• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Home  >  Italy  >  Stanley Tucci’s Searching For Italy Is What We Needed
Italy

Stanley Tucci’s Searching For Italy Is What We Needed

Kyle Stewart Posted onMarch 21, 2021September 12, 2021 16 Comments
My dear readers, some links on this site pay us referral fees for sending business and sales. We value your time and money and will not waste it. For our complete advertising policy, click here. The content on this page is not provided by any companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone.

Stanley Tucci, the famed actor, hosts a new show on CNN – Searching For Italy. It’s what we all needed but probably don’t deserve.


If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support LiveAndLetsFly.com.


If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today.

Searching for Italy on CNN

In the last six weeks, CNN has released a new destination series: Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy. Unlike other forays into travel shows like the legendary Parts Unknown by the late Anthony Bourdain, the mission is more defined. Tucci’s show opens with the eponymous host narrating his familial heritage “Italian on both sides” and his desire to see every region of Italy to discover what makes each unique.

The CNN original series introduces viewers to young chefs making dishes entrees from otherwise discarded meats while Tucci learned the proper execution on Italian cuisine classics like Pasta Alla Norma.

The Host We All Needed When We Needed Him

Fans of Bourdain identify an admiration for his grit, appetite for adventure, and willingness to embrace the new and daunting. His cynical take and beautifully woven prose made the show an instant hit. His cinematic flair also intrigued audiences, despite obvious campiness at times.

For all the reasons I loved Bourdain, one of his faults was that he had simply been everywhere and seemingly done everything. Other traveling food show hosts showcase their depth and breadth of culinary and worldly knowledge by “improving” upon local creations from the fabulous chefs and restaurants for which they feature.

Stanley Tucci doesn’t do that.

Tucci knows just enough to hold an educated conversation but has a lot to learn. In one episode, he comments with his wife on the myriad mistakes they’ve been making trying to recreate a dish. Despite making it “practically every day” their process and ingredients significantly diverged from the recipe they’d adopted from a beloved restaurant in Napoli.  But that’s also kind of the charm. I, too, have fallen in love with a dish and then aimed to recreate it at home, convinced I’d nailed it, but had actually missed the mark.

I love his humility, his enthusiasm, and his engagement with his hosts. His blissful passion is on full display when cheesemakers crack open a round of parmesan.

Some Destinations and Dishes

In the premiere episode, Naples and the Amalfi Coast, he introduces us to fried pizza which was initially used to cleanse food in high heat during the time of cholera but then draws a reference to current COVID-19 conditions. The episode is split into two parts that blend seamlessly, but when he visits Naples and enjoys classic Milanese veal chops and risotto it makes watchers want to book a flight right away.

In Rome, he tackles the famous four pastas of the city: carbonara, amatriciana, gricia, and cacio e pepe. He debates the origins of carbonara with Italians who feel rather strongly about the matter, mostly skips past the lovely and fresh amatriciana.

Then, Tucci blew the doors off an entirely forgotten piece of meat in the Americas, apparently enjoying a renaissance in Roma: gricia. Fatty pork cheeks are sauteed giving a richer taste and feel than prosciutto or bacon for a simple pasta dish. Food vendors on local social media pages in Pittsburgh have started to advertise carrying the product in their own shops now.

He closes the episode with a visit to Bistrot64, a Michelin-starred Japanese chef, Kotaro Noda, cooking award-winning Italian food to a half-full restaurant. Romans seem to reject it based on the chef’s lack of Italian-ness. Maybe this is one case where we shouldn’t “do as the Romans do.”

The description for the Bologna episode is just this:

“Stanley Tucci explores Bologna, seen by many as the food capital of Italy. The region of Emilia-Romagna is home to globally renowned protected food products: parmigiano, prosciutto de Parma and traditional balsamic vinegar to name a few.” Rotten Tomatoes

It was that episode, however, that inspired me to be more diligent about using soffrito in my own pasta sauce.

Tucci also introduced me to a new key ingredient in the Lombardy episode, pizzoccheri, a noodle made from buckwheat.

But the gem of the tv show is likely in that first episode wherein the host sits down for Sunday lunch of freshly caught rabbit with a family who share as much of their food as they do their tradition. Tucci feasted as the “patriarch,” receiving the most important part of the dish first after their own “Papa” passed away during the lockdown.

This isn’t a full list of the dishes and destinations, check CNN’s website for more.

Conclusion

For Stanley Tucci, Italy is personal. His family is from there and he spent a year of his youth living in the country, something I’d like to share with my daughter despite my lack of Italian heritage. More than anything else, I love his willingness to try anything including offal, to be wrong, and to be seen unabashedly in love with his surroundings.

The show is exactly what we all need when authentic travel is something we get in such limited doses right now. If you haven’t seen it, feed your travel-famished soul and watch it today (CNN/Hulu/HBOMax.)

What do you think? Have you seen the show? Do you have a favorite recipe or scene? 

Previous Article The 5 Restaurants To Visit At Fort Myers Beach Florida
Next Article The 5 Best Islands Near Fort Myers Florida

About Author

Kyle Stewart

Kyle is a freelance travel writer with contributions to Time, the Washington Post, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Reuters, Huffington Post, MapHappy, Live And Lets Fly and many other media outlets. He is also co-founder of Scottandthomas.com, a travel agency that delivers "Travel Personalized." He focuses on using miles and points to provide a premium experience for his wife and daughter. Email: sherpa@thetripsherpa.com

Follow us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter

Related Posts

  • venice italy overtourism

    Venice Latest To Add Tourism Tax, Won’t Stop Over Tourism

    September 11, 2022
  • Anthony Bourdain - Photo credit:IHeartsy-Music https://bitly.com/3zpHc3h

    Anthony Bourdain Vs Rick Steves – Which Are You?

    June 13, 2021
  • Shopping Flights To Italy Following Reopening

    May 16, 2021

16 Comments

  1. Geoff Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 10:55 am

    Great show. It’s 9 pm appointment television. Italian food and culture strikes a massive chord in the States. And I’m ready to eat dinner again 10 minutes into every episode.

  2. Stuart Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 10:57 am

    Not sure what’s going on lately, but I agree with you again! I absolutely love this show. He is not only a great story teller but is superb in his ability to encourage others to tell theirs. My favorite so far being the story of how rabbit became a delicacy. A function of plenty and need in the mountains and hills. I would really love to see him take on other countries as well. Japan would be a fantastic season.

  3. Liberty PapersLife Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 11:14 am

    My most loved so far is the tale of how hare turned into a delicacy. Incredible show. would truly very much want to see him take on different nations too.

  4. MaKr Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 11:25 am

    Who are you and what have you done to Kyle?
    Nice post

  5. Mark A Prince Jr Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 11:31 am

    This show is the perfect blend of cooking, food and history. I feel very fortunate to have visited several Italy times. Look forward to going back.

  6. cargocult Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 1:57 pm

    I was not familiar with this show. Tucci is one of my favorite actors, though. Am I correct in understanding that he ordered cotoletta alla milanese in Napoli? That seems hard to believe. Would you go to New Orleans and order New England clam chowder?

    I’d say that for those (non-EU residents) who are determined enough, you could find a way to enter Italy now, but with the lockdowns, it wouldn’t be worth it. They can’t end soon enough. Still, it was nice to be able to visit Venice again without the tourist hordes.

  7. Kyle Stewart Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    @Stuart/MaKr – I appreciate the kind words. There’s more that unites us than divides us, and Stanley Tucci unabashedly squeezing the milk out of a fresh ball of mozzarella might be that unifying point we can all relate to.

  8. JJ Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 2:13 pm

    I’m glad I’ve been DVRing it since the beginning. It’s a great and informative show. Tucci provides a great balance of enthusiasm, information, and more importantly, humility. It’s one of the few shows that i I watch that I wish would never end.

  9. DCJoe Reply
    March 21, 2021 at 10:46 pm

    Cargocult- that’s a typo. He has the risotto and veal chops in the Milan episode. The episode discusses a bit how the different climate and landscape in northern Italy means more rice (and thus risotto) and polenta than the pasta more prevalent in southern Italy (because wheat grows more easily in central and southern Italy).

    One thing the show brought home to me is why Americans mostly think of southern Italian food as “Italian food”- because northern Italy has always been the economic powerhouse, most of the immigrants who came to the US for a new life were from the poorer southern Italy and brought their food with them.

  10. Shawn Reply
    March 22, 2021 at 3:16 am

    Absolutely agreed. This show has been amazing fun. I find myself simultaneously grateful to be able to “visit” vicariously through Stanley Tucci and horribly jealous that he gets to have all these experiences. In the Rome episode, he even walks right past my Roman “living room”! It’s painful how much I miss it.

    But I am a little confused on one point: what about the other regions of Italy? Certainly, there’s going to be more than just this first six. How could this series possibly conclude without Tucci taking us through Piemonte, Veneto, Campania and, of course, Umbria? Perhaps next season …

  11. Maureen Reply
    March 22, 2021 at 1:35 pm

    Thank you for your excellent review. I’ve been watching since episode one and have fallen in love with Italy, it’s people, food, and most especially Stanley Tucci. He is completely genuine in his passion for all things Italian. His interaction with everyone he encounters is truly heartwarming. I hope that CNN will consider expanding this show and sending Mr. Tucci to other corners of the world. I would be watching every moment.

  12. eateat Reply
    March 22, 2021 at 3:27 pm

    It’s a great show. Makes me miss Bourdain though. I just think Tucci may need some new catch phrases after he tastes something!

  13. Marc H Friedman Reply
    March 22, 2021 at 4:53 pm

    Enjoyable show that gets me in the mood to get back to Europe just as soon as the borders open. I just wish Tucci wasn’t so damned arrogant. He is so full of himself, and that’s a turn-off. Thankfully the food turns me back on very quickly.

  14. cargocult Reply
    March 22, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    @DCJoe

    Southern Italy was richer than the north before industrialization and unification. Since then the opposite has been true. Emigration from the region for economic reasons continues as it did more than a hundred years ago. Still, food from the south is much better than in the north, except for perhaps in Emilia-Romagna. Lombardia is too Germanic to be truly delicious. I always wonder who orders the wurstel e patatine pizze I see on menus in Italy.

  15. Santastico Reply
    March 22, 2021 at 6:29 pm

    Great post. I had no idea about this show but will definitely check it out. I am Italian so definitely miss the real Italian food. Guy Fieri had a pretty good DDD that was filmed in Italy. Fantastic restaurants.

  16. Shawn Reply
    March 23, 2021 at 12:09 pm

    @Santastico, I think that Tucci’s show is far better than anything that Guy Fieri puts on. He goes beyond food and into culture and politics (which opens the door for controversy, of course). It makes me miss Italy, not just Italian food. I hope that you enjoy it!

Leave a Reply to Liberty PapersLife Cancel reply

Search

Recent Posts

  • Delta SkyMiles Schedule Change
    UPDATE: Delta Air Lines Strands Senior Citizens In Middle East After Absurd Schedule Change March 29, 2023
  • Turkish Airlines IndiGo 777
    New Turkish Airlines 777: Only 7 Business Class Seats, 524 Economy Class Seats March 29, 2023
  • Blogging Extended Trip Report
    Epilogue: Blogging The Middle East Adventure Of A Lifetime March 29, 2023
  • Air India Female Pilot
    Female Air India Pilot Interrogated For Near-Miss While Male Co-Pilot Ignored March 29, 2023

Categories

Popular Posts

  • Kayleigh Scott United Airlines
    The Tragic Death Of A United Airlines Flight Attendant March 21, 2023
  • United Airlines Domestic First Class Menu
    United Airlines Refreshes Domestic First Class Menu February 28, 2023
  • Southwest Airlines Wife Slap
    Enraged Husband Attacks Man On Southwest Airlines Flight After He Bumps Wife March 8, 2023
  • United Polaris Lounge LAX Review
    Review: United Airlines Polaris Lounge Los Angeles (LAX) March 24, 2023

Archives

March 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Feb    

As seen on:

live_and_lets_fly

The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles is the most beautiful of all Polaris Lounges. Stay tuned for a detailed look and many more photos on the blog tomorrow. Well done @united.
@malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire i @malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire its A380 fleet. While not surprising, it is sad to see the growing list of carriers retiring this superjumbo jet. On Malaysia Airlines, I flew the #A380 once from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to London (LHR) and had the entire first class cabin to myself (full review on the blog). It was a beautiful flight that I will always remember.
Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited tha Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited that a new carrier, Avelo, has launched, especially from an airport just 12 minutes from my home!
I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxair I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxairport. Hopefully this summer it will return.

.
.
.
.
#Lufthansa #FirstClass #747 #747-8 #StarAlliance #Miles #Points
I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. This is not only a lovely, all-inclusive resort, but one of the best properties to use your @hyatt World of Hyatt points.
.
.
.
.
#Hyatt #BigSur #California #WorldofHyatt #CA-1 #Points #Hotels
In terms of a spacious first class product, the @E In terms of a spacious first class product, the @Emirates suite on a 777-300ER is hard to beat. My preference is Suite 2K.

.
.
.
.
#Emirates #777 #firstclass
Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from I Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from Instagram ahead of the birth of my first child. Goodness, how time flies. While I’ve enjoyed catching up on others over the years, now it is time for me to return to Instagram. In this first post, I highlight two joys in my life, my two children, whom I trust will grow up to be prolific travelers that circumnavigate the globe as ambassadors of love and respect.

.
.
.
.
.

#travel #airplanes #airlines #miles #points #familytravel #human #integrity #honor
United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improv United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improvement over UA's current business class seat. Check out my blog at liveandletsfly.com for 70+ photos of how @united is transforming its entire business class experience starting this December!
The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben! The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben!
Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen - Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen -- oh, and I love 40°F summer weather!
One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure of flying with in all my years of flying. Thank you @flysas SK940 on 11 Aug 2016
Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I a Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I assign a window seat months in advance, don't move me to a center seat "for my convenience" with no way to get my original seat back... 😞
Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be rac Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be racing the #Delta flight to JFK at the gate next to us, which also departs at 12:45p. With @onemileatatime
Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregenc Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregencycasablanca #cassablanca #hyatt
Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the i Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the inside of the @grandhyatt_shanghai ... It is 40°C outside! 😓
From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minut From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minutes flat. I ❤️ #bur #burbankairport
@malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in se @malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in service at #kul -- beautiful livery!
View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful bran View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful brand new @parkhyattguangzhou -- look for a full review coming soon on the blog #hyatt #parkhyatt #guangzhou #parkhyattguangzhou
Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, which closes tomorrow and the Queen of the Skies #747 which will be retired in 2018.
The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. If you're ever here, get up at 5am and have a walk around the city before it gets busy. You can hear the birds instead of honking horns.
Load More... Follow on Instagram
facebook twitter instagram rss

This site is for entertainment purposes only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

 

Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners.

 

Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.