A genre-bending documentary from Beeb 4 in which wheezy culinary entrepreneur Antonio Carluccio travels to Sicilly in order to uncover the background to Il Gattopardo, perhaps Italy's greatest modern novel.In between preparing some of the examples of cucina baronale which crop up at key moments in the book (none especially apetising to either of us, I have to say), Carluccio amusingly uses various varieties of biscuit to visualise 19th century Italian history (Bourbons, Garibaldis, Savoyardi etc.) and relates the rather sad biography of late-developing author Lampedusa himself, who died from lung cancer just after receiving a second, devastating reggie letter, and was never to see his great work published, or indeed flying off Palermo bookshelves.
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