NEVEN’S ITALIAN FOOD TRAILS (New series, programme two)
THURSDAY 12 OCTOBER 7pm 2017, RTÉ ONE
In his brand new six part series, Neven’s Italian Food Trails, Neven Maguire travels from Venice on the Adriatic Coast, to Sorrento on the Mediterranean, visiting Parma, Modena, Florence and Tuscany.
Along the way, Ireland’s hugely popular chef learns about some of the wonderful food and drink that have made Italian cuisine so popular around the world, including parmesan cheese, pasta, Parma ham, Prosecco, olive oil, coffee and Chianti.
Neven enjoys street food beside a race track, he is shown how to cook the perfect risotto by a Michelin star chef , and he is taught how to make the perfect cappuccino by Italy’s champion barista.
But Neven’s brand new series is not all about food – he takes some interesting trips as well: a water taxi up the Grand Canal, a microlight flight over Parma, truffle-hunting in Tuscany and a spin round a race track in a Ferrari.
And of course throughout this new six part series, Neven demonstrates some recipes inspired by his journey, including a classic Ragu, a Peach and Amaretti Cake, Chicken wrapped in Parma Ham, and Chocolate and Hazelnut Semi-freddo.
Programme two: PARMA
Parma is situated within the Emilia-Romagna region, an area known as the gourmet capital of Italy, and home to Parmesan cheese, Parma ham and balsamic vinegar.
Neven is introduced to the city by tour guide Amalda Cuka who explains that the region’s food traditions are many centuries old.
Neven meets Parma ham producer Paolo Tanara in La Prosciutteria, one of the city’s best known delicatessens.
Neven then takes to the skies for an aerial tour in a microlight to see the farmland and vineyards responsible for the region’s famous foods.
The following day, Neven’s stomach had settled sufficiently for him to have lunch in Ristorante Borsa in Valeggio Sul Mincio, a town with no less than 50 pasta restaurants, where he learned about making fresh pasta with Enrico Bolla.
Neven then visits a farm which produces the milk used for parmesan cheese: one thousand litres of milk are need to produce 80kg of cheese. Neven concludes programme two with a recipe for Pesto-stuffed Chicken Breasts wrapped in Parma Ham.
Neven’s Italian Food Trails is produced and directed by David Hare for Inproduction.TV and is sponsored by the Dunnes Stores Simply Better Collection
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