Books & Audiobooks
I have, of late, immensely enjoyed a trio of Tucci—Stanley Tucci, that is! First of all, I have been listening, laughing, and salivating my way through his book, Taste: My Life Through Food. In Taste, Tucci recounts the huge and remarkable impact that food has always had on his life. Being from an American immigrant family of Italian descent and having a mother who cooked the most mouth watering dishes daily, Tucci has always eaten very well. Along with family tales, it is so amusing to listen to his anecdotes: for instance, of eating in different countries while shooting movies, and where the best on-set catering is. Would you have ever guessed it would be Iceland? I highly recommend the eAudiobook version of Taste, as Tucci himself narrates and you get to hear him recount his stories and recipes with great animation…and a bit of salty vocabulary…which is so joyously fun!
I also had the pleasure of a recent re-watch of Julie and Julia, the Nora Ephron film in which Stanley Tucci plays Paul Child, Julia Child’s adoring husband. This film tells the stories of two women, Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) and Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams). Powell wrote a blog about spending a year cooking every recipe from Child’s classic cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. We watch the highs and lows of Powell tackling over 500 challenging recipes as we also flashback to Child’s time living in Paris. Paul worked as an American diplomat, which is what brought them to France in the first place. It was in Paris that Julia took classes from École du Cordon Bleu and came up with the idea of writing a French food cookbook for American audiences. Streep and Tucci are terribly charming playing a very progressive husband and wife team. It’s a pleasure to watch all the scenes in which they have their first moments and awakenings trying Parisian food. You will most certainly want to eat great food after watching this movie!
Lastly, I was inspired to eat/cook like the man himself, so I signed out The Tucci Cookbook. Along with some Tucci family history, this booked is filled with the most delicious Italian recipes. While I would have liked more images of the end products, the descriptions and recipes are well written and easy to follow. My family and I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon recently making pasta from scratch while Tucci ragu sauce simmered away for hours filling our kitchen with the most achingly delicious aroma. Perhaps, like Julie in the movie, I’ll try and work my way through every recipe in The Tucci Cookbook. I’ll have to let you know how it goes!