Calabria and Bambinone Two Greedy Italians

'I am Antonio Carluccio.'

Mmm, wonderful.

'Food is my life.'

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-This is almost a religious act.

Hallelujah.

What I'm cooking's so good!

'And I am Gennaro Contaldo.'

I just can't believe it!

'I too am devoted to food.

'For years, I was Antonio's assistant.'

-Just a minute. Do you want to cook it?

-No, no, no,

but it's holding the lump there.

'Now, he's my best friend.'

Oh, Gennaro!

-Hey!

-A-a-agh!

Italia!

'It has been nearly 50 years since we lived in Italy.'

Beautiful.

Wow!

'And we have come back to see

'if we still have a taste for the old country.'

OK...

The freshest butter ever.

'Returning to the South brings us back to childhood.

'And what a childhood we had!'

They are sweet, wonderful.

'But what is life for children growing up in Southern Italy now?'

Come on, Antonio!

'And do they enjoy the same simple pleasures we did when we were young?'

You want a taste, eh?

-There, there's one!

-Where?

-There. Go there.

'We are on a voyage of discovery.'

'But with Gennaro on board, the whole thing could be a disaster.'

Don't look at me!

'But don't worry.'

Ahh...!

'It will be fantastic just as long as there is plenty to eat.'

Lovely!

Mmm-hmm-hmm!

'We are visiting Calabria, the most un-industrialised region of Italy.'

'For the trip, I chose my old family car.

'I first drove Topolino sitting on my papa's knee.'

This is the car for you. Look at that.

All brand new! Come on, you'll really love it.

-Well, I hope we can travel with that.

-Oh, my God. This is good!

Go on, lift him up!

It's very difficult to come here.

Yeah, you've got it.

'Our journey begins in the coastal resort of Tropea.'

Do you want an onion?

You know this is a very special onion from Tropea.

It is a sweet onion that you can eat just like an apple.

'Our first meal is a childhood staple.'

It's like to be in England, bread and butter.

Here in Italy, bread and onions, with a bit of Provolone cheese.

'Once ruled over by the ancient Greeks, Calabria rests

'in the instep and toe of the boot of Italy.

'It has year-round sunshine and a mix of landscapes,

'yielding the very best of the Mediterranean diet.'

-OK, why don't you get me this one? Look...

-No, that one is much...

-This one, this one.

-OK.

Go on, pull it!

Pull it! Pull!

Fantastic. Perfection.

'Being in a stranger's garden picking ripe persimmons

'reminds me that, as a child, the countryside was our sweetshop.

You like sucking, huh?

-Look at this, look at this. Look at this.

-I know.

-Ohh!

'Then and now, fruit was exciting. It was stolen treasure.'

-Do you know what we used to do with this?

-Mmm-hmm.

Nice baked fresh bread, special if it was hot bread from the bakery.

I was almost there, not everywhere.

Get a very ripe one and squeeze them on top and rub it like a tomato,

and that used to be jam on toast, or jam on bread. Ahhhhh!

This is what's usually called the poor man jam.

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!

ANTONIO LAUGHS

I was waiting all the time for that.

'We are back on the road. We are greedy Italians and we want to eat.

'But not from any supermarket.

'We are going back to the world that gave us our passion for food.

'The world that makes us hungry for Italy.'

It's unbelievable. I've never seen things like that. Look at this.

You know, it doesn't matter how old I become,

but seeing things like this, they really tender my inside.

-It becomes so soft. Yes.

-Me, too.

Yes, yes.

-Look here, look here. Bread making.

-Bread making.

Look at all the little bread as well.

This reminds me, all the artisans, that they were in the village.

And it is exactly what they were doing.

Look at this here, olive oil making.

-With the little olives there.

-Look, he's pressing them as well.

-Oh, do you know what he has, that one there?

-Yes, I know.

He does the wine. So they remember that I was, as a little boy,

trampling the grapes to make the juice for the wine.

Look, he's drinking it!

That's you, that's you.

A-a-ah! Unbelievable.

Oh, Antonio!

'And this is one of the most important scenes

'in any Italian village.'

Look, pigs! The killing of the pig!

I used to help to do that. And look, it's dripping blood.

The collection of the blood, yes.

Lovely pig blood and chocolate. We used to do it.

'We both have fond memories,

'but does anything survive of the world we loved?

'As children, we always knew

'if the neighbour was having a pig killing or Festa del Maiale.

'It seems it's no different today.

'A crowd has gathered at the home of the Riccio family,

'who are about to slaughter their pig.

'In our day, everyone had a pig.

'The meat would feed a family for the whole year.

'Pig produce is central to the Italian way of eating.

'But these days, the parents don't allow their children

'to see the kill.'

That brings me back about 60 years ago, when I was about 14.

They were doing the ultimate sacrifice of the pig

for the good of the family.

-I don't know. You know, look...

-You are trembling.

I know, well, I'm doing this, almost, if I'm to help.

'I was thinking, as the kids are not here,

'they are not going to learn important lessons

'we learned when we were young.'

'For boys especially,

'being present for a kill was an important part of becoming a man.'

The pig is dead, and what I witnessed just now brings me back

all this, with my father and my sister, my mother.

She'd been looking after the animal all year.

Then, at a year, had to be killed.

And she was standing right there.

And I remember I used to look at her face. Why this woman don't cry?

What's the matter with this woman?

Later on in life, I said, "Mama, you loved those animals.

"Why you didn't cry?"

She said, "Son, there were tears, not running down my face,

"but inside my face."

'And seeing my mum so brave, I wanted to be brave, too.'

You see, Antonio, what he said? You already know what to do.

'In killing the pig, we learned to respect

'every piece of food that comes from the animal.

'We make prosciutto, pancetta or bacon. Capicola, ham and salsicce.

'Sausages.'

Antonio, d'you want me...?

No, no, you do it. You do it, you are perfect.

Do you want to...?

Gennaro, you are perfect at that.

-I'm just watching.

-But do you want me to give you a haircut?

'The lungs are kept for soup.

'The ears and tail to flavour stews,

'and the trotters are cooked with lentils.'

'And the blood must be stirred to prevent clotting.

'Before it, too, can be used.'

I know it sounds a little bit "Who-oa!"

The poor animal is killed.

But it's a feast! That is good for everybody!

This is a pudding which I used to eat at your age.

And now, after so many years, yeah! I'm doing it again!

Flour, straight in.

Sugar, zucchero.

Mmm. Provare. Prova, prova, prova.

Cocoa powder. Yeah?

Go on, go on, taste the cocoa powder. Go on. OK?

Straight in. Yes.

Milk.

Pig blood. Oo-oo-ooh!

You want a taste, eh? No.

You want to taste? Aw-w-w!

Slowly, slowly...

'The kids are not keen.

'But this was my favourite pudding when I was a kid.

'And the blood is so full of goodness.'

Make sure you use every little bit.

The reason why...

because it's blood.

Animal was living once. Why shall we waste it? Do you want to help?

Go on, you do it. You do it. Come on, come on. Come on! Come on!

More, more, more! You try, now. Go on, you try!

Forza, forza! Forza! Provaci! Forza!

When it's all mixed together, so easy, you put 'em on the gas,

OK, and keep stirring it.

Yeah. Look how thick.

Yeah. Me first, no?

Why I am so good on cooking? Pig blood and chocolate.

It's ready, now.

Oh, yes.

You're not wanting any more?

Finito.

Finito?

'It was so good to see children enjoying what I used to enjoy

'when I was a little boy.'

Oh, fantastic. He said, "Now that I've tasted a sanguinache,

"the pig blooded chocolate, I will ask my grandma

"to make him every time."

Brava, Angelo!

'Now all the children want to help, and there's no holding them back.'

Gennaro, have a look.

Yeah. What, Antonio?

What you said? I cannot hear you properly.

No, I know that you don't hear very well, Gennaro. I know.

-Do you know what I see?

-What do you see?

All those children, they're not squeamish at all.

They don't find anything that abnormal, and it is fantastic.

'All children love to make sausages!'

OK, let me give a hand, let me give help! OK!

Yeah!

-Gennaro, you're strong.

-I know!

I think I've had enough.

'A typical Calabrese sausage filling is a very spicy mix

'of red hot pepperocino chillies, black pepper and fennel seeds.'

-You like pepperocino? Piace pepperocino?

-ALL: Si! Yes!

Pepper.

-And the chilli.

-And the chilli!

'The sausages might get a little bit hot for my taste.

'But it was lovely to see the children with the pig.'

-Ready? Ba-ba-ba-ba-a-a!

-Wow.

'After making all those sausages, there was no pork meat left.

'Well, maybe just a little bit.'

-Don't tell me this is pork.

-Yes. This is what the children left me.

-No. You do a soup or something.

-No.

-We will be happy with that.

-No, what actually I'm going to do, I'm going to make Orzotto!

-Ah-ha!

'150 grams of minced pork, that's what we need!

'The dish is like pork mince risotto.

'But instead of rice, you use this lovely pearl barley.'

One small onion.

-Chopped.

-Chopped finely.

Lovely olive oil.

Nice olive oil. I love it.

This from Calabria, that's very good olive oil there, you know.

-It is indeed.

-They produce quite a lot

-but I think that they don't export a lot.

-Oh, I love that music.

Yes.

-You fry the onions.

-Let it sweat.

The difference of sweat not to burn, it is that when you actually,

you're jogging, whoa-whoa-whoa, you start to sweat, you know.

When it's burning, when you stand under the sun

and you get red like a pepperoni.

-Then, you get the pork mince.

-Yes.

Slowly put 'em inside.

See, at this stage, you seal the meat.

-You have to seal them properly...

-But let it cook a little bit as well.

Yeah, oh, yeah. I'm...look.

Then you put the pearl barley, handful each.

'Pearl barley is a kind of super-food.

'It is full of B vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc.'

Just a little bit more for me and you.

'When I was a kid, we didn't do twizzlers or nuggets.

'This was the kind of food we ate.'

And keep stirring it, because when it's nice and hot,

I have to splash with a little bit of wine.

You can just splash the wine, yes?

Ooh, lovely.

Here, I've already nice, very hot stock.

Can be vegetable stock, can be a beef stock.

Then, you start to add nice hot stock. Keep stirring it.

As soon as the stock has evaporated, you add more.

It will cook roughly about 25 to 30 minutes.

I keep stirring it.

Stir, stir, stirring nice, make sure it not get burned underneath.

We are going to use spinach as well.

-Yes, yes.

-There should be enough for me and you?

-Yes, enough.

-OK. Not too thin.

The reason why, because if too thin, it almost disappear.

Mmm-mmm!

Another few minutes.

At this stage, I will put the spinach inside.

Quick stir.

That cat reminds me a little of you, Gennaro.

-What do you mean, "Reminds me a little bit...?"

-It's fat!

-Have you never looked at yourself?

-I lost weight, myself.

-Yeah, when?

-I, well, look at this...

Remember, the wine you use for cooking,

this is the wine you have to drink.

There is no such, cooking wine.

If you put a good wine in the dish, you can take it out as well.

-Olive oil.

-Mmm.

Let's cream it.

Ah, the smell is wonderful.

Look at the way it's creaming now.

Creaming, that means it goes all round the barley.

It makes an emulsion.

Yeah, it makes an emulsion.

Mmm, looks good. And no cheese, here.

There's no cheese.

-It looks very good.

-Lovely.

Parsley on top.

Go on.

-Hmm?

-Mmm.

-Hmm?

-Mmm.

-The flavour is fantastic.

-Say no more.

'Orzotto con Maiale. Make sure you give to the kids.

'Like Antonio, they will love it.'

'Having seen children butchering the pig,

'I was thinking it's wonderful the young are still getting

'the same start that put us on the road to success.

'I was looking forward to joining some friends

'for a traditional Southern Christening.'

'Salvatore and his wife Katarina are celebrating the baptism

'of their first baby, Gregorio.'

That's wonderful. Quanto tempo a...?

BOTH: Tre mesi. He's three months old.

'Brothers, cousins, aunties and uncles have travelled

'from all corners of Italy and the globe to join in the fun.'

Buongiorno tutti!

Good morning.

'Like all Christenings I remember from the old days,

'this one begins with making Christening biscuits.'

It's almost like seeing a movie of me when I was a little boy.

I can see that little child there, kind of reminds me,

helping the family.

I can actually almost see my mother at the back,

you know, frying fish, and my sister get in and I say,

"Look, this is wrong. This is what it's about!"

It does make my hairs...

Ready? Ready?

It is such a joy.

That is, this is me. Como ti chiami?

Gregorio.

His name is Gregorio, do you know, but this could well be Gennarino.

'When I was young, me and my friend, we would look out

'for Christenings, and then fill our pockets with lovely, warm biscuits.'

HE SPEAKS ITALIAN

I just asked him, what do you like to do?

Just play on a computer? Watch TV, or just help your mama to cook?

He said, "This is what I like to do."

'This brings alive for me all the excitement on party days.

'My mama and my auntie was dressed up,

'and the whole family would be together.'

'For me and my sisters, the most exciting part

'of any big family occasion was when we sat around the big table to eat.'

Did you know, Antonio, here they don't have crisps and jelly.

In other words, they don't have food for children.

The children's food is exactly the same as for grown-ups.

-They eat the chilli!

-Yeah, and they have to be used to that

because that's what they're eating. It's very healthy and very good.

Gennaro, that's really, my heart beats when I see this.

-Mine, too. So, shall we lift a glass?

-Salute!

'Just when I thought the children were having the same start we had,

'I learned that life was not going to be the same for them at all.'

My brothers, when we was child, every day is totally...

The past, people don't think about the money to make a child. Now...

Now, if you want to give education, if you want to give anything,

you have to really seriously think if you have to have a child or not.

'For me, it's unthinkable that big families

'which were so much a part of life in Southern Italy

'are becoming a memory.'

'One in four children here will have no brothers or sisters.'

It's silence in the house.

Oh, wow.

Sad. Very sad.

Ah, bless you. It's heavy, Sophia.

'It hurts me to say that Italy now has the second lowest birth rate

'of any country in the Western world.'

'With so few babies being born,

'Christenings are becoming something of a rare event.

'It looks like the whole town of Nicotera Marina has turned up

'to see little Gregorio welcomed into the church.

'Under the watchful eyes of the Madonna, naturally.'

'We have an expression in Italy, "Bambinone."

'It is to describe the babies that have life so good,

'they never grow up.'

'And what do babies do? They sleep in all the time.'

'But even Antonio's mum, she never warmed the Holy water.'

BABY CRIES

BRASS BAND PLAYS

'Baby Gregorio's Christening coincides

'with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

'This is when Catholics like to remind themselves

'that the Madonna was born without sin.

'As my mother would say, "You know for sure that Jesus was Italian,

"because his mama believed her son to be a god,

"and he thought she was a virgin."

Italian organised chaos.

'For the procession of the Immaculata Conceptione, the statue

'of the Virgin is carried through the narrow street to the seashore.'

'Here, they say, it was miraculously washed up centuries ago

'and rescued by local fishermen.'

When the Madonna appears, even grown men, they are just like children.

'Of course, Gennaro, a firm believer,

'has become as a child in the presence of the Madonna.'

ANTONIO LAUGHS

Oh, you look wonderful. You...ha-ha!

'As an expression of the strength of their feelings

'for the Eternal Mother, local men fight for the privilege

'of holding the heavy statue clear of the waves.

'But who is going to carry the Virgin in the future?'

'This is not a job for a bambinone!

'Men only need to apply.'

ALL: Viva Maria!

I wanted to do it, I really wanted to do it. Never mind, I got wet.

But it was good, good feeling. I just felt fantastic.

And look at that. The sun has come out where the Madonna is.

Such faith, look at that.

Whoa!

-ALL: Viva, Maria!

-Viva Maria!

Do you know what the lady, she said?

She said, "It is a blessing from the Madonna."

Maybe it is.

'It looks like the Virgin only gave us good weather for her outing.

'As the fishermen return her to the comfort of the church,

'things take a turn for the worse.'

'I'm left behind, I'm cold and I'm wet, and I'm looking for Antonio.'

-Antonio...

-Oh, you are sweet.

That's sweet. I have to take a picture.

That's too sweet. What did you do?

You lost, you left the other one there or what?

No, I've got...can you see?

Oh, that's fantastic! Wonderful!

'I think I know what my friend Gennaro needs.

'I'm going to make him a warming Zuppa di Pesce.'

This dish here is for you and all the chaps

that were transporting the Madonna.

'For a traditional fish soup,

'I never use less than five different types of fish.

'Here, I have prawns, monkfish, sea bass and a handful of scallops.'

If you cut me the onion, Gennaro.

You are fantastic, yes. I dedicate it to you, but you have to work.

'But first we have to make a base,

'for which we must have the usual onion

'and a clove of garlic, crushed, of course.'

And now, one whole chilli.

Yes. Just cut it like this, with all the seeds.

The seed is the essence of a chilli.

Everybody takes it out, I don't know why. Put it in.

Sometimes they say, "You don't fry with extra virgin olive oil",

but for things like this, it's fantastic.

Then a little fennel. They give a particular flavour.

'Then, I add a generous glass of red wine,

'followed by two tins of chopped tomatoes

'and around half a litre of water.

'Now, for the most important ingredient.

'We should always flavour the base of fish soup

'with one of the rockfish.'

Look at that, look at that, Antonio.

-Can you see? Wah!

-A-agh!

'Rockfish are bottom feeders, and that makes them very tasty.'

'I have chosen scorpion fish, but if you're using one of these,

'look out for the hidden spines.

'They may cause a nasty sting.'

Add a bit of parsley, thank you.

Now, this has to cook until the meat comes off the bone.

So, we can do something else now.

The fish takes 15 minutes to flavour the base.

So, there's just time for a hand of cards.

Joker.

Come on! The way you cheat is unbelievable!

-Perfection, Gennaro!

-Yeah.

The base has absorbed the flavour

and the scorpion fish is cooked.

There you are!

So, can you take all the meat off?

You always give me a lovely job to do.

Later, I'll be adding the boneless meat to the soup.

Let me see, do I take this?

That is the cheek, it is very... It's the best bit.

-We will see how it tastes.

-Thank you.

-It's the best bit?

-Yeah, it's the best bit.

Now, is the time to add the other fish,

starting with the one that takes the longest to cook.

First in, chopped monkfish fillet.

Salt and pepper.

Does it taste? Yes.

This fish here, this is sea bass.

Then, we put in the prawns.

Mmmm! Another bit of salt.

Wonderful!

The flesh of the scorpion fish is then added

and last, but not least, the scallops

as they take the shortest time to cook.

And now for something quintessentially Italian...

Before the soup, crostini, drizzled with olive oil

and put in the bottom of every bowl.

The fish... Oh, yes! Look at this.

-Wonderful!

-It is almost...

-The smell! The smell!

-It's really very good.

-The smell!

-Buon appetito.

-Buon appetito.

I feel like a cat,

a greedy cat.

You do cook this soup

so fantastically...

-The bread underneath...

-It's lovely.

For Italians, soup without soggy bread

would be like boiled egg without soldiers.

Like the other 60 million Italians

who live abroad

and, remember,

most of them come from

the poorer regions of the south, like Calabria...

It's lovely and fresh here, Antonio.

..when we come home, we are all looking to find our roots.

Unbelievable.

We are all looking to revisit our childhoods.

My father was station master of the railway.

I was playing in something like this, coming back home, black with coal

and, all of a sudden, my mother... Woah!

Stay there! Don't move!

I'm going to try and ride towards you.

Can you see me?

I love how silly you are... Fantastic.

-Thank you.

-You make the noise of the train.

It was a goods train that, every day,

was passing by the little station, where my father was station master,

taking up a sort of food parcel

that my mother prepared, that was my lunch,

when I was at school, seven miles down the road.

-Every day?

-Every day.

'My little knife, my little fork,

'my little napkin...'

Usually, I would have soup or pasta

and a little bit of fish

and even a little square of cheese,

bread and an orange

I always will remember that.

So, you got hot food every day?

Yes, and it was coming

and I was the most happy boy in the world.

My father, a linen tailor,

did not deliver my school lunch.

I had lovely healthy school dinners.

I love school dinners so much,

I could not wait to see what was on the school menu.

But I was in for a shock.

-No, we haven't. We haven't got school dinners.

-Why there is no school dinners?

Because their grandmothers, they prefer to cook at home.

-Yeah, but they can't go home.

-They go home for lunch.

All very well for those who have mothers to cook for them

but what of those who don't?

I think there is a bad way to eat, among our children, our students.

We have a problem of obesity.

For the children left to fend for themselves over lunch,

there is no healthy option.

This is the problem, this is the problem.

Horror show.

Here we have the machine where our students come to have a snack.

But it's a bad way of eating.

This is stuff which I never allowed my children to eat.

Venticinque.

400 calories? Come on!

I don't need to guess why the kids get so fat.

I remember, properly, when you used to go, YOU used to go to school,

I used to go to school, there was always somebody cooking.

Gennaro, that was 50 years ago. Come on!

-Everything is changing constantly in Italy.

-But not for children.

-Not for children.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.

Italy's a country where we look after the children.

Antonio, do you know what, I'm so angry. I'm quite upset.

How can a school with children like that have a vending machine?

-I'm angry. It's...

-Gennaro, quiet down, my dear, quiet down.

I can't! I can't just quiet down.

It is a sign of our time as well,

that we have to copy everything that America sends to us.

Like Gennaro, I hate to see our countrymen forget the lessons

we taught the rest of the world.

And that is the health benefit in eating proper food.

Look at this. It's unbelievable. And this is a hospital.

In the '50s, American scientists came to Nicotera

to see why people here were the healthiest in the world.

'But now, over a third of local children

'are clinically obese by the age of eight.'

I don't understand. When I was their age, I was as thin as a rake.

'He might have been skinny back then,

'but it's obvious Gennaro now has a problem.'

'I have arranged to have him checked out by the dietician.'

THEY SPEAK IN ITALIAN

-Genarro Contaldo. Antonio, you should be the one.

-No, I'm fine.

-Are you sure?

-For my height and for my build, I am perfectly all right.

I'm going to prove to you how fit I am. You stay there.

-Look here, look here.

-Antonio...

-This, here. Look.

Look, THIS, here! Look at this!

That is all muscle.

Mine as well.

'I have been tricked

'and I am determined to prove that Antonio is wrong.

'I'm going to have a full examination and a full body scan.

'In the meantime,

I have some serious questions for the dietician.'

'Why in southern Italy, when there is a proven history of good dieting,

'do children now have a problem?'

What the doctor told me made me very sad.

I could cry when I think of Italy's only children eating alone

with their TV on. What hope do they have of growing up to be successful,

of growing up to be strong?

I wanted to talk to Gennaro. But he had worries of his own.

-You are obese.

-'I cannot believe it.'

-So I need to lose about 50, nearly 20 kilos?

-Yes.

10, can we make at least 10?

-Gennaro, tell me the truth, what happened?

-Nothing happened.

-Fantastic. Really, really good.

-It was fantastic?

-Yes, look at that.

-I am hungry, shall we go to eat?

-I'm not actually very hungry myself.

No, well, I like to eat some little bits, perhaps some little fruit.

An orange would be very good.

Do you think I can go inside

and borrow some of those oranges and mandarins?

-I wouldn't necessarily suggest it.

-Why?

-Because you may be shot.

'We were on the hunt for a light lunch.'

Ooh, there, there, there.

-I'm just going to get something.

-There, there, yes.

'I was very relieved to see

'that Gennaro was getting his appetite back.'

Antonio, here, hold it.

-Just a minute.

-They're sweet. Wonderful.

Thank you!

'If you think for one minute he's going on a diet,

'just wait and see what Gennaro's going to cook.'

-Rice cake with orange, Antonio.

-Mmm!

-Orange is everywhere around here.

-This is unbelievable. Milk.

-The milk is cooking now.

-Yeah, it's less than two litres.

-And this is 200 grams of sugar?

200 grams of sugar.

Nice.

-Oh, my God, ah, smell it.

-Ah!

-Just, oh, yes, look, it goes in.

So the older rinds give the flavour.

'This dish is not very slimming, but at least it is proper food.'

I'm going to put an extra bit for me. I love lemon. Then, vanilla pod.

It is so important you use fresh vanilla pod.

Aroma of vanilla, it is OK, but it's very plastic.

But if you use a nice vanilla pod, it's a little bit expensive,

but it gives you a different flavour altogether.

-Then you slice right through.

-Yes, yes.

And look inside, the lovely seeds.

-Look at that, look at that, look at that.

-That's wonderful.

This one goes in, just leave them on top for now.

Now we have to wait till the milk goes to boiling.

All the flavour is of the lemons and milk, with the sugar, perfect.

You can see it now, it's almost boiled. 300 grams.

And the rice, which rice is this?

'I'm using good risotto rice, because I wanted to stay al dente.' Stir it.

'That will cook about 45 minutes until all the lovely flavour of lemon

'and milk absorbs into the rice.'

Antonio, don't you think our children don't eat much fruit today?

-Unfortunately not.

-I remember, as soon as the fresh fruit is coming out on the tree,

we used to raid the tree, we used to get on top there.

We used to borrow quite a lot. Whilst I was borrowing once,

we left our shoes at the bottom of the tree and the owner came.

-He took our shoes away.

-Haha!

-There's a good one.

'Whilst the cooked rice mixture was cooling off,

'we went in search of two zesty oranges.

'Borrowing will always be second nature.

'Only these days, we ask permission of the owner.'

My God, I put so much lemon. There is another one.

'When the rice is cool, remove the lemon peel.

'And separate five fresh eggs.'

Lovely and thick and white. Faster! 'Whisk the white of the eggs.

'And then add two tablespoons of orange liquors to the yolks.'

Three for me.

'Then you mix the lovely orange flavoured yolk to the rice mixture.

'Add the grated zest of an orange.' That lovely flavour.

Yeah, look at this, Gennaro. In fact, it's exactly as it should be.

Yeah, it's done.

A small handful of raisins.

-Ah!

-Thank you.

This is the joy.

I will fold in egg white, and the egg white will give that lift.

-The lightness.

-The lightness.

And now, slowly, you fold...

-Slowly, otherwise all the air that I put into that, it goes.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

That's why.

It's a joy.

'Then pour the mixture into a prepared cake tin

'and then cook in the oven at 180 for about an hour.'

It looks very good, Gennaro.

Right on top. Don't waste anything at all.

'I was planning to serve my cake with fresh oranges.

-'Unfortunately, some greedy Italian can't wait.'

-Mmm...

-That's a really good one.

-Mmm!

'One hour later, remove it.'

Yes! Yes.

Icing sugar.

-That's good.

-What a marriage.

And over there.

-It looks like a little jewel.

-It is a little jewel.

-Ah!

Very good, very good, Antonio.

-It looks very good.

-All the lovely rice inside.

'If your kids don't like fruit, give them this

'and they will learn to love the taste of fresh orange.'

-Very good, Gennaro.

-Mmm!

-I like it.

You know, lately, you start to cook a little bit better.

Just as we were about to give up hope for the future,

we received news from the Ministry of Agriculture

of a Calabrian food campaigner.

He lives where the philosopher Pythagoras set up a school

500 years before Christ.

And Pythagoras wrote the first recipe book ever

to recommend eating fruit and veg.

This is a very important person here.

'We have come to pay homage to the new Pythagoras.'

-Hi there!

-Joshua, come stai?

-Bene. Entrare.

-Si, si, grazie!

'12-year-old Joshua Pratico gained recognition for having written

'a book of traditional snacks.'

So, finally, somebody's teaching you something.

Well, Joshua's going to teach me how to do this recipe.

THEY SPEAK IN ITALIAN

Did you hear what he said?

"Just cut me onions because I'm not very good."

Cutting onions, do you know what,

I know somebody as well who can really do that.

THEY SPEAK IN ITALIAN

-Like that? Si?

-Si.

-First time that a little boy...

-Teaches you, huh?

Yeah, but I love it. You know, I've learned something.

'Joshua was showing me how to make his favourite recipe,

'aubergine fritters.'

Well, I will do something, yes.

-Yes, you do something, thank you very much.

-And good luck to you.

-Thank you very much.

Learn something from the little boy here. He will teach you something.

And as soon as he teach me something, I will teach you something else.

All right this way? OK the way I'm doing it?

-Two.

-Two.

-Three.

-Three.

-Four.

-It's done.

-No, continuare, continuare.

-We need to do some more. OK.

I feel like a commis. It's OK like that?

I do it quicker than him, I do it quicker than him!

'I have left young Joshua to the care of Genarro,

'while I have a chat with his mamma and granny.

Inside here, we have the cooked aubergines.

Thank you very much. Breadcrumbs.

-Can I help you?

-Si.

-Yeah. Parmigiano, you want, eh?

-Si.

OK, I make Parmigiano.

Grannies, in Italy, they are extremely important.

It is practically the soul of the family, where Granny is.

'It fills me with hope, knowing that in this age of working mothers

'and only children, grannies are coming back,

'because this means Granny's way of cooking is reaching the new generation.'

This is the first time that a little boy showed me how to cook,

and I'm enjoying it.

He's such a lovely boy. Imagine if all children his age could do this.

You'd eat well for the rest of your life.

And carry on the generation after generation, how to eat healthy food.

'God willing, the great Italian food tradition

'will not be overtaken by the vending machine.

'The grannies will take care of that, and lovely boys like Joshua.

-Mmm.

-Buono?

Mmm. That is fantastic.

Let's see if two chefs have spoilt the broth. Mmm.

-Mmm.

-Ah, he likes it! Give me five! Yeah, we've done it!

You know what, he could easily beat you when he was 11 years old,

the way he was telling me. "Give me this, give me that,

"fry this, fry that."

-Grazie.

-So that he can write his own recipes.

-Oh!

'I am not alone in giving encouragement.

'Joshua's award was part of a nationwide initiative

'to get austerity-hit Italy

'to rediscover its traditional way of eating.'

Grazie.

And then, when you do this particular one recipe,

you write it again and say, "Helped by Genarro Contaldo,

"and tasted by Antonio Carluccio."

I have to give him a kiss. Joshua, the Italian way.

Delighted as I was to meet Joshua, one thing still troubled me.

There he was, surrounded by adults.

I longed to see him with a family of children around him,

like we enjoyed in our day.

Wow! Buongiorno!

'In the town of Serrastretta was a clever priest, Don Gigi,

'and he shared our concern for children growing up alone.

'His father was a baker, so he built a good oven

'right beside his church so the kids now come here

'and bake bread together.'

I know which kind of bread it will be!

A bit more flour and a bit more water and a bit more flour.

-Acqua!

-Acqua!

-A bit of salt.

-It is unbelievable!

Basically, it's exactly what all children in the world should do.

Get knowledgeable about food in this quite entertaining

and lovely play way.

Well, it's lovely to see.

He said, "Look, what a smile."

What we have seen here

in Serrastretta made me optimistic, too.

'The children were so full of life,

'so beautiful, healthy and full of fun.'

Come on, Antonio!

'And not a single one showed any sign of being overweight.'

'So we have gone full circle, gone back to where we started.

'And it seems once again Italy has got things right.'

So many children, Antonio.

-Gennaro, this is success.

-The future.

We might cook very good, we might do fantastic things,

it's a lovely country, but do you know what the best recipe for Italy?

-We produce fantastic children.

-But we don't make children enough.

-We don't cook enough.

-Yes.

-We should do more.

-This is the generation.

-Yes, we do more, we need to do more children.

-So shall I do them?

-You don't need to. Come on, let's go.

-You?

Come on, let's go.

Come on! Come on, come on, come on.

-'Next...' Finally the sea, Gennaro.

-It is beautiful.

-'We are visiting the Italian Riviera...'

-Bellissima!

What a catch.

'..to see if Italy still knows how to make the best of herself.'

The olives, wow!

'What you English might call showing off,

'we call "la bella figura".

'And, of course, we will be eating lots of delicious food.'

-This is your wine, this is your glass.

-Thank you.

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