Through the Olive Branches . Theyre hard to avoid in puglia, a region thats home to 60 million olive trees. Thats one olive tree for every italian in italy. This region is italy at its most elemental simple fresh cuisine thats grown and produced here. Fragrant olive oil, beautiful vegetables, cheeses renowned the world over. Hello. Hello. One focaccia. And durum wheat for pasta and bread. Grazie. Look at that. Im stanley tucci. Im fascinated by my italian heritage, so im traveling across italy to discover how the food in each of this countrys 20 regions is as unique as the people and their past. You really want it to be like that . Need to be like this. Despite being such a fertile region, puglia is also one of italys poorest. It was nicknamed the shame of italy. Located in the south, a place the italians call il mezzogiorno, or high noon, because of the intensity of the midday sun, poverty and hardship are very much a recent memory in this part of the world. Get out of here. But today
hello, i m in puglia, which is the heel of can you see me through the olive branches? they re hard to avoid in puglia, a region that s home to 60 million olive trees. that s one olive tree for every italian in italy. this region is italy at its most elemental simple fresh cuisine that s grown and produced here. fragrant olive oil, beautiful vegetables, cheeses renowned the world over. hello. hello. one focaccia. and durum wheat for pasta and bread. look at that. i m stanley tucci. i m fascinated by my italian heritage, so i m traveling across italy to discover how the food in each of this country s 20 regions is as unique as the people and their past. you really want it to be like that? need to be like this. despite being such a fertile region, puglia is also one of italy s poorest. it was nicknamed the shame of italy. located in the south, a place the italians call il mezzogiorno, or high noon, because of the intensity of the midday sun, poverty a
through the olive branches? they re hard to avoid in puglia, a region that s home to 60 million olive trees. that s one olive tree for every italian in italy. this region is italy at its most elemental simple fresh cuisine that s grown and produced here. fragrant olive oil, beautiful vegetables, cheeses renowned the world over. hello. hello. one focaccia. and durum wheat for pasta and bread. grazie. look at that. i m stanley tucci. i m fascinated by my italian heritage, so i m traveling across italy to discover how the food in each of this country s 20 regions is as unique as the people and their past. you really want it to be like that? need to be like this. despite being such a fertile region, puglia is also one of italy s poorest. it was nicknamed the shame of italy. located in the south, a place the italians call il mezzogiorno, or high noon, because of the intensity of the midday sun, poverty and hardship are very much a recent memory in this part o
olive, olive, grape, and almond. almond. wow. beyond its many agricultural riches, puglia s most prized contribution has to be wheat. something local chef pietro zito has developed a unique appreciation for it. this is what farmers do, like caressing their children. we re in the north, in the foggia province, known as the breadbasket of italy, because it produces more durum wheat than anywhere else in the country. but that wasn t always the case. it s soft. yeah, it s nice. not the fiber this small part here. it s almost sweet. like most people in this part of puglia, pietro zito s connection to wheat goes back to benito mussolini s reforms in the 1920s. there were the big landowners, then there were the small farmers who worked for the landowners.
flavors, in the town of montegrosso, with the help of a local expert. this is my mother, concetta. hi, concetta. nice to meet you. using a mixture of burnt and white grain to ensure the flavor s not too bitter, concetta crafts each individual orecchiette by hand. her kitchen days may be behind her, but she still has plenty of advice for the chefs. we would ask, how much water do we need? she d reply, just enough. how much oil? just enough. how much salt? no rules. my mom is exactly the same. pietro is going to show me how he prepares his signature dish, burnt grain orecchiette in a cream of fava beans topped with burrata and charred black olives. fresh fava beans. now we add some water. then we add some onion. the sweet one, the white one. we wait until it starts to steam, then we blend everything. how long? three minutes, because it s freshly made pasta. now we ll blend. and that s the beans for the dish.