Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
Gino's Italian Escape Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
6 Episodes 2013 - 2013
Episode 1
The Amalfi Coast
23 mins
Revisiting the Amali coast, where his family spent happy holidays, the Italian-born UK chef Gino D'Acampo presents its specialties, mainly the fragrant lemons and their many derivatives, such as limoncello liqueur. Furthermore, he learns about the Italian Mediterranean buffaloes who are exquisitely being taken care of to the point of almost being spoiled because only then their milk becomes ideal to produce the best mozzarella cheese. He also helps the buffalo mozzarella producers, and prepares some dishes based on lemon as well as mozzarella.
Episode 2
Naples
23 mins
Gino continues his culinary tour around his native Italy, in Naples the city of his birth and the place credited with the invention of the pizza! He samples street food especially a deep fried pizza, meets the Professor who makes unique coffee drinks and cooks a chicken dish invented by his mother. Finally, in a defunct caldera, he cooks a rustic frittata using local ingredients.
Episode 3
Puglia - Bari
23 mins
Gino continues his culinary tour around his native Italy by exploring the beautiful region of Puglia, famous for its Olive Oil. He sees Olive trees, protected by the Italian government, that were growing before the Romans invaded. Next, he goes to the city of Bari, the capital of Puglia, and seeks out the women who still make pasta orecchiette (little ears) the traditional way. Gino cooks a simple dish, orecchiette with broccoli and tomatoes, using local produce. Finally, he goes down to the docks to enjoy a beer and deep-fried pizza as he watches the beautiful sunset.
Episode 4
Rome
23 mins
Gino is in Rome, once the ancient capital of the Roman Empire and still the center of both the Catholic Church and Italy itself as well as the gastronomy of Italy's 'boot,' which draws on the cuisine of all present and former provinces and yet differs from quarter to quarter. Gino visits one of the best delis in the capital to shop for the bacon-like guanciale and pancetta for his take on pasta carbonara, which he prepares with the Colosseum in the background. He then visits a porchetta shop in Ariccia for some delicious traditional roasted pork. Finally, Gino visits a chef who still cooks in the rich tradition of Italy's 'poor cuisine,' which is slowly becoming forgotten today even among chefs. Gino is delighted by her sweetbreads, a deceptive name for cooked animal parts poor Italians once had to eat like lamb gullets, so he creates his own recipe inspired by Rome - lamb cutlets in honey and rosemary sauce served with a fennel salad.
Episode 5
Gragnano
23 mins
Thirty kilometers south of Naples is Gragnano, a town in the Campania area which surrounds Naples. Gragnano is the home of pasta since the Romans were there. Its unique water, which is light and very low on calcium, combined with the wind from the west driving up the valley with the proximity of the sea and the southern Italian sun, all aid in the production of perfect pasta. At one time, there were 150 pasta factories here, and 15% of all Italian pasta is still exported from this area. Gino grew up in Campania and his family still call it home. He visits a pasta factory where he watches and then joins in making Fusili, as it is still made by hand. He then visits a beautiful Cherry orchard, which has been in the same family for over 100 years, 400 m above sea level within the shadow of Vesuvius, and picks some for his dessert with cherries - cherry tiramisu. Finally, Gino cooks for his family for the first time.
Episode 6
Puglia and Basilicata
23 mins
The last leg of his journey takes Gino to Puglia (modern Apulia) and neighboring Basilicata, the southern Italian home of hard wheat. Gino learns how people there still bake traditional hard wheat rustic bread with thick crust that makes the bread last longer. Then, Gino visits the surreal ancient ghost town of Sassi di Matera, where people used to live in cave dwellings until being forcibly relocated in 1952 due to rampant diseases, extreme poverty and overpopulation. Now, a restaurant there serves dishes in the old Italian tradition of 'cucina povera' (or 'poor cuisine'). Gino tries one - soup made of wheat and chickpeas. Inspired by this, he prepares his own 'poor cuisine' recipe - cannellini beans on bruschetta. Finally, Gino visits Alberello, the home of strange stone houses called 'trulli,' which are a real draw for tourists. He explores their history, and makes a delicious sandwich from rustic bread stuffed with salami, cheese and cooked vegetables.
