Cookbook Review: The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends

Title: The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends

Author: Stanley Tucci

Format: egalley

Pub. Date: October 28th 2014

Source: Netgalley & Gallery Books



Summary from Goodreads:
Featuring family-friendly recipes and stunning photography, an all-new cookbook from New York Times bestselling author, beloved actor, and respected foodie Stanley Tucci.

Stanley Tucci's association with wonderful foods began for fans with the movie Big Night and resonated in his role as Julia Child's husband in Julie & Julia. But well before these films, he was enjoying innovative homemade Italian meals throughout his childhood, when family and food were nearly inseparable and cooking was always a familial venture.

Now, in a completely new, family-focused cookbook, Tucci captivates food lovers' imaginations with recipes from his traditional Italian roots as well as those of his British wife, Felicity Blunt, tied together with a modern American ribbon. The time-tested recipes include pasta alla bottarga, mushroom-stuffed trout, pork chops with onions and mustard sauce, barbeque chicken wings, and much, much more! Nothing will make you happier to spend time with family than the aroma of a hearty Italian dish sizzling on the stovetop.

Featuring 100 luscious new full-color photographs, The Tucci Table captures the true joys of family cooking. Buon apetito!

★★★★

I've got to say, this book has a really wide variety of recipes, and a high volume of them too. This cookbook is a nice blend of "a little bit of everything", but draws heavily on Italian, British, and American cuisines. There's a lot of dishes in here that I was familiar with, which helped to set the familial tone that Stanley Tucci wished to give to the reader.

Each recipe comes with a fun little story that introduces the people in Tucci's life, and makes you feel like you know them too. It made the recipes seem more personal, as though this book wasn't mass produced, but given to you as something special. There's a fair bit of humor in this book as well, which made it very easy to flip through for recipes. It's clear that this book was written in love.

The book is divided by course for easy navigation. In addition to anecdotes about Tucci's family, these recipes are paired with tips on how to store these dishes, how to make them better, or how to work with substitutions in a pinch. I really appreciated that for some of the more difficult recipes that step by step photos were included. The photography in this book is lovely, and while there's not a picture for every recipe, there are a lot of photographs.

This is a book that virtually anyone can use. There are some basic recipes for those who are new to the kitchen, and more complex dishes for those of us who have more experience with cooking. A few of the dishes that I most look forward to trying include Isabel's New York Cheesecake Ice Cream, Baked Ham with Mostarda di Frutta, and Pan-Seared Loin of Venison with Red Wine, Juniper and Quince.

This is a solid book for beginners and more experienced home cooks alike who are looking for new meals to share with their families. Thanks to Netgalley & Gallery Books for my copy in exchange for my honest review.