Anna and Marika show us the ingredients and utensils necessary for making the classic risotto alla milanese (Milanese style rice). The star of the show is the precious zafferano (saffron), whose history Anna tells us about.

Anna tells us about the different varieties of rice found in Italy, and Marika completes the cooking of the risotto.

Italians love leafy-green vegetables, and especially in the south, there's the predilection for bitter greens, such as chicory. Chicory lends a special taste to this casserole dish, with scamorza [cheese] and cured ham that offset the mildly bitter taste of the chicory. Anna and Marika show us the ingredients and tools we need.

Anna and Marika work in harmony to prepare the chicory timbale and put it in the oven to bake.

Anna and Marika describe the ingredients we need to make this spaghetti frittata. They go on to show us the necessary pots, pans, and cooking utensils.

Marika and Anna cook their pasta, but this recipe is actually designed for leftover pasta. They explain more about this, and show us, step by step, how to make this very special frittata. Buon appetito!

Agata and Catena have stopped at the Catania outdoor market to do some food shopping. Catena gets to taste some of the delicious local specialties.

Catena and Agata relax in the garden of Agata's baglio [Sicilian architectural form with buildings arranged around a courtyard]. They're getting ready to cook typical Sicilian dishes that Catena will include in a cookbook she's writing.

Terre d'acqua means water-lands. We are talking about the once marshy area which has now become the fertile Po valley. Gualtiero Marchesi is considered to be the founder of the new Italian cuisine, and is perhaps the best known Italian chef in the world. He begins telling us his story.

World famous chef, Gualtiero Marchesi talks about his career, his search for a total cuisine, an authentic cuisine.

Our famous chef talks about the town where he spent much of his childhood, San Zenone al Po, where two rivers meet, and where flooding has always been part of life.

Gualtiero Marchesi recalls his childhood, living along the banks of the River Po. His memories are as diverse as milking cows and seeing German bombers taking out bridges.

Gualtiero Marchesi recalls the early years of his friendship with Aldo Calvi, when the would hunt and fish together along the Po.

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

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.