Stanley Tucci says Americans are overlooking caponata, Sicily’s sweet-and-sour eggplant.His “Italian Time” hosting rhythm is slow, social, and centered on connection.He keeps a bottle of S.Pellegrino on the table for the toast that starts the whole ritual.
If “Italian Time” had a sound, Stanley Tucci says it’s glasses clinking over a table that no one’s in a rush to leave. It’s a conversation that meanders, something slow-simmering on the stove, and—yes—a cold bottle of S.Pellegrino within reach. “It’s not just a pace, it’s a mood,” he exclusively tells Delish.
That slowdown sits neatly alongside Tucci’s new holiday campaign with the Italian natural mineral water, but he’s not angling for a product cameo so much as a mindset shift. Because while Americans will line up for panettone and litigate the proper ricotta ratio in cannoli, there’s one thing he insists we are still sleeping on: caponata. Yes, that sweet-and-sour Sicilian eggplant dish you should be making all season. Just picture it: soft cubes of eggplant, glossy with olive oil, awakened by a little vinegar and a pinch of sugar. There are capers and olives, maybe a few pine nuts or raisins if you’re feeling wild. It’s like Ratatouille’s stylish cousin who studied abroad and never stopped talking about it—in the best way.
“It’s sophisticated, versatile, and deeply soulful,” Tucci says, the exact kind of dish that makes guests hover in those moments that become more about conversation and less last-minute pan-searing.
Tucci builds everything around a sensory snapshot from childhood: roasted garlic perfuming a tomato sauce that’s bubbling away on the stove. It’s a smell that’s both delicious and a shortcut to family. Use that as your north star, he suggests, and the rest gets easier, because hosting doesn’t have to be an extreme sport. Simplifying the menu means you don’t need twelve sides. A handful of great, shareable dishes travels the table—and the conversation—farther than an overloaded buffet. Plan portions as though an extra guest might show up (someone always does), and always set the table early.
For all the dining rooms he’s eaten in—on set and in the best restaurants in the world—Tucci swears his home table wins on the metric that counts: connection. Fine dining can chase perfection, while at home, you get imperfection in the form of the story you tell mid-bite, or the laugh that makes someone forget the salad. If you’re hunting for a holiday “twist,” his advice is the unsexiest and the truest: include a family recipe. Nostalgia beats fancy every time.
Which brings us back to caponata, the sleeper hit hiding in plain sight. It’s humble, make-ahead, and low-stress. It’s just a dish that tastes like it’s been loved for generations, made for a table that doesn’t want to get up. According to Stanley Tucci, that’s the whole assignment.
Dining and Cooking