through a shared history and culinary heritage. take a stroll and you ll see the usual stuff. people going about their business, maybe even treating themselves to pastry. may i recommend the tette delle monarche, or nun s breasts. they re a local specialty. it s a long story. hi, stanley. francesco. nice to meet you. nice to meet you too. none of this seems remarkable, perhaps, but it wasn t always like this, as local historian francesco foschino well knows. and this is your city? yes, this is my city. i was born here, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and so on. really? yes. i have a surprise for you. really? yes. all right. it s just around the corner. all right. a few steps from the relative modernity of the town square, we are transported back in time. that s matera old city. that s incredible. i ve never seen an italian city like this. no, it s quite unique.
all right. a few steps from the relative modernity of the town square, we are transported back in time. that s matera old city. that s incredible. i ve never seen an italian city like this. no, it s quite unique. yeah, yeah. this ancient town grew across one slope of the rocky ravine, known locally as la gravina. and although it dates back to the 10th century bc, for many it will trigger more recent memories. from the last james bond movie. oh yeah. that has been the first movie when matera in the cinema was actually matera and not some other places. because during the 50s and the 90s, when most of the movies were shot, the old city was completely abandoned and deserted. really? and when we from matera wanted to see our old city alive, we had to go to the movie theater. so a lot of this was just abandoned. all of this. abandoned? abandoned. and then people lived sort of around it? exactly. the sassi s labyrinth of underground caves were occupied si
breadcrumbs to make it look like a black truffle, the very symbol of decadence. is this the story of this city? yes, very good. this is the story of this city because matera was considered the shame of italy. then something amazing happened that changed this city from shame to pride, from poverty to nobility. while the sweet bread and the fillet are cooked in the oven, the plate is prepared with a unique dusting. we serve it on aome sahea, which is actually sugar with vanilla beans. in the end, it will become sahea. the last elements are a rich red wine reduction, contrasted with a simple potato puree. we put the potatoes as the