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Stanley Tucci explores Italy’s food culture in new National Geographic series Tucci in ItalyTucci visits five regions to sample authentic local dishes and meet culinary storytellersThe actor says his love of food began in childhood and grew through hands-on experience
Stanley Tucci lets his tastebuds guide his path in his new cooking series with National Geographic, Tucci in Italy.
Across five delicious episodes, the Concave star, 64, will immerse viewers in the culture, history, and colorful ingredients that help to create the rich cuisine of Italy. Through storytelling and tasting along his journey, Tucci deepens his appreciation for the Italian traditions that raised him and guides the countryside locals, chefs, fellow food enthusiasts, fishermen, familial matriarchs, and even cowboys he meets along the way.
In an interview with PEOPLE, the multi-hyphenate, award-winning actor shares where his love of food originated and how it became a major part of his life’s work.
“I grew up in a family that really put great import on food, so that it started there,” he explains. “I grew up in an Italian-American family, but then I lived in Florence when I was a kid, so I became really interested in the culture of Italy when I was younger, and I’ve always felt that way since.”
Tucci in Italy.
Nat Geo
However, trying his hand at cooking came a little later in life, he confesses. “I didn’t really cook as a kid. I would help my mom and dad around the kitchen and stuff like that — that was what you just did, but it wasn’t until I graduated college that I started to cook,” Tucci says.
Of course, like most college students, Tucci “wasn’t a very good cook” right out of the gate, but continued to learned and hone his skills. Today, he has a few dishes he makes “very well,” he says.
“I can make a very good minestrone soup. I can make a very good bolognese,” Tucci shares. “I can make, well, actually — I make a few things pretty well.”
Tucci in Italy.
Nat Geo
Outside of his award-winning acting chops, Tucci, author of What I Ate in One Year, is highly regarded for his culinary prowess. He’s even been invited curate a dinner party menu by King Charles, a testament to the trust he’s earned in the industry.
This latest culinary venture will transport viewers through Tuscany, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Abruzzo, and Lazio, soaking in the stories shared by the hands that prepared thoughtful works of art on a plate.
“The history informs the food and the food informs the history,” he says of speaking to the chefs, farm hands, and cooks on his journey. “The one thing about Italy that is really interesting — and it’s not something that we have really in America much anymore — is that Italy uses each region, and each part of each region will use ingredients that are indigenous specifically to them. So in Umbria, you are going to eat a lot of wild boar because there’s a lot of wild boar [living there].”
He continues, “You’re going to eat a lot of truffles there in Piemonte, because that’s where the truffles grow. You’re going to have a lot of cow meat in Tuscany because that’s where they’re bred. And it’s very specific, and the dishes reflect that. In America, you can drive 300 miles and have exactly the same menu as you had from the place you left. It’s different.”
Tucci in Italy.
Nat Geo
Through each picturesque region, Tucci allows himself to explore, boldly sampling unexpected dishes with unfamiliar ingredients, such as a hay soup in the snowy mountains of Trentino-Alto Adige.
“I’m guided by my taste buds because that’s important to the point of the show, really, in a way, and I’m always guided by my taste buds. It’s my first thought when I wake up wherever I am,” he reveals. “But you want to make sure that you’re getting the best of the best. And by that, I don’t mean, ‘Oh, the fanciest restaurant’ or ‘Oh, it’s a Michelin-starred place.’ I don’t care about that. If it happens to be that, then great, but I want authentic food of that region wherever I am, and whatever that means.”
The first episode of Tucci in Italy premieres on National Geographic on May 18.