Italy Unpacked Episode Rating Graph

The final stretch of Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli's journey takes them all the way down to the toe of Italy and the southern regions of Campania and Calabria. Invaders and foreign empires have shaped the culture and cooking here over millennia, making this Italy's most exotic area.

Beginning in Liguria, a region bordered by mountains and a beautiful rocky coastline which inspired the English Romantic poets, Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli travel along the west coast of Italy, exploring the culture and cuisine of the diverse regions.

The second leg of Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli's journey down the west coast of Italy finds them in Lazio, a region whose capital Rome has always taken centre stage - but not this time. The two deliberately avoid the Eternal City and discover the legacy of those who took refuge away from the cauldron of city life and the politics of power and Popes.

The second leg of Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli's journey takes them to the heart of Italy and the regions of Le Marche and Umbria.

The last leg of Andrew and Giorgio's journey is the Veneto - a true melting pot thanks to its geographical position in north-eastern Italy. Andrew and Giorgio don't stop in the region's most famous city, Venice. Instead, they follow in the footsteps of the Venetian merchants through their great inland empire. They begin their journey harvesting clams which Giorgio cooks as spaghetti alle vongole in the middle of the Venetian lagoon.

The first episode in the three-part series ‘The Art of the Feast’ sees Graham-Dixon and Locatelli begin their journey through Italy in Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna, one of the richest regions in Italy. They find out why the city is know as la Dotta (the Learned), la Grassa (the Fat) and la Rossa (the Red), while visiting its shops, art institutions and the oldest university in the world. From there, they go on to Ferrara where they discover the legacy left by the famous dynasty d’Este, and to Modena, home of balsamic vinegar and Ferrari. Finally, they visit Parma, where Locatelli reveals the source of modern Italian cuisine at the Palatina Library and views an original copy of the first cookbook of the newly united Italy, while Graham-Dixon admires Correggio’s magnificent fresco in the dome of Parma Cathedral.