Taste: My Life Through Food is actor and cookbook author Stanley Tucci's culinary autobiography. It makes an excellent gift book for food lovers and is perfect for this time of year. The recipes that frame Stanley Tucci's life are shared lovingly and with an expertise that is inspiring and comforting. This guy knows his way around the kitchen, the fire pit, the wine cellar, all of it.
Born to Italian immigrants and raised in Westchester County, New York, Tucci's childhood was idyllic with troops of neighborhood kids running around the woods, vast quantities of homemade meatballs, veal parmigiana, Twinkies, peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches, and pasta galore. To read about all of this is magical. I love lasagna more than Garfield and will gladly eat spaghetti con aglio e olio (with garlic and olive oil) every day if given the opportunity. I also grew up in America in the 1970s and love peanut butter almost as much as lasagna.
Some of the more touching moments in Tucci's life and in the memoir are more recent, from barely pre-pandemic days through today. Certain challenges made taste difficult and Tucci is very honest and open about what this all means to him. I wish Tucci all the happiness and tastes in life and on the dinner plate. The Il Timpano scene from Big Night is a classic and I root for Tucci the way I root for his character, Secondo. You just want to see success.
If you love to eat, love Italian food, love reading about travel and craft services on movie sets, this book is for you. I consider Tucci's short "How to Make the Perfect Negroni" video to be an essential complement to the reading.