MAMMAS know best

GINO D'ACAMPO on celebrating Italian matriarchs for his latest food odyssey

- REBECCA FLETCHER

GINO'S ITALY: LIKE MAMMA USED TO MAKE

NEW - SUNDAY, 7.30PM (TIMES VARY), ITV COOKERY

Ask Gino D'Acampo who inspired him to cook and the TV chef beams with pride.

'My mum, my aunts, my grandmothers - I grew up surrounded by people cooking,' he smiles. Every day they cooked insanely delicious food. It would have been impossible for me not to have become a chef!'

Indebted to such strong matriarchal influences, he now plans to celebrate all the women who have fed Italy by returning to his motherland for a six-part ITV series, Gino's Italy: Like Mamma Used to Make.

Travelling the length and breadth of the country, from Naples to Bologna, Gino's going back to his roots, introducing us to his extended female family while showcasing mouthwatering recipes.

Here, Gino, 46, who can also be seen taking This Morning viewers on a culinary adventure around Sardinia this week, tells TV Times more...

Celebrating the mammas of Italy sounds like a fantastic idea for a show, Gino...

I can't wait for you guys to see it. Spending time with my Italian family back home has been so much fun. My journey as a chef is all thanks to two generations of women and this series is about honouring them - as well as exploring Italy and local dishes from other families and their matriarchs along the way.

We imagine that we'll get to meet some incredible characters during the series...

Absolutely! In Italy, women are the boss of the kitchen. Italian matriarchs have always shaped the country's food trends and mastered the dishes. And I love cooking with them - they keep me on my toes!

The series begins in Torre del Greco in Naples, where you grew up learning to cook in the kitchens of your Nonna Flora and Mamma Alba. What do you remember of those days?