Let's taste together this year's selection
of Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG,
produced by our chosen brother.
-Welcome. -Thank you, it's a pleasure.
Our grandparents tell us that 100 years ago the radicchio
was a wild chicory that grew in the Treviso countryside.
Over the winter, they harvested those chicories from the fields,
and they realized that by storing them in the stable,
instead of deteriorating or rotting, like other vegetables,
a new heart started to grow.
And it became tastier, sweeter, red and crunchy.
Here, we'll pick up a radicchio...
It's just starting, here it is,
-slowly, slowly. -Oh, that there.
That there, it's starting to grow.
Yes. In the field, remember, that doesn't exist,
only the surrounding leaves grow,
but the tasty, crunchy, red and white heart which we eat
grows here.
Over time, as the product became more popular,
Treviso, Italy and then the whole world was asking for it.
So slowly in the '70s, '80s, '90s,
it was discovered that the other resource in the area of Treviso,
which is water,
would make the chicories grow in the same way.
So, they've introduced this process of forcing and blanching,
inside the spring water tanks.
And how long does it sit in water?
It stays in the water for a period that is not decided by us growers
or anyone else.
It's the radicchio that decides how long it will stay.
That's nature's way.
We see that from the radicchio harvested in the field,
that weighs up to one kilo,
we end up with a small heart of 300 grams.
Basically, the leaves are removed from one chicory at a time.
It's then passed onto a second operator,
who peels the root with a small special knife.
It's so much work.
-It's a lot of work. -A lot of work.
In the world of chicory,
this surely is the one that's most expensive, for sure.
Because it's the one that requires the most processing,
but it's also the tastiest.
-It's expensive? -Not as much as it should be.
You could do many things with that.
Anything.
A risotto...
With risotto for a first course,
with meat as a second course.
Imagine, we even make a dessert,
or, even, the chicory amaro and the chicory grappa.
-Really? -Yes, really.
That's a beautiful radicchio, it's ready.
Yeah, beautiful.
And we can taste it.
Slightly bitter, slightly sweet.
The right balance between sweet and bitter.
It's an old mill,
still functioning today...
...it's like a poem.
OK? Please.
This is the original bit.
So, these are the old machines,
-from back in the day. -When was this built?
1650.
There's nothing here
that is industrial
or electric.
Because, in a modern rice mill,
you push a button,
and everything starts.
But the poetry we have here...
Ah, it's fantastic.
-And is this moved by water? -All of it with water
from a waterfall
and then with all these machines,
these gears,
to make it faster.
The process is done in this way,
and this pestle
does not hit the bottom of the bowl.
They calculated
that it needs to stop at 27 mm,
because otherwise it would crush the grain of rice.
For how long does it have to...?
This one here, this process,
it's six, seven hours.
-After six hours, -Yes.
what happens?
We put the pestle aside, like this,
and with the scoop we remove the rice.
And we sift it through these sieves.
-If you want, we can do it. -Yes.
One.
And two...
Maurizio, come.
Now, I'm sifting,
and all of the flour falls on the floor.
It looks like it's raining, snowing.
-It's like a circus. -Yes.
So, the ones that fall...
These are waste.
Waste that is used later
for animals.
And now this one is done?
That one is finished, yes.
That one's ready to be cooked.
Now we'll make you another one.
Where did you learn this from?
First, my dad -
and before that, my grandpa.
Grandpa, yes.
We've been here for five generations.
-Five? -Five generations.
Now with my grandchildren.
My grandchildren are the fifth generation.
Why do you make rice in such a way?
With this old method?
First of all, it's a historical tradition.
An old tradition.
And we carry it in our hearts.
It's our passion.
It's like the guy who still makes handcrafted furniture.
Because he brings the thing to life
he can feel it.
It's more effort, but...
it's something inside of you.
So, does this rice make a better risotto for you?
Yes, way more tasty.
It's different.
This one is tastier, fuller,
it gives you more satisfaction when you chew it.
When you eat it,
it fills your palate,
it's something sublime.
Should we wrap it?
I'll take it all.
Right, we're taking it like this - thanks, thanks.
It's become a world-renowned dish.
It's the most well-known Italian word after pizza.
Yes?
There's a frequent mistake
which comes from an incorrect interpretation.
So, I'd like to clarify once and for all,
that the famous restorative dessert that used to be served in brothels
isn't tiramisu - it was sbatudin.
It was made with egg yolk
beaten together with sugar.
So, that's sbatudin.
Tiramisu was created in the 1970s in Le Beccherie
when my mother and a young cook who worked with her
had the idea of combining sbatudin and mascarpone.
This is then put on top of sponge fingers dipped in coffee
then covered with unsweetened cocoa.
There are people who think that it's from Friuli.
Tiramisu is a triumph,
and everyone wants to lay a claim to it
and say that it's theirs.
There's only one simple story behind it:
it was conceived in Le Beccherie in the 1970s -
that's that.
Let's first understand what the ingredients are.
We've got sugar,
sponge fingers, mascarpone,
cocoa powder, egg yolk,
and coffee.
The right coffee for tiramisu is coffee from a moka.
And this is the original recipe?
Yes, the original, as it was done once upon a time.
-Where are you from? -I'm from Treviso.
For people here, tiramisu is something families make.
All housewives make it.
In fact, it's hard to make it well,
because everyone has a memory of how their mother made tiramisu.
People will say, "It's good, but it's not my mother's."
It comes down to nostalgia.
Cooking triumphs when it taps into nostalgia.
Eggs and sugar should be beaten very well.
I will show you.
See?
Creamy.
Very creamy.
Now, let's add the mascarpone.
There isn't any sugar...
in the mascarpone?
No, there isn't any sugar.
Actually, mascarpone tends to be acidic,
and it is very important for the balance of the dessert.
Then we have to continue beating the mascarpone
it still needs to absorb air
until it reaches a consistency which is soft, but compact.
And let's start.
We will make a thin layer
with very little cream at the bottom.
Then we'll start putting the ladyfingers.
Let's proceed with the first layer of cream.
Let's spread it.
And you don't add alcohol?
-No. -No.
The original tiramisu only has six elements, and they are these ones.
You are an artist.
Really.
Almost a bricklayer.
The tiramisu, as is, is ready.
The other very important thing, cocoa.
We will add it only right before eating.
This is because the cocoa gets too wet otherwise,
and it creates an unpleasant layer.
I understand.
Let's prepare the dish.
-Shall we eat together? -I'd say yes.
So...
Guests first.
Is it good?
-Eat! -Me too?
How is it?
I'm quite good at it.
We started 20 years ago
only with one pastry chef and three prisoners
but since the beginning
our fundamental creed, our fundamental principle,
is the one written there.
It means that you are not only your mistakes.
Think about the pride for a person that thinks they don't have a future
and instead they discover that, "Maybe I can do something with my life."
-Hi. -A pleasure.
The pleasure is mine.
What is this?
"Colomba."
Oh, "the doves".
It is a traditional dessert that is made for Easter.
Every day we make around 700 doves. It depends.
-700? -Yeah.
It rises a lot, like panettone.
It is made with two doughs.
One evening dough, where you put yeast, egg yolk, sugar, flour,
and it is left to ferment for one night.
The morning after, you use the same dough,
and you add sugar, flour, egg yolks again.
Since it is a very rich dough,
very rich in butter, in yolk,
of course,
it needs to be made in more than one step.
But you can see the handcraft of the product.
And this is the sense of the message we want to give outside,
that we can make good things
in an artisanal way.
It is a great opportunity for the guys.
Thank you.
-Thank you very much. -Thank you very much.
See that 80% of detained people,
once detention is finished,
they commit another crime and get back inside.
While those who work with us,
who follow a re-education path,
only reoffend less than 10% of the time.
And it is a huge difference, it is an amazing result.
-That is Giovanni. -Giovanni.
-One of our guys. -Hi.
How long have you been here, in jail?
-Six years. -Six years?
And do you like doing this? Is it better to do this job?
Of course. It means being free.
-It means being free. -Yeah. Yes.
When you get out, what do you want to do?
Well, something in cooking.
Did you ever do this before?
Never patisserie.
How old are you?
-28. -28.
You're a young man.
Chiara?
Good morning.
-Good morning. Stanley. -Chiara, nice to meet you.
My pleasure.
The Dalfini family
trusted me
to create a cuisine tied to meat, but that is creative.
I'm always revolutionizing, changing or studying.
We like to create cuisine packed with flavor
beyond tradition or not.
I love...
pasta with beans.
I eat it every week.
So, we'll try to make my own version.
With a white tripe ragù.
So we have fun experimenting with various doughs --
today we tried to flavor a fresh egg pasta
with what typically goes inside
a classic pasta and beans.
So, we have rosemary, sage, bay leaves.
Uffa.
We dry them, we roast them
and then we mix them inside the dough.
-In the pasta? -Exactly.
How is it here, in Verona?
Was it difficult for this restaurant?
Because you do things differently,
you do new things.
So, when I arrived in Verona,
a lot of people had told me that Verona was a difficult city,
because it's very linked to traditions,
a lot of tourists come here to eat traditional dishes.
We had to do it in such a way
that people would trust us.
Whoever came here would eat well.
We managed to win them over,
like you'd say in Italian.
These are black-eyed peas.
This is the base of our ragù
to which we will add both the black-eyed peas and the tripe.
-But is the tripe boiled already? -I boiled the tripe already.
Yes, it was boiled already
because the tripe arrives fresh.
We clean it,
we cook it in water and vinegar to remove all the impurities...
The quality is in its texture, its uniqueness on your tongue,
it contrasts with the pasta and beans, with the bean soup,
which is creamier.
I like that the different textures can be felt.
I really want the flavor of the bean,
the creaminess of the bean.
Also, because I always try to recreate...
sweet and sour, umami,
I'm going to add the Spanish sauce.
-What is it? -It is basically a beef stock,
enriched with some prosciutto.
We add tomato concentrate,
we let it all reduce
and it results in this kind of sauce,
that's very concentrated.
Good, right?
So, we add a bit of it here,
to add flavor.
Do you want to taste it in the meantime?
Yes.
Thank you.
-Good? -So good.
-No, so good. -Thank you, thanks.
With tripe...
-Genius. -Thank you.
-No, for real. For real.
Thank you.
Let's plate it.
Ragù on top,
made of beans and tripe.
-I want to do it like this. -Precisely, I plate it like this,
so when you get the dish you can play with it.
I like tripe
and pasta with beans,
and together it is perfect.
Do you really like it?
-It's so good! -OK.
-Hi, Carlo. -Welcome.
-Hi, Carlo. -So, what can I give you?
I guess you want to make the pastissada, right?
Yes, precisely, like you guessed.
The consumption of horsemeat comes from a historical event.
Verona was a Crusades' battlefield in the past.
So the Veronese people got permission to eat horse meat,
because, starved by the war,
and with the dead animals lying on the battlefield,
they got the opportunity of cooking the meat.
Horsemeat is rich in iron,
so if you're a bit anemic
it will help you get your color back,
and you look prettier afterwards.
Tell me what your father did.
My dad used to breed fast, heavy draft horses.
So, horsemeat is a family tradition.
My dad was passionate about horses.
And horses were like children to him,
so my dad used to say,
"I like horses better when they're alive."
But, since it was a family business,
we had to eat the animals' meat,
because it would feed us.
Should I be generous so you can eat it the next day too?
-Yes, of course, yeah. -But what does "pastissada" mean?
Thanks.
-Thank you, Stanley. -It was a pleasure.
Thanks, my pleasure.
Thanks, thanks.
Horsemeat stew.
Lovely smell.
A bit of polenta.
Yeah.
-Here you go. -Thank you.
You're welcome.
The first recipe was gnocchi.
-It was gnocchi. -Gnocchi.
-Gnocchi. Homemade. -Yes.
Secrets.
-She learned the tricks. -The secrets.
-This is beautiful. -Yes.
Who would make it? Mum, grandma?
-All of them? -Always.
-Now it's on Tracy to continue it. -Right.
Thanks.
How is she?
No, she's good.
She has learnt well. She pays attention,
Very... good.
-Does it come naturally for her? -Yes, yes. She does it naturally.
She's becoming better than the mother-in-law.