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CNN limited series on Italy

I've been hearing a lot about the Stanley Tucci show, I'm going to have to see if I can watch it from here in Italy somehow! My husband is Italian and it's always interesting to see his reactions to Americans discussing Italian food... haha!
 
I've been hearing a lot about the Stanley Tucci show, I'm going to have to see if I can watch it from here in Italy somehow! My husband is Italian and it's always interesting to see his reactions to Americans discussing Italian food... haha!

Perhaps eventually they will post clips.

Parts Unknown can only be viewed if you purchase the episodes or seasons or subscribe to certain services. So ultimately when they finish their 6-episode run, they will probably make it available for sale. And if the ratings are good, maybe more seasons.

It's interesting that they filmed in summer of 2020. Americans couldn't go to Italy but I guess for a TV show that promotes Italy tourism to Americans, they made a special dispensation.

Meanwhile, this site lists the places they visit in each episode:



I liked the narration in the first episode, gave a lot of good history. So the "best" San Marzano tomatoes come from a relatively small strip of land near a freeway.

They note that it's grown everywhere and claimed to be San Marzano. There appears to be no certification of origin for tomatoes?

In any event, they attribute the unique balance of flavors and thin peel to the clay deposited by previous eruptions of Vesuvius.

They showed buffaloes in Italy!

Then they explained how the neapolitan pizza developed, some fat on top of bread because of poverty among other reasons. Fried pizza for hygiene because cholera had been a problem.
 
They note that it's grown everywhere and claimed to be San Marzano. There appears to be no certification of origin for tomatoes?
I'm guessing that "San Marzano" is the variety (which can be grown anywhere, if you have the seeds), and that there is probably a special certification of quality or authenticity (DOP or something similar) for tomatoes of this variety that are grown in a certain region.
That's how it works for many foodstuffs when the growers/producers/market want to safeguard what they deem as "the real thing".
 
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Watched it last night. Excellent show! Makes you want to go back, that's for sure! Naples and the Amalfi Coast were supposed to be our next trip in 2020 and of course, we had to cancel...
 
Perhaps eventually they will post clips.

Parts Unknown can only be viewed if you purchase the episodes or seasons or subscribe to certain services. So ultimately when they finish their 6-episode run, they will probably make it available for sale. And if the ratings are good, maybe more seasons.

It's interesting that they filmed in summer of 2020. Americans couldn't go to Italy but I guess for a TV show that promotes Italy tourism to Americans, they made a special dispensation.

Meanwhile, this site lists the places they visit in each episode:



I liked the narration in the first episode, gave a lot of good history. So the "best" San Marzano tomatoes come from a relatively small strip of land near a freeway.

They note that it's grown everywhere and claimed to be San Marzano. There appears to be no certification of origin for tomatoes?

In any event, they attribute the unique balance of flavors and thin peel to the clay deposited by previous eruptions of Vesuvius.

They showed buffaloes in Italy!

Then they explained how the neapolitan pizza developed, some fat on top of bread because of poverty among other reasons. Fried pizza for hygiene because cholera had been a problem.
That sounds really interesting! I can't wait to watch it. I was thinking that it was filmed before the pandemic, though, and they weren't able to finish preparing it to air until now? I thought I read that somewhere, but maybe I'm wrong! (And who would have thought that fried pizza was good for hygiene? haha!)
 
Another piece from the CNN site: How Italy Changed Stanley Tucci Forever. About the speculation on how he could be in Italy in Summer 2020, one possibility is a "special dispensation"; I would also wonder if he has Italian citizenship because of his ancestry; and then, towards the end of the linked piece, they say he lives in London, so last summer one could go without quarantine after being in the U.K. for 14 days.
 
I saw the first episode featuring Naples and Amalfi Coast. I thought it was excellent. I have only been to Naples once and that was just passing through after visits to Capri and Amalfi Coast. Has anyone stayed in central Naples that can provide midrange & up hotel recommendations? I am thinking about a visit there to include the highly regarded archeological museum that features artifacts from Pompeii.
 
BTW, the segment with the pizza chef, that wasn't filmed at his pizza restaurants, which are in pretty nondescript buildings.

There is no big terrace with views overlooking the city and the ocean as depicted in the show. That was filmed somewhere else.

BTW, you can search TripAdvisor for the Pizzeria La Notizia restaurants. There are pictures of menus. The Margherita with DOP pomodori and buffalo mozzarella is 8 Euros, a couple more than their regular pizzas.
 
Has anyone stayed in central Naples that can provide midrange & up hotel recommendations?

From my 2019 trip report:
"We enjoyed our one night in Naples. Stayed at Relais della Porta on Via Toledo. Very nice 15 room hotel on the 3rd floor of an historic palazzo." I liked this small hotel.

We've stayed twice and the Grand Hotel Parkers. It was fabulous on our first stay in 2003, but horrible on our recent stay. Now it caters to tour bus groups.
 
Liked the Bologna/Emilia-Romagna episode.

Beautiful aerial photography, wonderful food.
 
Milan episode wasn't as thrilling, though maybe i'd like the colotetta better than the Wiener Schnitzel.

Actually the family meal with the brasato looked the best in this episode.
 
@Jim has a thread about this in the Books, Movies, TV forum with info on how to watch from abroad.

 
Yes...please message me privately if you are interested in seeing the Tucci shows. NOTE: I really did not like them very much...both the content and the host...but did enjoy getting a needed fix of Italy content. (Diana did like them...)
 

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