WEBVTT

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♪ (music) ♪

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(Nicole) On Italy's Amalfi Coast

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there's a food farmed
nowhere else on Earth.

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Caring for it requires fearlessness,

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breathtaking agility,

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and a deep connection to the land.

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This is a young man's trade

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but it's done almost entirely by old men,

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and I've come here to meet
one of the greatest.

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♪ (music) ♪

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(Nicole) Gigino just turned 83,

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he's spent his whole life
tending a very special kind of lemon.

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here on the hillsides of Amalfi.

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(Nicole) Gigino and his son 
Salvatore have invited me

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to harvest the fable Amalfi Coast lemon,

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sfusato amalfitano

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a variety that's celebrated
for its sweetness and aroma.

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But first, café!

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(Nicole) Saluti!

NOTE Paragraph

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(Nicole) With a twist of lemon, of course.

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That's really good!
(Laughter)

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(Nicole) I'm ready to go now. Let's go!

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(Salvatore) Now you're ready.

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♪ (music) ♪

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(Nicole) The name, sfusato, comes 
from the lemon's taper end,

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like a spindle or <i>fuso</i>, in Italian.

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This is sfusato amalfitano.

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The original!

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(Nicole) Only sfusato grown along 
the 20 miles coastal strip

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between Vietri and Positano

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can legally be sold
as Amalfi Coast lemons.

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This is the preferred habitat
of the sfusato amalfitano,

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and attempts to commercially grow it
outside of Italy have failed.

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♪ (music) ♪

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(Nicole) Gigino often works in the most
precarious place possible...

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atop the mountainside pergolas
that support the trees.

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♪ (music) ♪

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(Nicole) This breathtaking aerial act 
has earned Gigino and his cohorts

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a nickname:

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the Flying Farmers.

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♪ (music) ♪

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(Nicole) It's easy 
to drive along the coast

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and think the cascading lemon terraces
are entirely ornamental,

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they are just postcard perfect.

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But that's what this coast does to people,

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it gives us delusion of grandeur,

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that all of this is here purely 
to fulfill our fantasy of paradise.

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But in reality,
the lemons play a vital role,

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not only in the livelihood
of farmers like Gigino,

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but in the very survival
of the Amalfi Coast,

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literally, the survival.

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The roots of these trees are anchoring
the soil to this sheer coastline.

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Now, the farmers are aging,

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and there's not exactly a line of people
clamoring to take up this work.

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As more farms have been abandoned,
the mudslides have increased.

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♪ (music) ♪

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(Nicole) Gigino's farmland 
includes an ancient terrace grove

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that overlooks the heart
of Amalfi and the sea.

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Up here feels worlds away

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but it's staringly close
to the bustling streetlife below

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where you can hear
children playing as Gigino works.

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It's terrifying to think of 
what would happen

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if these terraces crumble.

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(Nicole) It was only recently 
that Gigino's eldest son Sal

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quit his cushy accounting job

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to become his father's apprentice.

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He knew that if he didn't act now

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then a legacy of over two centuries
and five generations would die with him.

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(Salvatore) He teaches me 
day by day and I'm learning.

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It's difficult because

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it's difficult to learn
80 years of experience.

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(Nicole) Gigino tends two seasons
worth of lemons at the same time.

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The ones he'll harvest this year
from February to September,

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and the babies 
that will be next year's crop.

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Gigino's lemons are organic

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not because he's trying to conform
to any modern day standard,

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but rather the opposite,

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because he's farming the way
his family has farmed for generations.

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(Nicole) The spring is such 
a special time to be here.

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The trees are uncloaked from the netting

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that protects the fruit
against wind and hail.

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The trees bloom perfuming the air
and luring bees to pollinate.

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The Aceto keeps their own hives
and harvests the honey too.

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The fertilized flowers grow into fruits
which start up as green as limes.

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A third of Gigino's lemons
are used to make limoncello

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in their own small factory.

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The rest goes to ice cream
and other limoncello factories

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and a few to fresh markets.

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- (Nicole) Can I try?
- (Gigino) Yes.

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All right, these are real deal shears.
(Laughter)

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Ok.

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All right, we want leaves on these.

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The branches and the leaves
also indicate that is really fresh,

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that is coming straight from the farm.

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(Nicole) I've got this one.

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(Gigino speaking Italian)

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(Nicole) It's not for me --
(Gigino speaking Italian)

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(Nicole) He'll do it!

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I can get this one, though...

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It's heavy enough!

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♪ (music) ♪

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- Saluti!
- Saluti!

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(Nicole) I've seen
a lot of tough farm work

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but I really can't think of
a more challenging terrain than this.

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Heavy loads have to be hauled
up and down narrow craggy steps

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from terrace

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to terrace

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to terrace...

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But Gigino also claims a unique advantage.

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He's got one of the most technologically
advanced poling systems on the coast.

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- I'm serious, this little cable car!
- (Dog barking)

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(Nicole) Cable car aside,

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watching Gigino's farm is 
stepping back in time 200 years.

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He crafts each pergola himself
from the chestnut trees in his forests

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and then, he uses pliable willow branches

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to tie the pergola to
the limbs of the lemon trees

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to lift them up to the sun
which sweetens the fruit.

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Preparing the willow ties
is an ancient practice.

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Watching him do this fills me
with a deep sense of privilege.

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It's like, I'm seeing
a tradition so fragile

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that if I blink, it may cease to exist.

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(Nicole) It's Sunday

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and three generations of Aceto
are gathered under the pergolas for lunch.

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There's pasta, sausages and flank steak

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and, of course, lemon cake.

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You know, in its heyday Amalfi was 
an incredible, powerful maritime republic,

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and a gateway to the continent
for Arab traders.

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They are the ones who first 
brought citrus to this coast

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in the 10th century.

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Ever since, wealthy visitors
from near and far,

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have volleyed 
for the keys to this kingdom.

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Most of the aristocrats that 
lorded over this land are long gone,

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but the local people they hired
to care for these orchards,

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their lineage remains and for now,

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for as long as the roots of their trees
can hold this place together,

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this land belongs to them.

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♪ (music) ♪

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(Nicole) My time with the Aceto is over
but our adventure is just getting started.

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I'm heading to nearby Naples to discover
how lemons have inspired Italian cooking.

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Join me to learn from this dashing lad.

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- Ciao!
- (Laughter)

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a delicious lemony pasta that's so easy,

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you can master it at home.

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So, stay tune for Part 2 of
our Southern Italy special.

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English subtitles by
Jenny Lam-Chowdhury