Italians are very attached to tradition. In fact, although eating habits have changed, many traditional dishes, rather than being discarded, have been transformed. This means more variety and smaller portions, so that a diner will eat more than just a plateful of pasta.

From la nouvelle cuisine, which at its beginnings was reserved for fancy restaurants and connoisseurs and was looked upon with some scepticism, important lessons could be learned about cooking methods and the quality of the food itself.

The beginnings of La Nouvelle Cuisine (French: the new cuisine) are likened to the Impressionists, abandoning mythical themes, and painting directly from nature. La Nouvelle Cuisine focused on the quality of the food itself. Marchesi was in tune with this idea, and at the same time, knew he'd found true artistry in the Troisgros brothers in Dijon, when he went to work with them in the late sixties.

What Gualtiero Marchesi learned from the Troisgros brothers in Roanne, was, above all, the importance of simplicity.

Gualtiero Marchesi had the opportunity to witness the beginnings of "nouvelle cuisine" in France before it arrived in Italy. The Troisgros family, with whom he worked, were famed for their innovative cooking. Their restaurant was in an area with no gastronomic legacy, and they had to rely on their skill, rather than on characteristic local ingredients.

Alberto Capatti talks about his first culinary experiences as an Italian in France, not knowing how to choose wine, etc. Gualtiero Marchesi talks about how he sought to take the elements he admired in French cuisine and apply them to his own style of cooking in Italy.

Get the scoop, along with Marika and Anna, on what types of mozzarella there are, and what they go well with on the dinner table.

Alberto Capatti shares his memories of the grand restaurants of Paris in the sixties. Velvet curtains, low lighting, fires in the fireplaces, ten kinds of cheese — a far cry from what would become known as "nouvelle cuisine."

Anna and Marika take you right into the pizzetteria where Flavio explains how pizza is made.

Who doesn't like pizza? Anna and Marika talk about Rome's take on pizza—a rectangular kind of takeout pizza you can order by the slice, and white pizza. Anna talks about focaccia from Apulia. Buon appetito!

Anna and Marika get to the shop (see part 1) and talk with Chiara who works there. She kindly explains a little bit about how mozzarella is made, and how it should be kept. You may be in for some surprises!

Gualtiero Marchesi talks about his experiences in Paris, learning from the chefs there. Actually, he already knew much of what was taught to him, because he'd had chefs in his family who were well-versed in both every day and fancy fare. He, on the other hand, was looking for something new and different.

Giovanni Ballarini talks about Paris being the capital of haute cuisine, and about the birth of bourgeois cuisine at the time of the French Revolution. Chef Mariasole Capodanno talks about her experiences, as a young girl, with real French cuisine and how even the presentation was so amazing. Neapolitan and Sicilian cooking came out of the work of chefs who had been employed during the reign of the Bourbons, especially in Naples and Sicily, where the chefs were called Monsù, or Monzù a corruption of the French, Monsieur.

Anna and Marika are planning a dinner, and start out by making a shopping list. They have some major decisions to make about the antipasti (appetizers)!

Anna and Marika sit on a park bench musing about how much they like real fruits and vegetables, and then they actually go to the market where a farmer tells them about typically Roman produce.