- 2 months ago
The final leg of their journey moves north to Piedmont. They visit an abbey along the Via Francigena, an ancient road running from Rome to Canterbury, to reflect with the monks who live there. There are many gastronomic treasures to discover in this region, from the famous rice fields of Vercelli, to the Gianduiotti in Turin, the region's capital. Giorgio chats to the founder of slow food, Carlo Petrini.
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TravelTranscript
00:01I'm Andrew Graham Dixon and I'm an art historian.
00:05I'm Giorgio Locatelli and I'm a chef.
00:08We are both passionate about my homeland, Italy.
00:12The smells, the colour, this is what food is all about for me.
00:17The rich flavours and classic dishes of this land are in my culinary DNA.
00:22And this country's rich layers of art and history have captivated me since childhood.
00:27It's meant to make you feel as if you are being whirled up to heaven.
00:32We're stepping off the tourist track and exploring Italy's northern regions of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Piedmont.
00:40It's part of Italy that's often overlooked but it drives the whole country and I want to show off its
00:46classic dishes.
00:47Not to mention its hidden legacy of artists, designers, intellectuals.
00:52Wow! Look at that!
00:55This week we are in Piedmont, Italy's best-kept secret.
01:00Where people's deep connection with the land has created a very special blend of art, food and popular culture.
01:07A winning recipe for modern life.
01:19Located on the Italian side of Mont Blanc, Piedmont has the most majestic landscapes in Italy.
01:25It was once the gateway to the whole country.
01:28When Hannibal invaded in the third century BC, this was his way in.
01:33With its unspoilt natural beauty it's inspired many artists, not least one of my favourites.
01:39England's greatest painter, Turner.
01:42For me, Piedmont is a food lover's paradise.
01:46There is something delectable here to tickle everyone's palate.
01:51From sweet to savoury and always the finest quality.
01:57And this region is home to one of the most priced delicacies.
02:01It epitomizes the wonderful, healthy food here, the truffle.
02:05But sometimes in Piedmont the best things are the hardest to find.
02:09We are searching for one of these rare fungi with my friend Sandrino in the forest near Asti.
02:15Let's see if we can find a good truffle for breakfast.
02:25The pure air, rich soil and dense fog in this part of southern Piedmont have created the perfect condition for
02:32the best truffle to grow.
02:35Sandrino's won the prestigious Golden Truffle Award ten times.
02:39And if anyone can find one of these prized nuggets, it's him.
02:44You can find the truffle until the shadow of the plant.
02:49Yeah.
02:50It always grows where the shadow of the tree is.
02:53He's never out of the shadow.
02:54It never grows on a sunny place.
02:56Obviously because it's a fungus.
02:58Digo, look at me, come on.
03:00Sure, sure.
03:02Ok, so.
03:05So what's the dog doing at the moment?
03:08At the moment he's scouting.
03:11Aspetta!
03:13Aspetta!
03:14Abbiamo trovato qualcosa.
03:16You can smell the ground.
03:18Credo di sì.
03:19Credo di sì.
03:21Credo di sì.
03:22Bravo, mio.
03:22You can smell truffle in the air.
03:25There you are.
03:26Disappointment because it's small.
03:28Seremo più fortunati.
03:29The next one would be more lucky.
03:32The finest restaurants from all over the world clamor to secure the peak of each year's harvest.
03:39And with truffle going for as much as five thousand pounds a kilo, the business of finding these precious pearls
03:46is taken very seriously.
03:48Go ahead.
03:50Santrino, I'm curious.
03:53How do you say a muset?
03:55Ah, the museruola.
03:57Museruola.
03:58Why does the museruola bring the museruola to the dog?
04:01Because there's a lot of competition.
04:03A lot of unfair competition.
04:05Not honest competition.
04:06And they put a lot of food in vain.
04:10They will put down some...
04:12His competitors will put down poison meat.
04:14Poison meat.
04:15Why?
04:16To kill the dog?
04:17To kill the dog.
04:18And that takes one more person out of there?
04:20It's possible.
04:22Look at it.
04:25Vigo, it's there?
04:27Look at it.
04:27Come on.
04:28Look at it.
04:29There.
04:29There.
04:29There.
04:30There.
04:31There you are.
04:34That's a truffle.
04:35That's a big one.
04:36To you, Honore.
04:38Come on.
04:39You don't want to break any off, I guess.
04:41Piano?
04:41Okay, stop, stop.
04:42Wow!
04:44Wow!
04:46Wow!
04:46That's a...
04:47This is good for breakfast.
04:49Yeah!
04:53This is good.
04:54That's really good.
04:55That...
04:57That is something.
04:59It's very happy.
05:01We're all pleased with you, because we can have breakfast now.
05:05Come on.
05:12Sandrino, come on.
05:13Give us some truffle.
05:145 euro, 10 euro, 50 euro.
05:18It's too thick, it's too thick Sandrino.
05:21It's not that we didn't pay it, but...
05:26Wow, I'm just going to bite off the edge there.
05:30You rip off the little bit at the end.
05:33Tear off the bit at the end.
05:34Yeah, you use it to eat it like...
05:35You use that as a sort of dipper.
05:37That's right.
05:37That's right.
05:39Wow.
05:42Wow!
05:45Come buono!
05:49It's just the smell of the ground.
05:51The smell of what nature smells like, isn't it?
05:54It's all in there.
05:55I think when you've got the wood smoke,
05:56it's like you're eating the wood itself.
06:02Wow.
06:04When they say it's a king food now, you know why.
06:13According to Sandrino, the best way to get underneath the skin of Piedmont is to explore it by foot.
06:18And since this is historically a land of pilgrimage, we're following his advice.
06:24We're on an ancient track called the Via Francigena.
06:28A thousand years old, it once linked Canterbury to the eternal city of Rome.
06:32Nowadays, I suppose the pilgrimage route that leads to Santa Maria de Compostela is the most famous.
06:39But back in the Middle Ages, the Via Francigena was the most popular pilgrimage route from north to south.
06:47Well, they used to believe that each mile that you walked was another day off for your eternal soul from
06:53purgatory.
06:53You'll get to heaven more quickly.
06:55So we will be straight in paradise after this.
06:58I was already there.
06:59Each blister, each blister.
07:01We're looking for the exit of the pathway, where it opens out to reveal the Souza Valley,
07:06just about 30 kilometres from the French border.
07:11So, Andrew, where are we?
07:13You've got them up.
07:14Well, we should be at the bottom of the old donkey path.
07:17Oh.
07:19Which is where there's the...
07:22Pinto di vista panoramica.
07:25Panoramic view.
07:26Not today.
07:29Travelling pilgrims needed places to rest, and the valley is dotted with beautiful monasteries and abbeys.
07:38One of the oldest, a real hidden gem, is the Abbey of Novalesa.
07:43Home to some fascinating art, it's still open to pilgrims today, and still home to a community of monks.
07:49This is Father Daniele.
07:51What does it mean to do the pilgrimage?
07:55It's very important, because it means the path of life.
08:01One who leaves everything, remains alone, walks on the road, encounters imperies, and maybe even thieves.
08:09This is completely abandoned to God to go to a sanctuary.
08:13It's almost, it seems to me, it's a way of purifying yourself of the temptations of life.
08:20To purify yourself.
08:21The path that purifies you.
08:23Yes, yes.
08:24And the fact of arriving...
08:26It purifies because you're only on the road.
08:30You can only find it on the road.
08:32The place that you don't know, that's where you can find yourself.
08:35Yes.
08:36Well, we will...
08:38Noi continuamo il nostro viaggio.
08:41Grazie tanto.
08:42Arrivederci.
08:43Arrivederci.
08:44Grazie, grazie.
08:49I've known for years that there are some wonderful 11th century frescoes in the chapels here, but I've never managed
08:55a visit before.
08:56It's not the easiest place to reach.
09:00No, I love it.
09:02It's almost a list of...
09:03Silvestro Luigi came here on the 21st of June, 1857.
09:091857?
09:11Somebody called Forla Giussi came in 1960.
09:141923?
09:15I think for a lot of people, writing your name on the wall might almost be a way of saying,
09:19Well, I hope my prayers come true.
09:21Okay, is that good?
09:21Yeah.
09:21It's almost like a...
09:22It's almost like a way...
09:23This is not just graffiti, it's almost like praying in the form of graffiti.
09:28Look at this.
09:31Old at this.
09:33Really, really, really old.
09:37This is very unusual.
09:39To find paintings as old as this, in such good condition, up in the mountains with the damp air.
09:46These paintings have a raw, almost primitive energy.
09:49The effect they had on travelling pilgrims can only be imagined.
09:54These frescoes were painted 960 years ago.
10:021070.
10:03Four years after William the Conqueror's invading England, 1066 and all that.
10:08You come in and instantly, you're under the eye of Christ.
10:13Christ's Pantocrata.
10:14It's this moment when Italian art and Byzantine art are really one and the same thing.
10:20You know, all the way from Beirut to Dunfermline, Christianity is one thing.
10:25Here we've got Saint Eldrad, or Saint Eldred.
10:29Which the story is that he was a very rich person.
10:32And then he gives everything away.
10:34And that's where he becomes a pilgrim.
10:36Because you see, he's given the stick.
10:38Exactly.
10:38With a stick and a bag.
10:40So you know the story.
10:41Not bad. It's pretty...
10:43He does really explain himself, doesn't it?
10:45What's nice about this here, and also makes it unusual, is that Saint Eldred actually was the head of this
10:52monastery.
10:53And he happens to be the patron saint of pilgrimage.
10:57So we have, as it were, pilgrimage to the origin of pilgrimage.
11:02And that's when he becomes a monk.
11:04I love it. It's such cartoon language.
11:07He drops all his possessions, and they place the monk's habit on him.
11:14Don't you think the colours are wonderful?
11:16Wonderful.
11:18Dyes made from the fruit and the vegetables from around here.
11:21There's probably dye made from, I don't know, blackberry juice or blueberry juice.
11:25There'd be dyes made from other vegetable compounds.
11:29It's really simple, made from the earth.
11:32You'd come out of the cold.
11:34The brothers would give you something simple to eat.
11:38And then you come here.
11:39And here you get sustenance for your soul.
11:43Yes, sustenance for your body and for your soul, ready to carry on.
11:48Ready to carry on to Rome.
11:55Our modern pilgrimage through Piemont now leads us to a very special location.
12:00It seems to me that everything is connected to purity, spirituality and responsibility here.
12:07And as so often in Italy, that includes the food.
12:11The Piemontese defend the purity of the food chain more than any other people that I can think of.
12:17So it makes sense that this place gave birth to the ethical food movement that's taken the world by storm.
12:25Called Slow Food, it was founded by a good friend of mine.
12:28You're gonna meet these guys and he's called Carlo Petrini.
12:33But everybody calls him Il Carlin.
12:36He's the leader maximum of the movement.
12:38He's the founder of it.
12:40He's a mercurial collector, this guy.
12:42He's just like a volcano of idea.
12:44And it happened here in...
12:46Well, we're just coming into the foothills.
12:48Yes.
12:49And now something that you think is gonna rock the world when you see it.
12:53Okay.
13:00Slow Food was founded in 1986 in opposition to the growth of the fast food industry.
13:07It's now a global movement with over 100,000 members.
13:12And it's still rooted in the Piemontese idea of preserving and protecting the tradition of regional food.
13:22We are meeting Carlo at the University of Gastronomic Science outside Bra,
13:27an institute he founded to spread his ideas.
13:32Allora?
13:33Allora.
13:34Tre aggettivi.
13:35Buono, pulito e giusto.
13:37Se manca uno solo di questi, non è buono.
13:43Convincere la gente facendo mangiare queste cose che poi la gente capisce quando mangiano.
13:49Allora.
13:51Ritornare a livello locale a ricostruire questa memoria, questo patrimonio.
13:59Sì.
14:00Questa è la via.
14:02For example, Bordeaux, wonderful wine made with different grapes.
14:07What we're saying is take the same attitude maybe to a tomato or an aubergine.
14:13Maybe the price is less, but we still respect it and we still value it.
14:18La sovranità alimentare di un popolo si realizza se ha le basi forti.
14:26E le basi forti sono nell'economia locale.
14:30Quindi rafforzare l'economia locale.
14:33Prendere l'orgoglio anche della propria storia.
14:36He's giving weapons.
14:39Non è che io gli dico che dobbiamo farmi la battaglia.
14:42No, no, no, tranquillo.
14:44Tutti tranquilli.
14:45Questa è una rivoluzione dolce.
14:48È una rivoluzione dolce.
14:49Cian cian.
14:51Salute.
14:52Cian.
14:52A noi.
14:57I'll see you later.
14:59Carlo's philosophy makes perfect sense in a region with such amazing producers.
15:06So I want to end the day by putting his principles into practice with the traditional menu.
15:11I need some carrots for the marinade.
15:14E' for me.
15:15Cipolle, per fare le cipolle ripiene, quale prendo?
15:18Quale lì?
15:18I'll take this.
15:18So I'll take those bianche 3 stoi lippi.
15:22These root vegetables are crying out for something rich and earthy to go with them.
15:30Here in Piemont they love their hunting, so the butcher always has the best game meat.
15:37I can't think of a better dish to reflect the traditional local cuisine than a stew of capriolo.
15:43Ah, beautiful. And we're in two. Perfect.
15:49The capriolo is a mountain deer, so the meat tastes similar to venice. I'm sure Andrew's going to love it.
15:57Ah, fantastic.
16:00Thank you very much. Good day.
16:04Meanwhile, I get on with the much more serious business of choosing wine for dinner.
16:10The Edmont is home to some of Italy's very greatest wines, including my favourite red, Barolo.
16:17Good.
16:19Good. It's a 2006 year, so it's an old year.
16:24Perfect.
16:26Back at our farmhouse, I set to work on our Piemontese feast.
16:30There is no better way to make a rustic stew than on a real wood fire.
16:35If you want a little bit more power, there we are.
16:40The more air you allow in, the hotter it gets.
16:44Brilliant. So no dials, no knobs.
16:47Is that like an Italian or Piemontese version of an aga?
16:50That was actually the same stir that my grandmother used to have.
16:54Really?
16:58You know, Andrew, this is not the Italian food that is famous all over the world.
17:02You know, the kind of the Mediterranean diet, the olive oil.
17:06Here you've got much more subtle flavours.
17:10And, you know, the vegetables have much more root vegetables.
17:13So they sort of attach more to Central Europe than Southern Italy.
17:18Do you understand?
17:18In a sense, maybe it's the kind of Italian food that has more in common with certain aspects of English
17:23cooking.
17:23The climate's closer.
17:25Definitely. A bit better than English cooking, that's for sure.
17:28I'm saying nothing.
17:30This is a pretty good food for some pilgrims who've just come down the hill.
17:34Yes.
17:37OK, so, Andrew, that's our capriolo.
17:39Smell.
17:40Fantastic.
17:41Wow, so that's been marinated not in wine but in vinegar.
17:44In vinegar.
17:44It is not balsamic land.
17:46This is white wine vinegar land.
17:48It's a great smell.
17:50It's very lean meat.
18:03What cut of the capriolo does this actually come from?
18:05That would be a back leg, yeah?
18:07It's been up and down the mountain.
18:08That's what it is.
18:09It's really powerful anyway.
18:11I mean, when you see them running.
18:12I've seen them, yeah.
18:13I've seen them when you're walking the mountains.
18:14They're the ones that you think, how on earth did that animal get up there?
18:17That's absolutely.
18:18How come it doesn't fall?
18:19It's almost like a cross between a deer and a cat.
18:22It's time to pop the cork.
18:24Barolo's a full-bodied wine.
18:26It needs time to breathe.
18:29Mmm.
18:31Mmm.
18:33I'm glad you approve.
18:34I'm telling you, this is the perfect white for what we're going to eat.
18:41This is a real farmhouse dinner.
18:44Have you got the plates?
18:45Er, I'll go and get them.
18:46That's what I need.
18:47A farmhouse dinner.
18:49I don't think that the farmer would actually serve it to you like that.
18:53I was going to say, this is...
18:54But, you know, I'm just doing a little bit of the lookatelli twist.
18:57There you are.
18:57Stuffed onions, celerac mash, and a hearty portion of capriolo.
19:03I have been logging for this all day.
19:07Andrew, after such a long wait, here we are.
19:13Dig in.
19:14Una cena in campagna proprio.
19:17See, what is amazing is that, you know, it doesn't look like so attractive like this.
19:23The colour are much more northern European colour of the food.
19:27It's white and grey and...
19:30But...
19:31How is it?
19:33Really good.
19:34Is it?
19:35Really good.
19:36Really rich.
19:38I was trying to think what it was, you know, why is it that the slow movement should have been
19:42born in...
19:43In Northern Italy and I was thinking...
19:48Various things seem to come together in this part.
19:50Right.
19:51In the sense that it's always been a hotbed of intellectuals thinkers.
19:55There's a very strong left wing tradition in Northern Italy.
19:58It's not like communist type left wing, but it's left wing in the sense of the small against the big.
20:02There is a saying in Piemonte.
20:04Contadino, contadino, scarpe grosse, va cervello fino.
20:10Which means...
20:11I like it.
20:12Farmer, farmer, big shoes, but fine brain.
20:16The farmer who thinks.
20:18Mmm.
20:20Which is Piedmontese.
20:22The Piedmontese farmer.
20:24Piedmontese.
20:27One thing that makes Piedmont so special is its fertile, diverse landscape.
20:33But that's not the whole story.
20:35There's also its rich cultural history and strong industrial heritage.
20:40The best way to uncover this other Piedmont is to take our pilgrimage to its greatest city, Turin.
20:48Turin first flourished in the 16th century, when Emanuele Filiberto of the powerful Savoy monarchy
20:54made it his capital.
20:57And in the 20th century, it became one of the most important industrial centres in Italy,
21:02thanks to Fiat and the Agnelli family.
21:06I know the best place to get an overview of the city.
21:09Its most famous landmark, the Mole Antonegliana.
21:14At 167 metres high is Turin's Eiffel Tower.
21:22Wow.
21:24Look at that.
21:26What a view.
21:31I think a lot of people think of Turin because of its association with the automotive industry
21:35and fiat and factories.
21:37They think of it as an industrial city.
21:38You maybe forget that actually at the centre, there's this wonderful, almost perfectly preserved, baroque city.
21:45It's actually quite French in feeling, isn't it?
21:48Absolutely.
21:49The old things really works.
21:51It seems to be almost organised as a series of theatrical displays.
21:55The buildings are almost like stage sets.
21:58Long avenues.
22:00Yeah.
22:01Powerful city.
22:02For a king.
22:04So not that many churches.
22:06Not that many churches.
22:07More outstanding buildings.
22:09But less churches than we usually find in Italy.
22:13That's the Palazzo Reale where the Savoy royal family lives.
22:16And at the back of their residence in this otherwise crowded, completely built up, baroque town.
22:22Guess what?
22:22A huge park.
22:24As if to proclaim the fact that they rule the roost here.
22:28You know, we can afford just to have a garden.
22:29But now it's a public park.
22:30Now it's a public park.
22:34The Savoy's were ambitious and wanted a city to reflect their power and wealth.
22:41Almost everywhere you turn, you're greeted by imposing baroque architecture.
22:48But for my money, the most impressive of all is the Palazzina di Stupfinici.
22:55It was designed by Filippo Iovara in 1729 as a hunting lodge for Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy.
23:03It's modelled on Versailles, isn't it? It feels like Versailles.
23:07And that's no coincidence.
23:08Victor Amadeus was married to Louis XIV's niece.
23:12And the Savoys were close to the French court.
23:15It says Wedgwood, Andrew.
23:17Wedgwood Star Cabinet.
23:19It's sort of an index of everything that was fashionable in the 18th century.
23:25Juwara was also a talented stage set designer.
23:29And this place has a real sense of theatre.
23:31Nowhere more so than the Grand Central Hall.
23:37Wow, Andrew, it looks like a cathedral.
23:40To the church.
23:41Well, it is a kind of...
23:42Well, it's a profane cathedral.
23:44It's a profane cathedral.
23:45I love that.
23:45It's a cathedral to the goddess of hunting.
23:48So you look up, you think, oh, is that the Virgin Mary?
23:51No.
23:51Wow.
23:51No, no, it's Diana.
23:53It's the triumph of Diana.
23:54Oh, yes.
23:55Il triunfo di Diana.
23:57There are bows and arrows and dogs and dead animals
24:00and hunters and huntresses all over this room.
24:04They weren't great patrons of the arts.
24:07They weren't great readers.
24:08They weren't great patrons of music.
24:10But they loved their hunting.
24:12Also love the idea that they have, like, statue and the nifia.
24:16But then, they're not.
24:18They are painting those ones.
24:19Promploi.
24:20Also, it's all about plenty, isn't it?
24:22It's all about abundance.
24:23That's what it looks like, yeah.
24:24You know, whatever there is, we've got plenty of it.
24:28And if we haven't got it, we'll go and catch some.
24:32And there's one place where their appetite for abundance and ownership is strikingly clear.
24:38It's located in a secret chamber, high up above the impressive cupola.
24:44Isn't it fantastic?
24:46The smell is absolutely brilliant.
24:50It's like tobacco and wood and...
24:53Mmm.
24:54Delicious.
25:03Who rules?
25:05We rule.
25:07It's a statement of power, isn't it?
25:08It is indeed.
25:10Look at that.
25:11It's so geometrical as well.
25:13It must be an explanation why there's this, like, avenue that's going out like that.
25:18You see?
25:19Just a show of peace.
25:21I think it's like, er, it's that idea of Louis XIV, the idea of the sun king.
25:26The king is the sun.
25:27This palace is like the sun.
25:29It occupies the centre of Piedmont and its rays.
25:34Symmetrically stretched to every corner of the land.
25:39You definitely know who's in charge.
25:41You certainly do.
25:46By the 19th century, Piedmont under the Savoys was one of the most powerful Italian states.
25:53Supported by the monarchy and spearheaded by the Prime Minister, Count Camillo Cavour, the movement to unify Italy was born
26:00right here in Turin.
26:05Learned and clever, Cavour loved to discuss ideas.
26:08And in the vibrant cafe culture of 19th century Turin, he found the perfect place.
26:14Fiorio was Cavour's favourite cafe.
26:17Almost his office.
26:20It was so influential, it said the king himself will ask every morning,
26:24what are they saying in Fiorio?
26:27The cafe was like an informal parliament, where Cavour and his followers could speak freely.
26:34Hello, gentlemen.
26:36I love this noise.
26:38There you are, Andrew.
26:39We are in the place.
26:41There is a picture of the man himself.
26:44Oh, grazie.
26:46What is this?
26:46This is called Biccerino.
26:48It's coffee, chocolate and cream.
26:52So very, very dietetic drink.
26:58That is delicious.
26:59Cavour plotted the campaign to unify Italy, right here in Fiorio.
27:04It was Cavour and the king who were the power behind Giuseppe Garibaldi's military campaign.
27:10Garibaldi was like the way we see Che Guevara now, that sort of freedom fighter.
27:16They absolutely use his image in order to get that general popular approval.
27:23You know, because themselves they were pretty ascetic people.
27:27They didn't have much in common with the common men.
27:30It's a popular uprising in a sense, in that the people greet and they welcome Garibaldi's conquering armory as it
27:37moves south.
27:37But essentially this is a movement that's sponsored by the king.
27:43Our man Cavour is a monarchist.
27:45Yeah.
27:45What are the ultimate consequences for this region, for Piedmont?
27:50Well, Piedmont suddenly became the most important region of Italy.
27:55It collected taxes from whole Italy.
27:58And not Rome became the capital, but Turing became the capital of Italy.
28:03Or the first capital of Italy.
28:06Let's drink some more chocolate.
28:08To us.
28:09Food for thought.
28:13The city's caffè culture is still alive and well.
28:17I've never seen such an amazing range of pastries and chocolates.
28:22The Torinesi really do have a sweet tooth.
28:26They especially love chocolate here, and were once the world's leading producer of the stuff.
28:33Ferrero Rocher and Nutella, both hail from Piedmont.
28:38Oh, the smell!
28:40We can miss a quick visit to one of the best chocolatiers in town, the laboratory of Guido Gobino.
28:48Here, they specialize in a very Turinese style of chocolate, Il Gianduotto.
28:54The story goes that the Gianduotto was created during Napoleon's brief rule, when importing cocoa from South America was almost
29:03impossible.
29:03Always resourceful, the Torinese chocolate makers decide to concote the paste from local hazelnuts and combine it with the cocoa
29:12to make their supply last longer.
29:15What might have been a disadvantage was turned into a winning formula.
29:20We are having a Gianduotto tasting with Guido himself.
29:23His family have been chocolate makers for 50 years.
29:28I remember eating this when I was little.
29:31Buonissimo.
29:32The nuts and the chocolate go together very well.
29:35How would you recommend that one has this? With an espresso as well, at the same time?
29:40Or just...
29:40The Gianduotto maybe, or Moscato wine, because it's very flavored, fruity.
29:47Or Barolo Chinato, or red wine, the spicy red wine.
29:52You think that the Gianduotto success is attached to the fact that it's based on the Nutella flavor?
29:57As you say, the grown-up Nutella.
29:59Yeah, you still have the memory of your childhood.
30:01The memory. It brings you back to that.
30:03We thank Nutella because Nutella is the first flavor that people, young boys, taste normally in the world.
30:11Because you can find Nutella everywhere.
30:14So you're still making these little objects, and you make them all here, but you sell them all over the
30:20world?
30:21We export everywhere in small quantities, of course, because we are artisanal production.
30:28When I am abroad, in Japan, for example, in Emirates, when people taste Gianduotto, they love it.
30:41Because it's very, very interesting tasting, and it is not traditional tasting like bitter chocolate or big chocolate.
30:49This is very different, and this is the real chocolate or big, because it's made in Torino.
30:56It is incredible that a place that has such a tradition, where chocolate is part of their, you know, life,
31:03and they know the capital of the chocolate.
31:07Well, they are, but they don't kind of show it.
31:10It is a philosophy of the Torinese people, to work hard and to make better as possible everything.
31:18Technology, for example, chocolate food. It's not important to show off that we are the best.
31:30They are a bit understated, like the English.
31:33Understatement, yes. Understatement.
31:35Understatement is a good word for us.
31:38Maybe we should just very quietly wish Guido good luck.
31:42Grazie Guido. Ciao, grazie. Grazie a voi.
31:44Grazie, grazie.
31:46Grazie.
31:48Grazie.
31:50Dedication and hard work really are in the blood of the Torinese.
31:54Turin, like its neighbour Milan, fosters the tradition of a strong work ethic.
31:59It's what the city's success is built on.
32:01And there's one company more than any other responsible for that success.
32:07Fiat.
32:08Founded in 1899 by Giovanni Agnelli, it flourished in the post-war years,
32:14when money from the Marshall Plan kick-started Italy's economic boom.
32:19Fiat's enormous Lingotto factory became a nucleus for the city's workers.
32:23In the 50s and 60s, hundreds of thousands of immigrants from southern Italy settled in the surrounding area to work
32:30for Fiat.
32:31This is the...
32:32This is the famous Lingotto factory.
32:33This is the Lingotto factory.
32:35So this reminds me of the Palazzo Stupinigi.
32:37You know, the Sapphire Monarch is gone, but now we've got the Fiat family.
32:40Yeah.
32:41They're the kings of the new economic miracle.
32:43And the Agnelli were the family at the head of this corporation of industrialists,
32:49that really had experience, after travelling to America,
32:53to really pick up this American dream and giving it to the Italians.
32:58So was Fiat, in a sense, you know, the General Motors of its day in Italy?
33:03You know, this is the Model T, that, you know, everyone is going to drive this car,
33:07everyone can afford to drive this car.
33:08Definitely. And, you know, to make something reasonably cheap enough for them to drive around
33:12was part of this, and Fiat was right at the heart of them.
33:21And my standout favourite of those affordable cars is the Cinquecento.
33:26Cheap and cheerful, it's become an icon.
33:30Thanks to the passion and dedication of specialist mechanics,
33:34these vintage cars are still on the road today.
33:38I've been told in the workshop of Michele and Mauro Miola
33:41it's packed full of Cinquecentos in restoration.
33:45It's a must for a fan like me.
33:49Hello, Mauro.
33:51Hi.
33:53I'm Giorgio.
33:54I'm Andre.
33:56And this is your father?
33:57Yes, I'm your father.
33:58Yes.
33:58Michele?
34:00Good morning, Michele.
34:01Yes, Michele.
34:02What does this car mean for you?
34:04Is it just a car or is it more than a car?
34:07It's more than a car.
34:08We've done everything for the Cinquecentos.
34:11If you're from a Catholic family where, you know,
34:13like the mother and the father like keep an eye on the children,
34:16maybe this is the first place that you're actually private.
34:19I'm sure that a lot of the kids and they are in their fifties now
34:22they were conceived in this car.
34:28Do you remember the first time you gave a kiss to a woman in this car?
34:34A Cinquecento D.
34:35On a Cinquecento D.
34:38He remembers which car!
34:43Is it possible to see a...
34:48...comme say?
34:49...finita.
34:49...finita.
34:50A perfect car.
34:52Do you have a finished car?
34:53Yes.
34:54Can we see it?
34:55Yes, of course.
34:55Let's go.
34:58Andrew, look at this!
35:00No way!
35:02This is so beautiful!
35:03Oh!
35:06That is something, isn't it?
35:09That's like a showpiece.
35:11It's bellissima.
35:12It's a beautiful piece of design, isn't it?
35:14Yes, definitely.
35:17I can't leave without getting behind the wheel
35:20of one of the Miola's precious 500s.
35:23Gently.
35:24Yeah, gently.
35:27Convincer, not...
35:28Convincer.
35:29Yeah.
35:29And the...
35:31...brakes would be nice as well.
35:37You feel like you're driving a piece of history.
35:41It's more like you're destroying a piece of history.
35:44A little bit more kind.
35:45Yeah.
35:47So, you see, it's like...
35:49The car changed society completely.
35:52At every level.
35:54Because, I don't know, like a vet, a doctor, a nurse.
35:57You're in a remote village.
35:59Something you call and they can come to you now.
36:01So, it is a part of society.
36:05That's, I think, why the people love us so much.
36:07I can imagine, perhaps, someone who's come from Sicily
36:11to come to the north.
36:12Yeah.
36:12What a sensation when they go back to their village
36:15in their brand new Cinquecento.
36:18Show them become a modern man
36:22in modern society.
36:25I love the sound when you go, you know,
36:28when you put a bit of gas on.
36:32Yeah.
36:34Andiamo.
36:37The economic boom years were also the glory years
36:40of the great Italian art movement.
36:43Arte Povera emerged here in Piedmont in the sixties
36:46as a kind of protest against the rapid industrialization
36:49of Italy.
36:51The artists of the movement took the ordinary materials
36:54of everyday life and used them to make art.
36:58The Museum of Contemporary Art in Rivoli,
37:00on the outskirts of Turin,
37:02has an unrivalled collection of Arte Povera.
37:06A world away from the opulence of the Baroque,
37:09it's down to earth, almost home-made.
37:13I wonder what Giorgio will make of it.
37:17So this is probably the most famous work of Arte Povera,
37:22Venus of the rags.
37:24It's called by Michelangelo Pistoletto.
37:28And I think, being Italian, of course,
37:31he's thinking about the past, thinking about statues of Venus.
37:34But I think what he's saying to us is,
37:37how do you represent a person?
37:40How do you represent a human being?
37:42For me, the rags could be a portrait of a person,
37:48perhaps through all the clothes they ever wore.
37:50All his life.
37:52Yeah.
37:52That's right.
37:53If you imagine, like, a huge pile of laundry.
37:57That's everything you ever wore.
37:58Your body was in there, in there, in there, in there, in there, in there.
38:02And this is all kind of an accumulation.
38:04So either you're this permanent ideal figure,
38:07or actually, maybe not.
38:08Maybe you're more imperfect.
38:10You're more ragged.
38:12Maybe your life is a process rather than a state.
38:18So I want to know what you think of this.
38:21It's kind of like a portrait of Italy
38:23by another member of the Articoverry generation.
38:26He's called Luciano Fabro.
38:28This is a tombino.
38:30This is a pothole cover.
38:33I like it.
38:35Two Italy, one upside down,
38:37and then Sicily and Sardinia stuck on it.
38:41Funny here, in years where they made Italy,
38:44so it was almost like, you know,
38:46the first concept of Italy was born here.
38:49And so now to have an artist and does this
38:51and turn it upside down and stuck the beat together,
38:54I guess it's got to do with that.
38:57So, again, it's the ordinary material
39:00of working everyday Italian life.
39:03The rust as well, I like.
39:04Yeah.
39:05The rust is beautiful, isn't it?
39:07Look at that.
39:09I mean, how do you make a portrait of Italy?
39:11I think it's quite a good one.
39:12Mmm.
39:18There's a piece here by my favourite Articovera artist,
39:21Giuseppe Pernone.
39:24Unsurprisingly for a piedmontese artist,
39:27his work focuses on man's relationship with nature.
39:30This room is made entirely of laurel leaves.
39:33It's beautifully quiet.
39:41Wow, that's fantastic.
39:45What's that?
39:47Was that a pair of lungs?
39:49Yeah.
39:50It's a bronze cast of laurel wreaths.
39:54It's like, you know, slow food.
39:57I think this is, for me, this is slow art.
40:00Slow art.
40:01You just let it work on you.
40:05It's a funny thing.
40:08We're indoors and we're in an art gallery,
40:10but I feel, if I close my eyes,
40:11I'm almost back to the beginning of where we started our trip.
40:15See that little sort of chapel on the edge of the valley.
40:18It's a room for contemplation.
40:20That's right.
40:21Maybe this is like a modern,
40:22artist's version of a pilgrimage chapel.
40:24And the god is nature.
40:27Absolutely.
40:30I also like the idea that you're coming in here
40:33and you're breathing in these things,
40:35and so it stays in your lungs and you're taking a bit away with you.
40:38I think it's lovely.
40:39So you become part of it.
40:40You are part of it.
40:41I think that's part of its meaning.
40:45I've seen Pannoni's work in museums all over the world,
40:48but seeing it here confirms just how deep-rooted his connection is
40:53to his homeland.
40:56And that connection is so totally piemontese.
41:00Their commitment to the land has produced
41:02one of the most fertile territories in Europe.
41:05And the rice fields of Vercelli,
41:07in the plains north of Turin,
41:09are the most prized.
41:11The locals have worked hard for centuries
41:14to cultivate the best condition to produce rice here.
41:19And now there are more than 100 varieties
41:22grown in this paddy field.
41:24The most popular is Carnaroli.
41:26For us chefs,
41:27it's the king of risotto rice.
41:31Now I want to show you this rice
41:32because it's so beautiful.
41:33Come and have a look.
41:39Look at this.
41:43So this is straight out of the field.
41:45This is what I eat in my risotto.
41:47Yes.
41:48These are the pearl of the barraja.
41:51The rice from this rice field.
41:53If you came here in the first half of the year,
41:55this would be almost like a landscape from China.
41:57It would be like a paddy field.
41:58This would be more like Chinese paddy field
42:01because it would be small paddy fields.
42:03And you can see also they are in different levels
42:05in order to work with the water.
42:07So you have different levels of it.
42:08And there's very small tenement all the time.
42:11And is this a natural microclimate for rice then?
42:15The cold air and that makes it just right?
42:17Just perfect.
42:19And also the perfect, beautiful, pure water
42:21that comes from the mantle.
42:23I would imagine that cold air is bad for a crop,
42:24but for rice it's not bad, is it?
42:26It strengthens it.
42:27This area has received the DOP,
42:30the Denominazione di Origine Protetta,
42:33so protected or denomination of origins.
42:37Because this is being proved that it is,
42:40you cannot produce anything equal than anywhere else.
42:45This rice is being crossbreed and made to what it is
42:49through years of experience of the people.
42:55The exceptional rice grown here has made Vercelli
42:58the rice trading capital of Europe.
43:02The town's rice market, the Borsa Vercelli,
43:05is the Wall Street of the rice world.
43:08And the price set here each week
43:10becomes standard across all of Europe.
43:13It's a fascinating game of nerve.
43:16The floor is packed with millers and brokers
43:19haggling over prices.
43:22So here you'll have the broker
43:25and the miller will check out the quality of the rice.
43:29Look, now he's changing the board
43:31and he's going to look here on the white board to see.
43:36Oh, I see, so he's looking for slightly discoloured grains.
43:40That's right.
43:40He says there's a lot of them that's got a little broken one
43:43and there's a lot of them that are slightly grey.
43:46So he's saying to him,
43:48there's quite a lot of grey ones in here.
43:50I can't give you the top dollar
43:51because it's not best quality.
43:53And he's saying,
43:54oh, well, no, no, come on.
43:54It's not that bad.
43:55That's right.
43:56I love these two boards.
43:58It's almost like a game of chess.
43:59This must have been used for hundreds and hundreds of years, the system.
44:03The broker Giacomo and Miller Giuseppe are busy haggling,
44:07but they seem to be struggling to come to a deal.
44:10What price do you want from Giuseppe?
44:14Yes, I want 350 euros for tons.
44:19Today, our magic is around 330.
44:23Giacomo looks very interested at this point.
44:25So, yes, okay, so 330.
44:27It's very important for me.
44:28For him it's important because he's obviously, as the rice there, dry, ready to go,
44:33he wants to get rid of it, otherwise he cannot pick up any other.
44:36You have nothing at the space.
44:37So, he knows that, so he's going to be a little bit of a tackles there.
44:41So, can you help in some way, Giorgio?
44:44Maybe you could be a diplomat.
44:45I think that they've been going on like that for the last thousand years.
44:48I don't think that they need our help.
44:49I'm telling you.
44:51These hidden sides of Piedmont, little tales, chance meetings,
44:56are showing me a whole new side to a region I've always loved.
45:01Back in the 80s, when I first visited,
45:03it was the art that opened my eyes to Piedmont's special character.
45:10And on that trip, one place in particular caught my imagination.
45:15The UNESCO protected heritage site called the Sacro Monte of Varallo,
45:20an hour's drive from Vercelli.
45:22This extraordinary place of pilgrimage is made up of 45 little chapels,
45:27each representing a scene from the life of Christ.
45:30First constructed in the late 1400s,
45:33it's evolved and expanded over the centuries.
45:36It might not be high art,
45:38but for me it's as fundamental as the great masterpieces of the Renaissance
45:41in creating the culture of this land.
45:46There's one chapel in particular I want to show Giorgio.
45:49It's stayed with me since my first visit here.
45:52A gory, violent interpretation of the massacre of the innocents.
45:57I think you really understand what the effect these sculptures were meant to have on people
46:03when you look at this one.
46:05The appeal is not to the head, you know, the appeal is to the heart.
46:09And this horrible scene of children being massacred.
46:13It's a real...
46:15It's a real...
46:17It's hard to look at.
46:20I think it makes you feel really sad and really worried.
46:24I'm sure you're gonna...
46:25If you're here with your kids, you just grasp them and walk away.
46:29I think it takes you to the scene almost too well.
46:33Hmm.
46:34The attention to detail is standing down to the sword and really you can see it's entering the body.
46:40Yeah.
46:42Look at the sufferance of the mother trying to save the baby.
46:47Screaming.
46:47You can almost hear them screaming.
46:52Well, I think it's there to put...
46:54The fear.
46:55The fear of God into you.
46:57I mean, it's definitely this place, I think this whole sacred mountain
47:03is a kind of machine made to ingrain faith in the people who came here.
47:11To really make them believe in a very spectacular way.
47:15Yes, if you don't pray to God, if you don't behave like a good devout Christian,
47:20you know, maybe these things will happen to you.
47:22Each chapel is like one scene in an unfolding story.
47:27Yes, like a modern film, almost.
47:30You're going through, you're gonna know that it's gonna be...
47:33The final thing is the resurrection.
47:35But you still have to go through all the thought and the pain and everything else.
47:41The chapel I want to take a look at is the one representing the Last Supper.
47:47What a spread.
47:49It is a spread.
47:51And what is amazing, and look, they don't have just bread and wine,
47:55like in a bottle, but they got all the produce than they are from this area.
48:01Look, the fresh water fish, like trouts and things like that.
48:04Got two different types of cheese in there,
48:06and you can actually recognize them very well.
48:08With the one on the right, that's a Castel Magno.
48:11And that one, because it's got red skin, is Castel Rosso,
48:14which are really typical cheeses from this area.
48:16So they were eating as well something and the people actually knew.
48:20Yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:20So you can actually identify the cheeses as being from here.
48:24And the two differences from here.
48:27Well, I think that was the idea.
48:28I mean, because in the instruction manuals for the artists of the time,
48:32it always says, make the people feel at home.
48:35You know, make it...
48:36It shouldn't feel like it's 2,000 years ago in the Holy Land.
48:39It should feel as if it's taking place in Piedmont,
48:42and that's what they're talking about.
48:43Have the light to cook this dinner.
48:50After seeing the various stages of Christ's life,
48:53we get to the chapel where the story reaches its climax,
48:57the crucifixion.
48:59At this moment, the maximum moment of empathy,
49:02where you're supposed to feel Christ's suffering,
49:06you're allowed to occupy the same space as his mother.
49:10You're allowed to occupy the same space as the disciples looking up.
49:14You are really touched by it.
49:17You feel like you're seeing every scene,
49:20and he has a little bit of that sort of feeling of a theme park,
49:26but for the soul.
49:27I mean, in a sense, the modern theme park is a debased version of this.
49:33You know, Disneyland.
49:34You make the pilgrimage to go there,
49:35you know the stories, you've seen the films,
49:37and now you meet the characters, you shake hands,
49:39except all the spiritual content has been removed.
49:43And whereas you end your visit to Disneyland,
49:45perhaps with a trip to the shop here,
49:48you end your visit by going down into the basement of the church
49:54and paying your respects to the holy image of the Madonna.
50:04The basement chapel is like a people's museum of faith and devotion,
50:08a place where they offer remembrance or give thanks.
50:15What I love about it is it's like a history
50:18of the kind of accidents that could have befallen you
50:22in Piedmont over the centuries.
50:23Here we've got somebody who got attacked by a highwayman.
50:27That's right.
50:28Here you've got a terrible rail crash that occurred
50:32at the beginning of the 20th century in there.
50:35It's an electricity.
50:35It's an electricity accident.
50:37To go more recent, you remember that few months ago
50:41the Costa Concordia?
50:43There must be somebody who was on the Costa Concordia
50:46and he felt the Madonna lasting.
50:49It's not necessarily that you just came to pray that you would be saved.
50:53No, no, no.
50:53If something happened to you and you had a close shave...
50:55Very close shave.
50:56Then you attributed it to...
50:57To the fact that your faith allowed us to...
51:00Saved you.
51:01And I suppose it just shows that for many people,
51:04you know, the church is still the first port of call.
51:07This is from 1807.
51:10And what happened is this.
51:11Then this Alfonso Cabara,
51:13the captain of the Italian regiment,
51:16had received two shots
51:18and the Maria Santissima saved him.
51:21Isn't that amazing that you've got sort of...
51:23You've got the Napoleonic Wars.
51:25Someone surviving that cheap by jowl
51:27with someone surviving a bicycle accident in the 50s.
51:32There must be a thousand human stories in here.
51:34Absolutely.
51:39Our journey through Piemont has been so rich and full of variety.
51:44I feel we have seen most of the special things
51:46this wonderful region has to offer.
51:49Well, all except one.
51:51We've still not visited any of the great wine producers
51:54this region is so famous for.
51:57That's because I saved them for last.
52:00We're going to spend the evening at Contrato,
52:02one of the great historic wine house of the Lange.
52:06I know the guys who owns the place.
52:08I'm so excited about it because, you know,
52:10it's been bought by a friend of mine called Giorgio Rivetti,
52:14which is...
52:15Giorgio, come stai?
52:17Benissimo, tu?
52:18Fantastic.
52:19Super.
52:20Glad to see you.
52:21Hey, Giorgio, nice to meet you.
52:22Andrew, thanks for having us.
52:23It's great.
52:23Pleasure to be here.
52:25Thank you for coming here.
52:26New place, new house.
52:27Something new for me.
52:28Something exciting.
52:29Yeah, you know me.
52:31I love to produce barbaresco in Barolo,
52:33but my patience is about bubbles too.
52:36Giorgio is one of the best red wine producers in Piemont,
52:40so it's exciting that he's turning his hand to sparkling wine.
52:44And we can miss a tour of the cellar,
52:47the secret of the success of Contrato Champagne Method wine.
52:51Wow.
52:52Look at that.
52:53This is a cathedral.
52:56UNESCO protected this wine cellar while dug out of the old limestone hills of Canelli in the 19th century.
53:04Ingenious local wine makers discovered the constant temperature of 13 degrees inside,
53:10created the perfect condition to ferment the wine naturally.
53:15Giorgio's always got his eye on business,
53:17but he hasn't lost sight of the small but important rituals of winemaking.
53:2330,000 bottles a day are turned manually here to loosen the sediment inside.
53:29Hello, Mauro.
53:33Piacere.
53:34Piacere.
53:35Piacere.
53:35Posso provare?
53:36Posso provare.
53:37Faccia.
53:39Don't mess around.
53:40Una, la mano la prima, l'altra la quarta.
53:43Ah, ok.
53:44Poi si spostano.
53:48No.
53:53No.
53:54No.
53:54No.
53:55Maybe you can move.
53:56Angel.
53:56Lanta.
53:57Lanta.
53:59Lanta.
54:00Ah.
54:02Eh, no.
54:03No?
54:05I missed that one in a minute.
54:06Una si, una no.
54:07Una si, una no.
54:08Ah.
54:09I think you are better in the kitchen.
54:12Please.
54:13After turning the bottles, the sediment inside must be released,
54:17so the wine can be laid down to mature.
54:21This is the bit I've been waiting for.
54:23Hold on.
54:24Apetta, aperta.
54:26Wow.
54:26Whoa.
54:28That is crazy.
54:30Yeah.
54:31No way.
54:31Because this wine is in life.
54:33It has a life inside.
54:34Look, half of the bottle shoot off.
54:36Yeah.
54:37That was incredible.
54:40Giorgio, man.
54:44I'm scared to open it now.
54:46After all, I saw downstairs.
54:49Oh, don't worry.
54:50It's going to be a shower.
54:53Smells quite sweet.
54:55It's got the, like that crust, bread crust.
54:59Yeah?
55:00It's typical for a sparkling wine.
55:01Alla salute.
55:02Salute.
55:03A you, Giovanni.
55:03Cheers.
55:04Alla tua avventura.
55:05I can imagine this with some fish.
55:08Oh yeah.
55:08Oysters, too.
55:09Oysters.
55:11Pimot is corner of paradise, really.
55:13Look, we have a lot of beautiful grapes,
55:16and it's beautiful land.
55:17Ninety-nine percent of the top wine producers in Pimot
55:20are farmers.
55:21And this is something special.
55:24They know everything about the vineyard, they are respecting the environment because they do everything organic.
55:29They do beautiful job in the vineyard, they are producing a small quantity of fruit, a small quantity of wine.
55:34But the wines are unbelievable.
55:36And they're probably doing the same thing that their father did, and maybe their father did.
55:40Looking after the land.
55:41So although you're a large producer, you want to keep the philosophy of a small producer, your own wine.
55:48No, no, really. Farmers' philosophy, this is so important for me. I don't want to change this.
55:53Of course. Cheers.
55:54Here's hoping you never do change it. Cheers.
55:56Cheers. Cheers to us and to Piedmont.
55:58To Piedmont.
56:00If Giorgio and his kind stick around, there really won't be any space for big multinationals here.
56:08It reminds me of that old Piedmontese saying,
56:11Farmer, farmer, big shoes, but sharp brains.
56:16And the heart of Piedmont for me will always be the countryside.
56:20The original source of everything that is so magical about this hidden gem of Italy.
56:26Our pilgrimage has come full circle.
56:28See, Andrew, when I think about Piedmontese, I always really think about people with incredible amount of resilience.
56:37You know, they really are, they fight things over and they turn things over.
56:42They made Italy, they rule it. You know, they're the first capital of Italy.
56:47Here they have people like Carlo Petrini coming in and says,
56:51Listen, you've got a great amount of value on this land.
56:55I keep coming back to these leaves. Sandrino's dog snuffling among the leaves.
57:01Even the artwork is made of the leaves.
57:03That's right!
57:04You know, that beautiful piece by Pannonia.
57:06There's this real, I think, this sense of connection to the land is so strong here.
57:10It seems to me, it feels to me, as if the cultura popolana is now on the way up.
57:17In fact, that's what people come here for now.
57:20What do you think your favourite experience has been? What do you remember?
57:23For me, the most magic moment is when Sandrino's dogs got the truffle out of the ground.
57:30It's such a moment, isn't it, to find this pearl that is kind of hidden away.
57:36It's fantastic and it just puts me, you know, back.
57:39You know, I'm sitting in London trying to sell these things to people and suddenly, you know,
57:43here I am just picking it out of the ground. It's magic for me, that.
57:47I've been coming back for that experience of the soil, you know, for the humble pilgrimage church,
57:52for the terracotta statues of Varallo, for the experience of eating the funghi porcini,
57:58the venison that you cooked. The truffle. Of course. Andiamo.
58:04Duma, va. So, where do you think we should go next?
58:12I think the best place to go now is to go for lunch, man.
58:23Still to come, the best bits of the series devoted to HQI is here on BBC HD next.
58:31Look at the details.
58:32.