like so many italian dishes, the base of fabio s stew is the trusty tomato. it s hard to imagine italian cuisine without tomatoes but scholars only date their arrival to that fortuitous medici marriage to spanish nobility in the 1540s. here in livorno though. sweet. .legend says that the tomato was brought by newcomers fleeing oppression . tomatoes were a popular ingredient among the jews of southern europe.
cake in, what else, a huge hunk of bread . tucci: this is good, i like this. it s absolutely delicious. and he says that he makes it at home but he can t make it as good as this. fabio: yeah. after that little appetizer, we head up to the house of one of fabio s friends in the hills above the town. he s gathered together the ingredients for a livornese classic. he s making a fish stew. this is a fake cacciucco. it s a fake. i need to keep my voice down so the neighbors don t hear but if you re not from livorno, you re not supposed to be making this
unless you want. yeah. yeah, i think so. yeah. as the incredible smell drifts outside fabio s friends take their seats. the density of that flavor is just tucci: wow. [applause] fabio may not be from livorno but he can definitely cook a cacciucco.
arrived? that s when it arrives more or less in that era then. which completely altered italian. completely. completely. .cuisine medici money cultivated this city, and the arts and the ideas that grew here in the renaissance changed how we all see the world. but this family also changed the way things taste. it may seem a long way from michelangelo to the greatest t-bone steak you ve ever eaten, but the medici had a hand in that too. secret. fabio picchi may look like he s fallen out of a renaissance painting, but he s actually a renowned chef, a born and bred florentine, and a master of meat. back in the 1500s most people wouldn t even get close to cuts of meat this good.