Chiara tells about how she realized she knew how to read, which then led her to begin writing. She wrote her first "novel" in second grade. Where she grew up, on the outskirts of Rome, influence her writing to a significant degree.

Adriano has invited us to the baptism of his son Philip. It allows us to get a glimpse of one of the most beautiful places to visit in Palermo, the Palatine Chapel. The priest tells the congregation about the consecration of this famous basilica in 1040.

Monica Bellucci, the beloved Italian actor, is Fabio Fazio's guest on the talk show Che tempo che fa. Fazio's questions focus on Bellucci's aspirations from her childhood forward.

As a fitting end to this journey into Italian gastronomy, Gualtiero Marchesi shares with us the recipe for one of his most special risottos, using his own innovative techniques while keeping with tradition.

Don't miss the last part of Marika and Anna's encounter with Signora Giuseppina of the Trattoria al Biondo Tevere. You'll hear about a 56 year-old fridge, five weddings in one day, and sheep who do gardening.

Back in the days when people traveled on horseback, Al Biondo Tevere was a convenient rest stop just outside the walls of the city. People would feed and water their horses, and trade what was in their bundles of food with their fellow travelers. Later, it became a proper restaurant and many famous people became regulars, including filmmakers, Pasolini and Bertolucci. Signora Giuseppina shares the story.

"Food is culture." What do we mean by this? Cultural historian, Massimo Montanari, and world-famous chef, Gualtiero Marchesi share their views.

Marika and Anna take us to a famous restaurant on the banks of the Tiber River in Rome. Tune in to discover what's so special about it. (It has to do with movies and movie stars.) And... maybe you can guess what pasta dish Anna is going to order!

After the war, when eating had to do with survival, tastes started to change and to branch out towards different regions. Now, once again cucina tipica (traditional local cooking) or prodotti tipici (local products) have practically become magic words.

Into the fifties, many Italians would stop at trucker restaurants, knowing they'd eat huge portions for little money. With prosperity, Italians began to search for authentic and higher quality foods. One of Marchesi's signature dishes is the open tortello, a deconstructed filled pasta.

One thing that has made Gualtiero Marchesi become such a great in modern Italian cuisine has been his ability to create new dishes by rearranging, in an innovative way, traditional dishes of every region of Italy, each different in taste and quality.

We learn how and when rice was introduced into Italy. It first appeared in the fourteen hundreds, brought to Lombardy from Spain; and to Sicily from the Arabic world.

The video weaves together Marchesi recounting a story about his first love when he was twelve, and a critic discussing Artusi and Marchesi's debt to popular cuisine.

Water, earth, fish, animals, rice: these were the fundamental elements of Italian cuisine in the pre-war and war years, elements that profoundly influenced the culinary creations of one of the most famous chefs in Italy, Gualtiero Marchesi.

Pre-war and wartime cooking, when fuel for cooking was in short supply, made raw recipes come to the fore.