Taste: My Life Through Food

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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! 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: The man, the myth, The Devil Wears Prada legend Stanley Tucci has blessed our hungry souls with a food memoir to feed our mounting appetite for the actor and cook’s wit, warmth and, let’s face it: tight polo shirts. He divulges some of his most treasured memories and stories behind favourite recipes — prepare to feel bereaved when it’s over." —Joanna Taylor, Evening Standard And yes, I’d have sex with him. But I’d be just as happy to bring him home, only to marvel at the way he fills a room with style and grace and good smells. The sharing of recipes. The friendships and bonding that occur over shared meals. The conversations. The moments you will never forget.

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! We hear about the New York of old and places that are no longer there like “independantly-owned cinemas” but makes you want to visit New York and experience the current places. 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.

Table of Contents

Travelling to Maine in New England, USA for a taste of the states, we learn about the Maine landscape, accent, humour and rules of being ‘from Maine’. And most importantly, that this is where you can get the best, fresh lobster. An instant classic, Stanley Tucci's TASTE is as captivating, simple, charming and insanely moreish as the best Italian food. Take it to bed with you and you will fall asleep dreaming you're in Italy. But take it to the kitchen and you will find yourself using it as often as a pan or a peeler." –Stephen Fry All this to say that anything Stan the man comes out with, I consume. A travel show on CNN? Yes. A movie where he stars as a harpsichord? Absolutely. A cookbook? Yum. So when his memoir Taste: My Life Through Food, came out this October, I knew I would be eating that up too. I listen to 4-5 audiobooks a month on Audible. If you sign up here, you can get 30 days free trial on Audible which gives you 1 credit to get any Audiobook you want and access to hundreds of free material including audiobooks and podcasts. Z eppole are deep-fried balls of a dough made with flour and, sometimes, mashed potatoes. The sweet version, dusted with sugar, are often filled with pastry cream, like the more famous cannoli. The savoury version, favoured in Calabria, in southern Italy, may contain anchovies, and go down very well indeed with a martini, or a glass of something cold, fizzy and unforgivably expensive.

Before Stanley Tucci became a household name with The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games, and the perfect Negroni, he grew up in an Italian American family that spent every night around the table. He shared the magic of those meals with us in The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table, and now he takes us beyond the recipes and into the stories behind them. Not only is this an autobiography but it’s a dip into history, cuisine of Italian-Americans and Italy, Stanley Tucci cooking, Stanley Tucci family and a glimpse into Stanley Tucci cookbook recipes. LOVED THIS! A delicious story of appetite, family and pasta. A serious amount of pasta. In this gloriously written memoir, the ever tasteful Stanley Tucci invites us to his table and feeds us all the good stuff." –Jay Rayner Stanley Tucci is on my dinner party list. You know the one. When someone asks "If you could have dinner with anyone alive, who would it be?" My first answer is Stanley Tucci. But because my life is about food, I think of a whole dinner party, not just dinner.Delving into memories of his childhood and revisiting cherished times with friends and family in his own words, Stanley explores how food has often been a meaningful centre-point of these interactions. Alongside the likes of anecdotes about Meryl Streep and tales of his courtship of his wife, Felicity Blunt, he includes a number of unmissable recipes, from the Negroni that became an internet sensation, to his family’s cherished tomato sauce. The resulting book is a reminder of how food is so often a portal to our past, a connection to our loved ones, and almost always present at life’s most precious moments. If I die before he does, I was Stan to write my eulogy. The way he is able to describe people in a light that is neither overly positive or negative, while still feeling like he gets to their core is impressive. In one paragraph, he describes his friend Claudia as slender, "but still eats pasta everyday,""chic without spending absurd amounts of money," and someone "who loves wine." Rome is another destination and Tucci explains what a true Carbonara is, its history and where to find “the best carbonara in a city of Carbonaras.” (chapter 8). We must eat pasta recipes that are approved by Italians!