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00:10I'm in Milan it's Italy's hub of finance design and fashion I think I could do a
00:16little better than this. I'm Adam Richmond global food explorer and someone who loves
00:28exploring this wonderful world for it first I'm making the map my menu that is
00:33beautiful and eating my way through a country that is synonymous with delicious
00:37food that's beloved the world over Italy. Risotto alla Milanese. I'm seeking the
00:44iconic dishes that are named for the legendary Italian cities that invented
00:48them from Parma. Tortelli di Parma. Pasta in Parma that will leave you overjoyed.
00:55He's got a little weak. To Genoa to Bologna. It's a great way to start the day in B-O
01:02-L-O-G-N-A.
01:04If you want to uncover a city's true food soul eat the food that wears its name.
01:09Pistecca alla Fiorentina in Florence. I'm exploring the best, the freshest, the most
01:18delicious bites of each region of Italy I traveled to. Tiramisu at the restaurant
01:24where it was born. This is my incredible edible adventure. This is Adam Richmond
01:29Eats Italy.
01:35Today I've headed to a city where style rules and every bite is dressed to
01:42impress. Milan, Italy's glittering heart of finance and fashion. Founded in 590 BC,
01:50located in northern Italy, 30 miles south of the Swiss border, perched seductively at the
01:55very top of the boot. And it has given the world some of the most iconic and delicious dishes.
02:00So I'm making the map my menu and coming to Milan to try authentic cotletta Milanese.
02:06Authentic risotto alla Milanese. Milestrone alla Milanese. And I get to see how Italians do fried chicken.
02:13It is time for me to sink my fork into the lusciousness of Lombardy. Andiamo.
02:29If you're telling the story of Milan through its food, well, there's one dish you have to include.
02:35Risotto alla Milanese. A true gold standard. Rich, creamy, and kissed with saffron. And perhaps there's no
02:45better place to taste this true Milanese classic than right here at Trattoria Masuele San Marco.
02:51While the first printed record of this recipe dates back to 1829, they are still serving up this classic
02:58in an authentic fashion. So let's see why this rice is so very, very nice.
03:04My hosts, head chef Max Masuele and his son and sommelier Andrea. Nice to meet you.
03:10One of the terms that we keep hearing as we travel through Italy is cucina povera.
03:16Yeah. In the past couple of years, we are living in a moment where tradition is really picked up.
03:21You know, people love it and they're right to us. It's a fantastic experience. You know, that's what we do.
03:25That's why we're here. Well, that's why I'm here. Can you go see some risotto?
03:29Let's do it. Yeah. Stay golden.
03:31Risotto.
03:31All right. What's the first thing? What's number one?
03:36Olive oil.
03:37Olive oil. Okay. Now, that's also a really good tip for anyone at home.
03:41You have to have the oil come to temperature before you start cooking.
03:46Yes, a toast, the rice. Remember, rice is starch and protein, but you're developing a flavor profile here.
03:52It's not unlike what you do with the roux. But now we're going to throw in...
03:55White wine.
03:56White wine. Okay. Wow. All right. I'm liking where this is going.
04:03What are we adding in our cell?
04:04Cell.
04:05Then it's time to add the magic that makes this risotto shout that it's from Milan.
04:10Saffron. Now, saffron, believe it or not, even these little threads look very delicate, whatever.
04:15One of the most expensive ingredients in all of Europe.
04:19Oh, would you look at that?
04:21Just to get the color out.
04:23He adds the broth to get that color out of it.
04:25Now, risotto on its own, it's amazing.
04:28But here in Milan, they take it up a notch, pairing it with a cut of meat that's in and
04:32of itself a comfort food classic.
04:34Veal shank, the legendary ossobuco, literally in English, bone with a hole.
04:40It's a crosscut of the shank of veal, and you get that beautiful marrow bone in the middle.
04:46Oh, in the farina.
04:47In the farina.
04:49Flour.
04:52What's really cool is, and, you know, we do research here, they do something flavor-wise using an element of
05:01the ossobuco in the risotto that I want to save as a surprise for you because people will be like,
05:06Oh, I've had risotto at home.
05:08You ain't had risotto like this.
05:12Look at that.
05:14Oh.
05:15You don't look.
05:16That's the best.
05:17Once the ossobuco has been seared off in the oil, it's braised in a stock made from white wine, carrots,
05:25celery, onion, and herbs for a couple of hours before being returned to the frying pan.
05:31Luckily, Max has one they cooked through earlier, so it will be ready for the risotto.
05:35Let me tell you, Cirque du Soleil can't hang with this right now.
05:41Oh, my goodness.
05:45And now, finally, the final touch.
05:47Let's go.
05:48Andiamo.
05:50So now we have ossobuco con risotto a la milanese.
05:56Ay, ay, ay.
05:56He is the dining room da Vinci.
05:59This is his masterpiece.
06:01Excited to see if this yellow rice of old is still as good as gold.
06:06All right.
06:07My first taste was the risotto a la milanese here in Milan.
06:11God, it's so much fun to say that.
06:12It's like a massage for your tongue.
06:26Between the toasting of the grains, the addition of the wine, this really fragrant vegetable note you get from the
06:34broth,
06:35you would think it couldn't stand up to the parmigiano-reggiano when the butter that was added.
06:40And when you bite into the rice, it releases all those flavors, and the saffron becomes like this sort of
06:47haunting, I don't know, Andalusian perfume on top of everything.
06:55So now I'm going to reach in here.
06:58Oh, man.
07:01And that's what I was told.
07:02If you mix the marrow in with the risotto, it apparently just takes something with a gorgeous velvety mouthfeel to
07:12the next level.
07:23It was, like, the most, like, luxurious mouthfeel.
07:26It kind of, like, enrobes your tongue, and it kind of holds that there, and it locked in, like, all
07:32those other toasted flavors.
07:34We may do another segment of this show, or I may just eat this and take a nap.
07:38Either way, it's a great day.
07:42Cendane and salute.
07:43May you come here and create some memories of your own.
07:57But in a city that's always on the go and always hustling, I'm already on to my next Milanese menu
08:03marvel.
08:05You can't do a show about food in Italy or eating Italy like an Italian without including Cotleta Milanese.
08:11So I've come here to Osteria Conqueta, where they apparently make one of the best versions you're likely to find
08:18anywhere.
08:19Crispy, juicy, perfect, and, oh, my God, you're about to get very hungry.
08:25Cotleta a la Milanese is a local triumph turned global sensation, and it dates all the way back to the
08:3012th century.
08:32A tender veal, pork, or chicken cutlet, dipped an egg with a crispy breadcrumb coating, and fried to golden brown
08:40perfection.
08:40And with, I kid you not, 140 years of dedication to Milanese cooking, Osteria Conqueta is considered one of the
08:49best places to taste an authentic version.
08:53Chef Pierre is about to show me exactly what it takes to create this iconic dish.
08:58I hear your Cotlet is el meglio, meglio, meglio.
09:01Do you want to eat my big Cotoletta?
09:04I've been waiting for a man to say that to me my whole life.
09:07Come on in the kitchen.
09:08All right, it's problematic, but I'm down.
09:12It's a pork that's the loin, right?
09:14Yes.
09:15And he's got the ribs, and he's angrily chopping it.
09:19Do you trim all the fat off?
09:20Okay, only, only meat without, without fat.
09:24Unlike similar schnitzels elsewhere in Europe, this Milanese Cotoletta is traditionally cooked on the bone.
09:32So normally you would need a protein like eggs to be like glue, flour, eggs, breadcrumb, and the flour, the
09:39eggs make a glue and it holds it to it.
09:41But what he's doing here is something I've not seen before.
09:45Instead of breading it with, well, of all using eggs or an egg wash, Nizam just mercilessly pounds the breadcrumbs
09:53directly into the meat.
09:56Yeah, he's a strong guy.
09:57Look at him.
09:58He's got a cleaver, and he's got a hammer, and he's terrifying.
10:04After pounding it three times with just nothing, he then puts the eggs on, and then another coating, and it's
10:13getting bigger still.
10:14It's almost the size of the full butcher block.
10:16Pounding the pork embeds the crumbs into the meat and breaks down muscle fibers, giving the Cotoletta, melt-in-your
10:23-mouth tenderness inside, and that crispy outer crunch.
10:31And then you brand it?
10:33Yeah.
10:34Does it say the name of the...
10:35Oh, it's just Cotoletta in there?
10:36The odd shape of the flattened cutlet often leads locals to refer to it as an elephant's ear.
10:41Right.
10:42One cutlet.
10:44One.
10:44Pounding the meat also makes it a perfect even thickness, so that it fries up evenly, juicy, golden, and crisp
10:51every single time.
10:52I use the oil of girassol.
10:57Oh, a sunflower.
10:58And after just a few minutes sizzling...
11:05Finito?
11:07Yeah.
11:08Already?
11:10Ah, this, really.
11:12And it's got the bone in.
11:13This is what I love.
11:14So if you keep the bone in, believe it or not, even during this crazy frying process, all of that
11:20flavor, the marrow, the essence of what makes pork pork, this is like the cheat code to make it flavorful.
11:27All right, that's the theory.
11:29The proof is in the eating.
11:32I get it.
11:37Oh, my God.
11:39It's so juicy, and yet, even after being cooked.
11:43And you can see how thin it's pounded right there.
11:50Good job.
11:56Thank you, Adam.
12:01Milan is all about setting the trends, setting the next standard in Italian finance, fashion, and football.
12:09Even food has to keep up with the latest fashion.
12:12And for more than half a century, near the city center, there's an iconic eatery that's been moving with the
12:19times and setting its own trends.
12:21Today, I've come to meet the owner, Dorando Giannasi, and his daughter, Paola, to find out how this humble chicken
12:27shop became a Milanese institution.
12:30And seeing how Signora Giannasi is understandably known as a Milanese-style icon, I've decided to polish up for the
12:38occasion.
12:39Excuse me.
12:39Excuse me.
12:40Dorando?
12:40Yes.
12:41Nice to meet you both.
12:43So, I had heard that you were, like, well-dressed, but I have to say, un homo molto bello.
12:53Oh, grazie.
12:54Look at this.
12:55Does your dad always dress this nicely?
12:58Always.
12:58Always.
12:59Tell me about the history, la historia del dinassiz.
13:02Oh, it's almost 60 years since we are open, and he and his brothers opened in 1966.
13:15Originally, the siblings sold raw poultry and basic grocery, but then the need for fast, ready-to-eat food began
13:22to take hold in society.
13:24Dorando saw this trend coming and pivoted, like a boss.
13:28He brought a rotisserie into the kiosk, selling whole roast chickens to the locals.
13:35May I finally try some of the iconic chicken?
13:38I'm with an icon for chicken.
13:40Can I try some of the nuggets?
13:42Yeah, sure.
13:43As well as whole chickens, Dorando also created two types of delicious nuggets.
13:48One curry-flavored and the other Mediterranean, both with allegedly a secret blend of herbs and spices.
13:55You know, we don't want to get sued.
13:57They both sound amazing, and I want to try the original, but I love the way that Mediterranean sounds.
14:03Can I get a combo of the two of them, please?
14:05Yeah, sure.
14:05The place has huge popularity, but it's relatively small.
14:09It's only 37 square meters, about 400 square feet to my fellow Americans, but they do a roaring trade, selling
14:155,000 chickens a week.
14:18Look at that rotisserie.
14:19That's not a rotisserie.
14:20That is a poultry war machine.
14:22That is Mad Max Beyond Lunchtime.
14:26How many chicken go on that thing?
14:28Like 90.
14:2990?
14:30And so we have the chicken?
14:32Oh, these were adorable.
14:33We have a Mediterranean and curry, right?
14:38Okay, this is the curry.
14:40You want one?
14:42Yeah, sure.
14:42Let's see.
14:43See, he still eats it.
14:47Salute.
14:48Salute.
14:48There we go.
14:55Delicioso.
14:57Excellent.
14:58Super straightforward breadcrumb chicken breast with the slightest ingestion of curry.
15:03Lovely stuff.
15:04And now, now this is my lovely director Catherine's favorite, the Mediterranean.
15:11I love a yogurt marinated chicken.
15:15Oh, it smells so good.
15:21When you cook with yogurt anyway, use it as a marinade.
15:25It actually does quite a bit to penetrate the chicken and make it juicy.
15:30So the spices, the herba, everything gets down into the chicken.
15:39That is so good.
15:41I've said it once, and I'll say it again.
15:46I got that one right.
15:50This is good food fast, not fast food.
15:52It's not every day you get to eat food that's become a Milanese legend, and even rarer to
15:57share it with a man that also wears that crown.
16:00And if I had to do the same again, I would, my friend, Dorando.
16:04You know this man was voted one of the 100 most important Italians.
16:10Adam eats Italy with one of the most, 100 most important Italians.
16:14It's a form of Milanese street food that hasn't just survived the decades, it's thrived.
16:19And every delicious bite tells you why.
16:24If you want a dish that captures the climate and culture of northern Italy in a bowl, look
16:29no further than Minestrone alla Milanese.
16:32What started as a humble hearty soup for farmers has evolved into a locally adored specialty.
16:38Proof that sometimes the simplest dishes tell the biggest stories.
16:42Today I'm visiting Trattoria della Gloria to meet a chef whose passion for this beloved
16:48dish has made an indelible mark, not just on his menu, but on his life and also his arm.
16:55I'm sitting here trying to act like I don't see it.
16:58It says Minestrone right on his hand.
17:01Why do you have Minestrone tattooed?
17:03I made it kind of six years ago because it's a dish I used to be really scared when I
17:08was
17:08a kid because, you know, I hated vegetables.
17:10And then eventually I grew up.
17:12It became the first line of my menu.
17:14Is Minestrone the taste of home?
17:17I would say for, especially for northern Italians and especially in the north of Italy where it's
17:22colder.
17:22Can I get in your way in the kitchen?
17:24Let's go.
17:25Andiamo, baby.
17:26Andiamo.
17:29Okay, we are backstage at Gloria in what might be the cleanest kitchen like I've ever been
17:33in.
17:33So what do we have cooking in the pot here, chef?
17:35Well, baby dried peas.
17:37So we have peas.
17:38What are you cooking it down with, chef?
17:40What are the herbs in here?
17:41Just some sage.
17:42Sage?
17:43Yeah, but you can put bay leaves, you can put rosemary.
17:46This is very much a taste of authentic Italy.
17:50How long do the peas cook for?
17:53Something about an hour.
17:54With the peas on the boil, chef Tommaso starts to prepare a startling array of veg, chopping
17:59red onion, carrot, zucchini and celery.
18:02What's the Italian word for celery?
18:04Sedano.
18:05Everything sounds better in Italian.
18:07Sedano.
18:08Then, chef Tommaso adds celeriac to give the soup texture and the greens just keep on coming.
18:13We are adding this, which is a lovely vegetable.
18:17And it's actually Italian kale.
18:21It's called a torcella riccia.
18:23It used to be grown on the Vesuvio Vulcan.
18:26Kale with an explosive history isn't the only colorful veg in the mix.
18:30All right, so we're cutting up this shard, and it's like rainbow shard.
18:34I love this.
18:35Rainbow shard, and especially very important, with shard, leaves and stalks are a different
18:41vegetable.
18:41Deceptively, sure, it looks just like a heaping bunch of chopped veg.
18:45But trust me, there's a method to the madness.
18:48Each vegetable adds its own unique taste and texture, and it's cut to a very specific size.
18:54Chef Tommaso sweats them down with some olive oil, then adds just enough water to cover them.
18:59So what I really like is we didn't add a veggie stock or an onion base, that essentially we're
19:06kind of making the stock a la minute with the very things that are in the soup.
19:10Yeah, of course.
19:11It's sort of flavoring itself as it goes along.
19:15It takes a chef who knows their produce, like the one we have here, to go, I don't need
19:20that much salt.
19:21But that kale, the Vesuvian kale, is going to bring the salt.
19:25But the real chef wizardry here is in the timing.
19:28Chef Tommaso doesn't just throw everything in.
19:31He holds ingredients back, adding them at specific times so that every taste and texture is spot
19:37on.
19:37And that's all we're using for the whole thing?
19:40We can put more.
19:41No, no, make it the way you make it.
19:43No, there is no recipe.
19:45It's just life.
19:46There is no recipe.
19:48Just life.
19:49That's awesome.
19:50I think that's maybe the slogan for this show in many ways.
19:53And then you add the chard and the garlic at the very end?
19:56At the very end.
19:59Mm-hmm.
20:00Oh, goodness.
20:01That was a double hum.
20:02That was a mm-hmm.
20:03Well, let's go.
20:04It's finished?
20:05Yeah.
20:05All right, shall we go to the dining room?
20:07Let's go.
20:08After you, sir.
20:11I'm going to take it as a good sign that the manager, Luca, is waiting as eagerly as
20:15I am for his restaurant's signature dish.
20:18Here we are.
20:21Oh, wow.
20:26Oh, my goodness.
20:32The vegetables are cooked perfectly, like exactly what he said.
20:38Some of the vegetables, they melt, they yield, and kind of disintegrate.
20:42The peas pop.
20:43There's like a bursting, almost boba-like quality to them.
20:48And even like the chard, there's like a little twosomeness, and it's almost like a pop or
20:55a crunch, as opposed to like fighting your way through a fibrous vegetable.
20:59Honestly, grazie mille to both of you for not only feeding me today, but preserving tradition
21:05and bringing home cooking back to people who don't get it, and for people who travel to
21:10be able to go, I'm not just eating in Milan, I'm eating in Milan like a Milanese.
21:17I'm eating in Italy like an Italian.
21:20So, truly, I thank you.
21:22Out of my heart, Cendani, many, many years of success.
21:31I look like a mob lawyer.
21:33Got an interesting look.
21:34Will the defendant please rise?
21:36Your Honor, my client couldn't possibly have put the pipe bomb in his car.
21:40He was in Staten Island on vacation.
21:43This segment is going to be unfairly delicious.
21:47This door, it's a push door.
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