Italy Hairy Bikers' Bakeation

'By now, you've probably realised

'that there are two things that we really love in this world,

'biking and baking. So, we've decided to combine them

'in an epic 5,000 mile Bakeation.

'Now, we turn our attention to the South.'

'And, first up, it's Italy.'

'We'll be on the lookout for some inspirational baking.

'We're still on a mission to find some of the world's very best bakers...'

'So they can teach us a thing or two.'

'So get set, because it's time for the next leg

'of our spectacular Bakeation.'

# Volare... #

'Italy.

'The home of beauty, art,

'culture

'and legendary food.'

# ..Cantare... #

'Our Italian Bakeation

'begins in a magical place,

'where the roads are made of water.'

# ..Nel blu dipinto di blu... #

'And you can't take a motorbike on water...'

'So we've taken a boat.'

Mate, we're finally here.

Venice, the floating jewel in Italy's crown.

Well, simply put, Venice is the most beautiful city on the planet.

But it's dead weird because we've had to abandon the motorbikes

outside the city walls.

From now on, it's all walking and water.

'Now, we all know Italy is famous for its food,

'but other than pizza,

'a lot of its baking has slipped under the radar.'

'And, as much as we'd like to, we can't travel across the country making nothing but pizza.

'So, we're biking from region to region in search of Italy's secret baking.

But what a marvellous time to be in Italy!

150th birthday!

BOTH: # Happy birthday to you

# Happy birthday to you. #

150 years since the unification of Italy.

Yes, it's been 150 years that Italy has existed as we know it.

It all started in Turin with the first Italian parliament.

Now, I think we should go to Turin

and bake them a very, very appropriate birthday cake.

I think that's a good plan, dude.

This is going to be a wonderful trip.

Oh, by the way...

-Paolo!

-Che?

Piazza San Marco, "por" favore!

-Va bene!

-Si, grazie!

'Here we are, mate. Venice Central.'

'Tourist Central by the looks on't.'

Oh, crikey!

What a heaving mass, Kingy!

Busy, innit?

'You know what, mate? It was lovely in the gondola.

'But these crowds aren't what I came to Venice for.'

Listen, let's stop, take stock,

-and go and find the REAL Venice.

-Yeah!

'This is more like it, dude! There's barely a soul around.'

This is the real Venice. It's where real people live.

I mean, look at this.

This is virtually peak holiday season, and there's hardly anybody on the "stweets".

'Perfect! And I bet that somewhere round here,

'we'll find the ideal place for our first Italian cook.'

'We're doing focaccia, a classic Italian bread.

'And the great thing about focaccia

'is that it's the least amount of work...'

'For the most amount of pleasure. What a treat!'

This is the real Venice.

And, actually, we're cheating a bit

-cos focaccia is not a Venetian dish.

-No.

It's from Liguria.

It is. But we knew that!

Yeah, I mean, after all, you don't have to go to Hamburg to make a hamburger, do you?

-No, you don't.

-You don't!

-No, there's loads of them everywhere.

Listen.

WHISTLING

Everyone whistles in Venice, don't they?

-Should we get cooking?

-We shall.

-This is the real easy focaccia.

-This is...

WHISTLING

DAVE WHISTLES

Here, don't sing the Cornetto theme!

SIMON LAUGHS

'Step uno.

'Add a sachet of yeast...'

'It doesn't have to be the German one, but we had some left over.'

'..to a bowl of plain flour.

'Next, a teaspoon of salt

'and a teaspoon of sugar to activate the yeast.'

'But you know all that. It's a basic dough.

'The secret of focaccia dough...'

'Is olive oil. Pour two tablespoons into warm water.'

-The weapon of choice.

-Thank you.

'Add to the dry goods and mix.'

-Hey, it's a noisy spot, in't it?

-It is.

They're all work boats.

So, now, it's time to get your hands in it.

Once it's formed a nice ball of dough,

what we're going to do is knock seven bells of Venice out of it.

-Yes.

-And what that does, it smoothes the dough out,

but it also activates the gluten in the flour.

And the activated gluten makes it bouncy bread.

So, let's activate our lean, mean, Geordie kneading machine.

Crack on, old love!

And, remember, when you bake bread, the softer the dough,

the better the bread.

And you really want to knead like this for about a good five minutes.

'Once kneaded, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place.

'Venice will do nicely!'

-Shall we go for a whistle?

-We might as well.

HE WHISTLES

Lo and behold! Look at that.

Pass us the oil, mate.

'Oil a shallow baking tray...'

'And, using your knuckles, spread the dough to fill it.'

-Kingy?

-What, mate?

-Is this one of the best things you've ever done?

Standing in Venice, making focaccia?

It's fantastic. I love Italy!

-Italian is in your soul, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

What's your dream?

Me dream is to have a citrus garden and an olive grove,

and I want to sit with my grandchildren, sucking oranges.

That's what I want to do.

That's it. Very simple.

It's just getting there's killing us.

'Well, my dream's getting this focaccia finished

-'and getting it down me.'

-'Was I getting carried away there?'

'The dough needs another rest,

'so we'll pop it under our baroque Venetian bureau,

'and leave it for half an hour.

'And since this is a bake which lends itself to sightseeing...'

'Time for a little wander.'

'You know what, Si? Italian cooking is so regional,

'that some would say our focaccia has no place in Venice.

'They are a little parochial, dude, but let's face it,

'Italian food's gone global.'

'Yeah. It belongs to the world now.

'We're kind of bringing it home.'

'And what finer place to bring it home than to this gorgeous city?'

'And it looks as if our whistling workman's off home, too.'

-Ciao!

-Ciao!

'Good. Means we can actually concentrate on the bread.'

-Look at this little lovely!

-Beautiful.

-Oh, marvellous!

'Now, focaccia isn't focaccia without rosemary.'

'So, chop up two tablespoons of rosemary leaves very finely.'

'Then, get stuck into the dough with the famous two finger stab.'

All those holes, they're going to hold the oil,

salt and rosemary bits.

Look at that! Isn't that nice?

Black pepper.

And sea salt flakes.

I love this cos the sea salt is just like crystals on the top.

Beautiful.

You need about three tablespoons of olive oil,

but, basically, just slosh it on.

So, a few sprigs of rosemary on the top, like so.

All we need to do now is to pop this into a preheated oven,

a hot one, about 200-220 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes

till it's golden and crispy.

Well, we could if we had an oven, you see, because in Italy,

you can't cook in a public space with a gas cylinder and said oven.

Cos otherwise, you get into loads of bother. So...

you've got to have a fire officer there

to ensure that two leery Northerners don't actually burn down the city.

So therefore, we need to find a nearby hostelry

who'll have available the hospitality of their oven.

Yes. In the absence of a fire safety officer.

-Andiamo!

-That way. Over the bridge.

# A te, o cara

# Amore talora

# Amore talora

# Mi guido

# Furtivo

# E in pianto

# Or mi guida

# A te d'accanto... #

'Assuming that the journey from where your focaccia has been rising

'to your preheated oven is shorter than ours...'

Buon giorno!

'this really is one of the most simple

'and simply satisfying bread recipes we've cooked so far.'

-Ciao!

-Ciao!

-Ciao!

'And it only needs 20 mins in a hot oven.'

Ah! Perfetto! Grazie!

That'll give us just time to have a little "expresso" by the canal side.

-Oh, yes!

-Heaven!

Pretty romantic, Venice, isn't it, you know?

Pity we're, like, with each other.

Get off!

'Ah, come on, Kingy! Italian is the language of love.

'Amore! Maybe learning a few phrases will help.'

"Cosa?" "Che cosa?"

-"Si."

-"Si."

-"Occupa."

-"Occupa."

"The toilet is occupied."

What's "my focaccia is about to catch fire"?

'Good point. Good point.'

Look at that, mate!

You cannot knock that, can you?

Oh, it looks like it just got out the catalogue.

That is proper...

..super delish focaccia.

Happy Venetian holidays!

Not half!

Oh, hey!

Man, that's mega!

It's the easiest thing in the world to make.

And the texture, the olive oil in the mix...

superb.

One of the good things about focaccia is because of the oil,

wrap this in foil when it's cold,

and it's going to last for about a week.

And for your breakfast, just take a slice off, split it,

fill it with your filling of choice, and every time you take a bite,

you're going to be back in Venice.

'What a day, Kingy!

'If Venice is the shape of things to come, Italy's going to be a corker.'

Bellissimo, dude! Bellissimo!

'It's the day I get to see my big sis.'

'How long has Ginny been living over here, now?'

'About 15 years, ever since she took early retirement.

'She's pretty well Tuscan now.'

'Tuscany is quintessential Italy.

'Landscape, culture, art, food. Man, it's got the lot.'

'Including the Italian branch of the King family!'

'Right, we're here!

'I can't wait to see her, man. I haven't seen her for ages!'

I heard the motorbikes! I heard the motorbikes!

So how are you doing?

-Oh, God!

-God! It's so good to see you!

Oh, I've missed you!

-Hey!

-Hey! Hello!

-The good-looking part of the King family.

'Now, we are not actually cooking at Ginny's place, are we, Si?'

'No, mate, us Kingies are good friends with a nearby family called the Peruzzis.

'And we're going to go there later.'

'I could do with a biker's coffee break first though.'

I'm with the Kingies, just south of Florence,

drinking possibly some of the best coffee you can ever find.

What have you got lined up for us?

Basically, what we're doing is, we're going to go down

to the Peruzzi family's farm-cum-villa/villa,

and we're just going to have a big dinner.

There's not one course that we're going to have

that isn't fundamentally, traditionally Tuscan.

The Peruzzis live about 30km north of Ginny's place,

just outside Florence. That's where we're heading.

So we're following Ginny, right?

Yeah, follow that car, dude.

'I have to report I no longer have a visual on our kid.'

'She's gone native with her driving.'

'Not to worry, that's what sat navs are for.'

'So an authentic Tuscan feast in our honour.

-'This is some privilege, Kingy.'

-'I know, mate.

'But we're cooking one of the dishes.

'I'm feeling the pressure here.

'Before we cook though, I've got to go and see Gino, or Babbo to me.'

'Your Italian Grandpapa.'

'Si.

'Babbo is an affectionate term for Dad.

'He's the head of the Peruzzi family.

'He's 96-years-old and he's as Tuscan as they come.'

La zucca fiorentina.

'I want to pay my respects but, as always,

'there's a bit of a language barrier.'

-Si!

-Si, Babbo, si.

Si! La zucca fiorentina.

This is so frustrating.

'Babbo's garden is Tuscany on a plate.

'Fantastic ingredients, grown the time-honoured way.'

Oh!

'And it's this amazing produce that gets served on the Peruzzi table

'night after night.'

-It's not possible to get them that size!

-Quello?

-That one!

One of the problems with Gino and I and...

I mean, how long have I known Gino now?

He's been my Italian grandfather now for...15 years.

HE LAUGHS

And it drives him absolutely insane that I can't speak fluent Italian.

-Si.

-Si, Babbo, si.

What do you think Gino is going to make of our cooking?

I think he's going to have a right laugh!

Dove si puo fare o mangiare un pomodoro o un'insalata cosi. Non e possibile!

Insalata cosi? Io voglio!

Perfecto. Give me a kiss.

-Madonna!

-Madonna!

-Roba da lavarsi.

HE LAUGHS

'He's not wrong, you know, mate.'

'Well, let's not disappoint him.

'I think it's time to introduce our next cook through...

'The medium of song.'

# When the moon hits the sky

# Like a big pizza pie

# That's stromboli. #

# Sleigh bells ring

# Children sing

# That's stromboli! #

'While the Peruzzi family prepare a traditional Tuscan summer feast,

'we're going dead contemporary with an American-inspired twist

'on the pizza called the stromboli.'

'After all, you can't come to Italy without cooking a pizza.'

'So let's crack on.'

'Mix yeast, semolina flour,

'salt and sugar.

'Pour two tablespoons of olive oil into warm water

'and add to the bowl.'

OK, and just stir it round

until it starts to combine.

'Semolina isn't used much in Britain nowadays.

'But it's highly regarded in Italy

'and gives a crisp, crunchy texture.'

'But you may need to add extra water, cos it soaks up moisture.'

Semolina in fact eats moisture like a Geordie eats cooked pork products.

-Here goes...

-Man!

-Munchie time for Geordie.

-It never fails to...entertain me!

-Right. Get your hands in it...

and form a dough ball.

That looks good, mate.

'Knead vigorously for five minutes or so to make the dough elastic.'

Now, it is said - the legend of the stromboli -

it was invented in America,

in an American sandwich shop.

The sandwich shop was owned by an Italian called Nat Romano.

Romano.

-And he made his living selling hoagies and sandwiches.

-Yeah.

One day, he is to do this crazy kind of rolled-up pizza.

Somebody came to his shop and said,

"Eh, Nat, what do you call that thing?"

And Nat said, "I don't know."

Suddenly, he says, "Hey, have you read in the paper?

"Ingrid Bergman, she's having an affair with Roberto Rossellini."

Oh-i-oh. Oh-oh-i-oh.

"On the Island of Stromboli

"whilst making the film Stromboli."

And then he said, "Nat,

"why don't you call it a Stromboli?"

It may be cobblers, but it's a good story.

Tuscan folk are so particular about their food.

But it's like the Peruzzis.

This is their campo and Gino is SO particular about his food

that if it doesn't come off his campo,

where he can kill it, cook it, grow it, drink it...

he don't like it!

So stromboli, you know,

do try this one at home.

Even if their expressions round the table may be a little bit aghast.

Now, we put that into the proving bowl.

Cover up.

Just for the dust more than anything else.

'Cover your dough with cling film and leave for an hour to prove.'

'Giving us time for the creation of the sauce.'

'Which starts with the ceremonial chopping of onions and garlic.'

The garlic goes in. Now, really, really take care not to burn this.

Look at the colour of that oil.

It's greener than a kilo of processed newts!

These are just good tinned tomatoes.

Now, we can get some heat under this now.

It would help if we would manage to get some passata off Gino.

-Seen his tomatoes?

-Oh, He was so proud of them, wasn't he?

'Add about a tablespoon of oregano for flavour

'and a pinch of sugar to balance the acidity from the tomatoes.'

'And season to taste.'

I think if we leave that another minute or so,

-I think that'll be spot on.

-Si!

Now, take this out and just knock it back slightly.

And I've got an oven tray. I'm just going to oil this.

Just massage the oil into the tray...

..as if it was lotion

into Isabella Rossellini's back.

And she's invited you down to her villa in Portofino,

where her yacht is, just for a few weeks.

She's invited Placido Domingo to sing in the evening.

Whilst we're there gazing, gazing over the Mediterranean Sea.

Just a bit will do.

Si. Now, from the centre of the dough, just start to push it out.

What I'm going to do is use that as a template really for...

It's like making a Swiss roll.

-Now, the build.

-Excellent.

Shall we?

Yeah.

First off, start with your tomatoes

and just leave about two centimetres all the way around.

'Now, a stromboli can be veggie.

'Tomatoes, cheese and mushrooms, for example.

'But in meat-loving Tuscany,

'we're adding the finest wafer-thin prosciutto.'

Look at these buffalo mozzarella. Slice this.

Look at that!

Mm... Mate!

The mozzarella.

I can imagine, when this is unrolled,

it's going to be stringy, unctuous -

as tasty as a tasty thing could possibly be.

And, finally, the one thing that has come from Babbo's wonderful garden - fresh basil.

Pray that Gino gets a bit with basil in and when he asks about the basil, "It was yours, Gino."

'Tuck in the ends of your stromboli to keep the flavours within

'and then roll lengthways.'

'Massage with olive oil, season and leave to rest once again.'

# When I was just a little girl... #

'Then, as your well-to-do Tuscan guests tuck into their antipasti,

'into the Tuscan wood-burning oven

'carefully place your Italian- American rolled-up pizza and pray.'

# ..Que sera, sera... #

'Not a bad view from the Peruzzi villa, is it, Kingy?'

'I've seen worse, Duke.'

# ..The future's not ours to see

# Que sera, sera

# What will be will be. #

-What a table, eh?

-Well, that's a reception.

-Isn't it?

THEY CHEER

HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN

'I don't know what that was all about, Dave,

'but it's the moment of truth for the stromboli.'

-I hope it's all right.

-Eh, Fat Tony!

'Fat Tony's bound to like it.'

-It looks like the flag of Italy.

-Yes.

-Which is quite appropriate as it's the 150th birthday.

-150th birthday.

THEY TALK IN ITALIAN

'Blimey, Dave, first Babbo, now I can't understand my own sister.'

'I think that means she likes our stromboli, Kingy.'

'Blimey, I'd best have another. This could be a long night.'

'Mornin', Dave. What a great night with our Ginny, eh?'

'Oh, it was ace. A slice of the real Tuscany. And today...'

'We've got to get to Turin.

# Nessun Dorma... #

'Cometh Pavarotti by the sound of it.'

'Well, you can't do Italy without Nessun Dorma, can you?

'It'd be rude!'

# Tu pure o Principessa

-# Nella tua...#

-Look at all those flags!

They're everywhere, aren't they? It's fantastic!

# ..Guardi le stelle... #

'Which way is the Parliament Square, Si?'

'Take a right, dude, take a right.'

# ..D'amore... #

'And so, on a scorching afternoon in this elegant city of Turin,

'it's time for us to pay our tribute to Italy.'

'And cook an anniversary Torta Gianduja,

'a chocolate cake infused with hazelnuts.'

Who in their right mind

cooks a chocolate cake at 40 degrees Celsius?!

Look, we can and we are.

The process is as follows...

Step one, for goodness' sake,

as quickly as possible before it melts anyway, get butter and...

Look at how the butter's presented here!

There's even rivets on your butter packet.

'Put the butter into a bowl over a low heat,

'retaining a knob for greasing purposes.

'Then add 200 grams of dark chocolate.'

'Meanwhile, separate six eggs.'

# Six eggs in the fountain...

# Will bring you happiness... #

Oh, this is melting quite quickly. Funny, that.

Whoo!

Here we stand in that famous square in Turin,

where the unification of Italy

became the culmination of an impossible dream.

And inside that building there,

that's where the first Italian parliament sat.

That's where Garibaldi's dreams come true.

'Uh-oh! It's the carabinieri!

'Are we allowed to use this little stove outdoors?'

'Dunno, just keep on cooking. Don't attract their attention.

'Say nowt.'

OK, so in this bowl, look, I've got six egg yolks...

..and six egg whites.

We add 200 Gs...

..of sugar to the egg yolks,

and whisk until it becomes creamy and light.

Why couldn't we make an ice cream?

I mean, the ice cream is fantastic here.

It's lovely this Torta, man, it's a nice cake!

I know it's lovely! But it's hot!

I know, but look, you wouldn't want...

What if it rained?

What if we were over in Finland and it was minus 25

and we couldn't get the butter to melt for love nor money?

-We've done that.

-I know.

'Into the melted butter and chocolate,

'add 200 grams of ground roasted hazelnuts.'

'Come on, cameraman, focus on Dave's nuts, please.'

It makes kind of the most wonderful, kind of praline, doesn't it?

Imagine that, a praline-based chocolate cake.

Whoa!

'Into the egg yolks and sugar,

'add about three tablespoons of amaretto.'

Now...

This is six egg whites,

and you need to whisk said six egg whites to stiff peaks...

-DAVE SNIGGERS

-..in the heat.

He'll be seven stone three by the time those are stiff.

SI CHUCKLES

'Now add the egg yolk, sugar and amaretto mix

'to the cooled chocolate sauce.'

Look at the colours of that, hey.

-HE SIGHS

-Whoa...

Like God's Catherine wheel.

This even looks good before you make it.

Ah, well done, Hercule!

Look at that.

-Now that is a stiff peak.

-Stiffer than Shergar's front paw.

Right.

Now we fold the egg whites in a customary fashion

with a steel implement, into the cioccolato nutacaco.

Cioccolato nutacaco? What in God's name does that mean?

-Oh, I've had bloody trouble with this language.

-Yeah, well, you know, you tried.

The director'll say. "It's Piedmonte,"

some things get through, "Gianduio."

-It's not por favor, it's "po pavoire..."

-Po...

-I'm trying!

You know what I mean?

'Fold in the egg whites.'

This is going to rise up.

Rise up like the Italians and claim unification.

We dedicate this cake to Garibaldi.

You are more than just a biscuit.

I mean, we'd have to say that, we're outside the parliament.

'With the mix ready, it's time to grease our tin.'

And pour in the batter.

Whoa!

Don't you want to, don't you?

Oooh...

'As we mentioned before, in Italy,

'we're not allowed to use a gas-fired oven in a public place

'without a fire officer present.'

'So off we go again in search of a friendly neighbourhood restaurant

'who'll let us use theirs.'

'Eh, mate, while we're waiting,

'you know it's really hot, and we're in Italy,

'and we've not had one yet.'

'Yeah...?'

Oh, this is lovely, I can feel it going all the way down.

Ice cream on a hot day.

Oh, can you whack it? I don't think so!

-'And before you can say...'

-'Gianduja...'

'..our cake has risen.'

Look at the nuts on that.

-Thanks very much!

-HE LAUGHS

-'Smother your creation in the finest gangooja available.'

-'Gianduja.'

'As if this cake wasn't already loaded with Piedmont nut power,

we're going to decorate it with whole roasted hazelnuts.'

Look at that.

Fabulous.

'And since we've baked this cake in honour of Italy's 150th anniversary,

'I am going to take my cue from the city of Turin,

'and bedeck it in the Italian Tricolore.'

'Are you sure about that, Dave?'

Look at that, it's like Garibaldi's hat.

'Now, we can't fit 150 candles on this cake,

'so to give it some Italian pizzazz...'

'We've gone for sparklers.'

DAVE HUMS A TUNE

'Come on, Kingy, let's parade our cake with pride.'

'Oh, God...'

'And before you ask, we have checked with the fire department,

'who are so anti-ovens, and this is fine.'

ITALIAN OPERA MUSIC

'But another Italian health and safety clause

'means that we aren't allowed to offer it for public consumption.'

'Looks like it's just you and me then, Buster.'

D'you know what? Turin's been fantastic, hasn't it?

Italy's been fantastic.

-Well, vive la Italia.

-Hey!

Gina Lollobrigida.