gladiators, power and intrigue, empire and ruin. and, of course, dolche vida. i'm stanley tucci. i'm italian on both sides. i'm traveling to see how the food in the 20 regions is as unique as the people and the past. the famous ancients of rome once ruled the world. [ speaking foreign language ] but i'm here to discover how it's the ordinary romance that has conquered our hearts. i'm here on a low carb diet to where. you're going to see a lot of pasta on this show. i mean, like a lot. a lot. ♪ ♪ i've been visiting rome for decades. its beauty and history still leaves me breathless. sometimes it's difficult to find a good meal if you don't know where to look. rome is situated in a region sometimes overlooked in favor of its grander gastromomic regions. it's put to use in kitchens across the city to make deeply flavorsome food. to start my journey i'm catching up with my old friend claudia. she's lived here virtually her whole life. the cardinal rule is when in rome eat as the romans do. it's good to see you. >> it's a long time. >> a long time. somehow almost 30 years have slipped by when we first became friends, when we worked on a movie together. >> i think you came last time -- >> the first time was '95. >> no, i think '93. >> really? >> "beyond the cover blue." >> i didn't know i was that old. >> i didn't either. let's not mention it. >> claudia wants to take me with a classic pasta lunch. with time to kill, we decided to get coffee and reminisce. >> this is an institution. >> that's where we went a long time ago. >> yeah, we were there every evening, you know. >> back in the '90s we used to hang out in a great cafe. the briny part of town, on the wrong side of the river. >> here we are. >> it's still going strong. [ speaking foreign language ] >> do you remember much? >> i do, i do. >> oh, my god! >> in '93. it is exactly the same place. i think nothing changed in this place. >> no, it hasn't changed. i knew an espresso would be just enough to whet our appetites before we go to lunch. [ speaking foreign language ] >> or so i thought. >> i know, i know. >> what's that? who is joining us? thank you very much. these are roman breakfasts with a 2,000-year-old history. >> you cannot resist this. >> in the middle ages, they were one of the few sweet things the church allowed you to eat during lent. they seem saintly to me. is it like a brioche? >> it's even healthier than this. it's fried. it's a sort of donut with a cream. [ speaking foreign language ] >> two eggs and bacon, there's always something sweet. [ speaking foreign language ] >> nice to see you again. ciao. as we staggered off our breakfast, i noticed the area was much busier and hipper than years ago. >> the buildings as nice as they are, were very small. >> right. >> then, of course, as it happens, the old quarters got very trendy and everybody wants -- >> more gentrified. the city may be changing. the one thing that's as constant as the "ancienancient landmarks much people in rome love pasta. four-star dishes in particular have become an emblem of the city. claudia is taking me to find out more to the place she says is the pantheon of pasta. the restaurant is -- >> we don't care. [ speaking foreign language ] >> tell me, pasta in rome. >> pasta in rome, you eat every day. you don't live without pasta. everybody has an old recipe. it's the best ever, you know, and yours is nothing compared to mine. >> it does become very territorial, doesn't it? >> yeah. >> romans revere what they call the four pastas. nice to see you. thank you for having me. simple but iconic dishes are staggering deliciousness. they are creamy, made with mainly sheeps cheese and pepper. the ancient, which has added pork. its luxurious cousin which is elevated with egg yolks. and finally our lunch made with tomatoes, and this roman favorite, guanchave, fatty pork cheese. [ speaking foreign language ] >> guanchele is used in a lot of dishes in rome. [ speaking foreign language ] >> this is delicious, delicious. the sauce is quite light. the guanchele is delicate. >> it is. >> we didn't eat -- across the city every single day, romans eat pasta that has ancient bonds to their surrounding country side. now, it's hard to imagine, but this iconic food was once at risk of being banned in italy. to understand italy, you need to look at the food. i'm here to discover how i don't like veggies... what?! ♪ whatever you have at home, knorr sides can turn nutritious veggies into mouthwatering meals. ♪ veggies taste amazing with knorr. the harry's razor is not the same our razors have 5 german-engineered blades designed to stay sharp so you can enjoy lasting comfort and we never upcharge you for high quality harry's. available in store and at harrys.com dana-farber cancer institute discovered the pd-l1 pathway. pd-l1. they changed how the world fights cancer. blocking the pd-l1 protein, lets the immune system attack, attack, attack cancer. pd-l1 transformed, revolutionized, immunotherapy. pd-l1 saved my life. saved my life. saved my life. what we do here at dana-faber, changes lives everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. my dvt blood clot... stayed on my mind... was another around the corner? or could it be a different story? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didn't experience another. ...and eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. what's around the corner could be your moment. ask your doctor about eliquis. sitting at the big warm carbohydrate loaded heart of italian cuisine is pasta. and fittingly for the nation's capital, rome is obsessed with the stuff. i've been promised the best carbonera in the nation. i was told to ask for "the dom." tell me what you do. >> i am passionate about food. for a long time i make a show where i play music and like a dejay. >> i'm a d.j. >> at the same time i cook pasta. >> daniel is a historian and cook and plays music while he cooks food. his name is don pasta. >> i've seen some of this stuff. >> fantastic. it's really great. don pasta has promised me the greatest dish of cinespaghetti carbonera. >> italian food is popular food. good food. italian food is the food of normal people, the working class people because the working class people create the roots of italian food. >> yes. today we may think of a bowl of pasta as the ultimate comfort food, but there is a distinctly uncomfortable history of italians fighting oppression through pasta. in the early 1930s, mussolini and his fascists imposed import bans on various foreign goods. this led to food shortages, malnutrition and a lack of wheat, which raised the prospect of italian tables with no pasta. in typical style, rather than lifting the import bans, mussolini tried to convince italians that eating pasta would make them weak, lazy and even sexually impotent, and a high-protein diet would make them more productive and war like. the campaign was clearly not a success. >> when the oppression arrived, a big part of italian, with mussolini, but 30, 40% was -- >> in fact, pasta actually became a powerful symbol of the resistance against his fascist regime. armed with their guns and sheets of pasta, many of the partisans who stood up to mussolini lived in these very streets. >> and the great yard from which troops and supplies are poured into southern italy -- >> during world war ii, this area bore the brunt of allied bombing aimed to disrupt the railroad. >> it was like a monument. you can see the effects of the war. people dead. >> families dead. this particular square was home to a hugely popular local cateria before the war. the owner's wife and children were killed. the community raised funds for the surviving father and son to resume work here. the boy was age 8. amazingly he's still here today. >> the story of the food here. >> wonderful. aldo now runs the restaurant alongside his daughter rosana. people come from across the city and apparently further to enjoy "the co the comfort of aldo's food. [ speaking foreign language ] >> so tell me about carbonera. >> it's a roman dish. we don't know when it was invented. >> one story i heard was it came about when roman soldiers at war missed bacon and eggs from home. aldo has his own theory. [ speaking foreign language ] >> it seems some things are destined to remain roman myths. what everyone can agree on is that the carbonera here is incredible. [ speaking foreign language ] >> are you ready? ♪ [ laughter ] >> you have basically four ingredients. pasta, eggs, the juancheli and cheese. when i try it at home, it's never this good. [ speaking foreign language ] >> my mother does that, too. you can just die now. when i taste pasta like this, i understand why it remains so important to this city. rome may be the seat and power of religion, but it's overwhelmingly a working class town. this is simple food that has been elevated over centuries by people making the best of what little they had available. they are rightly proud that their humble food has come to define italy to the entire world. (vo) welcome to the next, next level. this phone paired with 5g ultra wideband-- wow! (vo) the new samsung galaxy s21 is here and it's on verizon 5g ultra wideband, the fastest 5g in the world. available in parts of many cities. it's not just a great network. it's ridiculously fast. (vo) stream your favorite shows in ultra hd. i'm so excited about this. streaming is crystal clear. select unlimited plans get the disney bundle included and discovery+ on us. yes! buy samsung galaxy s21+ 5g. get one on us. only on verizon. ♪ i've headed five miles out of the city center using the newly extended metro line. the romans have a reputation for resisting change and the arrival of the subway in 2014 has shaken up old poor neighborhoods of the city. nowhere more so than here. i'm meeting maso miliano the editor to find out what's going on. gentrification is moving in on this neighborhood and food is on the front line. >> i was born during roman empire. it's a roman name. 100 jails. >> 100 jails? >> exactly. >> there may have never actually been 100 jails here, but what this area does have is three new subway stations all within close proximity. >> this changed the game. a lot of people came here to try to invest a bit. >> is that where we're going? >> yes. >> centocele has long had a rough reputation. that's changing fast, though. one place seen by some as ground zero for transformation of the neighborhood is a deli. [ speaking foreign language ] he opened this place well before the metro arrived. he wanted to rehabilitate the surrounding region's reputation for food and bring the best of the country side back for his neighbors to enjoy the fair prices. [ speaking foreign language ] >> can i taste them? [ laughter ] >> peccarino cheese is sheep's milk. the animals were raised as a cheaper alternative to cattle and crops. he goes a step further than most sellers and searches in some unlikely places for cheese that also helps his community. [ speaking foreign language ] >> oh, okay. only in italy would an ancient cheese recipe be saved by prisoners. [ speaking foreign language ] >> really? [ speaking foreign language ] >> right. [ speaking foreign language ] >> right. [ speaking foreign language ] >> that's delicious, um. as well as sheep's milk cheese, pork finds its way in every dish i've had in rome. historically pigs were raised all around the city because they needed less space than other animals. [ speaking foreign language ] >> to me, he is doing something amazing. now people come here from around the city to this once overlooked suburb. but over the past few years, another 50 to 60 food places have opened up nearby. [ speaking foreign language ] >> romans are known for their stubborn resistance to change. he wants to show me another cafe in the area, one of many that have opened in recent years. i wasn't fully prepared for what we found. [ speaking foreign language ] >> it's hard to imagine, but a few months ago this place was a thriving cafe and book shop called the electric sheet. [ speaking foreign language ] on the night of april 25th, 2019, alessandra's cafe was fire bombed. she set about rebuilding her business, but shockingly the night before she was due to reopen, the attackers struck again. [ speaking foreign language ] >> three local businesses have now been attacked like this here, including a pizza place and a jazz barn. the police still haven't found who is responsible. because alessandra hosted talks including fascist talks, suspicion has fallen. others believe it's criminals protecting their turf or gentrification campaigners. is this happening in other parts of rome, too? [ speaking foreign language ] >> when change happens, romans resist. but whoever did this has made it dangerous to sell food. it seems brutal to attack restaurants and cafes in the city that is united in its love of eating together. you don't trust me here in vegas, do you? uh, well... i thought we had a breakthrough with the volkswagen. -we did, yeah! we broke through. that's the volkswagen?! -that's the cross sport. wow. -seatbelts! please just tell me where we're going. to support local restaurants, we've been to every city. including little rock and even worcester. and tonight... i'll be eating the chicken quesadilla from...tony's tex mex...in... katy. 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[ speaking foreign language ] >> one egg per person. yeah. [ speaking foreign language ] >> breakfast, lunch, dinner? >> i like it in a sandwich. >> that's what i used to take for lunch when i was a kid in school. she dreams of opening a restaurant. [ speaking foreign language ] >> the stomach, the heart, the liver. yeah. [ speaking foreign language ] >> chicken organs and separately, then combines them. [ speaking foreign language ] >> oh, wow. >> don't forget about the bread. >> yeah, that's nice and hot, too. um. that's great. that is great. this is really special. >> it's a really good demonstration of what sarah does, take roman classic flavors and combines them in a way that's new, but not revolutionary or extra contemporary. they just make sense in the cuisine today. >> she gets a scalpel in some beef art and we take a seat in the dining room. >> what's that? [ speaking foreign language ] >> really is extra, too, isn't it? so, break down what the awful are. we have heart, liver, lungs, stomach. >> brain. >> brain. sweet bread. intestines. >> intestines. the whole head really, if you think about it. >> if pasta is the first pillar of roman food, the astonishing use of awful is astonishingly the second. somehow poor romans turn these unpromising cuts into pure culinary -- [ speaking foreign language ] >> that's really good. >> and this is definitely a more carnivorous city than fish. it was 1974 before refrigeration came. this is that honeycomb with pockets. lots of geometry going on. >> i've never heard of stomach geometry. it makes it sound more palatable. that is really good. >> it's vinegar that tender eyeses it, then it's cooked in tomato sauce and peccarino and mint. the tripe is prepared. >> food stomach may not sound appealing, but believe me, these are really tasty flavors. the roman poor didn't have much to work with, but against the odds they ended making some of the best food in the city. >> thanks a lot. thank you so much, katy. this looks different. it is. epic hi-res photos. and 8k video, cinema quality. this is different. told you. sam adams' just the haze has all the taste of an ipa, but no alcohol. i'm sorry, what's that now? your cousin. from boston. it's non-alcoholic? that delicious thing. i don't want to like it... noooooooooooooooooo! congratulations, i like it! is that what you want to hear? in a recent clinical study, patients using salonpas patch reported reductions in pain severity, using less or a lot less oral pain medicines. and improved quality of life. ask your doctor about salonpas. it's good medicine. we're carvana, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. as a cement mason, i use the dove bar... because i work with a lot... of dust and dirt. just washing... the dirt and the grime off... and just bringing you... back...to you. you see the glow? that's a dove bar. dove cleans effectively, cares beautifully. ♪ [ speaking foreign language ] >> thank you very much. thank you, thank you. we're here in rome and it's the most wonderful time of the year. no, it's not christmas. it's artichoce season. markets are you humming with people hacking away at rome's favorite vegetable. so, show me the artichokes. as i've been finding out with roman food, you sometimes have to dig a little to get to the good stuff. >> so this is where -- once trimmed they can be deep fried to make one of my favorite foods, jewish fried artichokes. my grandmother would make these. ask anyone here, this is a definitive roman food. what i love is under those rough outer leaves, it contains an entire history. a story of how society's outcasts can change an entire city. these picturesque ruins once contained the misery of rome's jewish ghetto. from the 1500s onwards, the city's entire jewish community was locked in this walled area, only allowed to do menial jobs in the daytime before being locked in at night. [ speaking foreign language ] >> italia is in her 80s and has lived here her whole life. [ speaking foreign language ] >> when th target. . italia was one who escaped. her uncle hid her. >> for the few who survived, food became a vital link back to their past. the jews of rome had lived in poverty for centuries and were forced to rely on the cheapest ingredients. >> using typical roman inventiveness, the jews formed unloved ingredients like anchoves, eggplant and turn it into something. the influence of jewish cooking is the third pillar of roman cuisine today. italia set up a restaurant using the best jewish food in the ghetto . the humble artichoke for food for the ages. >> so this is that. that was done yesterday, cooked in the oil and refrigerated. speaking [ speaking foreign language ] >> he's spreading out the leaves. cooked, precooked. >> look how beautiful that is. for speaking [ speaking foreign language ] >> that's the best one i've had. that is delicious. it's so addictive. it's like eating candy, you just can't stop. it's so crispy. speaking [ speaking foreign language ] >> yeah. this dish tells a story. it has survived the darkest of times and links us to a past that was almost wiped out. to me it's a type of historical monument in italian cooking, now beloved by everybody and proudly embraced by the entire city. that's why we're a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first. 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(vo) stream your favorite shows in ultra hd. i'm so excited about this. streaming is crystal clear. select unlimited plans get the disney bundle included and discovery+ on us. yes! buy samsung galaxy s21+ 5g. get one on us. only on verizon. it's my last night in rome. during my time here i've learn that above all else food in italy is about who you are and where you are from. but where does that leave you if you are an outsider? i have come to bistro 64. the surprising thing is the chef is an out-of-towner. no, he's not from naples or even milan. he's from japan. >> my pleasure. nice to meet you, too. he was lured here 20 years ago by his obsession with the flavors of the italian cuisine. speaking [ speaking foreign language ] >> notice food has been praised for his creativity. it's literally cheese and pepper. there are just three main ingredients, but it takes great skill to make this roman favorite perfect . of course, another italian kitchen secret. speaking [ speaking foreign language ] >> i know you may be thinking this is ludicrously simple food, but believe me, it's extraordinary. don't just take my word for it. where is karen. karen, come here. this is karen that works with us, one of the producers. she's from rome. go ahead. no pressure. >> okay. okay. >> he's not nervous at all. he doesn't care about our opinion. >> it's divine. yes, it's so good. it's perfectly creamy. it's not too intense or overloaded with flavor. he really respect, you know, how it would be cooked. >> parmesan -- [ speaking foreign language ] >> there's always a secret. >> when it comes to food, romans know what they like and like what they know. beyond his masterful take on the classics, his menu is full of innovative creations, from sweet bread, to cream with gelato. i was curious how the city would take to his creations. [ speaking foreign language ] >> the downside of roam being so steeped in history, is great things are resisted because it's not what they are used to. missing food this good is a real shame. >> sorry. >> but here's the thing, the one thing romans can't resist is a good meal and i'm hopeful soon his food will be another culinary landmark in this eternal city. so bologna, i have not been here for a very long time. very happy to be back. the people of bologna have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, but i have arrived in a moment of brief know normalit. bologna is an ancient university town. the oldest in the western world, brought to