Weekend Cooking: Tucci in Italy and Nonnas - Italian Food!

I have a bit of a problem at the moment in that I have more Weekend Cooking posts than I have Saturdays available to post them on. I do, however, have a spare Sunday so today I am going to share another food related post, just because I can. That does make three for this weekend but that's okay

Tucci in Italy

In the last few years, I have become a big fan of Stanley Tucci. I have watched both of TV series, watched movies, and he personally read both of his audiobooks directly to me (or at least it fell to me). In his most recent book, What I Ate in One Year, there was a running joke through it about whether his TV series where he features the food and regions of Italy would find a new home, and if so what would it be called. 

It turns out that the series would be called Tucci in Italy and it would be shown on the National Geographic channel, and we binge watched it recently! 

It is very similar in concept to Searching for Italy which was originally shown on CNN. Stanley goes to a particular region of Italy, talks to them about their food, history and customs. Everyone he meets falls under his spell (I mean, I would too) and he loves everything that he eats, and then he moves onto the next place. 

Stanley visits five regions in Tucci in Italy.  Some of them are places he has been before, and others are new. The places are Tuscany, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Abruzzo and Lazio. I was particularly interrested in the Trentino-Alto Adige which is a region in the very north of Italy. Some parts of the region are also called South Tyrol. Over the years it has sometimes been part of Austria and sometimes Italy, so it has a very particular language, food and style that it different to the rest of Italy. I had recently read a book that was set there so I think that was part of why it interested me so much!

I think the production values for this series are probably a bit more restricted than they were for the CNN show. The sound isn't quite as full, the subtitles are more obvious...just small things. For the most part though, it is more of the same captivating TV.

I guess the big difference for this series compared to the other show is that in order to watch it again I will need to go search it out specifically.  For the original series, it is shown repeatedly on one of our cable channels and if I see that the show is on then I will often start watching it, no matter which episode it is and what part of the episode we are at.

Now, we wait to see if there will be more episodes of Tucci in Italy. I really hope so.

Coincidentally, as I was writing this post I found a video of Stanley Tucci hosting a dinner with F1 Carlos Sainz, presenter Tan France and Spice Girl Melanie C, all answering questions about their lives and food including a crisp sandwich.  It was a lot of fun! Check it out here! The series is called Cards on the Table and I am looking forward to watching more episodes. It looks like there are a few episodes available everywhere.

Nonnas

A recent Netflix movie release, Nonnas stars Vince Vaughan, Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco and Linda Cardenelli amongst others. It tells the story of a man named Joe Scaravella who inherits some money following the death of his mother. He reminisces about the great Italian food of his childhood, and decides to use his money to open a restaurant, despite the fact that he has no experience whatsoever. He is also trying to figure out what some of the ingredients are in some of the dishes he remembers like Sunday Gravy.

He finds an empty restaurant for sale on Staten Island and sets about refurbishing the restaurant with help from some very good friends. What he hadn't counted on was opposition from the locals who had fond memories of the previous restaurant that was there and didn't want it reopened. That doesn't really make sense as it was an empty building otherwise but people are sometimes strange, right? Thanks to support from good friends, Joe gets the restaurant ready despite some unexpected setbacks along the way.

Joe's plan is to have Italian Nonna's cook their specialities and so he puts an ad in Craigslist and his first three women come to apply. However, things don't quite go to plan when two of the nonna's don't get along due to the fact that one is from Bologna and the other from Sicily

It is touch and go as to whether the restaurant will even get off the ground, but Joe's persistence and determination mean that he is going to give it the best shot he can.

I love a movie that is based on a true story, which this one. The Staten Island restaurant which is called Enoteca Maria is still running, and there are still nonnas doing all the cooking, although these days they are from all around the world!

With humour, a touch of romance, and plenty of Italian food porn, this was a very pleasant way to pass a couple of hours.