On the second day of our road trip we awoke in a medieval castle surrounded by beautiful
pastures, formal gardens,
and the faint whiff...of ham…
Morning, Mr Z.
How did you sleep?
Incredible.
This?
It's amazing.
It's my second plate.
So this is their famous culatello.
And it's a sign of how good it is that after a day of eating only ham we're still going
back for more ham.
How did you sleep?
Quite well.
Good.
Did you not?
I dreamt of ham.
We're late already because we need to go and try the oldest balsamic vinegar in the world.
So we're leaving the town of Zibello now.
And now we go straight to our next destination.
As you guys can follow the map.
Take that, graphics team!
Yeah, we can cancel our subscription to the sound effects library…
Is that car in the middle of the road?
Yes.
Okay don't speed up!
Hey!
Can't handle the anxiety of you driving…oh my gosh.
He waved!
*Rapping* …in they mind just to defeat you. Ice Cube is a saga, y'all spit saliva...
and I spit lava...
I got the fearless flow
Don't get near this, ***, if you sacred go
This is where they make it, by the way.
These are the grapes to make wine to make balsamic vinegar.
Balsamic vinegar is made from grapes?
Of course!
I genuinely did not know that.
Here we are.
Onwards and upwards to balsamic vinegar.
Everywhere we're driving to just feels like it's straight out of like
a fairy tale.
I mean look at this building.
It's stunning.
At some point in that drive Mr Z realized Ollie was wearing Vivaldi on his t-shirt,
and absolutely lost it.
I got it when I saw him live.
I'm just gonna say it Josh.
Yeah?
Not sure what balsamic vinegar is.
I know it's vinegar.
I don't know where it comes from.
This whole episode idea is based on a date that you went on with Mr Z which you didn't
invite me to.
I mean Vicky and Gabie were there too.
You know?
You were invited too.
It only makes me feel worse…
You refused the invitation.
…if Gabie was there and I wasn't there.
It turned out us balsamico noobs had come to the right place.
Mr Z introduced us to Andrea Bezzecchi, whose handmade balsamic is used in Michelin star
restaurants around the world.
The process involves delicately fermenting grape juice for up to a hundred years, which
seems like a lot of effort for something you just splash on fish and chips.
Ollie that is NOT what this is!
This is balsamic.
You literally can't buy anything like this in the UK.
And so you can imagine how excited we were when he said we could try some.
I hope you like it.
Thank you.
Try it.
You let me know if it's too grapey.
Oh that's great.
It tastes like child medicine.
No…
You know, like...
No.
No, no, no.
In a good way!
The taste lingers in your mouth.
Yeah it changes as well.
You can still feel it coating like all over your mouth.
Amazingly, Andrea insisted that fish and chips wasn't a natural pairing for his 100 year
old masterpiece.
But apparently ice cream was.
That is unbelievable.
That’s insane.
That actually might be the best thing we've eaten today.
I can't have balsamic vinegar anymore.
If you have balsamic in your house.
Yeah.
Throw it away.
Throw it in the bin.
You can buy real things or live a fake life!
The choice is yours.
Guys thank you for coming.
Grazie mille!
Grazie!
Onto the next.
Wow, what a flipping start to the day!
When you said we were going to be trying some aged balsamic...
I don't know what I expected but it wasn't that.
And so, off to stop two.
A walking tour around Mr Z's hometown.
Ferrara.
So shout out to Get Your Guide, Which is an app which lets you book a whole
bunch of different experiences, Including this private walking tour that we
managed to find in Ferrara.
Where we've literally got a local teacher who speaks perfect English,
Just walking us all over the city, teaching us some of the incredible history.
If you guys are travelling, especially places where you might not know the area.
Never been there before.
They offer over 60,000 curated experiences in more than 3,600 destinations worldwide.
It was super simple, super easy to book on the app.
Literally just go on, choose your language,choose how many people you've got with you.
Boom.
Job done.
They provide 24-7 support and free cancellation up to 24 hours before your experience.
Thanks again to Get Your Guide for sponsoring this episode.
It genuinely has been awesome.
I mean we literally have our own tour guide taking us wherever we want to go.
Explaining everything and answering all of our questions.
And instead of you know, joining like a bigger group,
You get to just have a one-on-one chat and learn about this place.
I’d really recommend it.
Unlock your next adventure with the link in the description,
and support our channel by booking with GetYourGuide.
Wow, look at this place!
Look at this paradise!
Where are we?
I'm taking you to a secret little corner of paradise!
It's just so ridiculously beautiful.
It is.
On the menu this evening is something very unique for the area
because here they excel at seafood.
Do they know we're filming?
Yes, as long as we are discreet.
It's a beautiful setting.
So why are we here?
Josh.
Discreet, ok?
You just nearly puked in the restaurant?
That really took me by surprise.
I have puked in a restaurant before.
Onto the table.
On camera.
What?!
So, seafood.
We are in the middle of Emilia Romana.
Well you have to understand that this place is famous because of this.
- And that's why we're here. - Because of the chef, that's kind of his specialty.
This chef. He’s *whistles*.
Like this, you know?
*Whistle* *Whistle*
Lads.
You cannot whistle in the restaurant.
He told us off for whistling!
You cannot whistle…
*Whistle* Everybody was looking at you.
It’s rude in Italian.
It’s rude?
No, it’s not rude.
Is it rude?
Yes, massively rude.
You did it first!
No, but in a subtle way.
Ok.
It's one of the worst things you can do in a restaurant.
So I waved to that waiter.
He looked at me and looked around and he walked away.
It's because we whistled.
Let’s order the food…
They're ignoring us!
He ignored us!
Because we whistled.
Because of the whistling!
Not me, the table!
I thought you were making it up, but he genuinely did just ignore Mr Z.
Maybe I should apologize when he comes over.
I'll apologize.
Oh dear Lord.
Why am I like 100% sure that's gonna make it worse?
No, a big man owns up to his mistakes.
And I am a huge man.
Certo.
Fabio.
That's okay.
Sorry, I whistled earlier.
And Andrea told me that's very rude in Italy.
I didn't even notice.
Okay good.
I was not whistling for you.
I just want you to know.
Okay.
So guys this is a little welcome from the kitchen.
Fantastic.
This is chicken liver pate.
On the other side is a chard sponge cake and on top fresh cut lard.
Wow.
Okay, so this is fine dining.
It is fine dining actually.
It is.
Yeah it's very different than I've had so far.
What are you doing?
It’s a hat?
Yeah.
Discreet, Ollie.
Discreet!
Oh my gosh.
Cheers.
Okay.
Excellent.
Soft.
Aromatic.
What do you think?
I really like that.
That's good.
Is it rude for me to...
Yes.
You know what's rude?
To lick the plate is so rude.
Yeah, I'm not gonna lick the plate.
Ideally not.
But, you know…
No, you cannot do that.
I have maybe never been this uncomfortable in a restaurant in my life.
Oh here it comes.
Wow!
So we start with some scampi, some green beans, a reduction of red fruits, and a pearl spherification
of pink vinegar.
So it looks like fish roe.
Exactly.
Like caviar.
But it's vinegar.
This is homemade potato gnocchi, with clams and shellfish from the Mediterranean.
And over there we have...
Look at this!
It's a painting.
This is the carpaccio.
Amazing.
Thank you so much.
Oh amazing.
Are you ready for a challenge?
What's the challenge, who can eat it the quickest?
Of course.
Mine only had that much left and yet you still beat me somehow.
Look at that!
I mean it looks almost like chickpeas or something.
Incredible.
It tastes like freshly cut grass on a summer's day with a pond nearby.
Because there's a lot of seafood in there.
Sorry, it’s amazing.
That is amazing.
And then secondly, you put your bread here…
…To soak up the sauce!
Luke, try this.
It’s unbelievable.
I don’t normally like gnocchi.
This is not like any gnocchi we’ve had before.
Wow.
Isn’t that amazing?
It's with clams!
I'm not a massive clams fan.
The last time I had clams it was a spam, clams and parmesan sandwich.
But the clams were off.
Carpaccio.
It's carp*** now.
What's that?
Oh a stain remover.
It's not gonna work.
- Yeah it will work. - Why not?
What? What is that?
Oh it's already going!
Just let it sit.
Look at that.
Oh, smell it.
Urgh, it smells like if you don't wash your belly button.
Shut up.
If you don’t wash your belly button and then you put your finger in there,
It smells so bad.
That’s a pro life tip.
Always wash your belly button.
You f***ing carp.
So this is fascinating.
Can you see that?
It's little balls of vinegar!
Easy.
It's very nice.
Aromatic.
Super fresh.
Very fresh.
Well I always thought Scampi was deep fried.
What?!
Scampi is always breaded and fried, right?
That's insane.
Have you never had Scampi and chips?
No…
In a fish and chip shop?
No……
Have you been to a fish and chip shop?
Once.
Okay.
We need to take Mr. Z to a proper fish and chip shop.
Absolutely not.
Absolutely not!
How’s it going guys?
Very good.
Excellent.
Can I ask?
You’re nowhere near the sea, how do you get the fish?
Are the fish frozen when they come?
No, the fish is fresh.
It’s fresh?
So how does it work?
Like, do you put them in a taxi, or…?
Yeah, it’s coming fairly fresh because we are close to Milan, so we don’t order big
quantity, but all of it is fresh.
Oh wow!
Goodness me, what's that?
That looks amazing.
Thing is, have you smelled this yet?
Ok, that…
I will whistle.
He's in, he's in, he's in.
Okay there's a lot of eye contact Andrea.
There's a lot of eye contact.
Is the eye contact a measure of how much you're enjoying it?
Yes.
Okay.
Incredible.
Umami, umami, umami, Seafood, seaweed, incredible,
Bo, buttery.
Incredible.
That is the perfect description of what's going on in my mouth right now.
As much as I want to be contrarian with that, that is unbelievable.
It is unbelievable.
It tastes like the oysters that we had in Scotland…but it doesn't taste like regurgitated snot.
Should we go for squid?
What's under here, is that squid ink?
Squid ink.
How do chefs get squid ink?
Do they have like a fish tank full of squid at the back that they just go and scare?
If you get a live squid or a dead squid but it's fresh and just killed, you do this…
Wow, I didn't want to know that fact.
Yeah, you asked.
You asked me.
Actually quite good!
Very good.
The mushroom works.
The mushroom is beautiful.
The mushroom is like a wedding priest…it marries the two.
Incredible.
What fish is this?
Red mullet.
You know a mullet is a type of hairstyle.
Yes, I'm aware of that.
I've never had a fish this colour before.
Oh gosh, that's gone wrong.
Quick quick quick!
Shh shh shh…
There's a lot going on.
You know what, I just want more spaghetti.
Just a little, a little.
One more bite.
One more bite!
How’s it going guys?
Very, very good.
That spaghetti was phenomenal.
The spaghetto, carbonara, gnocchi…
The gnocchi was amazing.
Amazing.
Can I ask, Fabio, what is your favourite dish on the menu and have we ordered it?
Actually no you didn't.
Oh no!
Why are you asking this now?
But it’s the tortelli, because I’m from here.
I’m local.
That is like the classic dish that your granny makes for Sunday lunch.
Your granny.
My granny doesn't do that.
What do you think of his haircut?
It's better than mine isn't it?
Why is it so worrying when you're doing that?
That’s just terrifying.
There's zero smoothness in the motion.
Don't don't don't!
What?
I wasn't doing anything!
You are…an idiot.
Give me the pen.
The belly button pen, we need the belly button pen.
It’s on my shirt!
Use your napkin.
I'm dying.
Oh WOW.
Josh can you please do us all a favour and eat the veal from the bone with your mouth.
Am I allowed to do this?
Yes sir.
Just do it in a discreet way.
That is not a thing.
That's not possible.
Just do it.
Please do it, quick.
Okay Josh, more discreet.
Go for it. Now or never.
It's very heavy.
Do it. Quick.
Huh?
I must say that was very discreet.
That was extremely discreet.
It really was.
Discreet.
I'm more worried about your jaw than- oh my gosh.
That was an enormous bite.
It's very good.
Mmmm!
That’s really good.
That was sublime.
That's gonna be hard to beat.
Look at this.
Nice, I like how you did that.
I like that a lot.
Is it as good as it smells?
Wow.
Huh?
Incredible.
This is the best risotto I’ve ever had.
This.
Is.
Exceptional.
How do you rate that compared to other risottos that you've had?
To the best risotto I had?
It's an 8.9.
To the best risotto in the world that you've eaten?
Yeah.
An 8.9 is an extremely high rating.
You know, I know I like it because I literally have said nothing.
No need.
How are you doing guys?
Fantastic.
Genuinely amazing.
The risotto actually was a surprise.
Remarkable.
The risotto is in the top 10 of the risotto I've had in my life.
And I promise you I’ve had over a thousand risottos in my life.
No joking.
No jokes.
So you know your risotto.
Exactly.
I've had about 20?
Number one. Definitely number one.
I'm happy anyway.
Can we please put a cheers on tonight? Because this has been amazing.
Guys, always a pleasure.
Cheers to that!
Always a pleasure.
Indeed.
How good is the limoncello?
That's the best limoncello I've ever had.
Ducky, do you not like limoncello?
I didn’t know what it was, I thought it was dessert.
It's a digestif!
You don’t like it!
I heard “cello” and it’s close to jello.
A limon-jello!
He thought it was a jello!
Next time on our Italian food tour…
Day 3: Piadina!
This is the place, guys.
That little shack?
This is the place!
Oh my gosh!
Round, round!
Nooo! Oh my gosh!
You put holes in it!
Oh my gosh.
That looks incredible!
Mmmm!
I wanna try this, I need to try this.
I could have that once a day, every day.
We’re going to a cheese factory.
This is for the shoes…
Wow!
This is the cheese.
Woahhh, there’s just so much cheese!
Guys, a crescendo!
You did not believe me.
It’s.
A constant.
Crescendo.