Season 1, Episode 12

Europe Files - Volume 7

We've compiled the best of Anthony Bourdain's Europe trips in The Europe Files - Volume 7, in which he explores Italy and Spain. Tony and his wife, Ottavia, travel to Sardinia, Italy, to visit her family. They head to one of their favorite agritourismos for an array of freshly made pastas, cheeses, and meats, along with wild rabbit and partridge, topped off by fresh farmer cheese and sweet honey. Then Tony reunites with two friends, Carlos and Lisa, at Zia Forica, to sample some foods of the region, specifically snails. Later, Tony and his extended family visit the festival of San Francesco in Lula, to attend a meal for local workers and enjoy the traditions and foods. Then, Aunt Andreana arranges a special seafood meal for Ottavia and Tony, along with some of Ottavia's cousins. They enjoy bottarga, the dried salted roe of the local mullet fish, delicious spiny lobster, and a rich pasta cooked with olive oil and sprinkled with bottarga powder, a dish that, according to Tony is, 'absolutely perfect.' Next, Tony heads to Madrid, Spain, to dine on signature Spanish fare. He get's special treatment at Diverxo, one of Madrid's most exclusive restaurants, where he dines on scallops, tangeri crabs and black pudding dim sum with quail egg. In Naples, Italy, Tony meets Josepina, the eighty-year-old mother of the production driver, to enjoy a classic ragu. Virgin olive oil, onion and garlic are combined with sausage, veal shank, and pork neck in tomato sauce, simmered for five to six hours. Josepina brings a bitter, local vegetable to the table to compliment the meal, fiorelli. Back in New York, Tony visits Italian American chefs Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone at Torrisi Italian Specialties. The chefs serve up "neighborhood dishes," which pay homage to the traditional neighbors of Italian Americans, including a lamb tongue gyro salad and fried rice with sweet pork sausage and American prosciutto, washed down with Schaefer beer.

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