0:00:02 > 0:00:05I'm Andrew Graham Dickson and I'm an art historian.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08I'm Giorgio Locatelli and I'm a chef.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12We are both passionate about my homeland, Italy.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17The smells, the colour, this is what food is all about for me.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22The rich flavours and classic dishes of this land are in my culinary DNA.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25And this country's rich layers of art
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and history have captivated me since childhood.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32It's enough to make you feel as if you are being whirled up to heaven.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36We're stepping off the tourist track and exploring Italy's
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Northern regions of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Piedmont.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43It's part of Italy that's often overlooked, but it drives
0:00:43 > 0:00:47the whole country and I want to show off its classic dishes.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52Not to mention its hidden legacy of artist, designers, intellectuals.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Wow, this is incredible.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58This week we are in Lombardy, where I grew up.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03I can't wait to introduce Andrew to the hearty Lombardy food of my youth.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07We'll also enjoy the ingenious art and thrilling design that
0:01:07 > 0:01:10reveal how this region really is the motor of Italy.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Lombardy may not be the most exotic region in Italy,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34but, for me, it's special.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Bordering Switzerland, we are closer here to Zurich than Rome.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42There is only one place to start our journey,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46my home town of Corgeno, by Lake Maggiore.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I've cooked for Andrew many times at my restaurant,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53but I'm taking him to where it all started, Casa Locatelli.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55Mama, Papa.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Oh, ciao, Mama.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Small daddy, he's a small daddy.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15He used to be bigger than me, but now he's...
0:02:20 > 0:02:22- Ferruccio. - Pinuccia and Ferruccio.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26No, I'll remember, I'll remember. I'm hungry.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29'We're here for lunch and polenta's on the menu.'
0:02:33 > 0:02:36You see, what happens here is, my mum runs the kitchen
0:02:36 > 0:02:39and even when I come home, I'm not allowed to cook.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41So she cooks all the time.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50An exception is made for polenta. Polenta is a man thing.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55So my dad, as you can see, he's ready with his apron.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57So we're going to leave my mum here.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01No. No, no, we do it on the fire on the garden.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05So we're going to cook the polenta downstairs. Let's go.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10SHE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:03:10 > 0:03:12It has to taste of smoke, otherwise, it's not good.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Even though she's the captain of the kitchen,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17she's still telling you how to do the polenta.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22She's got to prepare the mushroom and the thing
0:03:22 > 0:03:23and we go and do the polenta.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28'Polenta, made from ground maize, really is the pasta of the north.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32'In fact, the southerners call us Lombards, Polentoni,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34'because we eat so much of the stuff.'
0:03:34 > 0:03:39OK, you see, it's the most simple thing. You know, you just need a fire
0:03:39 > 0:03:44and a paiolo, which is this like cast iron, and then copper inside.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48And so, I remember when I was little I used to see all the shepherds
0:03:48 > 0:03:51going around with their flocks, and they had the donkey
0:03:51 > 0:03:54and on the donkey they will have the paiolo on the back.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- So that would actually make polenta in the field?- That's right.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59- On the open fire?- That's why you make it on the open fire.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03During the war, that was the only thing that they had,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06polenta and when the partisan, which were striving here,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09- you know it's like lost...- The heroes?- The heroes.- That lived in the woods.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Yeah, you know they were living in the woods.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14They'll camp, you're duty as a, somebody that
0:04:14 > 0:04:17didn't like the Fascists, obviously, at that point
0:04:17 > 0:04:20was to give half of your polenta to them.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23A beautiful colour! It's like saffron or something.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26- Beautiful yellow. This is Roberto - This is your...- This is my brother.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29This is your brother. You look exactly, nothing like you.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33No, he's been training how to do polenta for the last 20 years.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36- Who's the older brother? - He is.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38And he's the one that's getting all the training.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41I'm just been around just doing Michelin starred food.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43You know, something not very important.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48I'm hungry. Is this the moment of truth?
0:04:48 > 0:04:51This is the most important moment.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00The man job is done, now we've got to go upstairs
0:05:00 > 0:05:02- and see what the girls have managed to...- Fantastic.
0:05:02 > 0:05:03..Rustle up.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07I like the way, I like the way it's all swaddled up like a baby.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12While we were making the polenta, my mum was busy whipping up
0:05:12 > 0:05:16a meaty brochette and some delicious porcini mushrooms.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Come, sit down.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26'This is the kind of food that ignited my love affair with cooking.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29'Hearty and simple, just the way I like it.'
0:05:29 > 0:05:32- Wow.- Look at the lake.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Eh, and eat the polenta. Now you are full emersion.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38- You smell it? This woody smell. - Mmm..
0:05:38 > 0:05:43- You see how the flavours are so settled, so...?- Mellow, gentle.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44Mellow, gentle.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Almost like it reflects the personality of the people.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Here, the people are a bit more mellow,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53and the nature determine what the people eat, but it almost
0:05:53 > 0:05:56looks like you almost determine the character of the people.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05Having visited Giorgio's home, it's only reinforced my sense of how
0:06:05 > 0:06:10strong an influence his earthy Lombard roots have had on him.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13But there are still sides to this region he doesn't know.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Lombardy is a treasure trove of surprising little known
0:06:16 > 0:06:21works of art, and near the town of Bergamo there's a fascinating
0:06:21 > 0:06:23masterpiece Giorgio has never seen before.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Just a few miles from where you live, there's this chapel attached
0:06:27 > 0:06:32to a grand house, and inside the chapel is one of the most
0:06:32 > 0:06:36extraordinary weird fresco cycles of the whole Renaissance.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38- Right. - By an artist called Lorenzo Lotto.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41- Right.- It's absolutely bizarre.
0:06:41 > 0:06:46He's like the Renaissance version of Magritte or Salvador Dali. OK.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50The frescos he created here in 1524
0:06:50 > 0:06:54were commissioned for the private chapel of the Suardi family,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58one of the oldest and most influential in the region.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00The chapel isn't usually opened to the public,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03but the family have kindly agreed to let us in.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14- Same.- The same family from the time, so from the time of Lorenzo Lotto,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17500 years later, still the same family.
0:07:17 > 0:07:18Oh, that's fantastic.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Originally, the Suardis didn't reserve the chapel
0:07:23 > 0:07:25for their own exclusive use.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30Ordinary people who lived locally were encouraged to worship here.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35The works of art inside plunge you back to 16th-century Lombardy,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38a world in the grip of the Reformation.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45What do you think of this extraordinary weird image?
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Yeah, it's like this fingers, isn't it?
0:07:48 > 0:07:50It's very weird, surreal isn't it?
0:07:50 > 0:07:54It's absolutely surreal. Christ in need of a manicure.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57He's got these strange...it reminds me of that German story
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Struwwelpeter, the boy who lets his nails grow for ever.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03If you look, you see there's a little clue at the top
0:08:03 > 0:08:04actually to what's going on.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09Lorenzo Lotto is the only painter who took that line from the Bible.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11Ego sum vitis vos palmites.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14I am the vine and you are the branches.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16And he turned it into this extraordinary image.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18What are all these image up there?
0:08:18 > 0:08:22You've got saints growing in the...the whirls
0:08:22 > 0:08:25and the curls of this vine as it reaches up.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27But although it's so striking as an image,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30you mustn't think of it as a single scene, cos it's not.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32It's actually like a comic book.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37And what it tells is this very bloody story of Saint Barbara,
0:08:37 > 0:08:42Santa Barbara, and she is the daughter of Dioscoro,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44this evil pagan.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48And he wants to marry her off, but he wants her to be a virgin,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52- so he locks her into this tower. as he goes off on his travels.- OK.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56What he doesn't know, is that when she's in the tower,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Christ visits her, gives her a vision,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01she converts to Christianity.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04There she is kneeling, praying outside the tower,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07always accompanied by this lovely little white dog with her.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Yeah, the dog is there.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12And now this is where the story gets bloody and turns nasty.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Dioscoro, her father, has come back and there he is saying,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18"Now's the time for you to get married."
0:09:18 > 0:09:20And she points up to heaven and says,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24"No, I'm not going to marry any man, I have become a bride of Christ."
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Now he has her tortured.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29He got her. Look, he's carrying her...
0:09:29 > 0:09:32- He's got her hair there. - He's dragging her by her hair.
0:09:32 > 0:09:33Dragging her.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37And it gets really nasty. I mean, it's X-rated, isn't it?
0:09:37 > 0:09:39I mean, he doesn't pull his punches.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44So they apply burning brands to her breasts and her genitals.
0:09:44 > 0:09:45It's very physical, you know.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Lotto's living in this time that's extremely violent.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50It really looks terrible, doesn't it?
0:09:50 > 0:09:53And throughout this sort of bloody story,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55sufferings are punctuated by little rays of hope.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58And now an angel comes down from heaven
0:09:58 > 0:10:01and gives her a white cloak to put around her body.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04And as soon as she puts the cloak around her body, her whole
0:10:04 > 0:10:08body is healed, and then her little dog is accompanying her all the way.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12The thing about this fresco cycle is the date.
0:10:12 > 0:10:18- Hmm.- It's 1524, this is a time of huge crisis in Wittenberg
0:10:18 > 0:10:21and the north, just over those mountains that he's painted.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Luther is saying,
0:10:23 > 0:10:26"We must split the church, we must protest against Rome."
0:10:26 > 0:10:31And this fresco is the Suardi family's way of saying to
0:10:31 > 0:10:35everybody who lived around here, don't buy into the idea
0:10:35 > 0:10:39that this church is going to be split, stay true to the old faith.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43And also, I think just the picture has these kind of normal people.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46- So the people kind of sympathise with that.- Yeah, or...
0:10:46 > 0:10:48..Can see themselves part of this thing.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Absolutely, it's saying to the people,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52"This could happen in your world."
0:10:52 > 0:10:53Hmm, hmm.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Lotto himself is actually represented in that fresco.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- Oh,- OK. I think that's almost like his signature.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- Looks like that. - And he's looking at us.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04And he's got this haunted expression.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06He's almost saying, "Got the message?"
0:11:06 > 0:11:10I think, and for such a small chapel and with such a big...
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- I like that big message. - I think that's what he's saying.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14"Have you got the message?"
0:11:14 > 0:11:17'He's an Italian artist with an Italian message,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21'but Lotto's style owes a lot to the art of northern Europe.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23'I love it!'
0:11:30 > 0:11:34Andrew's right. Lombardy often has more in common
0:11:34 > 0:11:37with northern Europe than Mediterranean south.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41Progressive and pragmatic, unlike the laidback southerners,
0:11:41 > 0:11:43the Lombards like to get things moving.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47And you don't have to look far for examples from every era.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50My favourite is located on the river Adda,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54one of the greatest arteries of Lombardy.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55It may not be a fresco,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58but I'm pretty sure Andrew will appreciate it.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Andrew this is it, this is the bridge, this is it, we are here!
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Oh, look at the drop! It's unbelievable.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Turn, turn right here.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Here you've got a lot of industry and, and, and exchange.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17So this bridge was very, very important for the communication.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19It is amazing.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23Built in 1889, the San Michele bridge was much admired
0:12:23 > 0:12:28across Europe for its elegant design and cutting edge technology.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32It's simple, beautiful, and most importantly functional.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Wow. It's enormous, isn't it?
0:12:41 > 0:12:45It looks so tiny from the top, now it is just so big.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48What I like is, when you see it in the river,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52it's like an eye staring into the 20th century.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55And this is what Lombardy is all about, you know,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57looking towards the future.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- They built this thing in two years. - Two years?!
0:13:00 > 0:13:02In two years they built this thing.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04Their feet were definitely in Europe.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08These guys were there with everybody else with the Industrial Revolution
0:13:08 > 0:13:11and building and going forwards.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14They're kind of the dreamers, but they're also engineers.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Bellisimo.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Well, I think we've had enough wandering around.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25It's time to go into the beating heart,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28the capital of this region, Milan.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30Even the road that takes you there, the A8,
0:13:30 > 0:13:35expresses Lombardy's forward looking spirit.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38They say it's the first motorway in the history of roads.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41That's right, not the German, not the English,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44but the Italians built the first.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46North Italians.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49This was the first road, straight in a very Roman way
0:13:49 > 0:13:54and went through all these big fat towns and took you to Milan.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58This road is also very important at a symbolic level,
0:13:58 > 0:14:01for what a northern Italy wanted to represent
0:14:01 > 0:14:03in the earlier 20th century.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Because throughout the 18th and 19th century,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Italy was a byword for a country living in the past,
0:14:09 > 0:14:10going really nowhere.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14And then suddenly this road, this road said no, no, no,
0:14:14 > 0:14:19we're going somewhere and where are we going, we're going to the future.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28Rome may be the capital, but Milan is the real power behind Italy.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Over 2,000 years old, it occupies a key position along
0:14:32 > 0:14:37the ancient trade route between Rome and northern Europe.
0:14:37 > 0:14:38Dynamic and industrious,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42it remains the most important commercial centre in the country.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47For me, there's only one place to start our exploration
0:14:47 > 0:14:50of the city, the grand Gothic Cathedral.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Dominating the old city centre, it's the heart and soul of Milan.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58All roads seem to start and end here.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02Construction started in 1386 and it's one of the earliest examples
0:15:02 > 0:15:06of the great Milanese gift for design and engineering.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11- Do you know, Giorgio, I think that's the first time...- Yeah.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14..I have ever seen the front of Milan Cathedral
0:15:14 > 0:15:17without huge amounts of scaffolding on it.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20- It's the first time I've seen it so white.- Yeah.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23Even in the picture on the panettone, the one you buy
0:15:23 > 0:15:26at Christmas, there's a picture of it and it's much greyer than that.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28It's wonderful this cathedral front.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32Ruskin loved it, he talked about its frost, crystalline beauty.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34He thought it was almost like a snowflake
0:15:34 > 0:15:36- that has come down to Earth.- Yes.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39It's got that sort of structure of a snow flake. It's beautiful.
0:15:39 > 0:15:40It is impressive, isn't it?
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- Shall we go inside? - Let's go and have a look.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53Built over six centuries,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56the cathedral is one of the largest in all of Europe.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59It's dedicated to the Madonna
0:15:59 > 0:16:04and is still one of the great pilgrimage sights in all of Italy.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11I've visited many times, and always find something new to marvel at.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18'This time we're going to explore a very different part of the building.'
0:16:18 > 0:16:20I love this, what a treat.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23'We're on our way to the roof of the Duomo,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26'the most ingenious part of its design.'
0:16:26 > 0:16:30- Oh, yes. - How beautiful is that?!
0:16:30 > 0:16:32I think we've arrived.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35'We've arranged to meet one of the engineers currently restoring the roof.'
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Hello.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50'Benigno Morlin works for the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53'the 600-year-old workshop that built the cathedral,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56'and is still dedicated to its restoration.'
0:17:07 > 0:17:09These are pieces they've remade.
0:17:14 > 0:17:15Oh, beautiful.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20OK so, they own,
0:17:20 > 0:17:25they own the quarry where you actually get this stone from.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29- It is an historic quarry. - It's an historic...- It's the same.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32- It's the same quarry... - It's the same quarry.
0:17:32 > 0:17:33..They got the stone from in the first place.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36'It was modelled on the Gothic cathedrals of northern Europe.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39'But the Lombard builders couldn't resist adding a few
0:17:39 > 0:17:41'innovations of their own.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45'And the construction of its roof was completely revolutionary.'
0:18:09 > 0:18:11'Talking to Signore Morlin made us
0:18:11 > 0:18:14'want to see more of the Duomo's crowning glory.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17'I love how what might have been a purely functional feature
0:18:17 > 0:18:20'has been made a thing of beauty.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23'It's as if there's a whole other cathedral here up in the clouds.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25'And it's open to the public too.'
0:18:25 > 0:18:29- It's a phenomenon, this building. - It is incredible.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32I tell you, it's the only great Gothic cathedral that seems
0:18:32 > 0:18:35almost designed for you to be able to enjoy
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and take pleasure in the structure of its making.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42Down here, you see, you've got the sort of series of walkways,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46- pathways, it was always made to be walked on, enjoyed.- Right.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50So all the different levels, you can see the structure, and as a
0:18:50 > 0:18:53result of that, you know they've exercised their ingenuity,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56whereas in other Gothic cathedrals, the spires and the minarets
0:18:56 > 0:18:58just rise up to the sky pointing to God.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Here they've become plinths for outdoor sculptures.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03You could say this is the first outdoor sculpture park.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06You know what it reminds me of, it reminds me of this, you know when
0:19:06 > 0:19:10you wet the sand and you make these things and they just sort of
0:19:10 > 0:19:14grow underneath your hands. It has the same kind of fragility to that.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18That's what's so beautiful about the Gothic, I think.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21This cathedral is actually the engine room of what's made
0:19:21 > 0:19:26Milan a great temple of modern technology and design,
0:19:26 > 0:19:30because in the Gothic period, the mathematicians, the engineers,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32the architects, the designers,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35they were brought into being by the needs of this cathedral.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Solving problems.
0:19:37 > 0:19:38So yes, it's kind of a machine
0:19:38 > 0:19:43that's constantly attracting to Milan, technological innovators.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46'Back in the day, every great intellectual who came to
0:19:46 > 0:19:50'Milan seems to have been involved with the cathedral.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54'And in the Duomo's archives, there's evidence of one particular
0:19:54 > 0:19:57'genius and his small contribution.'
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Roberto. Buongiorno.
0:20:30 > 0:20:36A list of payment for everybody who collaborated to build the Duomo.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38A lot of people seem to have collaborated.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52Excusi, Roberto. Si.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56This is, you've picked this one out for us and it's actually
0:20:56 > 0:21:01evidence that Leonardus Florentinus, so Leonardo from Florence... Si.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03..ie, Leonardo Da Vinci
0:21:03 > 0:21:07had actually done some work for the cathedral. How wonderful.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19- The tiburio is the top... - The cupola.- That's right.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35What a wonderful little detail, cos that's far less than he would be
0:21:35 > 0:21:38paid for the major commissions. And yet, a wooden model for a cupola is
0:21:38 > 0:21:41a very complicated thing to make, so that suggests to me that he really
0:21:41 > 0:21:44wanted to work on the cathedral, he wanted to leave a mark on Milano.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46- He understood something.- Yeah.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50- Well, of course, he didn't, in the end, design the cupola.- Yeah.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54- The model never got used.- No. - It's been lost. Grazie, Roberto.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57It's a pleasure.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59- Arrivederci.- Arrivederci.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04'It's very revealing that Leonardo sold himself to
0:22:04 > 0:22:09'the court of Milan as an engineer rather than an artist.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13'He worked for the great Duke Ludovico Sforza for nearly 20 years.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'Designing bridges, boats, weapons or war.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22'Design and engineering were the priorities in Milan.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25'They're what its success is built on.'
0:22:29 > 0:22:33'That philosophy had a radical impact on the shape of the city.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35'Just a short walk from the Duomo, you can visit
0:22:35 > 0:22:39'one of the most outstanding examples of technical imagination.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44'La Scala is amongst the most prestigious opera houses
0:22:44 > 0:22:49'in the world, and we've been allowed to take a look inside.'
0:22:49 > 0:22:51I've never been here before.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53This, look at this!
0:22:56 > 0:22:59I think it's the world's first horseshoe shaped theatre.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03That's right. And it's all designed with sound on their mind.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05So it's incredible.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08You know, you see the shape of each thing and how it's made as well.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11- You know, to not destroy the echo. - The boxes?- Yeah, the boxes.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15- I'd love to come and actually... - You sing a little bit, can you sing?
0:23:15 > 0:23:16THEY SING A NOTE
0:23:16 > 0:23:20- No.- Oh. - Oh, no, I can't.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24It is absolutely outstanding to be here.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30But we didn't just come here to admire the theatre,
0:23:30 > 0:23:35I'm taking Andrew to Il Marchesini, a restaurant in the same building.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39It's owned by the most celebrated Italian chef in the world,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Gualtiero Marchesi.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45With three Michelin stars, he globalised Italian food
0:23:45 > 0:23:48and made it the success it is today.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Gualtiero is waiting for us, so come in and see.
0:23:51 > 0:23:52It's like a theatre curtain.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55That's what it is, we are in the theatre restaurant.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Gualtiero makes this dish, one of his creations.
0:24:18 > 0:24:24And to me, it's the dish that really, really represents Milan
0:24:24 > 0:24:26more than anything else that I have seen before.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28What's this dish called?
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Not just Milan! Italy.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34He says all Italy. THEY LAUGH
0:24:40 > 0:24:43- With gold?- Yeah, with gold. - Yeah, with gold, saffron and...
0:24:45 > 0:24:48- We are rich.- We're rich, I like it. - Yeah.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58One of the things that matter is to
0:24:58 > 0:25:00really concentrate on the flavour.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02And very neat and clear flavoured.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06So even if there is a lot of creation in what he does,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09it is always with a great respect for the flavours.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Hmm. So what is the essential flavour in this risotto?
0:25:14 > 0:25:15- The saffron.- The saffron?
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Definitely, yeah.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:25:28 > 0:25:31So it's turning the procedure upside down. OK.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Or the risotto.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39They also put a lot of cheese.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41To give the acidity.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Then you taste only the cheese.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Taste it.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00- Mmm, wow.- Acidity.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- That's like erm...- Very high acid.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05- ..A beautiful reduction of wine... - Wine with onions.- ..With butter.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Beautiful thing!
0:26:19 > 0:26:22When he said gold, I thought he meant he was actually going to
0:26:22 > 0:26:24- put some gold leaf in it. - Hold on a minute.
0:26:24 > 0:26:25But he means, he means gold as in...
0:26:25 > 0:26:28No, no, no, no, no, there is some gold coming.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30- ..Metaphorical? - No, no, no, no, wait a minute.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53- That's amazing. - Go on, you've got to taste it.
0:26:53 > 0:26:54I have to taste it.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Oh, what an idea. I'm just going to eat loads of gold.
0:27:07 > 0:27:08HE MOANS HAPPILY
0:27:17 > 0:27:20And the shape of the rice. Can you feel the rice?
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Yeah, you can get the shape of each of the rice in your mouth,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25which makes a difference how you flavour it.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Innovation doesn't mean that you have to complicate things
0:27:29 > 0:27:31or layer it so much.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35And this is a clear example of somebody expressing himself...
0:27:35 > 0:27:39- Simplicity. - ..Without complicating things.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42So express yourself in simplicity, this is so important.
0:27:47 > 0:27:48Grazie.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Arrivederci.
0:27:50 > 0:27:51I will have some more gold.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53HE LAUGHS
0:27:57 > 0:27:59'After sampling Marchesi's gold,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02'what better way to walk off the richness
0:28:02 > 0:28:06'than with a passeggiata through Milan's finest galleria.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08'Sophisticated and opulent,
0:28:08 > 0:28:13'the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele is the oldest shopping mall in Italy.
0:28:13 > 0:28:18'Strolling through this luxurious arcade, it's obvious why Milan
0:28:18 > 0:28:21'is one of the fashion capitals of the world.'
0:28:21 > 0:28:22Look how elegant they are.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26Even the traffic wardens, look at them. Fantastic.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29- Those are the cops.- Those are the traffic warden, not the cops.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32- Only in Italy. - Only in Milan, you know.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41It's a bit of a temple of capitalism really, as you can see.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Well, I think it's a cathedral of capitalism.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46I think what's amazingly daring about it
0:28:46 > 0:28:48is that the Duomo is literally there.
0:28:48 > 0:28:49And the Scala is there.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52And the Scala is there, so you got the temple of art,
0:28:52 > 0:28:54the temple of religion there
0:28:54 > 0:28:56and you've got the temple of money here.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Because, yeah, this is what it's all about.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01It is and it's so grand!
0:29:01 > 0:29:051861, so it's, it's just a few years after
0:29:05 > 0:29:08the Great Exhibition in London, the building of the Crystal Palace.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10- Because it does look like that, doesn't it?- It's the same.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12A Victorian sort of building.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15And it's a great statement from a city to,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19right in the middle of that, to really show their power.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21And you know, the commercial.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24You know, they are commercial animals those guys.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27I think it's the only place where you can really see
0:29:27 > 0:29:30and feel that sort of huge pride and self confidence,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33- you know, across Italy in the Industrial Revolution.- Yes.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35You only really feel that here.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37- Yeah. There is one thing that I want to show you.- Yeah.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40And whenever you come to this place,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43there is this superstitious thing, and if you see any Milanese
0:29:43 > 0:29:47walking through, they will come along and what they will do is
0:29:47 > 0:29:52stand on the balls of the toro. It's called scica i ball al toro.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55- And you go like that. - Step on the balls of the bull?
0:29:55 > 0:29:56And you turn around and that's it.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Always in Italy there has to be a superstitious...
0:29:59 > 0:30:01OK, is that 'cos you need balls
0:30:01 > 0:30:04if you're going to pay the prices for some of these clothes?
0:30:04 > 0:30:05THEY LAUGH
0:30:07 > 0:30:10'One of the things I love about the city is how open it is
0:30:10 > 0:30:12'to new ideas and innovations.
0:30:12 > 0:30:18'Although it cherishes its history, Milan isn't stuck in the past.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21'Progressive, forward-thinking, it fostered one of the most
0:30:21 > 0:30:25'revolutionary art movements of the early 20th century, Futurism.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28'It was dreamed up in 1909
0:30:28 > 0:30:32'by an eccentric poet and orator called Marinetti.'
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Fillippo Tomasso Marinetti, in my opinion, wasn't a very nice man.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40- A lot of things wrong with him, he was a Fascist.- Misogynist.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44He glorified war, but he did have a vision.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47And I think he's a very interesting character because what he did was,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52he set out to drag Italy into the 20th century,
0:30:52 > 0:30:54into the modern world.
0:30:54 > 0:31:00The Futurist Manifesto, it's a guide to enjoying modern life.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Everything that an Italian perhaps at the beginning of the 20th century
0:31:03 > 0:31:07might find disconcerting, that rapid movement of a tram,
0:31:07 > 0:31:12a crowded street, the sudden sense that everything's moving,
0:31:12 > 0:31:14it's confusing.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17And, Andrew, what was amazing is that when you travel the world
0:31:17 > 0:31:19and when I went to New York and I went to the MOMA,
0:31:19 > 0:31:23I was so shocked to see there is a room only of Futuristic painting.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27In Italian museums, very rarely you find a whole room of Futurism.
0:31:27 > 0:31:28Maybe you find one of these.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31The Italians have kind of refused them this.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34I think that's part of the later story, because Futurism turned dark,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38became associated with Fascism, it got a bad name in Italy.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42But here in Milan, it's the one exception. A home city of Futurism.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45They did actually create and build a great collection,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48- which we're going to see and we're...- Yeah.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50And I think we're just about there.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52Yeah, we are in Duomo, we have to get out now.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55Andiamo, let's go and look at some electric art.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03'We're visiting the Novecento Museum,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07'home to the best collection of Futurist art in Italy.'
0:32:07 > 0:32:10I really like this. It's like a little capsule of Futurism,
0:32:10 > 0:32:13all condensed into just a couple of galleries.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17Here they begin, they're in Paris, they're in the cafes,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20they're reading the papers, they're doing what Picasso had done,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23they're trying to think, "What would it be like to be a modern artist?"
0:32:23 > 0:32:27And I think, suddenly, on this other wall, bang, you've got the answer.
0:32:27 > 0:32:32- Hmm.- They turn, this is not a very well-known Futurist, Achille Funi.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35But he is turning to Milan, he's not in Paris,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39he's painting Milan, he's painting a man getting off a tram.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42That's what it looks like for real, look at that.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44It's like an explosion, isn't it?
0:32:44 > 0:32:47I think what he's trying to, he's trying to capture that,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49you know when we were on the tram,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51that sense that the world is not still.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54That there's the sound, you can almost hear the shriek of the tram.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57They do take their cue, to a certain degree, from Paris.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Because Paris is the great centre of modern art,
0:33:00 > 0:33:01but they're changing all the time.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05Think of someone like Toulouse Lautrec painting the can-can girls.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Well, this is an Italian artist, Gino Severini
0:33:07 > 0:33:10and this is what he makes of the can-can.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14This is very much an artist who's read Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17- Hmm.- And he's interested in this idea that we are inhabitants
0:33:17 > 0:33:21of the machine age, and when he looks at the chorus line,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24it's as if he sees a group of people who've turned themselves
0:33:24 > 0:33:28into a kind of animated piston engine. You know, legs kicking.
0:33:28 > 0:33:29Yeah, 12 pistons going up.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32It's almost like people becoming like the inside of a motor car.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36They were setting themselves quite a difficult task,
0:33:36 > 0:33:42which is to capture in a still frame, a sense of movement.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45This picture, once you read the title, you can see the subject.
0:33:45 > 0:33:46Girl Running On A Balcony.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51It is there, the girls running on a balcony, literally.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56- Like if it was different frames of a moving image.- Yeah.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00The further you get, the more you can actually see the image moving.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03It takes really shape. It is brilliant.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06One of the things I like about Futurism is,
0:34:06 > 0:34:10that they're trying to break up the language of the past.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15But the real star of the movement was a man called Umberto Boccioni.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Look at this.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22This is, this is Boccioni's sort of masterpiece in sculpture.
0:34:22 > 0:34:28And it's called Unique Forms Of Continuity In Space.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30It was based,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33how appropriate for one of the masterpieces of Milan,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36with its two great football teams,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39is based on the image of a football player.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42What do you think of it, do you like it?
0:34:42 > 0:34:43I really, really like it.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45It reminds me more than a footballer,
0:34:45 > 0:34:47he actually looks like one of those
0:34:47 > 0:34:52little robo transformers that my children used to have.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56Yeah, well, I don't think it's a coincidence.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01It's the Futurist man striding into what he thought was the future.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08'The Futurists didn't just want to revolutionise art,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11'they wanted to transform how Italians ate as well.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14'Marinetti even wanted pasta banned.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17'And in 1930 he compiled a radical cookbook.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22'I can't resist trying out a couple of recipes on Andrew.'
0:35:22 > 0:35:23What is that?
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Look, here you got a sandwich that instead of having
0:35:26 > 0:35:29the bread on the outside, you have the salami on the outside
0:35:29 > 0:35:30and the bread is in the inside.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33You have got anchovies and you got green apple.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35Fantastic, it looks brilliant, doesn't it?
0:35:35 > 0:35:39So it's really like a very Italian version of what they,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43you know, what they thought the food of the future would be.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Do you expect me to like this?
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Oh, I expect you to taste it!
0:35:48 > 0:35:50You know, you know, I made an effort to make it
0:35:50 > 0:35:53so you're going to have to taste it at least.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55OK. OK.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05- Is it delicious or what? - What is that?!
0:36:05 > 0:36:07ANDREW LAUGHS
0:36:07 > 0:36:09I'm trying to be polite, Giorgio.
0:36:09 > 0:36:10No.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14In deference to Fillippo Tomasso, but...
0:36:14 > 0:36:18No, there is some...it's a quite an interesting taste, isn't it?
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Hmm.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23It's sort of a little bit disgusting when you bite into it because
0:36:23 > 0:36:27you're chewing through vast amounts of thick, fatty salami.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29- Taste the other one. - It's, do you...?
0:36:29 > 0:36:32It's the other one.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34So what...the other one's a strong taste. OK.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36And it has got, shall I tell you what's inside?
0:36:36 > 0:36:39- No, let me guess.- OK, bite, go.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42- Sandwich tasting.- This is...
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Oh.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51THEY LAUGH
0:36:51 > 0:36:54That is amazing. That's amazing.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56I have to say, actually, I like this one.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58- It's got a banana in it.- I know.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01And what you have to think about is, you know,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03this is 100 years ago.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06We're talking about certain ingredients that were so far ahead.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10These guys were so far out, much more than Heston Blumenthal is
0:37:10 > 0:37:12with his snail porridge at the moment.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Banana. Man, they see banana once a year.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19And it's got anchovies, banana, and another very important thing.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22Mustard, like an English mustard.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25So they look again to the outside world,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28they look to the English, they look to another world,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31a world more industrialised than they one that they had.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35- It's seriously weird. - Seriously good as well, I think.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37The perfect breakfast sandwich, isn't it?
0:37:37 > 0:37:40It'll be really an energetic food, it's food on the go
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and it's supposed to inspire you, and make you feel
0:37:43 > 0:37:45like you are a modern man, that's what it's all about.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Bizarrely, if you told me what you were going to put in there,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52- I wouldn't have even touched it. - Right.- But it's fantastic.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55How many recipes in the Futurist Cookbook did you look at?
0:37:55 > 0:37:56I read them all.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58And how many did you think actually could be
0:37:58 > 0:38:00turned into food you could eat?
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Eh, two. THEY LAUGH
0:38:06 > 0:38:08- So we're eating the only two recipes you thought...- Yeah.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12..And I thought one of them was disgusting anyway, so.
0:38:12 > 0:38:13Cheers, man.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16I think the only way to toast a banana and anchovy sandwich
0:38:16 > 0:38:18is with pineapple liqueur champagne cocktail.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20What are we doing?
0:38:23 > 0:38:25'For all their exuberance,
0:38:25 > 0:38:29'Marinetti and many of the Futurists were politically misguided.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33'When Mussolini and the Fascists came to power in 1922,
0:38:33 > 0:38:37'they embraced his radical policies to modernise Italy.
0:38:37 > 0:38:42'Mussolini would bring Italy to its knees and into the Second World War.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45'And there's one artist, Mario Sironi, who I think
0:38:45 > 0:38:50'captures the darkness of this time better than anyone else.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54'His work in the Novecento is a poignant reminder of how
0:38:54 > 0:38:57'Fascism devastated Italy.'
0:38:57 > 0:39:00These are some of Sironi's pictures in the '20s and '30s.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03And here, Sironi seems,
0:39:03 > 0:39:06I think, to be painting a kind of dark portrait of Italy
0:39:06 > 0:39:08as it moves into the Fascist years,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11as it moves towards totalitarians and...
0:39:11 > 0:39:14It's very difficult to think that this guy
0:39:14 > 0:39:17- was associated with that movement. - Yeah.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21I mean, what we see downstairs is this explosion of colour
0:39:21 > 0:39:24and energy, and things in here are just like monochrome.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27There is no hope in this picture isn't there?
0:39:27 > 0:39:30It's like the guy is almost fading away, isn't he?
0:39:30 > 0:39:34And the other one is in desperation completely.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36Like there is no future.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40Sironi had it from both angles because the Fascists, who he was
0:39:40 > 0:39:43supposedly working for, didn't like what he produced for them.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46And the avant-garde, the rest of Italy, as well,
0:39:46 > 0:39:48didn't like him because he was Fascist.
0:39:48 > 0:39:53And his work became ever increasingly melancholic.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55If we look at this picture,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58I mean, if anything, it's even darker than the other one.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01This melancholy figure, as it were,
0:40:01 > 0:40:05stranded among the ruins of this new modern Italy
0:40:05 > 0:40:07by a sort of shattered aqueduct.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11A night sky, it's all darkness, it's all despair.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Do you think these pictures do get to the heart of
0:40:14 > 0:40:16this dark moment in Italian history?
0:40:16 > 0:40:18Definitely. Definitely, both of them.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21They really are very, very sad pictures.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24You know, because my family have been through that.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27- My uncle got shot by the Fascists. - He was a partisan?
0:40:27 > 0:40:29He was a partisan and he got killed.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32All the family were involved in the Resistance.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34When you hear my father talking about those years,
0:40:34 > 0:40:38they just, you know, they were really suffering, there was no food.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40The Americans were coming and bombing,
0:40:40 > 0:40:42the Germans were running away,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46you know, it's just really like a social implosion, the wars.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49You know, somewhere along the line you understood that this was
0:40:49 > 0:40:51what was going to happen.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54It's a rollercoaster ride, Italian history.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57'Despite the trauma suffered at the hands of the Fascists,
0:40:57 > 0:40:59'the country bounced back.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02'After the Second World War, Lombardy rolled its sleeves up
0:41:02 > 0:41:06'and kick started the economic boom of the '50s and '60s,
0:41:06 > 0:41:09'that transformed Italy into a modern country.'
0:41:15 > 0:41:17'Even though they never stand still,
0:41:17 > 0:41:21'the people of Lombardy never forget their roots.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24'Much of Lombard life is rooted in our food,
0:41:24 > 0:41:28'the kind of staple dishes I grew up eating.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31'After a busy day, I think it's time for Andrew
0:41:31 > 0:41:34'to experience a local classic.'
0:41:34 > 0:41:37- We've been poncing around a lot. - Poncing around?
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Yeah, we've been, we've been in the super shops
0:41:40 > 0:41:42and things like that, I want to show the heart
0:41:42 > 0:41:45that's really what the people eat, you know.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47So you're going to de-poncify us through food.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Yes, that's right.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51So we have check out one very important ingredient.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53It's very early in the season, see if we've got any cabbage.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55If we've got cabbage, I can cook you Cassoeula.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10'Hearty and earthy, the Cassoeula is just as representative
0:42:10 > 0:42:13'of Lombardy as Marchesi's delicate risotto.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17'With the vegetables chosen, it's time to go to the butchers,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19'the Macelleria of Roberto Faravelli.'
0:42:21 > 0:42:22See, this is the Macelleria.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25This has been here for 50 years, Andrew, you know.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28We're going to meet the son.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31'The meat is the most important part of the Cassoeula.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34'This is real nose-to-tail eating.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38'And I know Roberto will sort us out with the best cuts.'
0:42:38 > 0:42:40HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:43:07 > 0:43:10- This is puntina.- Pork, spare ribs. - Spare ribs, yeah.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15HE LAUGHS
0:43:15 > 0:43:17Sexy Italia, eh!
0:43:17 > 0:43:18THEY LAUGH
0:43:18 > 0:43:20- The nose.- The nose. Si.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27- Gelatine.- Gelatine.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31So you put the pig's nose in to make, to make it gelatinous?
0:43:31 > 0:43:32That's right.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34- Ears.- Ears.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37- Nice and cruchant.- Cruchant.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44How do you say in Italian, that's a meal to put hairs on a man's chest?
0:43:44 > 0:43:46GIORGIO TRANSLATES
0:43:49 > 0:43:51THEY LAUGH
0:44:09 > 0:44:11- Grazie!- Arrivederci, grazie.
0:44:17 > 0:44:22'Now it's time to get to work, and there's quite a lot of work to do.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26'It's ages since I've cooked it.'
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Beautiful, isn't it?
0:44:31 > 0:44:32Yeah, beautiful.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40The smells, the colour,
0:44:40 > 0:44:42you know, this is what food is all about for me.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46This is the smell that I used to smell as I came home from school.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49As soon as I got to the gate of the house, I knew that my
0:44:49 > 0:44:54grandmother was cooking this, because you could smell it from outside.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57- Red wine.- Red wine.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01- Mmm, it's such a good smell. - It is, isn't it?
0:45:01 > 0:45:05Now it's cooking. So we're going to add the rest of the pig.
0:45:05 > 0:45:06Do you want me to shave the pig's ear?
0:45:06 > 0:45:09That's right. Well, I want you to take away the hair.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11Just like that, yes.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13And in the meantime, while you're doing that,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17I'm going to add the other pieces. The tail, the snout.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19This feels to me, like a recipe that people have been
0:45:19 > 0:45:21cooking for many centuries.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24The idea is, they're using these parts because they are the parts
0:45:24 > 0:45:27that are ready to be used straight away when you've killed the pig.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30The rest of the meat, if it's hanged for a bit, it's better.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34The ham will go and be cured, the back will be back heated and slice.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Oh, cos this is the dish for the day of killing of the pig, right.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39That's right, that's right.
0:45:39 > 0:45:41OK. Oh, it all begins to make sense.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43Here I've got the cabbage.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50Cabbage and pig, it's a classic combination, isn't it?
0:45:50 > 0:45:51Absolutely.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55And now all we have to do is wait for a couple of hours.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01OK, we are happy.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07'Finally, it's ready and time for Andrew to taste Lombardy.'
0:46:09 > 0:46:13Andrew, I introduce you to the Cassoeula.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15- Mmm.- Smell that.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17Mmm, fantastic.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20The nose.
0:46:20 > 0:46:21It looks lovely.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24I'm going to have the ears.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26- Is there another ear? - I'll give you half of my ear.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28Then, Andrew, what you do...
0:46:28 > 0:46:30You excavate some cabbage.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34The cabbage is fantastic,
0:46:34 > 0:46:37it's completely permeated with the meat juices.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39And kind of sweet, you know.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41It's a bit of ear.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44It's like cutting into jelly, fantastic.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48Mmm, it's really good.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Completely melts in your mouth, doesn't it?
0:46:50 > 0:46:52It's fantastic food.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55I love food that belongs to somewhere, to a culture.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58And this, for me, it's Lombardy.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01Fantastic. Cheers.
0:47:01 > 0:47:02Cheers.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04And the next two hours eating.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07That's OK. We got time. Pace yourself.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10I know, we've got a lot to get through.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16'The Cassoeula was the perfect dish to change gear
0:47:16 > 0:47:18'and lead us out of Milan.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22'We've come to Mantua, in the Po Valley,
0:47:22 > 0:47:24'one of Lombardy's great treasures.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31'Tranquil and elegant, it's home to the second great masterpiece
0:47:31 > 0:47:33'I want us to visit.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45'The work of art is to be found inside the Palazzo Te,
0:47:45 > 0:47:50'a hunting lodge built in 1525 for the powerful Duke Federico Gonzaga.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55'I think Giorgio may even like it more than the frescos
0:47:55 > 0:47:56'we saw at Villa Suardi.'
0:47:57 > 0:48:00Prego signore. Cavaliere.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02'Inspired by the grand villas of Rome,
0:48:02 > 0:48:06'the palace was designed by architect and painter Giulio Romano.'
0:48:08 > 0:48:10So, Giorgio, welcome to the Palazzo Te.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13These guys used to live in luxury, didn't they?
0:48:13 > 0:48:15Well, I think of this as the house of fun.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17The whole place was once full of jokes.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19This courtyard, originally, there was a labyrinth,
0:48:19 > 0:48:21so even trying to get into this place, you'd get lost.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24Unless you were with the Duke, who would take you through.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26- Oh, right. - It was just full of little games.
0:48:26 > 0:48:27So here we are.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31Now this palace was not a place for serious thought.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35It wasn't a place for the administration of his estates.
0:48:35 > 0:48:36It wasn't a place for business.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39It was, so to speak, a place for monkey business.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41No way!
0:48:41 > 0:48:46And er, I think the theme of this set of illustrations,
0:48:46 > 0:48:50or decorations, is basically sex and drinking.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54'Inside, Giulio combined his skills to create some truly
0:48:54 > 0:48:57'sense-stunning illusions.'
0:48:57 > 0:48:59Everything I've shown you so far
0:48:59 > 0:49:02is a prelude to Giulio Romano's piece de resistance.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09Wow! Oh, my God!
0:49:09 > 0:49:12Come in the middle, come in the middle.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14It's so brilliant.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17Oh.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19It makes you almost feel sick, doesn't it?
0:49:19 > 0:49:22It's like it's falling down, the whole thing.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24Is it not straight or something?
0:49:24 > 0:49:28No, it's not straight at all. The room's got no corners, you see.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32So that's why you feel like you really fell down, doesn't it?
0:49:32 > 0:49:34Wow!
0:49:34 > 0:49:36And originally, the floor was undulating,
0:49:36 > 0:49:39so when you came in, you would almost stumble
0:49:39 > 0:49:42and feel like you were taking part in the scene,
0:49:42 > 0:49:45because the subject, in a sense,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48is the biggest earthquake in mythological history.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50It's called the Sala Dei Giganti.
0:49:52 > 0:49:56And the story is, that the giants had tried to
0:49:56 > 0:49:58rebel against Jupiter in heaven.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01And Jupiter punishes the giants
0:50:01 > 0:50:04by striking them with the thunder and lightning.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07Oh, this is incredible!
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Giulio Romano was taught by Raphael,
0:50:10 > 0:50:12the great master of the High Renaissance.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15And master of the calm and tranquillity, order, reason.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18And this, so to speak, is the first thing that Giulio Romano does
0:50:18 > 0:50:20after he gets out of school.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22He's rebelling against his teachers.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25It's almost as if he's bringing down the great edifice
0:50:25 > 0:50:26of the High Renaissance.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29He's bringing it down with his jokes and his games,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32poking fun at it, making fun of it.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35This style of art is called, Maniera, Mannerism.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39It's a reaction against all that purity, all that classicism.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41It's incredible.
0:50:45 > 0:50:46What a place, eh!
0:50:46 > 0:50:48I'm glad you liked it.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51'Palazzo Te certainly packs a punch.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54'But it's not just architecture and painting
0:50:54 > 0:50:56'that Lombardy does brilliantly.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04'A short drive away in Cremona, is another example of
0:51:04 > 0:51:07'the perfect marriage of tradition and innovation.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12'It's the home of the Stradivari violin.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15'Antonio Stradivari perfected the art of violin-making
0:51:15 > 0:51:18'here in the 18th century.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22'The Lombards have always been proud of their excellent craftsmanship,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25'and they are still making instruments
0:51:25 > 0:51:27'to the Stradivari standard today.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30'We are visiting the International School Of Violin Making.'
0:51:32 > 0:51:33Number five, here we are.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Come, Andrew.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44When I was little, I used to go in Varese
0:51:44 > 0:51:47and there was this shop where these guys made violins.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50And I was so fascinated by how they made them.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54- Signor Daniele, buongiorno. - Buongiorno.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57Signor Andrea. Piacere.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Look at those tools that they have to make it.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04I love the precision and it takes...
0:52:09 > 0:52:11- ..50 days to make a violin.- 50!
0:52:11 > 0:52:1550 working days. So it is a work of love.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17I notice that he's...
0:52:28 > 0:52:32One little stroke of that wrong, you can just mess it all up.
0:52:32 > 0:52:38So, to me, this is artisan work taken to a different level.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41Look at that. Beautiful!
0:52:41 > 0:52:45Every liutaio goes and chooses his own wood,
0:52:45 > 0:52:48like an artist would choose his own colours.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Michelangelo going to Carrera to choose his marble.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53- Or a chef choosing his own ingredients.- Yeah.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55You know, the principle ingredient is the wood.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59'Stradivari violins are the most valuable in the world.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02'In the town's museum, there is an unrivalled collection
0:53:02 > 0:53:05'of some of the Master's original instruments.
0:53:05 > 0:53:10'To preserve their sound, they must to be played regularly.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14'I've arranged for us to have a private audience with Maestro Bosco,
0:53:14 > 0:53:19'the person responsible for keeping these precious objects alive.'
0:53:38 > 0:53:40- We're going to hear a Stradivarius.- Yes.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42- And it's called Vesuvius.- Vesuvius.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48'I can't quite believe we're going to have our own private concert
0:53:48 > 0:53:51'played on an original Stradivarius.'
0:53:51 > 0:53:53Vesuvio.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56HE PLAYS THE VIOLIN
0:54:05 > 0:54:07'This is such a treat.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10'I never realised that Stradivari was from Lombardy,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12'but it all makes sense.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15'The attention to detail, the beautiful design,
0:54:15 > 0:54:17'the utter fitness for purpose.'
0:54:31 > 0:54:34'There is one last stop for us in Lombardy.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37'A place that for me epitomises the spirit of the region,
0:54:37 > 0:54:40'the Taccani power station.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45'Built in 1904, it was one of a series of hydro electric plants
0:54:45 > 0:54:49'on the river Adda, that powered the modern success of Lombardy.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53'My father and his father before him were hydraulic engineers,
0:54:53 > 0:54:57'so places like this are special to me.'
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Going and seeing my father when he was working,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01I spent a lot of time in places like that.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03But, you know, it is so important
0:55:03 > 0:55:06because this is the blood of Lombardy.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11They found themselves with a really enormous light industry that
0:55:11 > 0:55:13needed energy to propel it forward.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17They didn't have anything to burn, so they harnessed the power
0:55:17 > 0:55:20of these mountains and this water coming down.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23I love these old machines, I think they are wonderful.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25They are incredible, aren't they?
0:55:25 > 0:55:28This is like a...it's really an expression of what the
0:55:28 > 0:55:33Lombards are, which is about movement, energy, going forwards,
0:55:33 > 0:55:37building, you know, just getting things moving all the time.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39They really built them to last, didn't they?
0:55:39 > 0:55:41To think they were made in 1904,
0:55:41 > 0:55:43and they're still powering Lombardy with electricity.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45Still, yeah.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47And what is really, really nice as well is,
0:55:47 > 0:55:50the river makes the motion to get the tram in Milan to work.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54And it is lovely to think that energy then propelled that thing
0:55:54 > 0:55:57all the way through the Futurism to everybody.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Oh, I was going to say without this place,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02- Futurism wouldn't have been possible.- Absolutely.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04They were celebrating the electrical city.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07- There's so much noise in here. - Yeah, there is.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10It makes me feel like I am in a cathedral full of machines!
0:56:13 > 0:56:16Strikes me that this is quite a good place to end our journey,
0:56:16 > 0:56:19given that we have been banging on about how Lombardy is
0:56:19 > 0:56:21the motor that drives Italy.
0:56:21 > 0:56:24And here we are, at a turbine station that furnishes
0:56:24 > 0:56:27half of the electricity of the region.
0:56:27 > 0:56:28Pretty amazing building.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30It's great, it's like a palace.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33It's like the Palazzo del Te, except instead of having...
0:56:33 > 0:56:35Palazzo del electricita.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38I think it really sums up what I've got from this particular journey,
0:56:38 > 0:56:43which is a really strong sense of the role that this part of Italy
0:56:43 > 0:56:46has played in the larger Italian story.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50I think really Lombardy has sort of electrically propelled
0:56:50 > 0:56:52the rest into the 20th century.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Well, that's the reason that I took you here,
0:56:55 > 0:57:00because I really see the connection between these kind of spaces.
0:57:00 > 0:57:06These kind of showpieces like this are very beautiful to see,
0:57:06 > 0:57:09but, as well, they really show the resilience of the Lombard.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12And that meal you cooked, what did you call it, the cass...?
0:57:12 > 0:57:14- Cassoeula.- Cassoeula.- Yeah.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17I felt that it was a really nice transition.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20It helped me understand, as it were, where Lombardy came from,
0:57:20 > 0:57:24because that, to me, felt like the origins of this place.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27I was going back to something that people had eaten almost for ever.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31And it wasn't very fancy, it wasn't very posh, it was really rustic.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34That's food from the fields, and that, to me,
0:57:34 > 0:57:38almost was a symbol of how far they rose, you know.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41Through that cathedral, bringing all the intellectuals here.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43Through that culture of design
0:57:43 > 0:57:45gradually developing into the 19th century,
0:57:45 > 0:57:49It's an amazing evolution from really quite low origins.
0:57:49 > 0:57:55This is also based really on an absolutely strong work ethic.
0:57:55 > 0:58:00Everybody realised themselves through work.
0:58:00 > 0:58:01Work is like a religion for them.
0:58:01 > 0:58:04When they get up in the morning and see you in the square,
0:58:04 > 0:58:06they don't say to you, "How are you?"
0:58:06 > 0:58:09They say, "Come va il lavoro?", which means, "How's the work?"
0:58:09 > 0:58:11How's the work?!
0:58:11 > 0:58:13How's the work, yeah, how do you do in the work?
0:58:13 > 0:58:16Do you think I've finally...hey, maybe I've finally understood
0:58:16 > 0:58:19- that's why you're the way you are! - Why?
0:58:19 > 0:58:22Because you are a Lombard, you never stop working!
0:58:23 > 0:58:26Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd