Taste: My Life through Food by Stanley Tucci

Taste: My Life through Food Reviews

• 
  Kay ❦

  Wholesome and delectable.💕
  
  I always get the audiobook if it's a celebrity memoir. In this case, Stanley Tucci narrates so yas!! it's definitely a must. You'll want a print copy too for recipes and there are quite a few. Taste isn't really a cookbook but recipes are available as part of Tucci's journey from his childhood, his family, his work, and travels.
  
  What do I love about this memoir? Family, pasta, pasta pairing, eating, drinking, and a peek behind the scenes of movie-making (mostly food-related). I wish there were photos of Tucci, food, places he mentioned, etc. I had many laugh-out-loud moments and teary moments.
  
  I can't wait to try these mouthwatering recipes. First, I'm ordering Goose Fat for his wife's Felicity Blunt roasted potatoes. My roasted potatoes with EVOO seem boring now. I save cheese rinds in my fridge and now I have a use for it in Parmigiano Cheese Stock.
  
  4.5⭐For no pictures but I really loved it!
• 
  Diane S ☔

  4+ I've watched his PBS series, Searching for Italy. Have watched many of the movie in which he has acted, but knew little of his personal life. This book, besides all the wonderful mentions, recipes of food, rectified that deficit. He goes through his life, mentions his mother's wonderful cooking, praising restaurants where he had fantastic meals, many now gone. Food that made a deep impression on him, sharing food with friends and family. I love to cook, though I couldn't believe the amount of food he could eat, especially when he was younger. Having raised seven children I'm well aware of how fast food disappears and how quickly.
  
  Favorite chapters were when he talked about his shoots on films in different countries. The food that was provided. I think Iceland, surprisingly to him and me, was Iceland. The chapter when he talks about his family having to be isolated together due to Covid. Two young children, four over 18, himself and his wife. I was exhausted just reading about it.
  
  His humor is readily apparent, though he also has had his share of suffering. Ones life is never all peaches and cream and though his seems at time magical, the food he's eaten, the places he's been and the friends he has made, there is plenty of bad with the good.
  
  A terrific book, wonderful recipes and an inside look at a well known man.
• 
  Liong

  Make sure you have some food ready before reading this book.
  
  You will feel hungry when reading it.
  
  I will try his Pasta con Aglio e Olio recipe soon.
  
  It is recommended to read if you like food, especially Italian food.
  
  A wonderful cookbook too!
• 
  Toni

  4.5 Sexy Stanley Tucci Stars ⭐️
  
  Stanley Tucci puts the sexy in Sixty! He's that handsome, bald, Italian-American guy, with the devilish smirk, who you just know he's thinking about something good.
  
  He's sexy, sensitive, and he can cook, well! He has a tiny bit of machismo, I'll explain later, but it doesn't really surface often. Most remember him from, 'The Devil wears Prada,' and 'Julie and Julia' both with Meryl Streep. My favorite is, 'Big Night' which is a great segue to Taste.
  
  Stanley loves good food, particularly Italian food, since his grandparents on both sides hail from the Calabria region of Italy. (watch his show, a tour through Italy, currently on HBO Max.)
  
  This book is Stanley's life through food, from his childhood, as a young actor in NYC, through marriage and children, and even on movie sets.
  
  He talks about all of it and includes recipes, good ones. My galley didn't include photos, but I would bet the published version will, and I can't wait.
  
  Oh, the bit about machismo, in Stanley's last chapter he talks about his grueling bout with cancer. He had a cancerous tumor at the base of his tongue, in his throat, which started as a pain masquerading as a toothache. Or so he thought. He did go to the dentist, in the US and London. The London doctor said it might be cancer and gave him specific instructions on what to do next.
  
  Guess what, he waited six months! I know. I'm calling him out here only to prevent someone else from doing the same. A good reader friend pointed out that this was probably anxiety, and not just a guy avoiding the prognosis. He’s right of course, and I mistook it for machismo, which was totally incorrect.
  Fortunately, things worked out in the end, but after two years of surgery, chemo, pain, and a long recovery.
  
  We are glad you made it Stanley, and we love you. Your book is wonderful, and I highly recommend it.
  
  Thank you Edelweiss and Gallery Books for the egalley!
• 
  Larry H

  Taste: My Life Through Food is part memoir, part love letter to food and eating and cooking.
  
  My name is Larry and I love food. I mean, seriously. I love to read about it, I love to cook it, and I seriously love to eat it. Most of the memoirs I’ve read have been written by chefs or have been about people’s love of food, so when I saw Stanley Tucci (one of my favorite actors) had written this book, I jumped on it like I would a buffet. (Hey, #fatboysgottafat.)
  
  In this book, Tucci shared memories of growing up in an Italian family that shared an immense love of food, and how his preferences were much more expansive than those of his peers, yet he still craved the junk foods of his youth.
  
  He shares memories of some of the best (and worst) meals he’s ever had, memories of discovering new restaurants while filming or traveling or vacationing. He also discusses the shared love of food with both his late first wife and his current wife and their children, and one of his greatest fears when battling his own cancer diagnosis. (Plus, recipes. I’m in heaven.)
  
  So often I could picture Tucci with his sly wit and slightly curmudgeonly manner telling me these stories. (He loves poking fun at Meryl Streep, too.) Taste really was just an all-around fantastic reading experience that made me so hungry, and I, well, devoured it in no time.
  
  If you’ve never seen his movie Big Night, and you like movies about food, check it out!
• 
  Elyse Walters

  Library Overdrive Audiobook….read by Stanley Tucci
  …..6 hours and 50 minutes
  
  I’m not much of what anyone would call a ‘foodie’…
  sure I like pasta - with sautéed vegetables with Parmesan cheese…
  [last nights dinner for Paul
  and I]…..
  ….and a few times a year, I might be in the mood for peanut butter on toast….
  [peanut butter being a favorite snack food for Tucci]
  but I’m not concentrated on food -not an open-minded-experimental eater in any shape or form.
  However,
  I do like the ‘actor’ Stanley Tucci….
  [from his voice…to his naturally charming ways] ….
  
  I had obviously seen this book around…..so when the library had it available, I thought I would chime in.
  
  It was ‘mostly’ enjoyable listening to Tucci share family stories, his mother’s amazing cooking, “memory meals”, recipes, his Italian culture and heritage, his growing up in New York, celebrity anecdotes, and his stark funny-bone personality.
  [I wasn’t a fan of suckling a pig, or the killing of a goat, or his political commentaries]….
  But Tucci is a likable guy—
  —with endearing mannerisms.
  
  I was sorry to learn that he had oral cancer — suffered, lost his taste for awhile-but was equally happy to learn he is now cancer-free….
  
  “Taste” is an easily digestible memoir filled with witty heartwarming love.
• 
  Claudia

  I stalked this book almost every day on NetGalley to appear, and when it did, it was already archived. (are some books available just for some reviewers, not all?). Anyway, as soon as it was published, I got it asap.
  
  Well, it didn't turn out as I expected. As much as I love Tucci as an actor, this book was tedious, to say the least. It has some funny moments, most of them from various dialogues, but that's pretty much everything that I enjoyed from it. It feels like it was written by two different writers.
  
  There are so many descriptions of various restaurants, catering, various places, and so many unimportant details, that it clogged the book entirely. You get to see Stanley Tucci as the charismatic actor you know from the screen in just a few passages.
  
  I lost all interest around 70%, so I gave up. Maybe it was just me and my gloomy mood lately, I don't really know, but I'm very disappointed.
• 
  Sheri

  A charming, comforting, and engaging memoir of food, family, and fellowship. Stanley Tucci shares his passion for cooking, serving, and enjoying food, and reminds us of the power of good food to gratify body, mind, and spirit.
• 
  Kelly (and the Book Boar)

  
  
  
  While I’m admittedly not a huge nonfiction reader, I do enjoy the occasional memoir and what better time than Nonfiction November to take a “Taste” of what Stanley Tucci has to offer *rimshot*. (I’ll be here all week!) Usually I opt for comedians’ autobiographies, but I adore Stanley Tucci and requested the library purchase this months before its scheduled publication date. There’s just something about a quality character actor - someone who can convince you they are ANYONE - and Tucci is one of the best.
  
  There’s also something about Italian food and as a batch of German/Swedes my family has been blessed to have been “adopted” by a group of traditional Italians and experienced the magnificence of Sunday gravy, a metric ton of wedding cookies, homemade bruschetta, Thanksgiving dinner that comes with meat dressing and so many other culinary delights.
  
  But more than the food it is Tucci himself that makes this book work. He’s funny, charming, well spoken, kind - basically he’s exactly as a fan would hope him to be. He never hesitates to drop a name (I mean come on you know that’s the main reason for picking up any celebrity memoir), but he has not a bad word to say about anyone. It thrills me that Meryl Streep and he are real life pals and that his experience on The Devil Wears Prada was a favorite. If Tom Hanks is “America’s Dad” then Tucci is most certainly a favorite uncle.
  
  If you are a foodie - or maybe just an eatie like me - who enjoyed the television series Stanley Tucci Searching for Italy, I highly recommend checking out The Chef Show as well. Jon Favreau is another actor/writer/director who turned his passion for food into a movie and documentary series.
• 
  Nada Elshabrawy

  very amusing. It made me hungry with almost every line.
  Not the easiest book to read on the first day of Ramadan though.
  
  مراجعة الكتاب على قناة #دودة_كتب في حلقة بعنوان الحياة حول المائدة
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9q5D...
• 
  Carole

  Charming best describes Taste: My Life through Food by Stanley Tucci: it is a reminiscence of his life and the importance of food in his life. When he tells us of his early years in a small town in New York, it is done by making us feel that we are sitting at the table with his American-Italian family. When he speaks of his young adult life and acting career, it is still food that dominates the conversation. His personal life brings more talk about the importance of food to family dynamics. The reader feels invited to Tucci’s table for great food and great conversations, all of this accomplished through humour, charm, sensitivity and sincerity. And that food! I had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook version, read by the author. Highly recommended.
• 
  Lorna

  Taste was a delightful memoir by Stanley Tucci of his life through food beginning with growing up in an Italian family in upstate New York with many traditions surounding food. He lovingly describes how when he was growing up, his mother spent most of her waking time in the kitchen, which she does to this day. In Tucci's words, cooking for her is at once a creative outlet and a way of feeding her family well:
  
  

  "Her cooking, like that of any great cook or chef, is proof culinary creativity may be the most perfect art form. It allows for free personal expression like painting, musical composition, or writing and yet fulfills a most practical need: the need to eat. Edible art. What could be better?"

  
  
  Taste was a delightful romp through Stanley Tucci's life, table and career. Recently he is probably best known for his series In Search of Italy. He also talks about his acclaimed film Big Night and all the myriad influences that ultimately led to the production of the movie. I came away with some great recipes, including how to make the perfect dry martini, stirred not shaken. It was a most enjoyable book that gave me a new appreciation and respect for Stanley Tucci.
• 
  Orsolya

  I’m quite sure that regardless of your gender or sexual orientation; you have a crush on actor, producer, director, host, writer, foodie, bartender, father, brother, husband, etc etc; Stanley Tucci. I mean, look at him! JUST LOOK AT HIM! The man is a handsome devil, talented and witty to boot! Woo, is it getting hot in here, Goodreads? Jokes aside, Tucci is about as obsessed with food (ingredients, flavors, nuances, background history) as we are obsessed with his face. This is undeniable if you have watched an episode of Tucci’s CNN travel program, “The Search for Italy”. Tucci has already put his pen to two previous food-centric books and is back with a foodie memoir in, “Taste: My Life Through Food”.
  
  If you are searching for a typical Hollywood memoir focusing on a celebrity’s upbringing, profession in La La Land, gossip about sex, drugs, and rock n roll; and some ‘woe is me attitude’ coupled with, “I’m a better person, now”… Then “Taste” ISN’T for you. “Taste” doesn’t follow the ‘typical’ celebrity tell-all memoir and is instead a topical look at Tucci’s passion: food. Although Tucci DOES touch upon his childhood, celebrity-status and successes; it is through the lens of the food that graced his table, belly and made those events even more memorialized in his own mind. “Taste” is exactly what the title claims to be: nothing more and nothing less.
  
  “Taste” begins in a charming way setting the table (pun intended and achieved – haha, Tucci!) for a delightful read. Tucci jumps into his past as a child and hashes tales of his family and thus ultimately reveals how he became the man that he is today. In fact, he had such a lovely upbringing (I’m sure there are skeletons in the closet but “Taste” was simply not the time or place to reveal them); that readers with traumatic lives (such as myself) might be slightly triggered and envious. That being said; this simply means that Tucci is a wonderful storyteller and is able to bring a narrative visually to life. At this point, “Taste” is very emotive to the reader.
  
  Tucci’s writing is very accessible to the general audience and yet isn’t dummied down (let’s be real: many celebrities should stick to their day jobs and not attempt to write books). Tucci is intelligent and complex and yet infuses “Taste” with ample doses of comedy and humor sprinkled throughout to keep the reader smiling and enthused while maintaining that the material remains fresh. Even the occasional recipe is written in a way that encourages a chuckle. However, it is obvious that a ghostwriter was used in “Taste” even though one is not acknowledged. This is evident through the inconsistencies of the writing as “Taste” toggles back-and-forth with two different writing styles that is hard to ignore. You had some help, Tucci, didn’t you? It is okay to admit it!
  
  As “Taste” progresses, it begins to lose some steam and the boiling pot settles (another pun!). Tucci’s tales become quite repetitive and read exactly the same: “I ate here. I liked this dish. Then I ate here with this person. I liked or hated that.” Boring! There isn’t much excitement to be shared or a thesis to these experiences. It is also at this point that Tucci begins to name drop chefs, other foodies, and his celebrity friends which are consequentially tedious and too typical Hollywood. This type of behavior is seemingly ‘below’ Tucci and has little place in “Taste” therefore weakening the essence of the memoir.
  
  “Taste” could also benefit from a bit more emotion and insight as it sometimes feels too clinical and hyper-focused on the recap. It is clear that Tucci holds back in his attempt to focus on the food tales. This inhibits the reader from really diving into Tucci’s psyche and getting to know the real man- even if through food. It isn’t until the end of “Taste” when Tucci finally “opens up” and highlights his cancer diagnosis and the correlation with food, eating, and what he learned from his medical life trial. However, even this section still doesn’t shed as many layers as it should/could.
  
  Also absent from “Taste” is a section of photo color plates that seems to be the usual stylistic formula for celebrity memoirs. Although this isn’t a hugely tragic departure; it would have been nice.
  
  “Taste” does end in a memorable and ‘cute’ way rounding out the text and going full-circle to the beginning of the piece. This is done well on a writing level and with its attempt to connect with readers concluding “Taste” on a positive note.
  
  Tucci is a lovable man and my crush on his remains extant. However, “Taste”, although pleasant enough; is a bit too surface level and I expected a little bit more. “Taste” is a quick-read and suggested heartily for all Tucci fans but don’t expect to truly dive into the man’s diary and soul.
• 
  Cheryl

  Over the years, I’ve enjoyed watching Stanley Tucci act in movies and in television programs, so I was happy when he published his memoir! Since a very young age as a boy growing up in a large and extended Italian family in upstate New York, Stanley was interested in food and its preparation.
  
  He describes himself as a “food nerd”, and his memoir literally portrays his “life through food”. In the book, Mr. Tucci shares his considerable knowledge of food, cooking, and also of drinks by including many of his favorite recipes. I’ve copied several of them, and am planning to try making them!
  
  He has travelled through many countries, and it was interesting to hear about his encounters with numerous famous and not so famous chefs and restauranteurs, as well as his descriptions of the locales. He also provides an insiders view of the behind the scenes workings of movie sets and the actors, actresses, producers and directors he has worked with over his long career.
  
  All in all I found this to be a very interesting - and educational memoir. Especially poignant is the last part of the book where Stanley Tucci describes his (successful) battle with cancer of the tongue, and his gratitude to the doctors, to his many friends, and most of all to his loving family for helping and supporting him through the terrible ordeal.
  
• 
  Karen.J.

  Taste by Stanley Tucci
  5 absolutely amazing 🌟’s
  
  I loved listening to this amazing audiobook because…I love Stanley Tucci and having Tucci narrating his book is a huge bonus. I never realized Tucci is such an incredible “Foodie”. His knowledge, love for creating amazing dishes and his fabulous recipes for his creative dishes was beyond enjoyable for me to listen to. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook verses reading the book. With having said that reading the book does give you the advantage of having his incredible recipes written in the book.
• 
  Alice

  Although I am a professed foodie, it has never been a form of self-expression for me. I love a fine restaurant, and I am curious about food prep. What I love about this book is that I feel Stanley Tucci is my new friend. I feel as though I have been let in on family recipes, great food prep and his entire family. I enjoyed this book so much. It is a personal journey as it relates to food and the people and memories associated with it. I found it deeply personal and casually friendly at the same time. I will try some of the recipes gladly, but it his story and his experiences that left me so very glad that this author chose to share so much with me and others.
• 
  * A Reader Obsessed *

  4 Stars
  
  It’s obviously a sign of a good food book when all you do is salivate over various gustatory descriptions.
  
  Touching on all things family and friends and how food defines and celebrates both big and small moments, the simple non-intimidating recipes that pepper this highly entertaining and very enjoyable book make you want to hang out with Tucci and company.
  
  Truly a personal look at how the joy of food has shaped every main memory, Tucci narrating his memoir only elevates the experience more as my mouth watered and my stomach growled in envy throughout!
• 
  Loretta

  I’m not sure what to say about this book. It’s definitely not what I was expecting because I was expecting so much more.
  
  The book started off well enough with memories of his mother in particular who cooked up a storm and growing up in an Italian American family. Many memories made me laugh because I also grew up in an Italian American family. In my family, however, my father worked two jobs to make ends meet and when things got tough, monetarily, my mom went out to work at a bank and rose in ranks as the head teller. Those were difficult times as we hardly saw our parents but my mother always, always “cooked up a storm” for her family.
  
  Not sure why I was turned off at the part where his father moved his family to Italy so that the father could study art. Apparently his Italian American family was better off than mine as my parents didn’t see Italy until mid 70’s and they certainly never lived there!
  
  My bad I guess because I was hoping for more funny similarities about Italian Americans growing up!
  
  The minimal recipes in the book are pretty standard and from where his family came from, Calabria.
  
  I’d recommend as a quick read but overall, I wasn’t impressed.
  
  
• 
  Kasa Cotugno

  Stanley Tucci's Big Night was my introduction to him. Although it has been more than 25 years since I saw it, it remains vivid in my memory. This beautiful memoir contains his experience in the creation of that film, in particular, the final scene, and the importance of the timbale which was featured so importantly. One thing I remember about the first time I viewed Big Night was needing to exit the theater and make a beeline to North Beach, noted as San Francisco's Italian restaurant district. It had the same effect on everyone I sent to this movie. Now here is the story of Tucci's life, growing up in a warm Italian household in New York State, in which beautiful meals were consumed every day and in which food was central to life itself. He includes some recipes not only for dishes, but also for cocktails. There were many surprises along the way, which I will not share since they should be discovered as he intends in the body of the work. Yes, there is a print version of this wonderful story, but I absolutely loved the audio version read by Tucci himself. Highly recommended.
• 
  Jenny (Reading Envy)

  Edelweiss backlog... I don't have any specific interest in Stanley Tucci other than vague awareness of him as an actor. I haven't seen his food or travel shows or used his cookbooks.
  
  Taste is a lighter read combining memoir and food writing. Tucci spans topics from a childhood spent inside a southern Italian immigrant community all the way up to his personal experience with cancer and the pandemic. The focus is not on his career at all, but sometimes the people and places he encounters because of various roles are pathways to food memories - meals, restaurants, or chefs.
  
  There are a few recipes scattered throughout the text from drink standards to elaborate holiday dishes like Timpano, but this is not a cookbook.
• 
  Georgia

  i will make a negroni and whisper 'gird your loins' to myself every night until stanley tucci or the character he plays in julie and julia is my husband
• 
  Nat K

  As charming and warm as the man himself. A wonderful mix of family anecdotes, the importance of food, the love of food and how we tie food memories to events, people and places.
  
  The sharing of recipes. The friendships and bonding that occur over shared meals. The conversations. The moments you will never forget.
  
  There are recipes! Many recipes. For pasta of various types. For ragout. For meat. For fish. Two very different styles of roast potatoes. He talks about the history of the Martini (yes, it must have a capital M). There is a lot of talk about cheese. I looooove cheese. My stomach rumbled.
  
  I was so hungry reading this. It is such a mouth watering book. Perhaps even more than your regular cookbook. Yes, even more. Because the magic ingredient - as all good cooks will tell you - is love. And that shines in these pages. The respect for the produce. Cooking with ingredients that are in season. Fresh in best. Avoid waste. Have fun! And cook with love, as it's definitely a beautiful way to express how you feel for someone. I know in my family it certainly is.
  
  Food is such a sensual experience, and this oozes from the pages.
  
  As his father would exclaim when told dinner would soon be served:
  
  " ' Buono! Perche io ho une fame che parla con Dio!'"
  
  Which translates as:
  
  " 'Good! Because I have a hunger that speaks with God!' "
  
  I'm so pleased that I chose this book as my 2023 opener. I am happily satiated. Thank you Mr.Tucci.
• 
  Traci Thomas

  This book is very lovey. I enjoyed it so much and Tucci reading the audio made it even better. My only big issue was the lack of diversity in the food featured in the book. It’s so white eurocentric, it says a lot about Tucci.
• 
  Bridget

  It is possible that I liked this book more than two stars. However, Mr. Tucci declared (twice) how much he disliked Los Angeles in a way that some people who grew up on the East coast tend to do (dramatic) and that I find annoying.
• 
  Sarah Swann

  I loved this! I have such a crush on this man and his passion for food and cooking is so obvious here. I laughed out loud quite a few times. However, this book will make you HUNGRY! I want a huge bowl of pasta right now. Loved the audiobook and highly recommend listening to him read it.
• 
  Joseph Sciuto

  A wonderfully, entertaining book that for me (a one hundred percent Italian/ American) was a step back in time to the joyous feasts prepared on Christmas Eve by my grandparents, father and mother, aunts and uncles. The hour and a half farewells to visiting relatives, who live only a few blocks away, but just don't seem to be able to make it out the door.
  
  The walks down the west side of Manhattan in the late seventies when I was a student at John Jay college, occasionally dropping in on small, family owned restaurants that served delicious food at very inexpensive prices...and which today no longer exist because of the gentrification of that side of Manhattan.
  
  Delicious food, passed from generation to generation, whose original roots date back centuries to peasant farmers.
  
  "Taste: My Life through Food," is about 40 percent dedicated to Italian cuisine, 20 percent dedicated to food from many different parts of the world, 20 percent to wonderful recipes, and 20 percent to wonderful stories. All and all a truly delightful book by Mr. Tucci.
• 
  Lindsay Nixon

  I couldn’t get into this memoir.
  
  He’s a beloved actor for me and I find him curious and intriguing as a person. I also like reading about food 😂
  
  Yet this kept falling flat for me. I was 🥱 and waiting for someone to save me from that person at a party.
  
  There were a few bits where I was amused or charmed but mostly he failed to captivate and interest me. Switching to audio didn’t help. 🤷🏻‍♀️
  
  To be fair, I don’t enjoy autobiographical memoirs usually.
• 
  Deborah

  Stanley Tucci is passionate about food. He was nurtured on good food from birth as he was raised by an Italian American family that revered food, and his mother was a divine cook. His father was the ultimate cocktail host, the Friday night cook (with his mother assisting), and “a voracious eater”. His mother’s cooking was made with love, nourishment, and creativity. The best seasonal ingredients were lovingly used and at meals the family discussed the delicious food and “stories of previous meals, imagined ones, or desired preferences for those to come, and before one knew it the meal had ended and little else had been discussed other than food.”
  
  His childhood was filled with food, family, and fun. He and his two younger sisters were raised in the Westchester, New York area. When he was 12 in 1973, his family moved to Italy for a year for his father to study art in Florence. It was an enriching experience as he, his mother, and sisters had never traveled beyond Vermont or Manhattan, much less flown. In Italy he ate at his first restaurant besides a pizza eatery or a hamburger at Friendly’s.
  
  He moved to New York City in 1982. So much has changed since then. He lamented the demise of the Carnegie Deli, a New York City deli extraordinaire, whose motto was “If you’ve finished your meal, we’ve done something wrong.” He praised the modest and reasonably priced Manhattan gem, La Caridad, a Cuban-Chinese restaurant that opened in the late 1960's and closed abruptly in 2020.
  
  He became an actor, director, and writer. He married Kate, who had two young children, and they had twins and a girl. Sadly, she died at age 47 of cancer. He then married Felicity Blunt (sister of Emily) and had two more children.
  
  Food became his obsession. Around 25 years ago, he wrote and starred in the movie, Big Night, about two Italian Brothers trying to keep their restaurant afloat, which attracted the attention of the restaurant industry and food lovers intensifying his interest in food. He was inspired by the movie, Babette’s Feast; an Italian restaurant in Miami of two Italian immigrant brothers, one who sang when you were served; Pascal, a restaurant owner from Corsica and “wannabe maestro”, and one college summer working at Alfredo’s in Manhattan. He wrote two cookbooks and raised money for food-related charities.
  
  As a child he loved watching Julia Child in The French Chef and as a adult British Keith Floyd who had a food travelogue show on the telly. He eventually had his own food and travel show, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, aired on CNN. He featured three recipes from the show. A favorite of his is the Pizzzoccheri, a potato, cabbage, cheese, and pasta casserole. He wrote that the best Carbonora, which is made with the finest ingredients including the high-quality Cav. Giuseppe Cocco spaghetti, can be found at Pommidoro in Rome. One of his comfort foods, which can be difficult to find, is the pungent and salty Spaghetti alla Bottarga (dried fish roe) that he loved at the now closed Italian Restaurant Madeo in Los Angeles and Chef Tony Lo Coco’s I Pupi in Bagheria near Palermo.
  
  He is very opinionated about his food. We explore his palate as taught by his parents or per the family culinary rules. Never put a meatball in his pasta bowl. Meat is served separately from pasta. Bread is eaten after pasta. DO NOT cut spaghetti when eating (okay to break when dry and cooking). You must pair the ragú sauce with acceptable pasta.
  
  “Today, ragú alla Bolognese is traditionally eaten ... with fresh pasta like tagliatelle. or maybe fettucine. (Although in Napes, paccheri is acceptable...)” These pasta absorb the sauce better. Chef Massimo Batura, who makes a divine ragú alla Bolognese with handmade pasta finds that using dry pasta for this dish is “a personal and cultural affront.” The Bolognese call this marvelous sauce “ragú” while everyone else calls it “Bolognese or alla Bolognese”. Bolognese typically is a meat and tomato based sauce, which has many “variations: with or without tomato; only minced veal; only minced beef; a combination of minced pork, beef, and veal; a glug of cream; and so on.” I was salivating over what he and historians consider the truest ragu alla bolognese recipe in the 1891 cookbook, “Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well” by Pellegrino Artusi. It is considered “a second bible” to many Italians. With no tomato, it is cooked in approximately ten minutes with “a mixture of salted pork, ground veal, carrots, onions, celery, stock, salt, butter, nutmeg, and a pinch of flour.” Serve with fresh pasta. I became so hungry for pasta Bolognese that I grabbed some of my favorite from a nearby Italian restaurant.
  
  I was fascinated to read about Bitto Storico (Historic Bitto) or Bitto Ribelle (Rebel Bitto), the most expensive cheese in the world. It takes five to 18 years to age, which is at odds with the European Union regulations. Grown in Gerola Alta in the Italian Alps, it is made with indigenous Orobic goat’s milk that feast on the Alpine mountain flora.
  
  He praised roasted potatoes, the martini, Spaghetti con Zucchine alla Nerano at Lo Scoglio on the Amalfi Coast (which has become a family favorite and I made his recipe), the savoriest “melt in your mouth” lamb at a hotel in Iceland, Cioppino’s in Yaletown, Vancouver, a grilled Maine lobster picnic, his first wife’s achievement in cooking the family recipe of Lasagna Bolognese to perfection, and the joy of the family’s celebration serving at least seven types of fish on Christmas Eve in honor of the Feast of the Seven Fishes.
  
  Despite being lactose intolerant and having difficulty digesting sugar, it did not stop his voyage in taste. Cancer did. However, his allergies disappeared after he recovered from his treatment of tongue cancer. Tucci declared, “Food not only feeds me, it enriches me. All of me. Mind, body, and soul. It is nothing more than everything.”
  
  While he wrote of his life, this is a book more about his love of food, a rhapsody of meals, a praise of restaurants, and a sharing of recipes. Recipes are sprinkled throughout to tantalize your taste buds. I found it fascinating and made me hungry to join him on any further adventures of food.
• 
  Howard

  5 Stars for Taste: My Life Trough Food (audiobook) by Stanley Tucci.
  
  Stanley Tucci had starred in a couple of my favorite movies but I really didn’t know anything about him. This audiobook was a great way to get to know him and learn all about his passion for food. He did a wonderful job with the narration and I’m looking forward to seeing a couple more movies of his that I’ve missed.