Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

Author: Stanley Tucci 

Title: Taste: My Life Through Food

Published: 2021

Publisher: Fig Tree

Pages: 320

Genre: Autobiography / Food

     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. Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about growing up in Westchester, New York, preparing for and filming the foodie films Big Night and Julie & Julia, falling in love over dinner, and teaming up with his wife to create conversation-starting meals for their children. Each morsel of this gastronomic journey through good times and bad, five-star meals and burnt dishes, is as heartfelt and delicious as the last.

     There is a lot to be said for these morsels that we place between our lips and swallow. For me, at least food has been a big part of my whole life. So many of my childhood memories of people are very specifically linked to food. When it comes to my mothers, mothers they are the only ones I really have. My much smaller self stood next to her completely fascinated by whatever dish she happened to be making.  Either way, I have always been drawn to cooking shows, films, and books on the subjects. But for me at least they have always for the most part been about the actual deed of cooking. I have never really given much thought to how others connect the strands of their lives with these most delicious of morsels. So when I read about Tucci's book I found myself of course drawn to its pages. It does help that he is an actor whose work I have enjoyed on countless occasions. A bridging of two these two very creative worlds. 

     Between the pages of this book is a great warmth to be found, a feeling of belonging to a tribe of others who have the same passion as you. Here's the thing whenever you get a chance to hear or read the words of someone talking about something they truly love it shows.  They can't help it their words seem to race away from them as they try and impart their wisdom to you. They want you to relish in this very specific thing that brings them so much joy. With this author, it definitely shines off the pages and makes you want to discover what is around the next turn of a page. It is also worth noting that the splattering of recipes to be discovered and tried out goes a good long way in our pursuit. But I digress, What brought me so much joy about this book was to step into the world of another foodie who has such strong bonds with certain dishes to people and places. It's funny how such things can take us rushing back in time. In part, this might just be down to the way he has set out to do just that. As a storyteller, he has a way of controlling the words to bring just the right amount of nostalgia or authority to keep us glued to the page. All the while seeming like we are sitting around a fine meal catching up with old friends. 

      Tucci has brought his A-game when it comes to this book. In one minute we can be laughing about some absurd situation he has found himself in. The next you can feel a lump forming in your throat as some heartbreaking detail gently reminds us of our own mortality. It's funny I was a little worried going into this book that it would be a lot like those bits on the being of recipes on your favorite blog. You know those ones we all skip past in the hunt for some idea on how to prepare that showing stopping dish for whoever we are trying to impress this time. But for me at least I never had that feeling I was too caught up in this yarn he was spinning. Maybe in part, this is down to the food it's self it gives us some small connection to point of whatever story he is telling. For me, my acting career started and died within a few small years when I was a child. so knowing what it's like to be on a multi-million pounds film set is just a flight of fancy. But when he talks about the way a certain cheese tastes or how a ragu sauce should be combined with only very specific kinds of pasta I am right there with him. it is one of the great unifiers of the small spinning rock we call home. 

     Now one small point worth pointing out is I'm vegetarian have been for a great many years now. And whilst I would never break this belief the way he describes certain meat dishes still had me salivating at the very thought. It is safe to say that in the reading of this book many trips to the fridge were undertaken in the hopes of quenching such thoughts. I did make it through unbroken but even as I write this I can feel my stomach rearing its head for just one more bite.  By the time I had finished this book, I defiantly found myself more impressed not only by his work but also by the man. When you understand someone's passion you can get a far better sense of their soul. And for me within these pages, I found a true kindred spirit. This book is bound to appeal to the foodie just as much as the film buff hoping for a little behind the sense action. For me, food is one of our greatest way of showing the people in our lives that we care. And clearly, I am not alone in this thought, there are a great many of us out there and long may this truth hold.