Lidia Celebrates America

Celebrity chef, author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich celebrates culture through food. Join her for an Italian Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes with actors Mo Rocca and Stanley Tucci; a Mexican-American Christmas Day with four generations of the Cortez family in San Antonio, Texas; a Chinese New Year feast and celebration with the Fong-Torres family; and a Jewish-American Passover seder with the Russ family of the famed specialty shop Russ and Daughters and food author Ruth Reichl.

The second in a series of four PBS specials with celebrity chef and culinary author Lidia Bastianich continues the celebration of culture through food with a focus on the traditions surrounding weddings. The first story features an African-American wedding in New Orleans, complete with marching brass band and traditional regional cuisine that includes jambalaya, crawfish and pralines. An Indian-American wedding features actor Mario Cantone, well-known for his role as a wedding planner on TV’s ”Sex and the City,” and Indian actress and food writer Madhur Jaffrey, who will teach Lidia and the audience about classic Indian wedding dishes, including tandoori specials, seafood kebabs and a variety of Indian breads. The third wedding features a Korean-American wedding with celebrity fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, who creates a special outfit for Lidia to wear to the wedding. “Survivor” winner and host of AMERICA REVEALED, Yul Kwon, adds commentary and perspective on Korean culture. The final wedding in the program examines the marriage of two cultures — Irish-American and Italian-American, with music and food from each represented.

Join host and chef Lidia Bastianich as she celebrates independence and freedom with different cultures across America. The celebrity cast includes actress Anna Deavere Smith, opera singer Renée Fleming, singer Martha Wainwright, chef Jacques Pepin, actor Alec Mapa and former Olympic athlete Nadia Comaneci.

Host Lidia Bastianich celebrates important milestones with a diverse group of Americans: a baptism with a Greek Orthodox family; a Navajo house blessing in Utah; college graduation seen through the eyes of a Brazilian-American Boston University student; and a sweet 16 birthday party for a young French-Cajun woman ready to make her debut as a Nashville country music star. Soprano Renee Fleming sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

For celebrity chef, Lidia Bastianich there is no place like home – especially at Christmas. In this intimate, special, Lidia celebrates her native Italian holiday traditions, along with the traditions of six celebrity guests. They share a deliciously diverse dinner, and tell personal stories of hardship and triumphs in America. The melting pot of flavors is all part of Christmas in New York.

Chef and Italian immigrant Lidia Bastianich shares stories of first, second and third-generation Americans shaping the shifting definition of what it means to be an American. As America grows more diverse than ever before, immigrants must figure out how much of their culture to keep and what to leave behind, and many are more openly sharing their heritage with a new country they now call home.