Gino begins his Italian journey on the stunning Amalfi Coast, a favourite holiday destination from his childhood. First off Gino visits the pretty town of Amalfi, world-famous for its lemons ,and explores a secluded citrus grove, high on the cliffs above the town. Here, he picks and tastes Amalfi’s legendary lemons with a family who own the grove. Motivated by the breathtaking location, Gino whips up a creamy lemon mousse topped with crushed amaretti biscuits - using Amalfi’s unique fruit and the local citrus liqueur, limoncello. Eager to find more tasty Italian ingredients, Gino then heads further down the coast to an organic buffalo farm. Here, he meets expert mozzarella makers and is keen to try his hand at crafting the pliable cheese. As the sun goes down, Gino hosts a sailing trip with his new friends from the lemon grove and dishes up delicate buffalo mozzarella wrapped in parma ham and rocket, paired with a delicious cocktail of limoncello and prosecco.

Gino's Italian adventures continue in Naples - the area of Italy where he was born and where he trained to be a chef. Here, he examines the foods and ingredients that have made the city famous - pizza and coffee! Naples is world famous for its pizza and credited for inventing the Margherita pizza of mozzarella, tomato and basil in 1889. Whilst in Naples Gino investigates the Neapolitan food trend of fried pizza – and helps an award winning chef make this surprisingly tasty street snack.

Gino pays a visit to Puglia, a region where centuries of tradition meet modern day. Close to Bari, the bustling capital of the Puglia region, the cool sea breezes helps to provide perfect conditions for growing olives and producing local olive oil.

Gino makes a culinary journey around the country's capital, where his first stop is one of Rome's finest delicatessens.

Gino returns to Campania, the Italian region where he grew up and where his family still live today. He pays a visit to Gragnano, which is world-famous for its pasta. He also visits a picturesque orchard, where he comes across the reddest cherries he’s ever seen. Gino pays a visit to his Italian relatives and for the first time ever decides to cook for them.

Gino is in Puglia on the lookout for some amazing food and visits Altamura, a place known for it's world-famous historic bread. He then moves on to one of the poorest regions of southern Italy, Basilicata. He samples some traditional cucina povera, which translates as poor people’s cuisine.

Chef Gino D'Acampo sets off on another tour of his home country, this time exploring the north of Italy. In the first edition he examines the food that has shaped the city of Florence, beginning by tackling the bistecca alla Fiorentina - a thick and juicy steak - before preparing sliced T-bone with a colourful courgette ribbon and goat's cheese salad. He then heads to the town of Prato, sampling a pastry chef's speciality brioche buns with an aromatic, creamy filling, and conjuring up his own dessert of apple poached in red wine with amaretti biscuit cream.

Gino D'Acampo's next stop is Venice, where he takes a trip on a gondola with a local countess to find out about a type of Venetian tapas called cicchetti, before creating his own ciabatta-based platter, featuring courgette and fennel with capers, prawns on chilli mayonnaise and breaded cod on lemon mayonnaise. The chef then heads out of the city to the nearby island of Burano, where he participates in a highly unusual method of cooking risotto.

Gino D'Acampo explores the gastronomic region of Emilia-Romagna. In a part of Italy famous for its cured meats, the chef is amazed to find an ancient cellar packed with prized culatello, including one reserved especially for Prince Charles. He then buys a wedge of Parmesan cheese and uses it to enhance a colourful dish of fried aubergine, tomato and mozzarella, topped with basil and olive oil dressing. His culinary quest continues in Modena, where he samples some of the world's finest traditional balsamic vinegar and prepares chicken and pancetta served with asparagus and cherry tomato salad.

Gino D'Acampo tours the picturesque region of Liguria in north-west Italy. His first stop is the village of Camogli, where he meets a family making a living from fishing tourism, before preparing sea bass in caper and butter sauce served with griddled, marinated carrots. Keen to explore more of the coast, the chef heads to Recco, where he helps a baker prepare the town's famous type of focaccia. Finally, Gino rustles up one of Liguria's most popular dishes - trofie pasta with rustic pesto, green beans and potato.

Gino D'Acampo travels through the landscape of Tuscany, beginning in the city of Siena, famous for its sloping Piazza del Campo and its `panforte' - a rich, spiced fruit-and-nut cake dating back to the 13th century. The chef tastes this ancient Christmas treat and, inspired by its flavour combinations, creates his own chocolate version. Next, he visits some Benedictine monks and tours their vast vineyard, before using their Tuscan red wine in his recipe for marinated beef skewers and three-bean salad.

The final leg of Gino D'Acampo's tour takes him to Bologna, widely regarded as Italy's gastronomic capital. Making his way to a trattoria, he meets a chef who has been honing her bolognese sauce recipe for almost 30 years. Gino then prepares his grandfather's take on tagliatelle alla bolognese and explores the local speciality of mortadella. Finally, he goes on the trail of the region's distinctive local pasta - tortellini - and creates his own version with ricotta cheese, hazelnuts, orange zest and chocolate chips.

Gino begins his latest Italian escape in Abruzzo - a little known region of Italy, bordered by Lazio, Marche, Umbria and the Adriatic Sea. It’s so far off the beaten track; it only opened an airport at the turn of this century! Gino will experience fishing and farming first hand - two things that define this beautiful region.

In the second episode, Gino heads to the beautiful mountainous region of Trentino-Alto Adige - situated in the very north of Italy and bordering both Austria and Switzerland. To help uncover the unique culinary heritage, Gino first heads to Valfloriana, where dairy farmer Graziano will teach him how to make the traditional caciotta altimo cheese, which is flavoured with thyme

Gino D'Acampo explores the northern region of Lombardia, where goes to Harry's Bar on Lake Como to unearth the secret of the establishment's best-selling drink - the bellini. The chef hitches a ride on George Clooney's boat to take a tour of an Italian villa that is on the market for 16m euros, before fly-fishing for agone and creating a supper from his catch

This northern region hugs the Ligurian sea and with the infamous Cinque Terre on it's coastline, Gino learns the secret of Italian gelato, not just an ice cream but a way of life! Liguria is famous for its seafood and pesto, but Gino is interested in the one ingredient that is the backbone to all Italian cookery. Olive oil. So he visits a grove high above the coastline and finds out for himself how the humble olive is turned into this liquid gold, before he cooks up a dish that takes it's inspiration from the region.

Affectionately known as Chiantishire, Gino is going to unearth the secrets of the Chianti Classico wine in the beautiful region of Tuscany by making his own in the Baroli vineyard, the place where Chianti was invented. He then joins the vintage bike riders of the Eroica, riding on the symbolic white gravel roads through the Tuscan countryside.

Gino D'Acampo explores Piedmonte, a northern region that borders France and Switzerland and sits at the foot of the Alps. It is known for sophisticated cuisine and wines such as barolo, but it is also home to a truffle festival in the town of Alba, where Gino meets a man whose job is to hunt for the delicacies with his trusty four-legged friend. Piedmont is at the heart of the Italian rice production and Gino tries his hand at rice harvesting and cooks a meal that celebrates the Po Valley area.

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