Recipes <\/p>\n
Stanley Tucci<\/u><\/a> is no stranger to the wonders and complexities of Italy.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0traversed the country\u2019s\u00a0most famous and obscure locales\u00a0(Florence<\/u><\/a> and Rome<\/u><\/a>,\u00a0Maremma and Senarica)\u00a0and has\u00a0written about its\u00a0irresistible food\u00a0in his cookbooks and memoirs. But\u00a0there are always new things to\u00a0discover\u00a0in\u00a0a place where culture and cuisine are inseparable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In a second season of\u00a0Tucci in Italy<\/i><\/u><\/a>, the\u00a0actor returns to his\u00a0ancestral homeland to explore Naples and Campania, Veneto<\/u><\/a>, Le Marche<\/u><\/a>, and the country’s two largest islands,\u00a0Sicily and Sardinia.\u00a0Every meal he eats on his journey, whether simple or decadent, tells a story about Italy\u2019s past and present.\u00a0In Campania<\/u><\/a>, he tries\u00a0a dish where the taste\u00a0of\u00a0clams\u00a0is\u00a0only an illusion:\u00a0the innovative\u00a0spaghettino\u00a0alle vongole fujute<\/i>\u00a0(spaghettino\u00a0with \u201crunaway clams\u201d)\u00a0that was historically\u00a0made\u00a0with stones from the sea to\u00a0give it a salty, seafood flavor when actual seafood\u00a0was\u00a0too expensive.\u00a0And in\u00a0Tavolara, he dines on fresh fish stew with the\u00a0Sardinian\u00a0island\u2019s king\u2014a man\u00a0who happens to own the only restaurant in the world\u2019s smallest kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As season two premieres on National Geographic (streaming May 12 on Disney+ and Hulu),\u00a0we talked\u00a0to\u00a0Tucci about\u00a0the original bolognese recipe,\u00a0the many monarchies of Sicily\u2019s past,\u00a0and the secret to a heavenly blood\u00a0orange salad.\u00a0<\/p>\n You travel to so many different regions in season two, and one of the things that makes them distinct is their geography. Were there any geographical features that made a deep impression on you?<\/b>\u00a0<\/p>\n Sardinia\u00a0always is\u00a0astounding. In the\u00a0interior of Sardinia,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0an area called Barbagia, which\u00a0basically means\u00a0barbarian<\/i>. Even\u00a0the mafia\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0get a stronghold in there because the people are so fierce in\u00a0protecting their land and themselves. Sardinia<\/u><\/a>\u00a0almost\u00a0feels like another country in a way, and it\u00a0certainly does feel like Italy\u00a0maybe 50\u00a0years ago.\u00a0It’s\u00a0incredibly beautiful, and the food is just wonderful.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n All of\u00a0Italian cuisine is\u00a0\u201cpoor cuisine.\u201d All of it. There\u00a0are\u00a0only five to\u00a010\u00a0ingredients in any Italian\u00a0dish,\u00a0for the most part.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Those geographical differences are part of what\u00a0makes\u00a0Sardinia and Sicily feel so separate from the rest of \u201cthe boot.\u201d\u00a0After exploring both islands, what\u00a0do you feel connects them to the rest of the country?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n They’re\u00a0interesting because\u00a0they’ve\u00a0really only\u00a0been\u00a0united since 1861. They\u00a0are Italian, but I think only on paper, in a way.\u00a0You have so many different\u00a0dialects, really almost like languages,\u00a0in\u00a0Sardinia.\u00a0And\u00a0Sicilians will still say,\u00a0no,\u00a0I’m\u00a0not Italian. I’m\u00a0Sicilian<\/i>.\u00a0So that sort of says\u00a0it\u00a0all right there.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u00a0were united because they had\u00a0to be united, but they were all ruled prior to that by different\u00a0monarchies.\u00a0So\u00a0you had the\u00a0Bourbons\u00a0who ruled. You had the\u00a0House of Savoy who ruled.\u00a0You had the Greeks who ruled.\u00a0You had the Normans who ruled. You had the\u00a0Spanish in\u00a0so much of Sicily\u00a0that it feels like\u00a0you’re\u00a0in parts of Spain still.\u00a0And they were\u00a0there\u00a0hundreds of years ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Many dishes you try this season are described by the people who cook\u00a0them\u00a0as \u201cpoor cuisine.\u201d Can you tell me a bit more about what that means and how\u00a0it\u2019s influenced\u00a0Italian cuisine today?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n\n