What to Watch: 'Searching for Italy'
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I recently wrote an article about the Long Way trilogy discussing how it was a great show that allows you to “travel” through your TV. Well, I am happy to announce that there is now another show that will take you on a gorgeous trip. If you haven’t already, you must watch Searching for Italy on CNN.
The show is hosted by actor and director Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games). He is Italian on both sides of his family as he proudly states at the top of every episode. His role in this show is to take the audience through the many provinces of Italy and show us what makes each region and city different and what makes them similar. One similarity between every city is their love for food. It is the one thing everyone, even people who have not been, knows about Italy. It is the home of some of the world’s best food. Tucci takes the audience all over Italy showing us the many foods that hail from the country.
What makes learning about all the different Italian foods that much more interesting is learning how each city has regional specialties and you better not make the mistake of saying a certain dish comes from somewhere it doesn’t. We learn how territorial Italians are of their food, but it’s only because they have so much pride for where they come from and put every ounce of love into the food they make. As one chef featured on the show says, “no pasta is as good as your grandmothers”. Warning; don’t watch this show on an empty stomach. All your self-control will go out the window when you see how good this food looks.
This show not only takes us around to different restaurants. Tucci also gives us a bit of a history lesson. Many times, the history accompanies the food; such has why it was invented, but we also learn about the people of Italy from years past and present. It’s the kind of history lesson you can only get when you’re in Italy surrounded by Italians who want to share their wonderful history with you. Luckily for us, many Italians were willing to discuss the rich history of their country, so we get the history straight from the source.
During the show it is hard miss that Tucci and many of the people he meets with are wearing face masks. Much of this show was filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now I know what you’re thinking, “I want to watch something that lets me escape the trauma of the past year”. But, let me just say that other than the masks and the occasional elbow-bump, there is very rarely any mention of the pandemic. Mostly the show is just an exploration of a beautiful country. And if you’re like me and have yet to visit Italy in person, I think this show is about as close as you can get to visiting Italy in your living room. The way Tucci guides us through each episode is calming and feels like you are walking through the streets with him.
If you’re looking for yet another show that will allow you to escape from the mundane day-to-day life, I highly recommend giving Searching for Italy a shot. You will learn so much about Italy. So much so that you’ll feel like you are there yourself. The show is currently airing on the CNN network every Sunday, and you can also watch it on Hulu with a premium subscription. Happy Watching!