Gino's Italy: Like Mamma Used to Make

Product Information

Gino’s Italy: Like Mamma Used To Make is a six-part series that starts on ITV on Sunday September 4 at 7.30pm, with episodes running weekly at the same time. Episodes will also become available on ITV Hub. We'll update if there's a US or international air date. Because it’s one of the only places where my family is all together [Gino and his wife, Jessica, share three children together, sons Luciano and Rocco and daughter Mia]. In the UK, one [of my children] is at school, one’s at work, one is away, and it’s difficult to spend uninterrupted quality time together. In Sardinia, without any distractions, it’s much easier and I get to relax. It’s such a calm place. And then there’s the food…" There are so many different methods that grandmas have passed on down through the years. Some suggest freezing the cabbage so that when it thaws, the leaves will be ready to go. But I find that this sometimes degrades the leaves, not leaving them all consistent, and some even too mushy to work with. There is the blanche the whole cabbage method as well. This involves removing the core, and placing the entire head of cabbage into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes till the leaves have softened sufficiently. Again, I find that this leaves us with some leaves softer than others. Don’t even get me started on using the microwave! Grab the key and Mrs. Baker will storm into the room so equip the knife and walk into the bedroom where she will rush you and you will stab her. Interact with the bed and use the key to escape. They freeze perfectly. Just put some of the braising liquid into a freezer safe container. Nestle the cabbage rolls into the container(s) and freeze till needed. Thaw in the fridge over night and cook in the oven till done.

Is it true you’ve also invited a film crew for ITV’s This Morning into ‘Villa D’Acampo’ in Sardinia, where you live for half the year? I can still see her slender fingers wrapping the softened cabbage leaves around the filling, and adding the little wrapped bundle to the pot with all the others. There was something so fascinating about watching her go through the entire process. For some reason, I always put off making them, thinking them too labour intensive. But really, in the end, they are no more fussy than making up a good lasagna, or batch of perogies. The ad is well made and has a strong impact but below the level set by Coca-Cola in previous years.

Disclaimer

Gino’s Italy: Like Mamma Used To Make begins with Gino re-uniting with his aunts Lina and Rita and niece Martina, and Gino’s suitably embarrassed when they pull out family photos albums full of a naked baby Gino! But then it’s time to get busy, and Gino takes on the role of sous chef as his aunts take control of the kitchen and rustle up his favourite dish, Pasta alla Genovese. About a year ago, I bought a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy special edition and I love it – especially when I take Rocco for a ride in the morning by the sea and get fresh croissants and an espresso. You can’t beat the feeling of freedom. Gino gets cooking Italian-style! (Image credit: ITV) Interview: Gino D'Acampo reveals the secrets behind Gino’s Italy: Like Mamma Used To Make Ah, Spaghetti vongole… We see you cook it on the beach this week, in the first part of the This Morning segment. It holds a special place in your heart, doesn’t it? Your oil should bubble and “foam” rapidly when it’s introduced to the breading. However, if the oil smokes a lot or pops out of control, it’s way too hot. Turn the stove down a notch.

That’s the point of having family – so they can share the most embarrassing stories of you around the table! I loved cooking a traditional pasta Genovese sauce with my aunts." You can also watch Gino D'Acampo in Gino In Sardinia on ITV’s This Morning from Tuesday September 6 at 10am (see our interview for more on his Sardinia trip). Is there a trailer for Gino’s Italy: Like Mamma Used To Make?? This is the perfect way to spend a grey afternoon. Inside, with the tunes playing, the cats sleeping, the snow whipping around outside the window, and perhaps a glass of wine to keep me extra company! Somehow, this did not inspire me to keep eating my grandma’s dish. But whereas my grandmother enjoyed her mother’s cooking (or pretended to), grandpa had a very different opinion of his mother-in-law’s creations. When the phrase “just like mama used to make” is synonymous with “hair soup,” the frozen dinner doesn’t sound so bad. At least there’s quality control at the factory, and machines don’t shed hair. Oh yeah, say, you’re eating soup. An innocent bowl of soup. You’d plunge the spoon in there, and come up with a spoonful of hair!”So this is what I do: First I remove the outer leaves which will pull away nicely from the core. Discard the top one or two if they don’t look pristine. Keep removing, going around the core as long as the leaves pull gently away. As we get further in, the leaves will be attached more firmly, so a little help from a sharp knife right against the core where the leaf attaches is all you need. Keep going till all the leaves are removed. Towards the very end, the core will just pull away with a gentle tug. Coca-Cola will launch a Christmas anthology series, “Christmas Always Finds Its Way,” the three short films telling unique stories of human connection and triumph over adversity to show that the festive season always brings people together. While there are so many opinions of what should go into the filling, I will just say, my mum always had meat and rice. As to the seasonings, I was too little or disinterested to pay attention, but I do know that her filling was NEVER bland. I like to add paprika, white pepper and nutmeg beyond the basic salt and pepper. And along with parsley, I will always add a bit of dill, it is just so evocative of my mum’s cooking. I sauté the onions and garlic first, just to remove their harsh edge. But my most important tip for you: Never start filling the cabbage leaves until you have taken a small amount of the filling and sautéed it up in a skillet first. This way you can taste what the filling will be like. No sense going through all the work of rolling and baking these, only to find out that you would have liked more paprika! Once you are happy you can move on with filling the cabbage. Named “Just Like Mama Used to Make,” the new Coca-Cola holiday TVC tells the heartwarming story of how a son preserves the memory of his late mother by cooking a treasured family recipe and bringing his family and new generations together for moments of magic during the holidays. Place a dried leaf in front of you on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut close along either side of the centre rib, about 1 1/2 or so inches up. Trim across the rib to remove it completely. You are now left with loose leaf on either side, and the rest of the rib will be soft enough to roll up. It will look kind of like a triangle. Right above this triangle is where you will place the filling. Place about 1/2 cup of filling in the lower part of the leaf (see photo) and fold either side of the leaf over the filling. Take the two triangle bits of leaf at the bottom and fold them up and across each other. Now firmly roll up the leaf. Place it, with the opening at the bottom and place it on a baking sheet till you have finished them all. I find that an average Savoy cabbage gives us 12 or so good leaves to work with. So one cabbage will make up one batch of this recipe. The filling for Cabbage Rolls:

I was also already becoming a bit of a neat freak, and somehow, grandma’s kitchen didn’t come across as very sanitary, though it was not particularly filthy either. The problem was that her hair occasionally, i.e. about 40% of the time, made it into the dish. And as Lucinda Williams (or Eddie Vedder, depending on the version you hear) once sang, that which you fear the most will meet you halfway. And boy, did the hair meet me halfway. More often than not, I would be the only one at the table to find a fuzzy surprise in my dish. “What, not again?!” grandma would exclaim and clasp her hands in exasperation, and the family would laugh as I sat there coughing up a hairball.

In episode one, we meet two of your mum’s sisters, Aunt Rita and Aunt Lina. Were you thrilled they shared anecdotes and their album of baby Gino photos?!