0:00:02 > 0:00:04'I'm Andrew Graham-Dixon and I'm an art historian.'
0:00:04 > 0:00:07It's one of the top five most beautiful paintings in the world.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11'I'm Giorgio Locatelli and I'm a chef.'
0:00:11 > 0:00:15When you say handmade, it's what it means!
0:00:15 > 0:00:18'We're both passionate about my homeland - Italy.'
0:00:18 > 0:00:21It's so, so beautiful.
0:00:21 > 0:00:27'The rich flavours and classic dishes of this land are in my culinary DNA.'
0:00:27 > 0:00:30I wouldn't mind being a pig if I have to grow up here.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34'And this country's rich layers of art and history
0:00:34 > 0:00:36'have captivated me since childhood.'
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Primitive but actually fantastic, beautiful, sophisticated.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44'In this series, we'll be travelling all the way up
0:00:44 > 0:00:46'the east coast of the country -
0:00:46 > 0:00:49'from the deep south to the extreme north.'
0:00:50 > 0:00:53'Stepping off the tourist track wherever we go.'
0:00:53 > 0:00:56- Not a bad spot, is it? - This is a dream.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02'I want to show off some of my country's more surprising food,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06'often most born out of necessity but leaving a legacy
0:01:06 > 0:01:09'that's still shaping Italian modern cuisine around the world.'
0:01:09 > 0:01:13- It's better than an oyster. - Much better than an oyster.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16'And the art, too, is extraordinary, exotic
0:01:16 > 0:01:19'and deeply rooted in history.'
0:01:21 > 0:01:25'Our journey begin in the south - Basilicata and Puglia.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28'These region can be thought of as the instep and the heel
0:01:28 > 0:01:31'of the boot that is Italy.'
0:01:32 > 0:01:36'We'll visit places that are very much under the radar.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39'Difficult to get to but it's beautiful driving country,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42'and full of little-known treasures to discover.'
0:01:57 > 0:02:01We're here in one of the driest regions of Italy - Basilicata.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Until the '70s, they were living in caves.
0:02:05 > 0:02:06That's where I'm going to take you,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09I'm going to take you to Matera and have a look at these caves.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11It's one of the jewels of this place, Matera?
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Absolutely.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Although now Matera looks very picturesque, for centuries
0:02:19 > 0:02:24life has been very harsh and the people here were very poor.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26Even in modern times,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29families were still living in houses carved out of the rock.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33It looks like a cubist painting.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36An ancient maze in which you can lose yourself for hours.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41I'm really intrigued by the appearance of this town.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45I'd like to find out more about its past and its present.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52It's like a, kind of, human rabbit warren.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Except, instead of tunnels, there are all these passages, these stairs
0:02:56 > 0:03:00these endless different layers and, sort of, exterior corridors...
0:03:00 > 0:03:02I think we need to go up this one.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Sometimes when you think about, like, New York and places like that,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08when the people lives vertically.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10This is like, you know, this has been doing that
0:03:10 > 0:03:12for thousands and thousands of years.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Really unusual, isn't it,
0:03:14 > 0:03:16to find a place where the medieval structure,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19probably earlier than medieval structure, survives?
0:03:19 > 0:03:23- Look at that! - Fantastic, isn't it fantastic?
0:03:23 > 0:03:24Look at how beautiful it is.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30This is the chimney of somebody's house underneath here.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33There. So you're walking on the roof of someone.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35We're walking on the roof.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38- This is incredible, isn't it? - It's fantastic.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43'The old town of Matera is called Sassi, stones,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47'and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.'
0:03:48 > 0:03:52'The Sassi is one of the earliest human settlements in Italy.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57'People have lived here since Palaeolithic times.'
0:03:57 > 0:03:59I think this is the way to see it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01A walk through the backstreets.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05All the houses, kind of, prop each other up in some way.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09I think we're in for a... Southern Italian storm, no?
0:04:09 > 0:04:10Fantastic.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18'We still need to do our shopping for lunch.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20'Let's go before it starts to rain.'
0:04:21 > 0:04:23'The market's bursting with a wonderful variety
0:04:23 > 0:04:25'of local fruit and veg.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28'I'm struck by these hefty round courgettes,
0:04:28 > 0:04:30'like green cricket balls.'
0:04:33 > 0:04:37'I've decided to cook a typical peasant recipe - pignata.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39'Everything I need is here.'
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Buongiorno, allora...
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Look at the range of vegetables they have. It's incredible, isn't it?
0:04:49 > 0:04:51For a small stall...
0:04:51 > 0:04:54- You know, some of the stuff maybe comes directly from the farmer.- Yeah.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56Yeah, that's the one.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Quali?
0:05:01 > 0:05:02Piccadilly o...?
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Piccadilly they're called? Fantastic.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Is this Piccadilly Circus then?
0:05:14 > 0:05:18- Mhh.- Yeah, it smells like tomato. - It smells like a tomato.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20- Hasn't been in the fridge.- No.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23- Grazie.- Ciao, mister. - Ciao, grazie.- Ciao.
0:05:23 > 0:05:24Arrivederci, grazie.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27- He said, "Ciao, mister." - Ciao, mister.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Ciao, signore, ciao, mister.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33'Our last stop is the butcher.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37'In the past, meat was considered a luxury.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40'People would eat it maybe just once a year
0:05:40 > 0:05:42'for a special occasion, like the harvest.'
0:05:46 > 0:05:49- Pecora is ewe.- It's mutton.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Yeah, it's like a mutton.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Four pounds, yeah, we take it all, we take it all.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58To cook a perfect pignata, you have to put a bit of sausages.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06It's a nice flavours.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09Prego, prego, prego.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15Very typical thing.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- Grazie.- There we are. Grazie.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21- Grazie, buona giornata. - Buona giornata.- Arrivederci.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31'Before we go into the kitchen, I want to take Giorgio
0:06:31 > 0:06:35'on a mini-pilgrimage to a unique church
0:06:35 > 0:06:37'perched on top of one of Matera's rocks.'
0:06:40 > 0:06:44It's raining today but if we were 13th-century visitors to the church
0:06:44 > 0:06:47coming up from the town, we'd actually be happy.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50- Why?- Because it hardly ever rains here
0:06:50 > 0:06:53and that's blessed water coming from the heavens.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Water is really precious in this town.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58And it's the subject of this church, if you like,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02it's called Santa Maria de Idris - St Maria of the Water.
0:07:02 > 0:07:03Of the water.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06And it was a particular place of devotion for the women of Matera.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08They wouldn't come in like we're coming in.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10- They wouldn't walk on their feet. - No?
0:07:10 > 0:07:12No, they'd start at the bottom of the hill on their knees.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14So all the way they'd come up like this.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16- No way.- Yeah.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20- And...that's not all. - Is that what they used to do?
0:07:20 > 0:07:23That's not all. I'm not kidding.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25This channel here is called a leccatoio,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27which means a licking channel.
0:07:27 > 0:07:28And you would lick your way
0:07:28 > 0:07:30- into the church.- No way.- Yeah.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Now, this might seem like a weird,
0:07:33 > 0:07:34primitive ritual,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37but, I think, when you think about the nature of this place
0:07:37 > 0:07:40and when you see this image, it begins to make sense.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44- She is the Madonna of the water jugs.- Right.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Now, she's all scratch and scribble
0:07:46 > 0:07:48cos she's been so destroyed by time.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51I think you can feel, sort of,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54accumulated centuries of veneration and prayer.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00I love the way it's placed, the way it's placed above the city.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04- I mean, look at that view.- Oh, yeah. And you feel you're on an eminence.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09It's amazing, as well, is that the building becomes the mountain
0:08:09 > 0:08:12and the mountain becomes the church, isn't it?
0:08:12 > 0:08:15- It's almost like using nature.- Yeah.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20- This little arch, they've cut this through.- OK.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23It actually takes us into a different church.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27This is San Giovanni Monterrone, named after the rock.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29St John of the rock.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And it's got these wonderful little fragments of frescoes.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35- Look at that face up there. - So beautiful.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39They were painted in the 13th century
0:08:39 > 0:08:43and yet they're done in this archaic Byzantine style.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45Yeah.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48If you come over here, look.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53- Much later. Late 16th century. - Yeah, you can see that.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58Shakespeare's writing his tragedies, Caravaggio's painting...
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and yet this is what they think the latest style is here...
0:09:01 > 0:09:04as if from two centuries earlier than that.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Aren't they beautiful?
0:09:06 > 0:09:09This looks like a girl that could walk down the streets today,
0:09:09 > 0:09:10doesn't it?
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Yeah. I know what you mean, the figure's got this very dark hair,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16these dark eyes, dark complexion.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18But it's not actually a girl, it's not actually a woman.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22This is San Giovanni the Evangelist.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25He's often seen as the most feminine of the disciples
0:09:25 > 0:09:26and Christ embraces him.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30I think also what is amazing -
0:09:30 > 0:09:34you can see at least three layers here.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37So they painted one on top of each other.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39That must be at least three frescoes back.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41That might be 1300.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45But no matter how many layers of time we find,
0:09:45 > 0:09:49whenever we do arrive at a time, at a period,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51we see that they are 200 years behind everyone else.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58This part of Italy is the forgotten land of the Mezzogiorno,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00as we call the south.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Even as late as 1940, most Italian hadn't even heard of Matera.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12That all changed thanks to one man - Carlo Levi, a northern Italian,
0:10:12 > 0:10:18who was banished in 1935 for opposing Mussolini's Fascist regime.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21While in exile, he wrote Christ Stopped At Eboli,
0:10:21 > 0:10:23published in 1945.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27I read it when I was young, at school.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Because, you know, our teacher was from the south of Italy
0:10:30 > 0:10:35and when he start to try to explain to us the problem of the Mezzogiorno,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38that was the first book, the book that was more essential for us
0:10:38 > 0:10:42northern Italian boy, or northern Italian kids, to understand,
0:10:42 > 0:10:48really, what was the problem, how bad it was this problem in the south.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52I think what I was most struck by was the description of Matera,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56which is described by Levi, who himself, presumably,
0:10:56 > 0:10:57was deeply shocked.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00And he says it's like Dante's Inferno.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05And he talks about these windows or doors into the rock
0:11:05 > 0:11:07and they're like these black eyes that haunt him.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11And then he looks inside and he sees these families living
0:11:11 > 0:11:1320 to a room with their animals, with their pigs,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15their sheep, their dogs.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17This was a place of sufferance
0:11:17 > 0:11:22and where people really, really lived in a way we cannot even imagine now.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28The most striking thing for me was the description of the children
0:11:28 > 0:11:32and he describes children like...
0:11:32 > 0:11:35well, like the children we see in Africa today when there's a famine.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38They've got grotesquely distended stomachs,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42their legs are thin like skeletons, they're so demoralised and ill,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46they can't even wipe the flies from their eyes.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49And I just...you know, it's really shocking.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52I don't know who you'd compare Carlo Levi to today.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55He's, sort of, almost like the Bob Geldof of his time,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57he really got people to think about it, didn't he?
0:11:57 > 0:11:58Exactly.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01And it's changed, hasn't it? Beyond recognition.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04It's their time to show off and make, you know,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07something great of this past.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10And as a measure of it, they're one of the candidate cities
0:12:10 > 0:12:13- to be European City of Culture. - Of culture.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Carlo Levi would be pretty proud of that.
0:12:16 > 0:12:17Yeah.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20It is a magical place.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Today, about half of the Sassi has been restored.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32People have moved back, making their homes once again in the honeycomb.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36The town's been given a second chance and it's come back to life.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Our kitchen is inside one of these restored caves.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48I love how they've kept the old structure.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51The perfect location for what I'm going to cook -
0:12:51 > 0:12:55mutton stew with vegetable, pork sausage and pecorino cheese.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Your job is to pull your sleeves up
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and, with this implement, to peel these potatoes.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04Oh, thanks.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06I'll cut the other stuff.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12We are going to cut the Piccadilly tomato in half.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- Can I just check that they're OK? - Yeah.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19They're delicious, aren't they?
0:13:19 > 0:13:20They're OK, they're like plums.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22They're sweet.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Do you want it very hot?
0:13:24 > 0:13:26I don't know, how hot are these?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29- They're hot. - I just ate a whole one.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31- And it's not hot?- It's really hot.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:13:35 > 0:13:37- Ho, ho, ho, ho. - I told you it was really hot.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40My tongue, I can't feel it any more, it's completely anaesthetized.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42- I say not to eat it.- Yeah, I know. - Why do you eat it?!
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Bring the pignata, which is that amphora.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48This is beautiful.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53'I've to layer the ingredients one on top of each other
0:13:53 > 0:13:55'so that everything will cook evenly.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58'It's like an ancient pressure cooker - with an edible lid.'
0:13:58 > 0:14:01There's a bit of the celery, a little bit of the onions,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03a bit of the lamb.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Yeah, this is OK.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08I made some dough.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11The main idea is not to lose any of the flavour.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17You're, kind of, almost putting it to bed - your dish.
0:14:17 > 0:14:18Goes to sleep for three hours.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21- And what happens to this wonderful covering?- You eat it.
0:14:21 > 0:14:22It'll be like bread.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25- But it won't crack?- Well...
0:14:25 > 0:14:27- You hope?- I hope.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29The food almost, kind of, steams?
0:14:29 > 0:14:31It will, kind of, move as it goes...
0:14:31 > 0:14:32But it's not going to really reach...
0:14:32 > 0:14:34No, it's not going to pick up boiling.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36That's why we cook it next to the fire.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38We should put it in now.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40OK, in you come.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42- So now what? You just put it down?- Yeah.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Ahh. GIORGIO SIGHS
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Not too close, not too far.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50And again, I give him a turn.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53I'm so worried that it's going to come out so nice
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and I have to wait for three hours now.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Like, I'm steaming more than that pot because I don't know
0:14:59 > 0:15:01what's going to happen in that pot, you know what I mean?
0:15:01 > 0:15:04I know it's going to be good. Non preoccupare.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11There is time for one last look at the Sassi while the food cooks.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16There aren't many descriptions of old Matera
0:15:16 > 0:15:17but there's one that I really like.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20It was written in the 17th century by a man of the cloth.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24And he said that, in the evening, it was the custom here that each house
0:15:24 > 0:15:26would put out a light.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28And because there were so many houses, so many windows,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30so many doors,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34the whole city was almost like a sea of light which, would be reflected
0:15:34 > 0:15:36in the starry sky above.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39I can see what you mean.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41It's different now, of course,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44but if you half close your eyes you can almost get that effect.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Dalle stalle alle stelle.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50From the stalls to the stars.
0:15:50 > 0:15:51To the stars.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59- Come.- Well, it is about the hour of eating, isn't it?
0:15:59 > 0:16:00Yes.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Hello!
0:16:10 > 0:16:14- Ah, at last.- That is amazing
0:16:14 > 0:16:16That is one of the weirdest looking things.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22- That's the lid?- That is the lid.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25- What do you think, Andrew? - I think it's a spectacular object.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33- Mmm.- Wow.
0:16:34 > 0:16:35- Ohh.- I must have a smell of this.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Wow! That smells fantastic. Doesn't it smell fantastic?
0:16:43 > 0:16:45You can actually eat that.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50- I'm going to sit here and salivate...- 'Unpolitely.'
0:16:50 > 0:16:53There we go, look, a big bit of ewe.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58- This must be a bit of cheese that is melt.- I never got any cheese.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Better put some on. I know it's more than I should have.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02That's a big plate of stuff.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04The cheese smells fantastic, as well.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07OK.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Whoa!
0:17:09 > 0:17:11The lamb is fantastic, isn't it?
0:17:11 > 0:17:15When we put it next to the fire, I was really worried about it
0:17:15 > 0:17:18because the power of the fire is something that, you know,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21it takes years to really understand it.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24- Look at that lamb, it's perfect. It just comes off the bone.- Yeah.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29It's absolutely delicious, Andrew.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Peasant food at its best.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34What I like about it is it's very hearty.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36To me, it tastes really healthy.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Like it's good for you.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42- Cin cin, man.- Cheers.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59'We've travelled a few miles outside of Matera into the wilderness
0:17:59 > 0:18:04'because my sources tell me there's been an extraordinary art discovery
0:18:04 > 0:18:06'hidden away in some caves.'
0:18:06 > 0:18:08Wow, look at the river.
0:18:08 > 0:18:09Gorgeous scenery.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15'Until 1963, shepherds used to keep their flocks inside these caves.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18'I hope we're not on a wild sheep chase.'
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Wow.
0:18:24 > 0:18:25Not bad, huh?
0:18:25 > 0:18:28We're right in the middle of the countryside
0:18:28 > 0:18:30in the middle of nowhere, look at this.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32In a cave cut into a cliff.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36- This is amazing. - Spectacular, isn't it?
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Look at this.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41This is San Pietro, he's got the keys.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43The keys.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Do you know how old these paintings are?
0:18:45 > 0:18:49- I've got no idea. - They are really, really old.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Everything in here was painted before 850,
0:18:52 > 0:18:58so we're talking 9th century, 8th century, 1,200 years old.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03Amongst the oldest frescoes in all of Southern Italy
0:19:03 > 0:19:05and amongst the best.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07But still a really well kept secret.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09- I mean, hardly anybody ever comes here.- No.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11There's virtually nothing written about these works.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17'The artists who created the frescoes are unknown.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20'Perhaps they were master painters from the Byzantine East,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23'called in by the Benedictine monks who settled in these caves
0:19:23 > 0:19:25'during the 8th century -
0:19:25 > 0:19:28'gradually transforming them into little churches.'
0:19:31 > 0:19:34And if you come around on this side. Look at that.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Absolutely beautiful painting.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41Look at her dress, it looks like a print
0:19:41 > 0:19:43from last year collection in Paris.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Primitive but actually fantastic, beautiful, sophisticated.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50What I love about it is the way in which
0:19:50 > 0:19:54they've used the shape of the rock so that she is looming over you.
0:19:54 > 0:19:55That's right.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57Her head is actually painted on the overhang
0:19:57 > 0:19:58so she's looking down on you.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01She's got the sweetest eyes ever.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05But look up here. This is really rare.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Monumental depiction of Genesis.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15I am...yeah, lost for words.
0:20:15 > 0:20:16What do you mean?
0:20:16 > 0:20:20- Andrew Graham-Dixon speechless... - I am.- ..in front of a work art?
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Never seen that.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26In the centre of the Sistine Chapel you've got that tree.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30And that thing of the fingers as well, look, his arms are up.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31Yes, exactly.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35- The single hand of God... - Right.- ..creates Adam.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Give the life to Adam.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42Obviously Michelangelo didn't see this, but he's inheriting it.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46That's the tree of knowledge with Satan twined around it.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48- ANDREW HISSES - Whispering to Eve, "Take the apple,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50"take the apple."
0:20:50 > 0:20:53And look what is it - the forbidden fruit.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56It's not an apple - is a fig.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Look, she's really ashamed.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04It's almost like you're seeing the beginning
0:21:04 > 0:21:07of Italian religious painting here.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10And it's here in a cave in little Matera.
0:21:10 > 0:21:11How incredible.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21'I'll never forget these frescoes - so unexpected.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24'Matera's been one surprise after another.'
0:21:27 > 0:21:30'Andrew put the bar of discoveries pretty high.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32'Luckily, I have the perfect match.'
0:21:47 > 0:21:48Buongiorno!
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Buongiorno, buongiorno!
0:21:50 > 0:21:54'Gaetano owns a herd of cows known as Podolica,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57'an ancient breed that comes from the Eastern Steppe.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01'They're very strong, the perfect species to survive this harsh land.'
0:22:01 > 0:22:04'They look very much like Matera moo cows -
0:22:04 > 0:22:07'they're even the same colour as the local stone.'
0:22:16 > 0:22:20What is important is that the animal don't get any additional feed.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24All they eat is what grows here. Look, this is wild rocket.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27They eat this and there's all this flavours goes in the milk
0:22:27 > 0:22:29and thereafter goes in the cheese.
0:22:31 > 0:22:32I can't wait to taste the cheese.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34OK.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37'Gaetano makes caciocavallo, a cheese so ancient
0:22:37 > 0:22:42'it was mentioned by the Greek writer Hippocrates in 500 BC.'
0:22:43 > 0:22:46'I bet it's what the painters who created those frescoes
0:22:46 > 0:22:47'in the caves used to eat.'
0:22:49 > 0:22:54There is thousand of year of history and experience in this movement.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57But look, he's stretching the dough up.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00You said dough, I mean, it looks like dough.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03It's like a dough. Oh, look at how beautiful.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05I'm going to get it. Move it round.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12It looks like a whale's tongue.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14We're going to stretch it really, really long.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16His own weight is pulling on it.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22'It's very important to stretch the curd because it realigns
0:23:22 > 0:23:26'the protein in the cheese to give its characteristic texture.'
0:23:26 > 0:23:29I never done this before.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32This is like, for you it be...if Van Gogh was here and painting
0:23:32 > 0:23:34and you just passing the colour, Andrew.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38Have you seen his hands?
0:23:38 > 0:23:43This guy's hands have got a strength that you cannot even imagine.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45I've seen his forearms.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47One, two and push.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Gaetano may be a man of few words
0:23:51 > 0:23:53but his actions speak for themselves.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58He's dedicated his life to keeping the caciocavallo tradition alive.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02As they stay in the hot water...
0:24:02 > 0:24:04They begin to, sort of, melt back into one piece.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06- That's right.- Is it very hot?
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Very hot. I barely can touch it.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12And my hands are quite used to heat.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16- OK, here you are.- Oh, wow.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20As he's closing, he's pushing with his knees as well.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24So it's like a jellyfish that's been forced to swallow its own tentacles.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28And turn it completely inside out in order to create one skin outside.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32Very important...the whole process, close it completely
0:24:32 > 0:24:34so there is no air coming through.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38There is no infiltration, there won't be any mould growing on it.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44- It's like watching a potter making a pot out of clay.- Absolutely.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47It looks like an ancient object, somehow.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51Isn't it beautiful?
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Aw, it's like a baby.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58When you say handmade, it's what it means!
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Handmade, made with your hands.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04I am a very, very, very happy boy.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07I have done something that I have never done in my life.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09This is so fantastic!
0:25:09 > 0:25:12'After a couple of hours of this masterclass
0:25:12 > 0:25:14'in ancient cheese making,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17'we couldn't possibly leave Gaetano without having a little taste
0:25:17 > 0:25:19'of his caciocavallo.'
0:25:19 > 0:25:21OK, we're going to taste one.
0:25:24 > 0:25:25This is 12 months.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28If you taste it, you've got to have a big bit.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Ohh.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:25:44 > 0:25:45Come no.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50It has the same kind of intensity as a really fantastic Cheddar.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53- Cheddar.- I mean, it's...- It's a bit more grainy than a Cheddar.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Yeah, more than towards Parmesan in that sense.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58- Yes, more towards Parmesan. - You can taste almost crystallised...
0:25:58 > 0:26:00Yeah, the crystal in that, that's exactly.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03It's super, it's fantastically good.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05- Grazie.- Andiamo. Grazie.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10- Arrivederci.- Andiamo.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17'Goodbye, Matera.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20'We are now heading to the neighbouring region of Puglia.'
0:26:21 > 0:26:25Mapping Matera was absolutely essential.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27I've never seen a place like that.
0:26:27 > 0:26:28It's extraordinary, isn't it?
0:26:28 > 0:26:30But what can we look forward to in Puglia?
0:26:30 > 0:26:33- Because I've never been to this part of the south of Italy.- OK.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36I imagine Puglia is a more...
0:26:36 > 0:26:40perhaps a more generous land than Basilicata.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44This is a land of plenty, if you have the seeds in your pocket,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47just falls out, something is going to grow.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49I'm looking forward to the architecture, I think,
0:26:49 > 0:26:50more than anything else...
0:26:50 > 0:26:53The Baroque, I think it's a great centre for the Baroque - Lecce.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56That's right. Puglia is more connected to the rest of Italy
0:26:56 > 0:26:58than the other southern region.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01They don't feel forgotten down there.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Well, Christ stopped at Eboli but Christ went to Puglia.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Hmm, we can say that. Definitely went to Puglia, yes.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14'Situated in the southern tip of the Italian peninsula,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18'Puglia is a succession of broad plains and low-lying hills.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21'Having warm and sunny weather most of the year
0:27:21 > 0:27:23'and being surrounded by the sea,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27'Puglia is very generous and a rich land.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30'So although Basilicata and Puglia are neighbouring regions,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33'they are miles apart.'
0:27:39 > 0:27:43'The city of Lecce became one of the powerhouses of Puglia
0:27:43 > 0:27:45'during the 15th century.'
0:27:45 > 0:27:48'The 16th century was its real golden age.'
0:27:49 > 0:27:51'Under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55'it rose to be the second city of the south, after Naples.'
0:27:58 > 0:27:59Here we are.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01These little streets - then suddenly they open up
0:28:01 > 0:28:05and reveal their treasures.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09This is probably the piece of resistance, you might say,
0:28:09 > 0:28:11of Lecce Baroque.
0:28:11 > 0:28:17It's called Santa Croce and it's seething with detail.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20- Isn't that fantastic? - It's incredible.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Apparently, the reason that is so detailed is because the stone,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26which is a local stone, is really, really fine
0:28:26 > 0:28:28and it's very easy to work it.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31Like, you can just carve it with a penknife, apparently.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33And it's so porous, as well.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35So what they used to do is take it
0:28:35 > 0:28:39and immerse it in a solution of milk and water.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42So that's the reason why it's still here.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46So it's a sort of cross between sculpture and a very hard cheese.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50You know how good they are with cheese around here.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57Lecce Baroque is defiantly exuberant and deeply counter reformation -
0:28:57 > 0:29:01a triumphant assertion of the Roman Catholic Church
0:29:01 > 0:29:03against its Protestant enemies.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10First Italian writer to come to Lecce and comment on this building,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13Marchese Grimaldi, simply wrote that it's like
0:29:13 > 0:29:18the nightmare of a lunatic realised in stone.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24'Although Lecce has plenty of amazing Baroque art to see,
0:29:24 > 0:29:28'it feels like a town that hasn't yet been discovered.'
0:29:28 > 0:29:31'In fact, we seem to have the entire town to ourselves.
0:29:31 > 0:29:35'It's as if we're walking through an empty stage set.'
0:29:37 > 0:29:39Isn't it beautiful?
0:29:39 > 0:29:42This is all by Giuseppe Zimbalo.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45He was an architect and he designed all this.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48This is really incredibly beautiful.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52The church is dedicated to St Orontius.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55He was venerated with a passion here
0:29:55 > 0:29:58because they believed that he had delivered the city of Lecce
0:29:58 > 0:30:00from a great plague in the 1650s.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04And so they got all their money together and erected this church
0:30:04 > 0:30:06and the bell tower.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08When was it that they built this?
0:30:08 > 0:30:10That was finished in 1682.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12There's a big inscription on the top.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14You know, I thought you were so clever
0:30:14 > 0:30:15that you knew when it was built.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18- But you were reading it. - I'm just reading 1682.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22This is breathtakingly beautiful.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Such a jewel, Lecce.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30I just have the right thing to keep us going for a little longer
0:30:30 > 0:30:33until we stop for lunch.
0:30:33 > 0:30:34When you come to Lecce, you have to have this.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36- And what is it called? - Pasticciotto.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Don't think I've ever seen one of these before.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41No, it's only made in Lecce. Pasticciotto is like Pasticcio.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45These guy in 1745 called Nicola Ascalone,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48and he just put some pastry together and he put some cream in there.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51And ever since, it's been like the flagship.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54This is representative of this place.
0:30:54 > 0:30:58Look, it's so beautiful. And look what's inside.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02This is going to inspire you to take in all this Baroque.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10It's a sort of...higher level custard pie.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14- OK. Now...- It's amazing. - It's amazing, isn't it?- Hmm.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22Suitably pepped up by the pasticciotto,
0:31:22 > 0:31:24it's time to visit one of the most beautiful
0:31:24 > 0:31:27and richly decorated churches in all of Lecce.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32So here we are, Giorgio, the church of San Matteo.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34I think the interior, to me, it's almost like biting
0:31:34 > 0:31:36into one of those pasticciotti.
0:31:36 > 0:31:37Bella farcita.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41It's, like, absolutely stuffed, it's full, it's rich.
0:31:41 > 0:31:42GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:31:42 > 0:31:45There's tremendous emphasis, I think, on decoration.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48It's very, very much what Lecce is all about.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51It's almost like you spend more time looking at the frames
0:31:51 > 0:31:54than you'd spend on the paintings themselves.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59There are cherubs, there's fruit, there's things going on.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02The result is that each painting is framed
0:32:02 > 0:32:04like a little piece of theatre.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08And the main attraction, of course,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11it's his church, is San Matteo himself.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14There he is, on the altar.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19He is the first Evangelist to write down the true story
0:32:19 > 0:32:21of the life of Christ.
0:32:21 > 0:32:26His is the first of the four Gospels and he is about to start writing.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28He's just, like, holding...
0:32:28 > 0:32:30- He's holding a quill.- A quill.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33He's looking up to God for inspiration.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37The angel is handing him the paper on which he will write his gospel.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42E bella farcita.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- Yes.- The whole thing is very rich, isn't it?
0:32:44 > 0:32:49It is, it is. This would originally have been even more spectacular.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53I think the gold has come down, the colours have come less.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56So it would originally really have, sort of, glittered
0:32:56 > 0:32:59and gleamed at you.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01The effect must have been quite awe-inspiring.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05If you're a humble peasant sitting in the pew,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08looking up at that, it makes you feel quite small.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12But at the same time, it's also speaking your language because...
0:33:12 > 0:33:17You can understand what's happening without being able to read a lot.
0:33:17 > 0:33:18Exactly.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32'Unlike Basilicata, where they had to squeeze life from the stones,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35'here it's the complete opposite.'
0:33:35 > 0:33:38Out of all the southern region,
0:33:38 > 0:33:43I feel that Puglia is the one who's really has a plenty.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48Is the more rich and the land that gives more than anyone else.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52Just look at this tree. This is a fig tree.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Those are called the fioroni,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56the one who comes first in the season.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58- Fioroni...- Yeah, like a big flower. - It's like flowers.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00Yeah, they are the flowers.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02It's like a little corner of paradise out here, isn't it?
0:34:02 > 0:34:05It is unbelievably rich.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08And when you look at the colour of the land.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10I love this dark soil.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15Dark, completely beautiful. It has an incredible smell.
0:34:15 > 0:34:16- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21- And what's that over there? - Andrew, you just put it all over me.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26And look at this wheat.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29- Beautiful.- Look at that. Durum wheat at their best.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33They wonder why you have beautiful bread and beautiful pasta here
0:34:33 > 0:34:35with wheat like that.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40'This is also the land of very unusual constructions
0:34:40 > 0:34:43'known as trulli, unique to this corner of Italy.'
0:34:43 > 0:34:46I just noticed there's a little trullo.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48Well, that must be one of the trullo
0:34:48 > 0:34:50of the people who worked on the countryside
0:34:50 > 0:34:54would occupy so that nobody would come and steal their crop.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56It's a wonderful object.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59This looks slightly slipped down the side.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06Look inside the structure, it's so beautiful.
0:35:06 > 0:35:07Unbelievable, yeah.
0:35:07 > 0:35:12The whole building is made of stone without any cement.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14It really looks like an igloo.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19- You're in love with the trullo now? - I think I'm in love with it.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27'Trulli are remarkable constructions made without mortar.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30'The stones are just laid on top of one another.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35'Many are ancient but until recently they've been left to fall into ruin.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40'Now, they're listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage.'
0:35:40 > 0:35:45'Trulli are to Puglia what the cave dwellings are to Basilicata.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48'Architectural survivals from the past that are actually
0:35:48 > 0:35:52'very well suited to modern needs and are now being restored.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56'Nowhere more triumphantly so than in Alberobello,
0:35:56 > 0:36:01'which has more than 1,500 trulli, almost every one now inhabited.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06'Trulli not only look like igloos, they work like igloos
0:36:06 > 0:36:09'but in reverse, shielding their inhabitants
0:36:09 > 0:36:13'from the fierce heat outside and making sure they stay cool.'
0:36:14 > 0:36:19'I know an even better way to stay cool on a hot day like this.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21'I know a woman who makes ice cream
0:36:21 > 0:36:24'only using product in the surrounding countryside.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27'Time for an Apulian ice cream.'
0:36:27 > 0:36:31OK, Andrew, this is going to be a test for you.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33- A test?- Test.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36A test on your taste buds. OK, here we are.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38Stay there, don't listen.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Buongiorno.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45- Buongiorno, signore - Oh, buongiorno.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Allora, volevo... Go away, just stand back a minute.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53- ANDREW LAUGHS - OK.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59Benissimo.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02This is speciality and you have to guess what it is.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04If you don't guess, that's it, you're out.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07I'm not cooking for you any more.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09She's putting a lot in.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13- I choose three fruit typical of here. - I just got one question...
0:37:14 > 0:37:16- Grazie.- No, no questions.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18You can't talk to her cos you'll ask her what it is.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20- But I've got a question for you. - OK, taste test.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22- Where's yours?- It's the...
0:37:24 > 0:37:27OK, now, taste and tell me what it is.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33- Green figs. - Remember, it's the start...
0:37:33 > 0:37:37This is not the figs of September, this is called fiorone,
0:37:37 > 0:37:41so the first figs who comes out at this time of the year.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44Yeah, OK, figs, very good.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46Second one, taste.
0:37:50 > 0:37:51Cherry?
0:37:51 > 0:37:53- Wrong, this is really special. - Hang on...
0:37:53 > 0:37:55This is called percoche,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59which are this really typical peach that grow only in Puglia.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01And they're really big and they're really juicy.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04- The peach is really good. - Third one...
0:38:06 > 0:38:07That's not fruit, that's nut.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11It's not co...it's almond.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13Bravo!
0:38:13 > 0:38:16- Do you know what, I've just realised what you've done, Giorgio?- What?
0:38:16 > 0:38:18You've chosen the ice cream in the colour of the Italian flag!
0:38:18 > 0:38:22That's exactly. GIORGIO LAUGHS
0:38:22 > 0:38:25- Undercover patriotism.- Grazie. - Grazie, arrivederci.- Arrivederci.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29'The flavours change according to the season.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34'Like the figs we just tried, hardly anything here is imported.'
0:38:34 > 0:38:38'Eating the percoche ice cream was like tasting summer itself.'
0:38:39 > 0:38:42'Now that we are rejuvenated, we can start
0:38:42 > 0:38:44'the essential preparation for my main dish
0:38:44 > 0:38:46'and there is somebody waiting to help.'
0:38:47 > 0:38:49Signora Cosima?
0:38:51 > 0:38:53Buongiorno! Oh, che piacere.
0:38:54 > 0:38:55Benissimo.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06- Which means, literally, little ears. - That's what it means.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08- Little ears of pasta? - Little ear of pasta.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11She obviously has done this for hundreds of years...
0:39:11 > 0:39:12or not hundreds of years - for a long time.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14ANDREW LAUGHS
0:39:14 > 0:39:16Better not translate that into Italian.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20Learning from people that has been making this for long time.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22Pull it...pull it.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Now, she is kneading the pasta on the wooden base
0:39:27 > 0:39:31without any flour on it so there is that friction.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34That friction will give the texture to the pasta
0:39:34 > 0:39:37then would allow the pasta to take in the sauce,
0:39:37 > 0:39:40to grasp the sauce to grasp the olive oil.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42Allora, Andrew, she shows you.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46Pull, turn it round and make the orecchiette.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49- I can do one.- Forza.
0:39:51 > 0:39:52- Taglia?- Si.- Tira.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56You don't have very good observation, you spend hours...
0:40:01 > 0:40:02- OK, OK.- Pull.- Pull.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05- Oh, mamma... - Oh, mamma mia, che disastro.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- What a disaster. - It's turned into a new kind of...
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Just sit down there, just stay there, just stay there.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15- Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.- OK.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17I think I'll just have to stand around and let you
0:40:17 > 0:40:19make all the pasta for my dinner.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22Bravo, Giorgio.
0:40:22 > 0:40:23Bravo, Giorgio.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29So it's quite a simple process but you need to get the knack.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32So if it was for you, we'd go without lunch.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34Thank goodness you're with me.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37I think this is enough for me and for Andrew for dinner.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41'Orecchiette used to be a peasant food and now,
0:40:41 > 0:40:45'like so many other poor man's dish, has become a gourmet hit.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48'This new culinary trend has rescued
0:40:48 > 0:40:51'so many recipes that would have been otherwise forgotten.'
0:40:52 > 0:40:56'Cooking in kitchens like that one carved out of a cave in Matera
0:40:56 > 0:41:00'and now here in a trullo adds a special historical ingredient.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03'You don't just taste the food,
0:41:03 > 0:41:05'you experience the culture that produced it.'
0:41:05 > 0:41:07Smell that.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09Ahh.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Grazie. It does smell very good.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16Look, what we want, and this is your job...a bit of the leaf...
0:41:16 > 0:41:19these beautiful, tender leaves.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22Imagine that these are very good for one.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24- They're very healthy, aren't they? - Yes.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26- Isn't this the type of dark green vegetables...- Yes.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28..we're always being told to eat?
0:41:28 > 0:41:30I think we've got more than enough Andrew, now.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Going to give them a wash.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36'Turnip tops usually get thrown away because nowadays people don't
0:41:36 > 0:41:39'see it as a food and how good they can taste.'
0:41:39 > 0:41:43- So they've literally been in for, I'd say, 30 seconds.- Yeah.
0:41:43 > 0:41:44Just to take the boil.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48You do these just with garlic. You put some garlic in it and the chilli.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51- You cut the garlic thin.- Very thin.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54I'm going to put in the cime di rapa.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01You can taste if you want.
0:42:04 > 0:42:06Very nice. Buono.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08Bitter?
0:42:08 > 0:42:09No.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14'As usual, watching Giorgio cook is making me hungry.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17'I feel like nibbling on some antipasti typical of the region.'
0:42:17 > 0:42:22'My absolute favourite is the exquisite burrata.'
0:42:22 > 0:42:27Burrata is a by-product of making mozzarella.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29So everything what's left over don't get thrown away.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33All those little bits goes inside with a bit of cream.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34And then they close it.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38Look how thin is the skin of it.
0:42:38 > 0:42:39It's almost, like, in a membrane.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45It's so creamy, so nice.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51It's very good.
0:42:51 > 0:42:52That's unbelievable!
0:42:52 > 0:42:56Andrew, here's the orecchiette that we made with Cosima this morning.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58Come over here.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02- The little ears are going in. - Ooh, ah.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06The pasta will stick if you don't stir it.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10- So stir, stir.- Oh, yeah.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13You can feel that it might be getting there.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Some people like it more al dente, some people like it less al dente,
0:43:16 > 0:43:21some people hasn't got no 'dente' so it has to be really well cooked.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25That sauce has become very dark green.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30And have a really full flavour.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32OK, off we go.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41There you are. Thank you, Cosima.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44Grazie.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51It's not like any pasta that I ever ate before, I think.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53- I mean, it's really... - Consistency wise, no?
0:43:53 > 0:43:54It's substantial.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58Every single one of these little ears, orecchiette,
0:43:58 > 0:44:00each one has done what you'd hoped it would do
0:44:00 > 0:44:04which is that this side has scooped up the sauce
0:44:04 > 0:44:06- and the other side has trapped the sauce.- Well, yeah...
0:44:06 > 0:44:08But they've all done it.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11Excuse my fingers. So it's like a wonderful piece of design.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14I think that, in Puglia, the ingredients,
0:44:14 > 0:44:16kind of, like, screams at you.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18Yeah, yeah.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21I love it.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23My favourite recipes are the old recipes
0:44:23 > 0:44:26and I think this is just delicious, fantastic.
0:44:26 > 0:44:27Thank you.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29We landed...in Puglia.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36You are very close to Greece, you know?
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Well, I noticed in one of the restaurants here we were offered
0:44:39 > 0:44:42- a Greek salad... - That's ridiculous, Andrew.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44..and some of the people still speaking Ancient Greek.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Greek salad they invented in Los Angeles.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Between the 8th and the 9th centuries BC,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Puglia was one of the pearls of Magna Graecia.
0:44:54 > 0:44:59What we're going to see now is, I am sure, 100% Greek.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02Andrew, where are we?
0:45:02 > 0:45:05Well, this is the Jatta collection
0:45:05 > 0:45:08in the very little known town of Ruvo.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11It's a real secret jewel, I think.
0:45:11 > 0:45:12It's a very unusual collection
0:45:12 > 0:45:15because it dates from the 19th century
0:45:15 > 0:45:18and the history of art in Italy in the 19th century, for Italians,
0:45:18 > 0:45:19is a rather unhappy one.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24It's mostly a history of Italians being persuaded either to sell...
0:45:24 > 0:45:26- Sell it.- ..or give away their greatest treasures.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28This is incredible, Andrew.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33This a collection where, essentially, two brothers,
0:45:33 > 0:45:39Giulio and Giovanni Jatta, decided that they wanted to keep
0:45:39 > 0:45:45the treasures of Ruvo, which were principally Ancient Greek remains.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48The way that the collection's been laid out -
0:45:48 > 0:45:53it all leads you to the great treasure of the museum,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55which is this vase.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57- Wow.- Really unusual.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01I never see a white figure on one of these vases.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03We could even touch it if we wanted to.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05We won't touch it but we could if we wanted it to.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08You can't touch it because you're being watched.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12Giovanni Jatta placed here in this room
0:46:12 > 0:46:14with his eyes on his greatest treasure.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16- Of course.- It's a nice touch, that.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21Forever looking at his most precious treasure.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Forever looking at his most precious thing.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26Here we've got Jason and the Argonauts,
0:46:26 > 0:46:28that's the prow of their ship.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31Here's Medea, the mother of Jason's children,
0:46:31 > 0:46:33carrying a bowl full of poison.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35And who has she poisoned?
0:46:35 > 0:46:39She's poisoned the great bronze giant, Talos,
0:46:39 > 0:46:42who has been appointed to guard Crete
0:46:42 > 0:46:45and who's been killing everybody, this bronze automaton.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49And then he's dying and to convey the notion of his death,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51the artist has, suddenly, startlingly, departed
0:46:51 > 0:46:56from the colours of the Greek vase - red and black.
0:46:56 > 0:47:01Talos has been depicted in white, his body is drained of life.
0:47:01 > 0:47:07And down here's Crete, this beautiful, swooning, terrified girl,
0:47:07 > 0:47:10personifying Crete the island, who's losing her protector.
0:47:11 > 0:47:15Their two figures almost fall open like, perhaps,
0:47:15 > 0:47:18the two halves of a tree being split.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21This detail and they are absolutely brilliant.
0:47:23 > 0:47:24I love the horse head.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28One line, so perfect, so powerful.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32And, you know what? Look at the hands.
0:47:32 > 0:47:33Holding him there.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35I love the details of the clothes.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40You could create a Greek costume using those as your pattern.
0:47:40 > 0:47:45This is 2,400, 2,450 years old.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49I'm so, so incredibly touched by this.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Definitely worth the trip. Definitely.
0:47:53 > 0:47:54Good.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06'The Greeks left their mark on this corner of Italy in many ways,
0:48:06 > 0:48:08'and you can still sense their ghostly presence
0:48:08 > 0:48:10'in many of the folk traditions of Puglia.'
0:48:10 > 0:48:15'There's a little square in the white hill top town of Ostuni
0:48:15 > 0:48:18'where they still dance a dance called the tarantella.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23'It's said to be medieval in origin
0:48:23 > 0:48:26'but its roots surely go back much further.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28'So much so that seeing a performance
0:48:28 > 0:48:30'is like watching the figures
0:48:30 > 0:48:33'on a Greek vase come to life.'
0:48:35 > 0:48:39'The dance tells the story of a girl, bitten by a spider, a tarantula,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42'who becomes possessed and fall into a trance.'
0:49:03 > 0:49:05Bravissimi, bravissimi.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07Oh, I loved that.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09It's not a dance, it's an exorcism.
0:49:13 > 0:49:19'Tradition is properly alive here in Puglia, as in Basilicata.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22'It's as though a new generation is determined to dig up
0:49:22 > 0:49:24'what's been forgotten.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27'To recover what previous generations were ashamed of.'
0:49:27 > 0:49:32'The most obvious legacy of antiquity is all around us in Puglia.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34'Vast groves of olive tree
0:49:34 > 0:49:37'which have been in production for more than 2,000 year.'
0:49:39 > 0:49:41Wow. Andrew, look at that.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43Look at down there, on your right, look at that.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45Beautiful Adriatic Sea.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47All that green there, you see all that silver green -
0:49:47 > 0:49:49that's all olive trees.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52Some of the trees are enormous. You look because I have to drive.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57Every tree, 20, 40 litres of oil.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59Look how much olive grows up here.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03And you can see why the Greeks, the Romans loved it.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05This huge, fertile plain.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15'Puglia isn't just one picture postcard after another.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17'It has its modern industrial side too
0:50:17 > 0:50:19'which has brought economic growth
0:50:19 > 0:50:23'but has also weakened traditional family ties
0:50:23 > 0:50:26'and blighted part of the coastline.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29'In the '60s and '70s, attempts were made
0:50:29 > 0:50:33'to make the port city of Taranto into an industrial hub
0:50:33 > 0:50:35'of Southern Italy.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38'But new factories brought new problems in their wake -
0:50:38 > 0:50:42'familiar to most big cities around the world.'
0:50:43 > 0:50:46'Taranto isn't a place tourists really visit,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49'but it's home to a masterpiece of modern architecture
0:50:49 > 0:50:53'and one that might never have come into being if it hadn't been
0:50:53 > 0:50:56'for the troubles experienced here in recent times.'
0:51:01 > 0:51:04Gio Ponti was quite an idealistic man.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08And he had this idea of erecting a cathedral.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12he said he wanted it to be like a ship in which the Christian souls
0:51:12 > 0:51:13would sail towards God.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17And he wanted that great central facade in the middle
0:51:17 > 0:51:18to resemble a sail.
0:51:28 > 0:51:29'With this cathedral,
0:51:29 > 0:51:32'the church was trying to recover a sense of community
0:51:32 > 0:51:36'lost with the sudden industrialisation of the town.'
0:51:36 > 0:51:38I really love this church interior.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40I like the way that the floor slopes
0:51:40 > 0:51:44which means that the congregation is sort of led towards the altar,
0:51:44 > 0:51:46and also it's like the staggering of seats in a theatre.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50It means even if you're sat at the back, you can see what's going on.
0:51:51 > 0:51:57The stoups for containing holy water are actually real sea shells.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01So he's referring to the proximity of the sea.
0:52:01 > 0:52:07I also really like these two crosses erected on concrete columns.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10It's a cross and it's an anchor as well.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12Yes, you're right. I hadn't seen that.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16It looks to me like a mosque more than anything else.
0:52:16 > 0:52:20I think that's because Gio Ponti himself said
0:52:20 > 0:52:24he wanted to express the religious ideas without images.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26He wanted to express them through form.
0:52:28 > 0:52:34I love these beautiful doors, these diamond crosses, un-patterned light.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38Think he's so clever, look, he regulate the entrance of the light
0:52:38 > 0:52:40so much for the congregation
0:52:40 > 0:52:44but then he opens the ceiling there and allow this flash of light
0:52:44 > 0:52:45coming through on the altar.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48So it's almost like it's lighten up there, isn't it?
0:52:48 > 0:52:50This is such a clever ploy.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53He would be very pleased that you said that, Gio Ponti, cos he said,
0:52:53 > 0:52:55"The one thing I want to use in my architecture
0:52:55 > 0:53:00"that I think isn't used enough in modern architecture is...light."
0:53:07 > 0:53:10'We've travelled far in space and time -
0:53:10 > 0:53:15'from the caves in Matera to the Greek vase via Baroque Lecce.
0:53:15 > 0:53:20'And visiting this cathedral brought us back to the 20th century.
0:53:20 > 0:53:21'We're almost at the end of our journey.'
0:53:26 > 0:53:30'Most people who visit the south of Italy head straight for the sea,
0:53:30 > 0:53:32'but we've kept it for last.'
0:53:32 > 0:53:37'We're in the beautiful port of Trani, 130km north of Taranto.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41'Puglia has 900km of coastline
0:53:41 > 0:53:44'and the best way to admire it is by boat.'
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Michele!
0:53:47 > 0:53:49- Buongiorno, come sta? - Bene, e Lei?
0:53:53 > 0:53:54OK.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04'We have chosen the ancient fisherman route towards San Nicola,
0:54:04 > 0:54:07'the Norman cathedral of Trani.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09'It's like a lighthouse and guides our way.'
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Andrew, look, this is so beautiful.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26It's such a representation of Christianity
0:54:26 > 0:54:27in the middle of the sea.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31Can you imagine you were coming back here after you've been months at sea
0:54:31 > 0:54:34and you're coming back and you see this there.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36And you know you are at home.
0:54:36 > 0:54:41One of the greatest power of this region is this sea, the Adriatic Sea.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45And it has this fantastic fish that has this beautiful flavour.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49If you have to think about the most representative fish
0:54:49 > 0:54:53than there is in Puglia is - the ricci di mare...
0:54:53 > 0:54:55- The sea urchins?- ..which is the sea urchin, that's right.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Andrew, my dear friend.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04- I'm transfixed.- You're transfixed?
0:55:04 > 0:55:06I don't know what you've got in store for me.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07You're telling me that's food?!
0:55:07 > 0:55:10- No, that's not the food. The food is inside.- OK.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12Do you want to taste one?
0:55:13 > 0:55:17- Hang on, you just got those out the sea.- Yeah.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19That's what I avoid treading on when I go swimming.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22- For you, that's the antipasto. - That's the antipasto.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26So with a little...snip
0:55:26 > 0:55:28I'm cutting off...the top.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32HE SINGS: # Andrew, Andrew... #
0:55:32 > 0:55:34What?
0:55:34 > 0:55:36You're going to love this. The thing is...
0:55:36 > 0:55:38It just looks so disgusting!
0:55:38 > 0:55:41It looks like you've opened the top of an alien's egg.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44Absolutely delicious, isn't it?
0:55:44 > 0:55:45Wow.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49That is so unexpectedly good.
0:55:49 > 0:55:50- Is it?- Hmm.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52- I told you.- I actually thought you were winding me up.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54I'm not winding you up.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57When it comes to food, I never wind up anybody, you know?
0:55:57 > 0:55:59It's almost like a cross between
0:55:59 > 0:56:04cod's roe, oyster and the coral of a scallop.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07But they taste incredibly full of protein.
0:56:07 > 0:56:12This was one of the favourite things to eat of Salvador Dali.
0:56:12 > 0:56:14I can see why these might have appealed to Salvador Dali.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17- So you only eat the yellow bits? - Which is the eggs.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20- What is all the rest? - The rest you don't want to know.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22It's better than an oyster.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25Much better than an oyster. Look at that.
0:56:25 > 0:56:26I'd go further.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30- Is that for me as well?- Yeah.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32That's better than caviar...
0:56:32 > 0:56:35Definitely, caviar is good when, you know, the guys decide
0:56:35 > 0:56:38how much salt to add to that but HERE there's nothing add to that.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41This is just came out the sea now like that - bang!
0:56:41 > 0:56:42I just got them here...
0:56:42 > 0:56:46That much caviar would cost, probably, about £1,000.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48How much did that cost us?
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Ten minutes in the water.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53Ten minutes in the water and maybe a few spines in the feet, hey?
0:56:53 > 0:56:55- That is delicious.- Was it?
0:56:55 > 0:56:58- You like it?- That is seriously... - I knew you were going to love it.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00We've only got...20 left.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06'This beautiful stretch of coastline seems like a suitable place
0:57:06 > 0:57:08'to end our journey.'
0:57:08 > 0:57:14Basilicata and Puglia, they are part of the really deep south.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17Both of them come from a history of poverty.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20This people, they really had nothing.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23Witnessing Gaetano's hands making this cheese.
0:57:23 > 0:57:29It was, for me, an experience that I would want any of my chef to have.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33And it wasn't just the ancient nature of what he was doing,
0:57:33 > 0:57:38the cheese itself, the final product was completely...delicious.
0:57:38 > 0:57:39Unbelievable.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41And this manuality,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45as human beings, we should be able to maintain this.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47We should invest in this.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50For me, the south, it's plunging into history, it's strong flavours
0:57:50 > 0:57:54it's sunshine, it's blue skies.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56Everything is - turned up the volume.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58And now they have a chance.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01And you could see the young ones, really they're proud of what they do.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Really they wanted to show you what they're made of.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05I thought that when we saw the tarantella.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07It wasn't old people doing the dance,
0:58:07 > 0:58:09it was young people keeping their own traditions alive.
0:58:09 > 0:58:10Yes. Proud of that.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12So where are we going to go next?
0:58:12 > 0:58:14We're going to go north.
0:58:14 > 0:58:15So Umbria, Marche.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18I can tell you one thing, we're going to see
0:58:18 > 0:58:22some absolutely fantastic art, especially painting.
0:58:22 > 0:58:23But I don't really know the food.
0:58:23 > 0:58:25Oh, the food is really, really good.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28- It's going to be a good journey. - Fantastic.- Come with me.