Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
TRAVELOGUE 8.20PM, BBC2
This week, Stanley’s foodie trip takes him to Piedmont, which he says has ‘some of the best produce in the world’. He visits a family-run restaurant to try their bagna cauda, a Piedmont speciality, made with such industrial quantities of garlic and anchovies that, ‘It resurrects a dead person…?’ translates Stanley hesitantly. He samples incredible risotto made by the Michelin-starred Costardi brothers, including one with coffee and a beer reduction, then meets ‘the king of truffle hunters’ and visits a vineyard to try Barolo wine (‘I’m not spitting that out’). Probably best not to watch while eating beans on toast on your lap. ★★★★ JP