Culinary Horizon: Tuscany

Part travelogue, part cooking show, part introduction to Tuscan food and chefs, Tuscany follows the irrepressible Natalie Wallace as she visits a trio of kitchens: chatting up the chefs, watching them create sumptuous meals—including dishes such as basil pasta with pesto, chicken with olives and pine nuts, ricotta cake with chocolate, artichoke soufflé, and pork with balsamic vinegar and grapes—and adding pinches of salt herself. In between scenes amidst the pots and pans, Robert Morse narrates segments showing glassblowers fashioning wine goblets, a farmer and his dog foraging for a truffle as big as a potato, artisans creating colorful pottery, farmers harvesting and pressing olives, and cheese makers coating rounds of sheep's milk cheese with walnut ashes to draw out the moisture. DVD extras include footage of a wine tasting, and a session with a fourth chef, who barbecues a chicken slathered with spices. While the cooking demos move rapidly, viewers will be happy to note that the 14 recipes featured here are also included in an accompanying booklet. Recommended. Aud: P. (F. Gardner)