0:00:04 > 0:00:07'I'm Andrew Graham-Dixon, and I'm an art historian.'
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Is it a town, or is it a piece of theatre?
0:00:10 > 0:00:13'I'm Giorgio Locatelli, and I'm a cook.'
0:00:13 > 0:00:17The sultana is really tiny in this recipe, like a little Sicilian!
0:00:17 > 0:00:19'We both share a passion...'
0:00:19 > 0:00:22- This is real Baroque! - This is decadent.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24'..a love...'
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Oh, oh!
0:00:26 > 0:00:27'..an obsession...'
0:00:27 > 0:00:30I've never seen anything like that.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32'Her name?
0:00:32 > 0:00:35'Sicilia, the Mediterranean island of Sicily.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41'We've both been her ardent suitors for years.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46'I love how layers of history have created a unique blend of art and architecture here.'
0:00:46 > 0:00:50- It's like we're in the World Cup, in archaeological terms.- Yeah!
0:00:50 > 0:00:55'And I adore the incredible flavour and no-nonsense approach to food.'
0:00:55 > 0:01:00Here you are, in ten square metre, you can find all of these ingredients in front of you.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02'But it's only recently we discovered
0:01:02 > 0:01:06'that we share the same intense passion for the island.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09'So, we decided to team up and travel here together.'
0:01:09 > 0:01:12- This really is the Naked Chef!- Yes!
0:01:12 > 0:01:14- The real one. - He's the real Naked Chef!
0:01:14 > 0:01:18'In sharing our knowledge and love for the island with each other,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21'we hope to uncover even more of the secrets and treasures.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24'The sadness...'
0:01:24 > 0:01:26This was a hole in the nation.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28This was a hole in the heart of the nation.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31'..and the pleasures of our beloved Sicily.'
0:01:31 > 0:01:35As a piece of sincere painting, it's fantastic!
0:01:35 > 0:01:40'From simple delicious food, packed with incredible flavour...'
0:01:40 > 0:01:41Perfection!
0:01:41 > 0:01:44'..To the truly jaw-dropping art and culture,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46'a mirror to the exuberance
0:01:46 > 0:01:48'and extraordinary history of its people.'
0:01:52 > 0:01:53APPLAUSE
0:02:21 > 0:02:26'Our very first stop, a place called Porto Paolo, on the Southern coast of the island.'
0:02:29 > 0:02:33For me to come here, I have the same feeling that I'm going home
0:02:33 > 0:02:36to my village in Northern Italy.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38At the moment, I feel like... brrr!
0:02:38 > 0:02:41My heart is beating, know what I mean?
0:02:44 > 0:02:47'It's a restaurant on the beach. owned by my good friend Vittorio.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52'It may not look like much, but it's my favourite spot in all Sicily
0:02:52 > 0:02:56'and the place I head first every time I come here.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59'It's an annual pilgrimage, to remind me
0:02:59 > 0:03:03'what real, honest food is all about, Sicilian style.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05'I hope Andrew likes it.'
0:03:05 > 0:03:07- What a beautiful place!- Yes.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10A shack by the seaside, it looks like.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12That's all it was when he started.
0:03:16 > 0:03:17Vittorio!
0:03:21 > 0:03:22Vittorio!
0:03:37 > 0:03:39How are you?
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Tonight we're going to drink, he says. He's been preparing for you.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53We are going to go and get some fish to have for dinner tonight.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55THEY SPEAK IN ITALIAN
0:04:01 > 0:04:03OK. We'll give him a call to sort out,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07we're going to go and buy some fish, for dinner tonight.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12We're going to get it from the boat. There's the way he cooks.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17Look, that's it, see? That's... He cooks like that.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19That's the way I want to cook in my life, not in London with
0:04:19 > 0:04:24the jacket and this and that, this is the way you want to cook.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26This really is the Naked Chef!
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Yes, the real Naked Chef! LAUGHTER
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The seas around Sicily have long been the richest ones
0:04:36 > 0:04:39in the Mediterranean and today, the Porto Sciacca boasts
0:04:39 > 0:04:41one of the largest fleets in all of Italy.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47It was founded by the Greek colonisers in ancient times,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50but during the Arab occupation of the 9th century,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54it became an important stop on the trade routes to North Africa.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Trade brought hundreds of years of foreign influence and fish -
0:05:01 > 0:05:04lots of fish, tons of the stuff
0:05:04 > 0:05:06still comes through the port every day.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12So, this was two days' fishing. These guys are going to go to Milan.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16So, this will be in the market tomorrow morning...in Milan.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- The whole boat...?- The whole boat - whatever it catches today,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23- it goes on the van and goes straight to Milan.- Oh, that turbot!
0:05:23 > 0:05:24- Skate.- Skate?- Skate.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Look at that. Beautiful.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30It just keeps coming. Look at that.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Look, little sharks.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39What I love best about Sciacca are the lively dockside auctions, where the locals haggle for fish.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42SHOUTING
0:05:42 > 0:05:46Rough, rude and even a little anarchic for me.
0:05:46 > 0:05:52What's happening is this - the two boats have come in and have all the fish on top.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55That guy's telling the price of the boxes coming up.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Everybody looks at the box, you buy by the box.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03What is important - hold the price up as much as you can.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08So then, take out fish and stop a little bit, so that everybody panics.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11No more, no more.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15It goes up in fives, so 40, 45, 50.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- Are you saying it's 50 euros? - Yes, for that box.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22- For a crate of scampi! - For a crate of scampi.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27What I don't understand... Could I come here with 50 euros?
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Well, if he doesn't know you, he maybe not take your bid.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35Pero, if you are there with the money in your hands, he will take it.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37SHOUTS
0:06:37 > 0:06:40What I love about this typically Sicilian market
0:06:40 > 0:06:43is that although it's doing big business -
0:06:43 > 0:06:46a supplier to top restaurants all over the country -
0:06:46 > 0:06:48it's nothing fancy.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52It's salty, genuine, unpretentious.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56The fish is what's important here, not the window dressing.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02- Sta sera va bene per mangiare? - This is what we'll eat tonight.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05- E questa le mangiamo, OK? - What is that?!
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- Tromba.- Tromba. MAKES TROMBONE NOISE
0:07:09 > 0:07:10- OK.- OK?
0:07:10 > 0:07:14I'm not sure if I should be celebrating.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16I'm kind of worried about eating that.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18What the hell is that, Giorgio? I've never seen that before.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21I've never seen it as well. LAUGHTER
0:07:25 > 0:07:27HE SINGS
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Back at the restaurant, the kitchen is in full swing for the evening service.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35# ..Ci sono malattie inevitabili... #
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Like Giorgio and I, Vittorio isn't from Sicily.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41But when he arrived over 40 years ago,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43he fell in love with it and stayed.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48And in embracing the native approach to food,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Vittorio has made Sicilian culture his own.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Take the best ingredients, allow their quality to shine through,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and present them with as little fuss as possible.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Pasta fritta.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03The most important thing at Vittorio's is not to ask for the menu.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09They don't like the menu, or the idea of being tied to a piece of paper.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14It's not about writing about it. It's about getting it, cooking it and eating it.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16Look at this, the most amazing thing.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18This is roast swordfish,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21a little slice of orange has been cut underneath.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24So, that's raw marinated swordfish with blood orange?
0:08:24 > 0:08:28I'm going to give you some of these, these are little tiny baby squid.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31- Yes.- Fried.- Again, this is what we saw today in the market.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35All we have here now has been fished today.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41Sitting here in front of all this, amazing riches from the sea,
0:08:41 > 0:08:46it strikes me that the Sicilians have always had a bit of a dual relationship with the sea.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48On the one hand, it's where the enemy comes from.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52It's where the invaders come from, the Spanish, the Arabs, all these people
0:08:52 > 0:08:55who've dominated and controlled them. On the other hand,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58it's the source of so much life, such bounty.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02In Sicily, so often, there's this double aspect to something.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07It's funny you say that because, especially in a place like Sciacca,
0:09:07 > 0:09:09you have a division between the town -
0:09:09 > 0:09:12all the houses you can see from the port,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14those are where the fisherman lives, facing the sea.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16And they speak one dialect.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19The people the other side of the Corso,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21they are the people who work the land.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26The people who work the land say the people of the sea are stupid.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Because you just go down, put down the net and whatever comes up, you take back.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34"But we are clever. We have irrigation, we grow things, we tame nature."
0:09:34 > 0:09:37So they see themselves as belonging to a later stage -
0:09:37 > 0:09:39the hunter-gatherers are the sea guys
0:09:39 > 0:09:41and we're the agricultural ones.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Yeah. We're more like civilised.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45We get water to run where we want.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Do they ever marry each other, the people from the land and the sea?
0:09:49 > 0:09:52- No! - So, real-life Romeo and Juliet?
0:09:52 > 0:09:55- Real-life Romeo and Juliet.- Amazing.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Like opera. It's like a drama, everything is there.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04All elements of Ital... Sicilian culture are in it.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09'At last, the main course arrived.'
0:10:09 > 0:10:11- Voila! Aaaaah!- Ha, ha!
0:10:14 > 0:10:19- Bravo!- Madonna, che bello!- Piacere.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23- There's no holds barred! - ..E piccolo, lui.
0:10:23 > 0:10:29'Simple boiled lobster. Lobster with vegetables, herbs and a dressing of oil or lemon.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31'My kind of cooking.'
0:10:31 > 0:10:36'Simple stuff, but one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten.'
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Hmm, oh, che bello, eh?!
0:10:40 > 0:10:41Cheers!
0:10:41 > 0:10:44- BOTH: Cheers!- Cin-cin, dai!
0:10:55 > 0:11:02What I love most about Sicily is how rich and diverse in culture it is.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Every old town is like a three course meal of history, beauty,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09and atmosphere.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Just as delicious as the food,
0:11:11 > 0:11:13just as heady as the local wines.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25But the best place of all to begin the feast?
0:11:25 > 0:11:27The capital - Palermo.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Colourful.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34Theatrical.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38It's my favourite city, anywhere in the world.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43A cultural layer cake baked over more than 1,000 years
0:11:43 > 0:11:45by Sicily's diverse colonisers.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Every time I come here, I discover something new to marvel at.
0:11:50 > 0:11:56And this is perhaps my favourite slice of that historical cake.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Tucked away on a back street is this unassuming chapel -
0:11:59 > 0:12:01the Oratory of Santa Cita.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06It's the unlikely home of a magnificent artwork
0:12:06 > 0:12:09and I hope Giorgio will find it every bit as tasty as I do.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16This is the art equivalent of going and having an ice cream,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18or perhaps a glass of bubbly.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21It's very light, very beautiful, very fun.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Actually, I want you to close your eyes.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Come on, close your eyes.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28This is meant to be a treat. I'm going to lead you this way.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30I just want you to get the full blast.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32I'm going to take you here.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34LAUGHTER
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Now, OK...
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Whoa!
0:12:41 > 0:12:45- What do you think? - That is incredible.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Can you believe that we just walk off that street and here we are?
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Yeah, you wouldn't expect something like this. So...
0:12:50 > 0:12:53rich and beautiful.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57'This exuberant masterpiece of Baroque sculpture was created by a local artist
0:12:57 > 0:13:00'in the second half of the 17th century.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02'But in true Sicilian style,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05'the origins of the work and the artist are simple.'
0:13:08 > 0:13:11It's by this guy called Giacomo Serpotta...
0:13:11 > 0:13:14who was a poor artisan,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17who lived in the area of the city
0:13:17 > 0:13:23where they traditionally made the statues for religious processions and ceremonies,
0:13:23 > 0:13:27but they also did all the theatrical scenery and props.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31- What is it made of? - It's made of stucco.- Stucco.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34- It looks like marble, doesn't it? - Yes.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38See, that's interesting, because his secret was, he added a bit of marble dust.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40- Right.- You create an armature of wood and wire,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42and then you make a paste,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46and to this paste, he added marble dust.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49That meant that he could get a kind of fineness of texture.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54Whereas all the other stucco artists were forced to paint their figures to make them lifelike,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56he actually created it in the form itself.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59So, it's not cast? Everything is made one by one?
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Yeah. He had a workshop.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05He finished every single figure himself.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The other reason I thought you'd like it, it seems to me,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10that's it's also...
0:14:10 > 0:14:13It's almost like a culinary art,
0:14:13 > 0:14:14the creation of stucco.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17It is like a massive cake,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19from the inside!
0:14:19 > 0:14:23The thing he was really famous for and where you get the full theatricality,
0:14:23 > 0:14:28- is these putti - the little babies which are everywhere.- Yeah.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31And they get smaller as they go up,
0:14:31 > 0:14:36which gives you the impression that it's really tall.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Well, it's basically a theatrical curtain -
0:14:39 > 0:14:40and into that theatrical curtain,
0:14:40 > 0:14:44he's carved a series of almost like little theatre boxes.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46And each one tells a story.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50On the side walls, we have the stories of the life of Christ.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52- Ah, yes.- Exactly. - SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:14:52 > 0:14:56But if you look at each one, you look at the scene, for example,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00you've got baby Jesus asleep in the manger.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04- And above, look, the putto, he's sleeping.- Look at that.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09Serpotta is a guy from the streets. We know his dad died in prison,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11left the family with no money.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14This was Serpotta's first commission on a grand scale.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17The first time he was given a chance to do something like this
0:15:17 > 0:15:21with his street artist know-how.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23And did he pull it off, or what?
0:15:23 > 0:15:27He did, definitely. He really did.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31- So, you like it?- I love it.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33'The scene in Serpotta's stucco boxes
0:15:33 > 0:15:36'reminds me how theatrical Sicilian culture can be.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44'There is one kind of theatre that epitomises Sicily more than anything else I can think of.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47'The art of puppetry.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51'I remember taking my daughter, Margarita, to see a show when she was a child.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55'And I loved it. I thought Andrew would, too.'
0:15:55 > 0:15:56APPLAUSE
0:15:57 > 0:16:02'UNESCO-protected, the Cuticchio Theatre is recognised as the best on the island.'
0:16:14 > 0:16:18'Many of the ancient stories are the ones that inspired the Crusaders,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20'but they have been Sicilian-ised.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45'The characters include Knights in Spanish Armour,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49'Arab Saracen and Norman Nobleman, all of whom invaded the island.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02'They are tales of vendetta, passion and brutal conflict.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09'A reminder that this island was born as much out of blood as sunshine.'
0:17:13 > 0:17:15APPLAUSE
0:17:20 > 0:17:25'Before leaving, I want a word with the puppet master, Mimmo Cuticchio.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29'His family have been puppeteers for over three generations.'
0:18:07 > 0:18:13It's my first time. I thought it was absolutely fantastic, one of the best things I've ever seen.
0:18:13 > 0:18:19It's a combination of visual art, sculpture, theatre, literature...
0:18:23 > 0:18:25Also, you're acting.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Yes, it is like a silent film. They've got strong faces.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39I have to say, he scares me a little bit.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43It reminds me of Mangiafuoco, the guy in Pinocchio!
0:18:52 > 0:18:55We've certainly been scared tonight. Grazie.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01- We will.- Grazie. Grazie.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05- Grazie.- Grazie.- Buon viaggio. Arrivederci.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19'Palermo became the capital of Sicily in the year 902,
0:19:19 > 0:19:24'when Muslim Arab colonisers first consolidated their grip on the island.'
0:19:26 > 0:19:29They say it was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
0:19:29 > 0:19:35I think they said the three great cities at the time were Cordoba, Damascus and Palermo.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38And they said that in Palermo, they had 1,000 mosques.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46'To see what's left of that, we're off to the Kalsa,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49'now the ancient Arab quarter of Palermo,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52'but once the very city itself.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58'To get there, we've got to brave the very modern traffic.'
0:19:58 > 0:20:01There's so little left of the Arab city.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04You really have to scratch quite deep to get any traces.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09'But if you look hard enough, they are there.'
0:20:09 > 0:20:13They love their horses, don't they? That's an Arab influence.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16They're obsessed with horses in Sicily.
0:20:16 > 0:20:17CAR HORN BEEPS
0:20:22 > 0:20:29You are really expressing your Palermitano in your driving!
0:20:29 > 0:20:31I'm trying to blend in.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36'I'm introducing Andrew to the flavour of Arabsis
0:20:36 > 0:20:40'with a dish of sardine pasta -
0:20:40 > 0:20:44'a Sicilian classic with a pinch of North Africa.'
0:20:44 > 0:20:48- Buongiorno, Signor Franco. - Buongiorno!
0:20:48 > 0:20:53'Signor Franco Trattoria is shut during the day, so we have arranged
0:20:53 > 0:20:56'to borrow his kitchen to prepare the dish for lunch.'
0:20:56 > 0:20:59The most important ingredient for pasta de sarde
0:20:59 > 0:21:03is the wild mountain fennel.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06It's only used in Sicily, nowhere else.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09So, this is what we see everywhere, by the roadside,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11- it grows in profusion?- Yes.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14So, the idea is we are going to put some of that in the boiling water,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16which we seasoned.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18We put a little bit of the fennel.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21When we cook the pasta, it'll take up all the flavour.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26OK? As that one is infusing, we are going to start to cook that sauce.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32We're going to put a little bit of the anchovies in it. OK?
0:21:32 > 0:21:36- It is nice to use anchovies instead of salt.- I love anchovies.
0:21:36 > 0:21:37Can I eat some of your ingredients?
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Don't eat anything! Don't spoil your appetite and say you're not hungry.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44- One little bit of anchovy. - That's OK.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47OK, the next thing I am going to put in, sultanas.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52The sultana is really tiny and aggressive, like a little Sicilian.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56As this is cooking gently, I'm going to add a little bit more oil...
0:21:58 > 0:22:01..in order to keep the temperature low.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03I let it cook.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06I want the onions and the sultanas and everything else
0:22:06 > 0:22:09to take in the flavour of the anchovies.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14This is stratto, which is like... It's like a tomato paste.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19You can taste it. Instead of being cooked down, this is sun-dried.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22So, they made this paste, lay down big...
0:22:22 > 0:22:25It's almost like a sweet. Delicious.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28I'm going to put like a spoonful of that...
0:22:28 > 0:22:33- Then...- These are the sardines? - The sardines, they go in.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37- Whose idea was it to put these ingredients together?- OK.
0:22:37 > 0:22:43There is a story that says when the Arabs arrived in Mazara del Vallo,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47they found themselves with something like 1,000 men, the army.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50So, the guys in command asked them to do some food for these people
0:22:50 > 0:22:56when they arrived. These were all the actual ingredients they found.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59The smell is incredible, isn't it? OK.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02I am going to put my pasta in now. Bang!
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Now, there is one more thing. Some people does it, some people don't.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09But, you know, I like to put it in. It's a little bit of saffron.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14- This is also Arabic. - That's why, sort of, you know...
0:23:14 > 0:23:19I don't know, you give it a base on the flavour.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22What is the characteristic that makes it
0:23:22 > 0:23:26particularly expressive of Arabic-Sicilian cuisine?
0:23:26 > 0:23:27Is it the combination?
0:23:27 > 0:23:31It's the combination of the flavour, the ingredients and the culture.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34There's no other pasta that is made with sultanas in it.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38So, that sweetness and that edge of the sweet and sour
0:23:38 > 0:23:42that they use, that's very Arab. That's something.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45And that sweet-sour combination,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48you don't really find that in Northern Italian pasta recipes?
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Never. That's only in Sicily that this is found.
0:23:52 > 0:23:53OK, get in the pasta.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Really nice.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09OK, we have to wait. There's one more very important thing to do now,
0:24:09 > 0:24:13which is la mollica, bread crumbs and olive oil,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17give you that little extra flavour. OK, we should go.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25You haven't even opened the wine, what is the matter with you?
0:24:25 > 0:24:29By the time you've served the pasta, the wine will be open.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31I always find when I'm serving pasta at home,
0:24:31 > 0:24:33all the best stuff gets left at the bottom
0:24:33 > 0:24:36and I have to go around everyone's plates again.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44- Just get stuck in?- Just do it.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47Mmm. It's a great smell.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48This is going to be ugly.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52It's not very easy to eat elegantly, Giorgio.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55No, no elegant people eat this.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58This is meant to be for the workers, the people from the port,
0:24:58 > 0:25:02people who can only afford sardines.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06- Almost my favourite plate of pasta that I ever ate.- Yeah?- Really.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09I love it. It's so unusual.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12The sweet and sour and everything. Prego.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24After a lunch like that, it only seems right to take Giorgio
0:25:24 > 0:25:27to see one of the few remaining Arabic buildings in Palermo,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30a palace called the Zisa.
0:25:30 > 0:25:31Built in the 12th century,
0:25:31 > 0:25:36it comes from the Arabic word el-Aziz, "magnificent".
0:25:36 > 0:25:40Although it was commissioned by a Norman King, William I,
0:25:40 > 0:25:41it's in the Arabic tradition.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47The architects were instructed to create a pleasure palace
0:25:47 > 0:25:51which indulged the King's passion for hunting and women.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56- This honeycomb vaulting... - It really is impressive. - It's very Arabic.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00- You see it in Alhambra. Also, these tiles are like Islamic tiles. - That's right.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03This is actually a palace built for a Norman King,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06but although he was a Christian, he lived here like a sultan.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09- He had five wives.- That's good!
0:26:09 > 0:26:12- I love this. - That's a little fountain coming down.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16I can imagine the little noise that it would make,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20to jump, like if it was in a little torrent.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23And then carry on, until it goes out there.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25They'll have a gazebo in the middle.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Then the water would be around it, like a swimming pool sort of style.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And fish would be kept in it. It was called a piscera.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34So when they want a fish for lunch,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37out a fish comes and off it goes on the table.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40So, this decoration keeps the palace cool,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43creates the sense almost of living in an indoor garden.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46But you've also got the added benefit of fresh fish.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50You have to think about the Arabs, they introduced irrigation.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55So, the use of water... They were masterful on getting the water where they wanted.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00Water inside the building, that's a typical thing of the Arabs. The Arabs always have fountains inside.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05I think of this space as a microcosm of what happens to Arab culture
0:27:05 > 0:27:06after the Arabs have gone.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09It still stays embedded in the system.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19'Nowhere is the Arab legacy more keenly felt
0:27:19 > 0:27:21'than in the great fruit market.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24'Palermo has four of them.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27'Established by the Arabs over 1,000 years ago,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29'they still feel like a kasbah.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37'But as well as being great traders, the Arabs were agriculturists,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40'which enabled new fruits and vegetables to flourish on the island.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50'This is the most famous of Palermo's markets.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55'the Vucciria - the name literally means "hubbub",
0:27:55 > 0:28:00'in reference to all the shouting that goes on in here.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02'I want to buy ingredients for dinner tonight,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05'but I haven't decided what to cook.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09'So, like any Sicilian, I will go for the freshest, the tastiest option.'
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Buongiorno.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14'The fish seller insisted the sardines are the best.'
0:28:14 > 0:28:18'Even though we had them yesterday, they are back on the menu tonight.'
0:28:18 > 0:28:21SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:28:24 > 0:28:27'Andrew loves them, so he will be happy.'
0:28:27 > 0:28:30- Look at the beautiful colour. - They're like silver.- Yes.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32He is going to clean them for us.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36That's what he does, he takes the heads off. Seven steps.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Picks the sardine up, look. Heads off. Down...
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Just the hands. He's not looking at what he's doing.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Just feels it with his fingers.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46He feels the bone and the bone comes off.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50See, here you go. One, two, three, four.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53... five, six, seven. Done.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55I'll tell you the tragedy, Giorgio,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58when I do this at home...
0:28:58 > 0:29:00it takes me two minutes.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08'What's really new about tonight's menu is caponata,
0:29:08 > 0:29:14'a delicious vegetable relish you'll find in every house across Sicily.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16'All I need is a few simple ingredients.'
0:29:30 > 0:29:31All the ingredients are here, look,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34it already looks like the recipe's done,
0:29:34 > 0:29:36we don't need a recipe, isn't it? Grazie, grazie.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42TRADERS CALLING OUT
0:29:47 > 0:29:51'All this food has given us an appetite for art.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57'The Vucciria market was immortalised in a painting
0:29:57 > 0:30:01'by Sicily's most celebrated modern artist, Renato Guttuso.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07'Painted from memory in 1974, when Guttuso was living in Rome,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11'it captures all the colour and detail of the real market.'
0:30:11 > 0:30:15- I think it's a picture that appeals to all the senses.- It does.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17The style is sort of, as it were,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21a piece of the past that's frozen - it's like a time machine.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24Here he is, painting in a kind of ancient, folkloric style
0:30:24 > 0:30:26in the 1970s, 10 years before his death,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29and there's that market that we saw this morning,
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and how much has changed in that market? Nothing.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34They've still got those light bulbs,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37that profusion of fruit and vegetables.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40Even the clothes seem the same.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42The packaging, also.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Do you remember seeing the guy doing the twist of paper?
0:30:44 > 0:30:47It's down, every last detail, nothing has changed.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49The details are incredible, as well.
0:30:49 > 0:30:54The fish, they are completely in rigor mortis, really standing up.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57I had never seen that before, and you explained to me
0:30:57 > 0:31:01it's cos the fish are so fresh, they're still in rigor mortis.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03A lot of art critics and art historians
0:31:03 > 0:31:06turn their nose up a bit at his late work,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10because they say, "How can this painter, who knew Picasso,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13"how can he continue to paint in this old-fashioned,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17"folkloric, anecdotal way? This isn't serious art."
0:31:17 > 0:31:20But if you take that away and you just look at it
0:31:20 > 0:31:24as a place of sincere painting, it's fantastic.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27What is amazing is this verticality that he has.
0:31:27 > 0:31:33It goes on and on and on and on, there is no end, it just goes on.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36It really gives you the impression the road is going up.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39He's fish-eyed it, hasn't he?
0:31:39 > 0:31:43'But the painting also hints at the darker side of Sicilian history,
0:31:43 > 0:31:47'a Sicily of ancient feuds and modern violence.'
0:31:48 > 0:31:51The more you look at it, the more you see.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54There seems to be a vendetta brewing between the fishmonger -
0:31:54 > 0:31:57who's holding the swordfish almost like a blade,
0:31:57 > 0:32:01the blade of the swordfish - and the cheese seller.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04And I notice there's a little pentimento in the cheese seller's hand -
0:32:04 > 0:32:07a pentimento is where you've painted something out -
0:32:07 > 0:32:11and if you look closely I think he originally had a knife,
0:32:11 > 0:32:14so I wonder if they're looking at each other,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16do you think it's the origin of a vendetta or something?
0:32:16 > 0:32:18Could the woman in the middle be...
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Maybe there was a love story between some of them,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23because he's really crossing.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25Everything else seems to be vertical,
0:32:25 > 0:32:30this is the only moment that you have something going horizontal,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33that look between themselves.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Because you don't know what the woman is doing,
0:32:36 > 0:32:39she's walking up with this big bag in her hand.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42I think Guttuso actually said that the line
0:32:42 > 0:32:45that connects those guys' eyes, he called it the line of death.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48And the line up through the centre of the picture is the line of life,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50and between them, they make a cross.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52It's so visceral, isn't it?
0:32:52 > 0:32:56It's so Sicily, and there's a secret story going on, as well.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59I cannot think about any other picture
0:32:59 > 0:33:02that just fulfils me more than this one.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04Obviously, it's about food, and...
0:33:04 > 0:33:06It's almost edible!
0:33:06 > 0:33:08..my life is all about food.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12This is like something is jumping at you,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15it's just the richness of that,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19the vibrancy of the colour and the vegetables,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22you can almost smell it.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24I think this is a picture you'd like
0:33:24 > 0:33:26for your personal collection, isn't it?
0:33:26 > 0:33:29I would love to have this in my collection.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42'As Giorgio prepares dinner,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45'I leaf through an old cookbook my mother gave me -
0:33:45 > 0:33:48'Italian Food, by Elizabeth David.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52'I've always loved the book for its graphic, vivid illustrations,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55'sketched, in fact, by the painter of the Vucciria,
0:33:55 > 0:33:58'Renato Guttuso.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01'But David's beautiful capturing of the strong, earthy flavours
0:34:01 > 0:34:05'of Mediterranean cooking in words is just as vivid as the pictures.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12'David was the first writer to introduce a war-weary British public
0:34:12 > 0:34:17'to the gutsy flavours of Italian cooking back in the 1950s.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20'And she even includes a recipe for caponata,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23'the Sicilian dish Giorgio's preparing.'
0:34:23 > 0:34:27The first time I ate caponata, I was in the Army
0:34:27 > 0:34:30and there was this Sicilian guy, and he went home to Sicily
0:34:30 > 0:34:35and he came back with this jar of caponata that his mum made.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39He brought them in, got this bread and we just put the caponata
0:34:39 > 0:34:41on top of the bed and we ate it like that.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43And I thought, wow!
0:34:43 > 0:34:46This was like blow me completely away!
0:34:46 > 0:34:49Little restaurants by the sea always have the caponata,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52but each one is different, so basically everybody
0:34:52 > 0:34:55makes their own caponata, they find their own balance.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57And you will find, if you talk to them,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00they think theirs is the best, and this is so beautiful.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03So, whose are we making now? Are we making yours?
0:35:03 > 0:35:06- We're making your caponata, OK? - Oh, I see.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09So, here is the base.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13We've got the aubergine and the onions.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16We're going to mix them together.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19- You want a bit of courgette in it? - Definitely courgette.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21I will put them all in.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25- Would you like the peppers in it? - Definitely.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28We want all the colours of the market.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30I want all the colours of the painting.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34- Your olives?- Yeah. - We shall put them all in.
0:35:34 > 0:35:35Yeah, we didn't do too many.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38I like it when you sort of discover the olives,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40you have a few mouthfuls where you don't get one.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43You want to every now and again, "Dah!" found an olive.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45You're cooking with all your senses -
0:35:45 > 0:35:49with your nose, with your hands, with your eyes...
0:35:49 > 0:35:53The whole thing is coming together absolutely beautiful.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Some tomato salsa...
0:35:56 > 0:35:58I want the tomato, but I don't know how much.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05It needs a bit of sugar.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08- How does it look to you? - It looks good.- OK.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12'But what about those sardines?
0:36:12 > 0:36:16'Let's see what else he can do with these everyday fish.'
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Look, I do one, you have to do the other one.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24So, we're going to put a little bit of breadcrumbs,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28a little bit of olive oil, and put them in the oven and that is it.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31We want the tail to stay up, Andrew, and to be really tight,
0:36:31 > 0:36:34otherwise they're going to explode out.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37- So, you don't want any of the stuffing to come out the side? - That's right.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Perfect, look, and what we're going to,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43we take one toothpick and we go like, two at a time.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46What's the essence of the stuffing again? It's breadcrumbs?
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Breadcrumbs, a little bit of orange juice,
0:36:49 > 0:36:54a little bit of lemon juice, some pine kernels...
0:36:54 > 0:36:57What I like about that market is the immediacy of it,
0:36:57 > 0:36:59and I was talking to the fish guy, and saying,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02"You don't seem to have much fish today," and he said,
0:37:02 > 0:37:07"No, there was a storm yesterday, so it wasn't very good fishing, but the sardines were good."
0:37:07 > 0:37:11- They were so beautiful, the sardines there.- Yeah, they were.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13This is very Sicilian,
0:37:13 > 0:37:17they don't go out the house with the idea of the recipe in their pocket.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19They buy with their eyes,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23they buy something that really turns them on at that moment.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26It's really, really important.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Can't wait.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Maybe we'll have to have a glass of wine.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36OK, here we are.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39Perfect, absolutely cooked.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41Beautiful.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43They're like little birds, isn't it?
0:37:43 > 0:37:46That's why they're like beccafico.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52- That smells good. Can I give you some caponata?- Great.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54Don't forget, you've got the...
0:37:54 > 0:37:57I won't forget, I'm not going to eat the toothpick.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05Are they nice?
0:38:06 > 0:38:08It's fantastic.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10It goes well with the caponata, wow.
0:38:13 > 0:38:14That's nice.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17What I like about that is that is the whole market on a plate,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20we've just chosen the nicest fish they had that day.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23But coming back to Elizabeth David, I think, OK, an Englishwoman,
0:38:23 > 0:38:26when was she doing this? The 1950s,
0:38:26 > 0:38:29when Mediterranean cuisine was really not known in England.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33I think of England in the 1950s, I think the landscape is grey,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36the city is grey and the food is brown.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39And if someone in that generation comes to Italy...
0:38:39 > 0:38:41She fell in love with it.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44You can see that in the book.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48It was not a matter of technicality.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51That's why the book stands out, after 50 years.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54That's why it is difficult to write a book for English people
0:38:54 > 0:38:56that is better than that.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58It's like a love letter to Italy.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01And I love the fact that she got our man Guttuso,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03the painter of the market,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06who captured all the colours and flavours in a painting,
0:39:06 > 0:39:08she got him to do the illustrations.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10- Cheers.- Salute.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12Us.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25'Sicily's had many rulers over the years,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27'and in 1072, after two centuries,
0:39:27 > 0:39:32'the Arabs surrendered control of Palermo to a new colonial power.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37'The Normans were already ruling much of Europe,
0:39:37 > 0:39:41'and soon the whole island was under their control.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45'In 1130, the son of the first Norman ruler of Sicily,
0:39:45 > 0:39:48'Roger II, crowned himself king.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54'And I want to show Giorgio his personal place of worship
0:39:54 > 0:39:56'the Palatine Chapel.'
0:40:01 > 0:40:02So, what do you think?
0:40:02 > 0:40:05Andrew, this is incredible!
0:40:05 > 0:40:10'Built in 1132, it's the work of Byzantine Greek and Arab craftsmen.'
0:40:12 > 0:40:15- What is the function of this room? - It's a chapel,
0:40:15 > 0:40:17built for a Norman King -
0:40:17 > 0:40:20King Roger.
0:40:20 > 0:40:25Arguably, it's the most fine surviving mediaeval
0:40:25 > 0:40:29ensemble of art and architecture anywhere in the world.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32The other thing that's amazing about this chapel
0:40:32 > 0:40:37is that it's been in continuous use as a chapel since the 12th century.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40It's incredible, isn't it? Look at that.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44It's like an Arab ceiling, isn't it?
0:40:44 > 0:40:47It's an incredible sort of piece of work,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50all made out of cedar wood.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52It's called a stalactite technique,
0:40:52 > 0:40:57and it had only been invented in the Arab world 100 years before.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00You've got Byzantine mosaics,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04incredible Italian...look at this floor, this stonework.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08And these walls - wonderful decoration.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12The Normans were very conscious that they didn't have
0:41:12 > 0:41:15much visual culture of their own,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18so their tendency was to be magpies,
0:41:18 > 0:41:22to take the absolute best they could find in each place they conquered,
0:41:22 > 0:41:25and, of course, Sicily had such a rich variety
0:41:25 > 0:41:29of different heritages that they could create something like this.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32So, if it had been made somewhere else in northern Italy,
0:41:32 > 0:41:34it wouldn't have all the Arab influence in it.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36The Normans ruled England.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39In fact, they were taking over England just about the same time
0:41:39 > 0:41:41as they were taking over Sicily.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43They didn't create anything like this there,
0:41:43 > 0:41:46because they didn't have the materials to draw on.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48In a way, what you get here is
0:41:48 > 0:41:51both aspects of what I think of as the Byzantine Mosaic tradition.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53On the one hand, you get the vault of heaven -
0:41:53 > 0:41:55Christ looking down on you.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57With the angels surrounding him.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00But then, the other side is this storytelling tradition
0:42:00 > 0:42:04that has a huge influence on Italian fresco tradition.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06The Nativity, the baptism of Christ.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08Isn't it beautiful, the baptism?
0:42:08 > 0:42:10I love the way they do the water.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12Yes, just on top of it,
0:42:12 > 0:42:17you can see the rippling of the water, the image coming out.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19And the angel with the towel is fantastic.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27I think this bit is truly stunning, isn't it?
0:42:28 > 0:42:31I think when you're here, you can feel very much how this church
0:42:31 > 0:42:34or this chapel pulls in two different directions.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38At the far end, you feel under the eye of God, but at this end,
0:42:38 > 0:42:43where Roger would have sat enthroned with Christ's power, as it were,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46being beamed down directly onto his head,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49you feel that this space is very much an assertion of kingship.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53- Divine right to rule.- Yeah.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55But what I love... Just look at this.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57- The quality.- Isn't that fantastic?
0:42:57 > 0:42:59In the Islamic world,
0:42:59 > 0:43:02they weren't allowed to express God through the figure,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04so they had to express the idea of God,
0:43:04 > 0:43:06the power of God, the perfection of God,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10through this wonderful geometry, through this colour, this patterning.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13So, that also is a way of Roger expressing his power.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16It's like he's taking power from different cultures.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19But he doesn't forget to put himself in the middle of that.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21That's his coat of arms coming out,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23so the power from above, from God,
0:43:23 > 0:43:26and the political power, the ruler from this side.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28I think that's what this space is about,
0:43:28 > 0:43:32and I also think that ambiguity is partly what makes it so compelling.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36ORGAN BEGINS TO PLAY
0:43:36 > 0:43:40'But this intoxicating building isn't just a museum.
0:43:40 > 0:43:45'As a working church, it's the most popular place to get married in Palermo today.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52'One of the things I love most about Sicily is the fact that
0:43:52 > 0:43:55'the people really inhabit their own rich history,
0:43:55 > 0:43:58'and the Palatine Chapel's no exception.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04'History isn't merely heritage here,
0:44:04 > 0:44:06'something to be preserved behind glass.
0:44:06 > 0:44:12'It's alive, present, highly visible in the fabric of everyday life.'
0:44:12 > 0:44:14HE BLESSES THE BRIDAL COUPLE
0:44:23 > 0:44:27'But the greatest threat to this sense of living history in recent times
0:44:27 > 0:44:31'is also quintessentially Sicilian...
0:44:31 > 0:44:33'The Mafia.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37In the early '60s, the Mafia infiltrated the city council
0:44:37 > 0:44:41'and managed to have many of Palermo's great historic buildings demolished.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43'Why?
0:44:43 > 0:44:46'To replace them with shoddy concrete tower blocks
0:44:46 > 0:44:50'as a way of laundering their drug money in a catastrophe
0:44:50 > 0:44:52'that some called "the sack of Palermo".
0:44:57 > 0:45:02'But the Mafia organisation would eventually be challenged.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06'In the 1980s, a Palermitan judge called Giovanni Falcone
0:45:06 > 0:45:09'began investigating the Sicilian crime network.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13'He wasn't prepared to be bought,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17'so the Mafia had him murdered on the motorway that runs into Palermo.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23'The date of the murder was 23rd May 1992.
0:45:23 > 0:45:28'It is imprinted in the memory of every Italian.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32'The spot where Falcone, his wife and the bodyguards were killed,
0:45:32 > 0:45:36'near the suburb of Capaci, is marked with a memorial.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40'For us Italians, it is almost a sacred place.'
0:45:40 > 0:45:43You can see the place.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47Right there, so clearly in front of you.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Can you see that?
0:45:49 > 0:45:51Yeah.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55See, they have a little space to stop, because people want to stop here.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01People ring their horn as they go by.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03They mark it with a horn?
0:46:03 > 0:46:07With a horn, yeah. People still remember.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10People will never forget that.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12It was a tragedy.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20I want to show Andrew the place, high above the motorway,
0:46:20 > 0:46:25from where the Mafia assassin Giovanni Brusca committed the murders.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32Falcone had been working in Rome
0:46:32 > 0:46:35and flew in to spend the weekend in Palermo.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39He was driving from the airport when the murders happened.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52Andrew, you can see, that's Punta Raisi, the airport.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56Giovanni Falcone fly in. He's having a day off.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58So, there's two teams.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01One team, then, is up here.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05The day before, they laid down the explosive, down there.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07And they have a remote.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12The other team is at the airport, and is coming behind Falcone.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14They are travelling in this convoy of three cars
0:47:14 > 0:47:16and Falcone's on the second car.
0:47:16 > 0:47:18He travels next to them.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21And he gives them a signal to tell them
0:47:21 > 0:47:24what was the speed that they're having.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27He tells them they're going at 120 kilometres an hour.
0:47:27 > 0:47:28Why is that important?
0:47:28 > 0:47:30In order to get it right,
0:47:30 > 0:47:35to blow it at the moment it's going over where they place the explosive.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39So, they disappear for a second and they come around the bend.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42Giovanni Brusca is holding the remote.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45And the other guy loses it completely and starts to shout.
0:47:45 > 0:47:48"Press the button, press the button now. Press it now!"
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Giovanni holds it, holds it, holds it, holds it.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53He knows there is a little relay,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56because he's tried this system before.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59So, he waits until the car comes to the second bend there,
0:47:59 > 0:48:01and then he presses it.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04First car is gone,
0:48:04 > 0:48:07and the car of Giovanni Falcone is right in the middle.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11Hell, practically hell happened there. The road was a hole.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14But not only... The significance of that,
0:48:14 > 0:48:18it was like a front of war to the state.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20This was not just a hole in the ground.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24This was a hole in the nation, a hole in the heart of the nation.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26If these guys can be killed like that,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29nobody who serves the state is safe.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34This is the great message that they were trying to put on.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38So, is it fair to say that this moment marked the beginning,
0:48:38 > 0:48:45even here in Sicily, of a popular revulsion against the Mafia?
0:48:45 > 0:48:49Definitely. The people really understood
0:48:49 > 0:48:53that they could not allow something like that to happen.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59But Falcone's death would kick-start a popular revolt against the Mafia.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05The Sicily I love so much began to find a voice, to fight back.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15In 2004, the Addiopizzo collective was born in Palermo,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19an organisation of businesses who refused to pay the pizzo -
0:49:19 > 0:49:22protection money to the Mafia.
0:49:22 > 0:49:27Now, over 700 businesses across Sicily are part of the movement.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32And one of the first to take a stand
0:49:32 > 0:49:36was the owner of the Antica Focacceria, Vincenzo Conticello.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40When he reported the Mafia demands for bribes to the police,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42the Mafia repeatedly vandalised the restaurant
0:49:42 > 0:49:44and threatened to kill him.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48Buongiorno.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51It got so bad that Vincenzo had to leave Palermo
0:49:51 > 0:49:54and now lives under 24-hour police protection.
0:49:54 > 0:49:55Grazie.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00Valentina Lomeo, who works here,
0:50:00 > 0:50:03remembers the threats and intimidation very well.
0:50:04 > 0:50:10Vincenzo found his cat and then his dog died.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13And...
0:50:13 > 0:50:16- They killed his cat and his dog? - Yes.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18- Just one process after another.- Yes.
0:50:18 > 0:50:25To scare him. And then he found his car broken and open.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29So, they say to him,
0:50:29 > 0:50:31"We will find you."
0:50:31 > 0:50:35The implication is if they kill your cat and they kill your dog,
0:50:35 > 0:50:40that's a way of saying, "Well, next, maybe your child, maybe your wife".
0:50:40 > 0:50:43- It's true. - So, he's a very brave man.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46Yeah, he's a very, very brave man.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48But he...
0:50:48 > 0:50:53He discovered that he was a brave man in that moment.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58This is an incredible story. It makes me want to cry, man.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00Where is Vincenzo now?
0:51:00 > 0:51:03I can't say where is Vincenzo,
0:51:03 > 0:51:10but he always stays in a different place.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14- So, you can't say where he is, because he's still in danger?- Yeah.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17I don't feel well with this situation.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21But I'm very proud about Vincenzo.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25What he has done is good for me,
0:51:25 > 0:51:29for my work, for my Sicily.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34It's taken the efforts of Vincenzo and others like him
0:51:34 > 0:51:37to make it possible for a new generation of Sicilians
0:51:37 > 0:51:40to imagine a future free from the Mafia,
0:51:40 > 0:51:42even if it's not yet a reality.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51- Buongiorno.- Ciao.- Ciao. Piacere, Giorgio.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53- Ciao.- Andrew.
0:51:55 > 0:52:00'Laboratorio Saccardi are the most talked about artists in Palermo right now,
0:52:00 > 0:52:04'with a growing international reputation.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08'And they're not scared of offending the Cosa Nostra, or Caravaggio.'
0:52:10 > 0:52:14I like this, look. This is my special subject, Caravaggio.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18But this is the Caravaggio that got stolen,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21I think in the '60s, by the Mafia, to order,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24from the Oratory of San Lorenzo here.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28And this is Laboratorio Saccardi's joke on this theft.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32So, sort of, you know, the celebration of the Nativity.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34"Mafia art collection."
0:52:35 > 0:52:38I didn't know that it was possible to do satires on the Mafia.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01Yeah, well, I like this.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04This is, what do you say, a work in progress.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29"Sicania" is the old name of Sicily.
0:53:29 > 0:53:34"Rising" is because of this strength of renewal,
0:53:34 > 0:53:35just rising out of...
0:53:56 > 0:53:58So there's a lot of grass as well.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02It's been a real pleasure to meet you, guys.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10- Bye.- Bye-bye.- Ciao.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25So, it's our last night in Palermo,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28and we're spending it back at the Vucciria.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31In evenings, when the market traders close shop,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34the area is transformed into an outdoor living room,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36where Palermitans come to unwind.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42And I want to stop at the Taverna Azzurra.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44Drink.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46After you.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50It's not somewhere you find in many guidebooks.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52I wanted to bring Andrew to a place
0:54:52 > 0:54:57where Sicilians of all ages and backgrounds spend an evening.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01All we need now is two glasses of the local aperitif.
0:55:01 > 0:55:02Grazie.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12So, I was thinking that Palermo, this chaotic town,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15feels like a kind of microcosm of Sicily itself.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19It's like if you took all Sicily and squeezed it like an orange,
0:55:19 > 0:55:21that would be Palermo.
0:55:21 > 0:55:22- Yeah, the juices.- Yeah.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26The other thing about this place is, it seems to me,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28that more and more you travel in the world,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31the more everywhere becomes the same as everywhere else.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34It's almost like the experience of travel has been homogenised.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36- Sanitised.- Sanitised.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40You know, you go in the coach, to the museum, to the air-conditioned restaurant,
0:55:40 > 0:55:42you eat the same international cuisine.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45- That's right.- But you come to Sicily and it's different.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49They think that everybody should comply to their style of life.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52If you had to pick one thing out from this journey,
0:55:52 > 0:55:56what would be the one thing that stands out for you?
0:55:56 > 0:56:01Definitely the Vucciria was something that left me completely breathless.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04- The market.- Yes, the market and the painting.- And the painting!
0:56:04 > 0:56:08- The one you wanted to take home. - The painting.- Maybe one day.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11Just an incredible piece of art, isn't it?
0:56:11 > 0:56:14- And what did you like best? - I'd say two things.
0:56:14 > 0:56:19I'd say the Cuticchio puppet theatre. I was blown away by it.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23And the other thing, which you're going to have to do again when we get back to London,
0:56:23 > 0:56:26if you can with the ingredients, is the pasta con le sarde.
0:56:26 > 0:56:31It was really - I wasn't exaggerating - the best plate of pasta I've ever had.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34- Ever?- Seriously. - Let's drink to that, man.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38Drink to Palermo. What have you chosen, that we're going to drink to Palermo with?
0:56:38 > 0:56:41- This is called "sangue", which means "blood".- Blood?
0:56:41 > 0:56:43So, this is the blood of Palermo.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46- Cheers.- Alla salute.- Alla salute.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55- It's an aperitif. - Are you playing a joke on me?
0:56:55 > 0:56:56You think I'm...
0:56:56 > 0:57:00That's not an aperitif. That's dynamite.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03I did just feel another hair grow on my chest.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10'Next week, we travel to the south
0:57:10 > 0:57:13'and discover the legacy of the Spanish coloniser
0:57:13 > 0:57:16'who ruled the island for over 400 years.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19'We'll celebrate Easter in the true Sicilian style,
0:57:19 > 0:57:23'following spectacular processions,
0:57:23 > 0:57:26and share a traditional Easter lunch with a family.'
0:57:26 > 0:57:28- I sit at the top of the table. - Yeah, why not?
0:57:29 > 0:57:32'It's a tale of two Sicilies -
0:57:32 > 0:57:35'one of great wealth and privilege for the nobles...'
0:57:35 > 0:57:39I think the richer you were, the more you got a place up the hill.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42The whole town, the theatre of the town, seems to be up the hill.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45'..and one of poverty and hardship for ordinary people.'
0:57:45 > 0:57:51At its height of population, 20,000 people lived in these caves.
0:57:51 > 0:57:57'But true to form, the Sicilians always found ways of creating great culture out of simple things.'
0:58:00 > 0:58:01Oh, my God!
0:58:03 > 0:58:05- Grazie.- Delizioso!
0:58:19 > 0:58:22Subtitles by Ericsson