For this year’s Week of the Italian Cuisine in the World, the annual initiative promoting Italian culinary heritage, we are taking you on a tour of some of Italy’s most famous and beloved markets.
We are all fascinated by local market when we visit a new city! They attract us for their colors, liveliness, aromas, people, noises, and flavors. The extraordinary diversity of people and products found in a market are an indication of the abundance of the locality and a treat for all our senses.
The series of documentaries, “Mercati Italiani”, recounts the stories hidden behind every product displayed, and it allows us to discover the wonderful places they come from. Italy shares a diverse and complex food and wine heritage: we chose to tell it through the exceptional stories of those who carry on this tradition with commitment every day. The markets of Turin, Florence and Palermo are the “ombelico”, the navel, of their respective cities: urban spaces that have radically transformed but remain the heart of their economy and the symbol of the city and its territory.
Mercati Italiani: Torino | Firenze | Palermo
A series of documentaries produced by Stefilm with Arte and ZDF
Various directors – 3 x 52 min
PLEASE NOTE: Streaming is available between 10:30 AM (ET) on November 15, 2021 and 10:30 PM (ET) on November 21, 2021 for up to 500 users (capacity). After unlocking the film, you have 24hrs to start viewing, and from the time you begin watching, an additional 24hrs to complete it. All streamings will end at 10:30 PM on November 21st, so, please plan the time you start watching accordingly.
Content available ONLY in the United States
TORINO
At Porta Palazzo, Europe’s biggest open-air market, there is a whole world to discover! With 1000 vendors, the market is a fortress of colors and people. Our journey will show us how the region’s finest cherries become the best “gelato”, and it will amuse us with the friendliest geese and their large eggs. We will learn about the local winter artichokes, handcrafted ricotta, and we will meet a local chef that only uses seasonal products for his dishes.
FIRENZE
The capital of the Renaissance reveals its roots when we talk about food. Every flavor on the table hides a unique story to discover: the “schiacciata” was a way to utilize pasta leftovers for bread, the “ribollita”, a soup that had to last a week, was made with “lampredotto”, scraps of meat added to a delicious vegetable broth and a crunchy piece of bread. This tradition is still alive at the Mercato Centrale di Firenze where you can taste these flavors every day. From the hills of Fiesole to the medieval town of Certaldo, all the way to the Natural Reserve of San Marcello, we will discover Tuscany’s countryside guided by its flavors.
PALERMO
In the middle of the city’s historic center we find Ballarò, the largest market in Palermo. Street food is a way of living here: from the famous “arancine” to the tasty local specialties of meats and fish served grilled, salted, pickled, or fried. Always complemented by slogans shouted by the vendors, we taste the sweetest tangerines from the “Conca d’oro” (Golden Basin), the wild fennel from the inland, and ending with a delicious slice of “cassata siciliana”.
