Celebrity chefs Aldo Zilli and Gino D’Acampo tells all about the food, the fashion and the flair of Italian culture

Ahh Italy, they really do have the best of everything. Fabulous fashion, top designers, fast cars, beautiful weather and of course delicious cuisine. If you’ve always envied the Italian lifestyle (and who wouldn’t?) why not tune in to our webchat where celebrity chefs Aldo Zilli and Gino D’Acampo will be offering up the ultimate guide to living the Mediterranean lifestyle.

They’ll be talking about the influence of Italian culture on the UK and how much we have embraced their food, fashion and flair for ourselves. The guys will also be telling us all about an upcoming opportunity to experience everything Italy has to offer but don’t worry, you won’t have to root out your passport. The La Dolce Vita with Viva Italia festival, coming to London from the 13th-16th of March is a celebration of all things Italian and will give you an insight into just how inspirational Italy is.

So if you fancy adding some Italian chic to your wardrobe, learning the secrets to the mouth watering Mediterranean diet & how to add a touch of Italian flair to your lifestyle then why not tune in and get Aldo and Gino to answer all your questions? After spending their careers creating the most exquisite Italian dishes they certainly know a lot about the best that Italy has to offer.

Celebrity chefs Aldo Zilli and Gino D’Acampo join us on Wednesday 20th February at 1.45pm to discuss the Mediterranean lifestyle.

H: Katy Pullinger, host
A: Aldo Zilli, chef
G: Gino D’Acampo, chef

H: Hello and welcome to the Lifestyle Show, I’m Katy Pullinger and today we are embracing everything that is Italian, of course everything that affects us in the UK of course, al lthe inspirational food and culture that of course we like to embrace in the UK as well. And we are very lucky to have chefs Aldo Zilli and Gino D’Acampo

A: Bonjourno!

H: Bonjourno. How are you?

G: Very very good I’m belissimo, never been better!

A: To be here with you

H: Thank you very much. Well listen, if you would like to ask any questions and I’m sure many of you out there have questions for us, then you need to submit them in the box on your screen right now, and of course add your name so we can say hello. Right then, where do we start – La Dolce Vita the festival coming up on March 13th-16th which is of course a celebration of everything that is Italian and you’re pretty much behind it, aren’t you Aldo?

A: Yes this was an idea that we came across 4 years ago and we decided that it’s a great show to have in London, you know of an Italian celebration weekend of food, fashion, cars – things that you probably wouldn’t normally see in the high street shops

H: Sure

A: So you know it gives us chefs a chance to showcase our restaurants, to showcase what we can do and teach a few people about Italian way of life. There’s properties, there’s as I said fashion, there’s loads of things that you probably wouldn’t even contemplate, and when you go to Italy, you go to Italy to one place. Italy is a big place and it’s beautiful everywhere.

H: Because it is literally a festival of everything that is Italian isn’t it, I mean Gino tell us, what is your favourite thing about Italy and what you like to bring to the UK?

G: Women probably by far my favourite thing about Italy. What we are bringing to the UK? I think we original, I think more regional food from Italy should come in the UK

H: Right

G: You know people have this concept of Italy to be one country, actually Italy there is not such a thing. We were talking before – not such a thing as Italian food, it’s all regional so I would like to see more different ingredients coming to this country

H: Like what, because I think for people in the UK we would obviously say pizza, pasta, and a number – the top things that we think of

G: That’s really the common one that everybody associates Italy with

H: Sure

G: But I think you know something different, for example different oils

H: Right

G: Ok if you go to Italy from the north to the south, the flavour of the oils change dramatically and you know nowadays unfortunately when you go to the supermarket, when you go to a market you tend to find oils the same one, or things like different cheeses

H: Yes

G: You know we see use of the same gorgonzola, mozzarella, dolce latté but for example where Aldo come from Abruzzo they do fantastic cheese which is very rarely that you see them in this country, which is a shame

H: Well are you going to be bringing them to this country for the festival then?

A: Well Abruzzo is my region and they showcased last year and we had an amazing response from the British public that don’t really know where these things come from, and as Gino was saying we’d like to see more small producers you know having the chance to come and showcase themselves, because they don’t have the chance, so the regions have to help them

H: Right

A: To come to this country, to show how us and the English people what they’ve got to offer in so many different regions. I mean if you go to Abruzzo and you go down the road to Lazio or up the road to Marche, the food changes completely. You know 10 miles in the same region sometimes, recipes change immensely. I mean I come from a region where we’ve got the seaside on the Adriatic coast where we have all the fish coming out of the sea, and then you travel 1 hour and you can go skiing in the national parks

H: Right. It’s the same as the language as well isn’t it? They can change from wherever –

A: Absolutely and as you go to Tuscany Italian language doesn’t exist, it’s all dialect

H: Right

A: So Tuscany’s the only region that they speak proper Italian language, so you know with the language, with the food, with wines, with olive oils – it’s an incredible country

H: And so people can learn all about that at the festival

A: Absolutely, that’s why this festival’s important

H: What can the public actually expect from you guys specifically? Where are they going to find you? Aldo? Or Gino?

G: This is going to be my first year that I will have a restaurant

H: Right

G: Because I never had a restaurant – well I had a restaurant in this country in the past in the last 5 years I don’t have a restaurant, so it’s an opportunity for people to come and actually eat my food which happens very rarely, and our Dolce Vita they’re going to have the chance to sit down with me you know if they want to and eat my food. And of course Aldo is there – I think you are opposite me is it the restaurant?

A: Yes

G: We’re going to have our restaurant opposite each other which is going to be beautiful

A: Well there’s a piazza where all the best restaurants and head chefs can showcase their couple of dishes and you know as Gino was saying it’s good for him to do this because it – people normally see him through the screen, what he can cook, but you know it’s great because you can touch, you can feel, you can taste – you’ve got him there, you know you’ve got us there

G: You can touch or you can feel me or the food. I don’t want to give the wrong impression to people

A: You can do what you like - I’m sure they will. And that is what’s important about these kind of festivals, you know that you can see us there, we’re there, we’re talking, we’re teaching, we’ve got a school, we’re serving food. And in general I think maybe this is only the beginning because I can see this festivals to be growing immensely in the next few years

H: It’s a wonderful way to really bring you know all these different cultures to the UK. I’ve actually got a question from Jonathan here who says “there are so many things about Mediterranean cuisine that the UK has taken which” – I’m sorry – “that has taken. Which do you think is the most important and why?” Aldo you go first, what do you think’s -

A: The Mediterranean diet is probably the most important diet if you’re going to be healthy, if you’re going to eat healthily. It’s all about cooking methods

H: Right

A: It’s all about griddling, it’s all about roasting, it’s all about cooking outdoors, so the Mediterranean diet in general is a great diet. But if I was to answer why is Italian food better than French or indeed better than Spanish, then I don’t want to answer that question because I don’t know enough about the other countries’ food. So obviously I’m going to support my country

G: I think actually the answer is very simple

H: Yes

G: Italian foods is very much like Italian men – minimum effort, maximum satisfaction! Ok so that is similar with Italian cuisine

H:Ok then

G: Alright?

A: So that didn’t answer his question at all by the way!

H: I hope it did a little bit. That was from Jonathan from foodery.com

G: I can’t help it

H: Jonathan I’m sorry, we did our best on that one! But listen you mentioned earlier that you’re actually going to be teaching at the event, and that’s something really exciting that I’m sure a lot of the public out there to not just to get to come and see you, you can actually have the chance to actually learn something from you hands on

G: Yes there is a Cucina you know – a Scuola Di Cucina this year at La Dolce Vita which is very exciting because me, Aldo and other chef we will show people how to cook. Probably not necessarily how to cook, some time of day we show or technique to - I don’t know to fillet a fish or I will make a tiramisu, I don’t know what you’re doing Aldo, I know that I’m making a tiramisu

H: Yes

G: Which is nice for people to learn.
A: It’s all about prepping as well – cooking is not just about actually the final product, and put it in a stove and in a pan and cook it, it’s all the prepping that you know has to be right, so we’re going to be showing people how to make pasta from scratch

H: Wow

A: From nothing, you know we’re going to be showing people how to make deserts the right way, because there’s recipes and there’s recipes in books but once you do it yourself you actually get involved, that’s when I feel – because my master classes in London, I’ve got a school in London and I get people commenting all the time that it’s all very well doing a demonstration, but actually getting involved it’s so important

H: Yes. And also knowing –

A: They take something away with them

H: And knowing what produce to buy as well, that must be really important

G: Absolutely

A: Yes, yes

H: You can’t just get any old cans, tins, vegetables –

A: Absolutely, absolutely

G: And when you do this cookery presentation what people love the most is tips

H: Sure

G: Little tips that you give to make sure that your dish comes together, and they love that

H: Yes

G: And I think that as you said they can open a book, but little tips they can only get when it’s one to one. And also like Aldo said before it’s an opportunity for them to come and see us and you know show them how to do it

H: It’s a very good moment to stop you for just a moment so we can actually look at what the event was like last year, have a look at La Dolce Vita from last year

Video footage

“Italy is one of those countries that’s famous for so many things. I think what we’re trying to bring is the whole Italian experience.”

“The British public want to live a little bit of La Dolce Vita. We want to slow down at times, we all really rush a lot and really lead busy lives.”

“La Dolce Vita is something in my blood”

“La Dolce Vita is about the soul of Italy”

“It’s Italy, it’s fashion, it’s cars, it’s food, it’s wine”

“The words themselves mean, you know the sweet life and that’s what Italy really can offer you”

“Everybody’s eating, eating and drinking wine”

“It’s as much a social event as anything else”

“All the atmosphere is what’s important”

“They’re famous for food and drink of course, but they’re famous for fashion and style. We’ve got some absolutely beautiful examples of fantastic fashion items, handbags, jewellery and again I think the important thing is these are things that you can’t see in the high street.”

“People who are into Italy, obviously one of the next stages is to actually then go and buy a property in Italy – there’s an incredible amount of property on offer her.”

“I’m supposedly off to Tuscany this year so some of the wine, food –“

“The aim was to give a day of being in Italy. I think we have achieved that.”

“And it’s been absolutely fantastic.”

“Great day, really enjoyed it.”

“It’s a perfect, perfect chance to experience Italian style in every aspect, and you’ve got it all under one roof.”

“This is Italy”

H: So there you go, I’m sure there’s a lot there that makes you want to be rushing to the website to start buying your tickets, which is of course ladolcevitaevent.co.uk. Now it’s not just about food ,it’s about everything Italian really isn’t it, and of course one of the major things that a lot of us like to think about is the fashion. Where do you guys like to shop when you’re in Italy? Where do you think the best places are?

A: Markets

H: Markets, really?

A: Yes. Just get – just go to the local markets and you’ll find some amazing bargains

H: Really?

A: You know to go to a big city I mean I come from Pascara which is not so big, but they have one of the best markets, you know in this massive car park, every Monday they have this markets, you go there, my wife – my wife’s English and she loves it, she picks up some amazing bargains, but nevertheless, even the shops, you know the high street shops are a lot cheaper than this country, so you know designer stuff is still quite inexpensive if you buy it in the right place. You know for example Florence, outside Florence there’s all the factories, they’re Gucci, all the Italian fashion shops have their factories outside Florence, so if you go to Florence take a day out and go outside and go and find these factories because you can really pick up some amazing bargains

H: Sounds like a good tip. Gino who do you think’s more fashionable, in the UK or of course in Italy?

G: Well you know definitely Italy

H: Of course

G: Not because I’m Italian, if you think about all the biggest name or the biggest fashion show they’re all done in Italy, there is a reason why, because I think culturally Italian people always been – they’ve always been very careful what they’re wearing, they’re always wanted to look very smart. In Italy it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter how rich you are or how poor you are, if you take for example on Sunday morning when a man or woman goes to church for example, they will always wear a beautiful smart dress, a beautiful smart suit, this is something that is very – it lacks here in this country. In this country there is – people just wear jeans and t-shirt most of the time, there is no such – they don’t really follow fashion as much as they would do in Italy

H: Why do you think that is? Is it just because there is so much fashion -

G: No because Italians like to show off, it’s as simple as that. You know if they wear a beautiful suit and they look smart, they want everybody to know that

H: Exactly, no that’s understandable

G: That’s why –

A: It’s part of the culture

G: It’s part of the culture, you know if you think –

A: It’s the way you’ve been brought up

G: You know all those beautiful cars, all those beautiful clothes, they come from Italy because we like to show off. If we’ve got it we want it to show off

H: I like that, there’s nothing wrong with that

G: It’s a very honest – it’s nothing wrong with that

A: It’s all to do with design as well. I mean we’re not the – you know English designers just as good if not better I think now. You know now it’s a bit like food actually, British chefs are incredible chefs now, they cook our food, they copy very well, they do extremely well on restaurants, they have Michelin stars now, it’s incredible, you know the way that it’s evolved in the last 10 years, and fashion is the same, it’s going the same way, you know British fashion is going amazingly well. I love this country, I love the fashion here as well

H: Which is why you’re here of course!

A: I don’t just love it – but Italian culture is different, you know it’s the way you’ve been brought up, you go to church you’ve got to dress up. I come from a family, I’ve got 7 brothers and a sister and I was the youngest. Growing up in my family, you know I had my own pair of trousers when I was 15 because I had 7 brothers to hand me down

H: Hand-me-downs, yes

A: So you know I – fashion for us was something, for me was something that came much later on, but nevertheless you know when you go out on a Sunday, to the piazza, to see your friends, everybody likes to dress up smart

H: Look their best. Like to try and outshine each other perhaps?

G: Oh yes

H: I’ve got a question from Nick here, he says “I want to treat my other half to a romantic getaway in Italy. She loves fashion, food and shopping – where would you recommend,” Gino?”

G: Firenze

H: Sorry?

G: Firenze

H: Where’s that?

G: Florence

H: Oh Florence, sorry

G: Florence is the place to go because Firenze is a place where you have everything there. The food is excellent, correct me if I’m wrong

A: Absolutely

H: I can vouch for that, I’ve been there, yes

G: Fashion – unbelievable. Ok, it’s a beautiful, romantic city, because you have the old Firenze and the new Firenze so you can get both of them. It’s very affordable nowadays to go there with this all cheap airline, they fly everywhere. So definitely, I would say – if you have to go to Firenze don’t go in the summer, because it’s packed with tourists. Try to stay in the winter

H: Ok

G: It’s got a different feel, Firenze in the winter

A: Absolutely

G: Don’t you think?

A: Or spring is a great time

G: Or spring, you know

H: I went in the spring, it was beautiful

G: That is a beautiful place to go, forget about Venice, everybody goes there. Firenze – Florence is the place to go

H: I have to say I really loved my trip to Florence, it was wonderful

G: It’s unbelievable

H: Going up into the hills – Room With a View as well, have you seen that film, the Room with a View?

G: Yes

H: If you’ve seen that you’ll be inspired to go to Florence

G: Unbelievable

A: Rome, you know Rome is a beautiful city as well if you’re into, if you’re a Catholic you know you’ve got lots to visit in Rome

H: Sure. All the beautiful, beautiful cathedrals

A: Unbelievable

H: I’ve got another question here then, from Lucy and she wants to know – we’re going back to food actually, if putting sugar into the sauce of spaghetti bolognaise can make the taste better? Now I’ve heard this one before – what do you think of this one?

A: Well a lot of chefs and a lot of people would probably use a little bit of sugar if they were making a tomato sauce if it’s very acidic

H: Right

A: The tomatoes are very acidic or they’re out of season or whatever, but no is the answer

H: Simple answer

A: You don’t need sugar

G: And the other thing I think people should remember is still I hear this spaghetti bolognaise business. In Italy there is not such a thing as spaghetti bolognaise

H: Right

G: The spaghetti, the actually shape of the spaghetti with a bolognaise sauce, it doesn’t go together.

H: Oh really?

G: It doesn’t go, it’s something that has been created here, never – it’s not been created in Italy. In Italy we have fettucine bolognaise, papardelle bolognaise, tagliolini bolognaise, but never spaghetti, because you know what’s happened, when you pick up the spaghetti and you lift it up, all the sauce falls down

H: Sure

G: Because it’s not the right shape –

H: Because the meat’s not going to stick to it

G: It’s never going to stick with it

H: So you go with more of a Napoli for spaghetti, am I right with that?

A: Napolitana

G: Spaghetti Napoli or spaghetti’s when you do something like aioli pepperogino, or fruit de mer which he’s the master of! You know when you do spaghetti congli which doesn’t include any cream or any tomato sauce, just a touch of olive oil, a touch of wine, a few parsley leaves, that’s the thing for spaghetti

A: Spaghetti is so thin and long you just need something very light

H: Just to coat it

G: Coat it very lightly, you know? If you want a ragu or bolognaise sauce, use a different shapes of pasta

H: So it’s actually – it’s more about the pasta than it is about the sauce?

G: Yes, in Italy you have –

A: Pasta sauce

G: 810 different shapes of pasta. 810!

H: Wow

G: And the reason why each shape is designed is because it’s always designed the shape, and then it’s designed the sauce. It’s unbelievable

H: It’s the other way round

G: Whereas here –

H: Here we douse it in the sauce

A: Also we put pasta to sauce never sauce to pasta

H: Sure

A: You know always finish cooking it with the sauce

H: Right

A: And traditionally – not traditionally, but in Bologna I just been there and they do this bolognaise with pork mince rather than beef mince

H: Oh ok so there’s lots of variations

A: I would suggest start trying it with pork mince because it’s actually incredible

H: Give that a go, we’ve got time for one last question from Tom Whitman who wants to know “which Italian food festivals do you love and is it true you guys don’t do breakfast? Why is this?” Aldo?

A: I don’t do breakfast because I drink a hell of a lot of coffee – I don’t cook breakfast, I – there is this thing of cooking breakfast it’s mad, I never done that. My mum, she will cry if she see me eat or cooking breakfast. My breakfast is 2-3 espresso and if I’m lucky once a week I’ll have a croissant, that’s it. It’s not a very healthy option I’m afraid. Italian breakfast doesn’t really exist

H: Right

A: That’s not to say we are the healthiest people in the world when it comes to eating 3 meals a day and breakfast should be the biggest one. I believe in breakfast a huge amount, I think people should eat breakfast – not fried breakfast, but they should eat breakfast, they should eat a lot of fruit, yogurts, cereal – all those things

H: Right. For a healthy – yes

A: And you know a kick start of an espresso is always a great idea, and if you’re going to do any exercise then eat breakfast straight after rather than before

H: Ok, good tip there we go. But what about the festivals, do you have any favourite Italian festivals?

A: I don’t particularly – there’s a lot of festivals going on in Italy and I think the best festivals are in the summer. When you go to a place in the summer they have their local festivals, so for example in my region they showcase a porcetta festival, so it’s all cycling pig festival, so everywhere you go there’s all this lovely vans with pig, and you know they do Panini with pig and stuff. Fish festival, you know you go to fried fish festival, some of the locals citizens – by the sea there they do all these fantastic fried fish festivals and everywhere you go there’s a fryer and a bit of fish and a bit of flour, that’s it, that’s all you get. Food at its best!

H: Yes

G: Probably the best known festival in Italy would be the Cibus, this is the one they do in Parma

A: Yes but that’s more for – not so much for the consumer

G: Yes but all the food, you get the new ideas

A: It’s definitely a good festival

G: It’s a good festival to do. It’s in Parma

H: The good thing is that we have one of those festivals right here in London coming up on the 13th-16th March of course which is indeed the Dolce Vita where you can see these two causing trouble

A: Plenty of that!

H: Plenty of trouble and plenty of demonstrations and of course teaching which is fabulous. So if you would like to get involved you need to go to the website which is the Dolcevitaevent.co.uk and you need to book your tickets now because I’m sure they’ll be selling out very, very quickly. Thank you so much for joining us today

G: Thank you

A: Thank you for inviting us

H: Good luck with the show and we shall see you next time. Thank you, goodbye

Still got a question or comment?

Name

Your question Question