149a Fred Plotkin's "Chow Italia"

Travel with Rick Steves

Rick Steves

Rick Steves, Public Radio, 721132, Europe, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Npr, Travel

4.3 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2009

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Italians have always believed in eating locally and in-season, and that's exactly what Italian food expert Fred Plotkin recommends when he joins Rick to talk about chowing well in Italia. Fred gives tips for helping travelers savor the variety of regional Italian cuisine specialties, where to look for great Italian food on a budget, and some of the local traditions Italians have for what -- and when -- to eat and drink. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I've got to agree with the critics on this one.
0:02.0	Fred Plotkin's 736 page brick-like guide to Italy in its cuisine is the most comprehensive treatment of the subject available in the English language.
0:10.0	Italy for the gourmet traveler showcases Fred's rigorous research into one of the great
0:15.0	pleasures of European travel, eating in Italy.
0:18.0	Hi, I'm Rick Steve and I'm delighted to have Fred Plotkin as our guest for the hour ahead.
0:22.0	Those of us who love nature, who love spontaneity,
0:26.0	respond to the Italian character of food, which is to say it's immediacy,
0:31.0	its freshness, its seasonality, that's what the Italians are great at.
0:35.0	He'll help us appreciate the genuinely Italian way of savoring food where
0:39.0	fresh and local are always the two key ingredients. It's a gastronomic pilgrimage across the regions of Italy
0:45.0	as Fred helps us understand why different regions come up with
0:48.0	such distinctive cuisines.
0:50.0	Many of the highlights of Italy are edible, and it's bonapetito from Piedmont to
0:54.8	Sicily in the hour ahead. It's time to eat on travel with Rick Steeves.
0:59.2	If you could put all the variety and spirit of Italian cuisine into one place, it would be what I'm holding in my hands right now.
1:07.0	Fred Plotkin has written the definitive book on the Foods of Italy, and he's our guest today on Travel with Rick Steeves.
1:14.0	Fred has refined his palette through firsthand knowledge of the seasonal and regional characteristics of Italian cuisine.
1:20.0	He's here to help us understand just what makes authentic Italian cuisine so darn
1:26.3	good.
1:27.6	His book, Italy for the Gourmet Traveler, is the definitive authority on the subject, and
1:32.3	Fred Plotkin shares his passion for a great Italian cuisine. the definitive
1:33.6	authority on the subject and Fred Plotkin shares his passion for a great Italian cuisine
	...

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