Donato Brenca has been making cheese for about 20 years, and although he strives to make better and better cheese, he sticks to the same method he has always employed.

Annalena continues her conversation with Piperno in his favorite restaurant. They look at some photos from his past while they wait for their meal to be served.

To make pasta, only 2 ingredients are strictly necessary: semola (durum wheat flour) and water. But atmospheric conditions make all the difference.

Alessandro explains some things about the characters in his books and tells a story about when he won the Strega award. The Strega Award is the most important Italian literary award. It gets its name from one of its creators, the owner of the company producing Strega, a brand of an amaro (after-dinner, digestive bitters).

Italy is known for its pasta. The Zampino family was able to give new life to an old flour mill from the sixteen hundreds and turn it into a productive plant where they produce pasta keeping to traditional methods.

Leaving the outskirts of Rome, Annalena goes to a middle-class neighborhood where she meets professor and writer, Alessandro Piperno. He talks about what it was like growing up there and about his identity as a writer.

How are the harvested truffles divided up? And besides being sold whole, how are they further processed? Paolo and Stefania tell us the story.

Melania Mazzucco grew up in a part of Rome on the outskirts, not the part people usually associate with the beautiful city. The white Fiat 500 her father bought for the family became an important part of her life.

Truffle hunting is a peculiar activity, one that requires the collaboration of a dog. And you never want to let on how many truffles you find, even if you are friends with other truffle hunters.

Melania talks about her relationship with her father when he was still alive. He didn't say much, but unbeknownst to her, tried to get a story of hers published. She talks about one her favorite parts of Rome: Isola Tiberina (Tiber Island), the only river island in the part of the Tiber that runs through Rome.

This episode is about a specialty from Colonnata, a little village above Carrara, where marble is quarried. It's pork lard, which may not sound very appetizing but is beloved by Italians all over the peninsula. A little goes a long way, but savored with typical unsalted Tuscan bread, it is pretty special. And marble plays an important part.

Melania Gaia Mazzucco talks about one of her novels set in seventeenth-century Trastevere, quite a different place than what we see today. Although she has traveled the world, Mazzucco comes from generations of romani di Roma (Romans from Rome).

Armando talks about how the works of Duchamp influenced his work and that of so many contemporary artists. The choice of a unique exhibition hall played a part, as well.

This is the story of an Italian, who haveing been brought up on a dairy farm, travels the world, ending up in Australia, only to return to Italy with some new ideas about the cheese he wants to create.

Annalena continues talking with Paolo Giordano, who talks about how places such as Afghanistan and Apulia have influenced his writing.