BBC - Italy Unpacked: Series 3 (2015)

British art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon and Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli explore the varied regions of Italy, sharing with each other their knowledge of the country's culture and cuisine.

Part 1: From the Stones to the Stars
Andrew and Giorgio travel from the tip of the heel up Italy's dramatic east coast. Their journey starts in the instep of Italy and the region of Basilicata. Its most famous town is the spectacular Matera, also known as Sassi or 'Stones' after its caves inhabited since Palaeolithic times, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. There, Giorgio cooks a peasant recipe of mutton 'pignata' in a restored cave. Next is the south eastern tip of the Italian peninsula, and Puglia - a generous, rich land with year-long sunny weather surrounded by azure sea. Staying off the tourist track they visit the baroque gem that is the town of Lecce, and discover the trulli of Alberobello and a unique Greek vase in the little town of Ruvo. They discover southern Italy is no stereotypical sleepy backwater, but a place where the younger generation are going back to their roots and rediscovering traditions.

Part 2: To the Centre of the Earth
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. After a snack of Le Marche style stuffed olives they uncover the Renaissance city of Urbino and the palace of Federico da Montefeltro. Scholar, connoisseur and commander of a private army; Federico is one of the driving forces of the Italian Renaissance. Then, in the dark depths of the Apennine Mountains, they explore one of the largest underground caves in the world, the Grotte di Frassasi. In Umbria, the green heart of Italy, Andrew shows Giorgio one of the greatest Renaissance paintings by Pinturicchio in the little town of Spello. Giorgio takes Andrew to the Norcia Valley where for centuries people have made mouth-watering pork sausages and salamis. Giorgio makes a succulent dish using the ingredients from the fertile land - fresh pork sausages and lentils.

Part 3: The Merchants of Venice
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. They continue their tour with amazing frescoes in Padua, travelling down the river Brenta looking at the outstanding Palladian villas, and then on land in Vicenza to admire one of the most beautiful paintings in Italy - Giovanni Bellini's Baptism of Christ. Andrew and Giorgio end their journey where the Venetians ended theirs - at the top of the Dolomites, one of the most amazing and surprising landscapes Italy has to offer.