Book tip of the week: Taste. My Life for Cooking and Filming

When food becomes biography

31. August 2025

| Editorial team

With Taste: My Life in the Kitchen and on Camera, Stanley Tucci delivers much more than a culinary autobiography. This book is a subtle, intelligent reflection on life, told through the prism of food. Between film sets and family kitchens, between Meryl Streep and Nonna Tucci, a mosaic of anecdotes, memories, dishes, and deep insights emerges – sometimes humorous, sometimes touching, always with genuine flavor.

We didn’t just read Taste – we lived it. Tucci succeeds in presenting cuisine as the language of life: how much it shapes us, connects us, comforts us – and even brings us back to life when we lose our taste for it, as in his own battle with cancer.

In addition to lovingly told family stories, he makes us smile with anecdotes about cooking with celebrities or his ironic take on his own Italian cliché. The recipes scattered throughout – some traditional, some surprisingly modern – make the book not a classic cookbook, but a very personal culinary reader.

INFO:
Stanley Tucci: TASTE. My Life Through Food and Film
First German edition (original title: Taste. My Life Through Food)
Translation: Steffen Jacobs
Publisher: Arche Literatur Verlag
320 pages
ISBN: 978-3-7160-2813-1
Price: €25.00 [D] | €25.70 [A] | also available as an
e-book
Publication date: February 2023

Stanley Tucci serves up memories, emotions, and recipes with depth

Our conclusion: For anyone who sees food as culture, communication, and a compass, this book is a gift. A book for connoisseurs, film fans, lovers of Italy, and anyone who believes that a good pasta dish says more than a thousand words.

A la table, s'il vous plaît! A la table, s'il vous plaît! A la table, s'il vous plaît! A la table, s'il vous plaît!

Book tip: Lasagna, Moussaka, and Co. – Happiness in Layers

Ilse Fischer's “Lasagna, Moussaka, and Co.” is a culinary journey through Europe in casserole form

Casseroles are underestimated. They are often considered cozy, filling, a little old-fashioned—but they are actually culinary narrative forms. This is exactly where Ilse Fischer comes in. Lasagne, Moussaka und Co.: Das Glück in Schichten (Lasagna, Moussaka and Co.: Happiness in Layers) is not just another “lasagna book,” but a collection of cultural identities, layered in dough, vegetables, sauces, and memories.

What sets this book apart from classic recipe collections is its focus on the principle of layering. Fischer shows that whether it’s Italian vincigrassi, Greek pastitsio, Alsatian baeckeoffe, or Savoyard tartiflette, ingredients are layered, interwoven, and combined in the oven to create something greater than the sum of its parts throughout Europe. It’s about more than technique. It’s about origin, climate, availability, and food culture.

INFO:
Lasagne, Moussaka and Co. – Happiness in Layers
Author: Ilse Fischer
Illustrations: Gudy Steinmill-Hommel
Publisher: Christian Verlag GmbH
Publication date: November 2025
Length: 256 pages
Binding: Hardcover
Language: German
ISBN: 978-3-9895101-6-6

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Book tip of the week: Taste. My Life for Cooking and Filming

Stanley Tucci serves up memories, emotions, and recipes with depth

Book tip: Lasagna, Moussaka, and Co. – Happiness in Layers

How price acceptance actually arises

Highballs, Deep Cuts & Vienna's New Underground

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