huge debt to her. | 0:55:02 | 0:55:05 | |
-It's not too sweet for me. -No, it's perfect. | 0:55:05 | 0:55:08 | |
-It's not too sweet for me and I haven't got... -And you've got...? | 0:55:08 | 0:55:10 | |
I haven't got as sweet a tooth as you and its not too sweet for me. | 0:55:10 | 0:55:13 | |
Some Vin Santo. | 0:55:13 | 0:55:15 | |
A tiny bit. | 0:55:15 | 0:55:16 | |
-See, that's very interesting. -That's the christening. | 0:55:17 | 0:55:19 | |
And also what's really interesting about you as a cook, which is | 0:55:19 | 0:55:23 | |
you're so, um, respectful of the traditions, | 0:55:23 | 0:55:26 | |
but there's that Italian anarchic nature, | 0:55:26 | 0:55:30 | |
which always wants to make you do little twists on it. | 0:55:30 | 0:55:33 | |
-Well, that is... -So your next tiramisu is | 0:55:33 | 0:55:35 | |
-going to be a Vin Santo tiramisu. -Ah! | 0:55:35 | 0:55:37 | |
-You could dunk these in Vin Santo... -And then? | 0:55:37 | 0:55:40 | |
-..and then pile that up with mascarpone. -Ah. | 0:55:40 | 0:55:43 | |
-I think it's a good idea. -Yeah, that's your next one. | 0:55:43 | 0:55:46 | |
And we'll call it... Nigellana Tiramisu. | 0:55:46 | 0:55:49 | |
Yeah, that's perfect! THEY LAUGH | 0:55:49 | 0:55:51 | |
Anna's recipes and Anna's writing will endure, | 0:55:53 | 0:55:57 | |
because they're timeless. | 0:55:57 | 0:55:58 | |
Everything pared back, simple as can be, just about allowing | 0:55:58 | 0:56:02 | |
beautiful ingredients to speak to you on a plate. | 0:56:02 | 0:56:06 | |
-Anna? -Yeah? -I know you really hate it when people say nice things | 0:56:06 | 0:56:10 | |
to you, but I have to say, next to my mother, | 0:56:10 | 0:56:13 | |
-there's no-one who has influenced me more or who I love more. -Aw! | 0:56:13 | 0:56:17 | |
-Don't make me cry, please. -THEY LAUGH SOFTLY | 0:56:17 | 0:56:21 | |
-Thank you. -Thank YOU. | 0:56:21 | 0:56:23 | |
-Thank you for everything. -To you. -For everything, Anna. | 0:56:23 | 0:56:26 | |
-And I mean it. Mmm! -I do too. -Good. It really is good. | 0:56:26 | 0:56:30 | |
Good Vin Santo! Oh! | 0:56:31 | 0:56:33 |