Stanley Tucci reveals his perfect day in Italy: "I'd go skiing, I'd go fishing, and I'd cook."

""He's doing a really hard thing," he says. "He's brought them back into existence for the most part, because they were almost gone, feeds them all naturally and creates these products that are absolutely amazing. He's not interested in expanding the business because he knows that would compromise the quality of what he does.""

"It's a philosophy that crops up again and again throughout the series: small scale, big flavour, high quality. All the dishes featured are made with ultra-local ingredients native to their specific locale. In Sicily's largest city, Palermo, arancina ("never arancini") is feminine, whereas in Catania, it's "arancino"; masculine, and both are filled distinctly owing to differing cultural influences from the Middle East and Spain."

"In Procida, a two-mile-wide island in Campania and the smallest and least-visited after Capri and Ischia, Stanley tries insalata di limoni. This, as it turns out, is just a bowl of chopped lemons finished with a few sprigs of mint - it sounds strange but, as Tucci learns, lemons that grow here have a strong and unique natural sweetness that lends itself to the perfect salad dish."

"That obsession with regionality and craftsmanship isn't confined to Italy, either. It's one of the reasons Tucci has long loved London, the city he's called home since 2013, after decades living in New York. "London is becoming the food Mecca of the world," he says. "I think that's wonderful - I love all the diversity of it.""

A small-scale approach centers on bringing nearly lost traditions back into existence, feeding people naturally, and creating highly regarded products while avoiding expansion that could reduce quality. Dishes reflect strict regionality and craftsmanship using ultra-local ingredients native to each locale. In Sicily, arancina and arancino differ by city and cultural influences from the Middle East and Spain, including distinct fillings. On Procida, insalata di limoni is made from chopped local lemons with mint, relying on the lemons’ strong natural sweetness for a balanced salad. The same regional obsession extends beyond Italy, with London valued for its growing food diversity and seasonality-driven menus at notable restaurants.

Read at CN Traveller