Latest news with #SearchingforItaly
Express Tribune
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Stanley Tucci explores Italian cuisine in Nat Geo's new series
Stanley Tucci is back with a new five-part series, Tucci in Italy, premiering May 18 on National Geographic and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. The series takes viewers on a culinary journey through Italy, showcasing the country's rich and diverse food culture, one dish at a time. Tucci, an Oscar-nominated actor and passionate home cook, guides audiences through Italy's varied regional cuisines, emphasizing the historical and cultural influences behind each dish. Unlike his previous show, Searching for Italy, this series offers a slower, more in-depth exploration of food and stories, blending National Geographic's signature approach with Tucci's warm storytelling style. The series highlights how Italy's geography and history shape its food. For instance, dishes from Trentino-Alto Adige reflect Austrian influences, while in Calvisano, Tucci indulges in farm-raised sturgeon caviar. Throughout the series, Tucci introduces viewers to lesser-known Italian specialties, such as Florence's traditional lampredotto, a street food made from cow's stomach. Tucci credits his childhood experiences in Florence and his mother's cooking for his love of Italian food. He aims to elevate the understanding of Italian cuisine beyond the typical pasta and pizza, showing its complexity and regional diversity. As an executive producer and host, Tucci focuses the series on the food and the people behind it rather than himself, aiming to inspire viewers to appreciate Italy's culinary heritage and culture.
The Age
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
TV travel shows are overpacked with celebs – but this actor can't be beaten
WATCH / That's amore! If there's a better sight than Stanley Tucci shovelling pasta in his mouth and looking absolutely delighted, I'm yet to find it (with apologies to husband and child). The Oscar-nominated actor is back with yet another foodie travel series in Italy. This one, Tucci in Italy, is produced by National Geographic after CNN cancelled his original show, Searching for Italy (which you can still watch on SBS On Demand) – and Tucci once again pops on the chinos, loosens his belt and hits the road, eating his way around Italy's regions and exclaiming ' Mangia! Mangia!' And yes, while I understand all the eye-rolling about the dozens of inane celebrity travel shows scattered about, Tucci can't be beaten for his enthusiasm, generosity and sheer love of the country of his forebears. It also helps that he can cook and isn't afraid to eat (pizza, pasta, offal, mouldy cheese – he'll try it all). So leave the cynicism behind and embrace Tucci, his travels and his chinos. From May 19 on Disney+. Louise Rugendyke Theft ($33), by Tanzanian-British novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, is his first novel since he won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. Set in Tanzania in the 1990s, it explores the interconnected lives of three young people: Karim, Badar and Fauzia. Karim, abandoned by his mother, Raya, when she remarries, later lives with her and her second husband, Haji, while at university. There, he befriends their servant, Badar, an orphan boy. When Badar is falsely accused of theft, Karim, now married to Fauzia, takes him into their home and helps him to find a job in a boutique hotel. Tensions arise when Karim and Fauzia struggle to cope with the arrival of their first child. A morality tale featuring themes of abandonment, indebtedness, jealousy and betrayal with a deeply satisfying ending. Nicole Abadee LISTEN / Plot twist In 2020, a ragtag collection of anti-government, self-styled militia dudes plotted to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan. What they didn't know was that there were government informants embedded in the group who were setting up a sting operation. In the podcast Chameleon: The Michigan Plot, investigative reporters Ken Bensinger and Jessica Garrison expertly tell the bizarre but true tale, aided by tragicomic FBI audio retrieved from bugging devices. What we hear is like a cross between The Big Lebowski and a Quentin Tarantino film, which would be funny if the plot didn't involve a plot to harm a human being. But were they really criminal masterminds or just paranoid, hyped-up stoners who believed misinformation and ultimately fell victim to FBI entrapment? Barry Divola
Sydney Morning Herald
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
TV travel shows are overpacked with celebs – but this actor can't be beaten
WATCH / That's amore! If there's a better sight than Stanley Tucci shovelling pasta in his mouth and looking absolutely delighted, I'm yet to find it (with apologies to husband and child). The Oscar-nominated actor is back with yet another foodie travel series in Italy. This one, Tucci in Italy, is produced by National Geographic after CNN cancelled his original show, Searching for Italy (which you can still watch on SBS On Demand) – and Tucci once again pops on the chinos, loosens his belt and hits the road, eating his way around Italy's regions and exclaiming ' Mangia! Mangia!' And yes, while I understand all the eye-rolling about the dozens of inane celebrity travel shows scattered about, Tucci can't be beaten for his enthusiasm, generosity and sheer love of the country of his forebears. It also helps that he can cook and isn't afraid to eat (pizza, pasta, offal, mouldy cheese – he'll try it all). So leave the cynicism behind and embrace Tucci, his travels and his chinos. From May 19 on Disney+. Louise Rugendyke Theft ($33), by Tanzanian-British novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, is his first novel since he won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. Set in Tanzania in the 1990s, it explores the interconnected lives of three young people: Karim, Badar and Fauzia. Karim, abandoned by his mother, Raya, when she remarries, later lives with her and her second husband, Haji, while at university. There, he befriends their servant, Badar, an orphan boy. When Badar is falsely accused of theft, Karim, now married to Fauzia, takes him into their home and helps him to find a job in a boutique hotel. Tensions arise when Karim and Fauzia struggle to cope with the arrival of their first child. A morality tale featuring themes of abandonment, indebtedness, jealousy and betrayal with a deeply satisfying ending. Nicole Abadee LISTEN / Plot twist In 2020, a ragtag collection of anti-government, self-styled militia dudes plotted to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan. What they didn't know was that there were government informants embedded in the group who were setting up a sting operation. In the podcast Chameleon: The Michigan Plot, investigative reporters Ken Bensinger and Jessica Garrison expertly tell the bizarre but true tale, aided by tragicomic FBI audio retrieved from bugging devices. What we hear is like a cross between The Big Lebowski and a Quentin Tarantino film, which would be funny if the plot didn't involve a plot to harm a human being. But were they really criminal masterminds or just paranoid, hyped-up stoners who believed misinformation and ultimately fell victim to FBI entrapment? Barry Divola
Japan Today
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Stanley Tucci returns to Italy with National Geographic series and vows to 'go more in depth'
This image shows Stanley Tucci posing in the Abruzzo region of Italy during the filming of his series "Tucci in Italy." By MARK KENNEDY You can't keep Stanley Tucci from his beloved Italy just like you can't keep cheese from lasagna. The Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning actor is once again elegantly roaming through the land of his heritage in National Geographic's new food-travel series 'Tucci in Italy,' less than three years after a similar show was axed. 'I think that visually it's more interesting this time around, and I think that we try to go more in depth into the stories as much as you can, given the format,' he says. Tucci goes from a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Milan where the staff grow their own vegetables — 'Stop it!' he half-heartedly begs a chef adding salmon eggs to a pesto risotto — to cooking fish for anglers on the banks of the Sarca River. 'I'm exploring the complex connections between the land, the people and the food they eat in order to discover the essence of each region in the country I love – Italy,' the 'Conclave' and 'The Devil Wears Prada' star tells viewers in each installment. Each episode of the first season of 'Tucci in Italy' explores a different region — from Tuscany to Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardy, Abruzzo and Lazio. It was shot over six months, from January to July in 2024. 'It's a lot of planning, it is a lot logistics. But ultimately, once you get to where you're supposed to be, which isn't always easy in Italy, especially in the mountainous areas, it's great,' says Tucci. 'The people are great, extraordinary.' In Tuscany, the cradle of the Renaissance, Tucci eats lampredotto, a sandwich made with the cow's fourth stomach, and a beef tongue stew. In the Alpine region of Trentino-Alto Adige, he skis and munches on beef goulash and polenta near the Austrian border. National Geographic greenlit Tucci's new docuseries a year after CNN canceled his 'Searching for Italy' despite winning Emmys for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special. Much of the same production staff and crew transferred over with Tucci to his new TV home, and they embraced the use of the latest drones, giving the series a sweep and majesty. Executive producer Lottie Birmingham, who worked on 'Searching for Italy' and jumped aboard 'Tucci in Italy,' says the new series pushes viewers into new parts of the European nation. 'I think before we did focus quite a lot on the major cities, whereas this time we've kind of gone out into the wider regions,' she says. 'In Lazio, for example, we haven't just focused on Rome or in Tuscany we haven't just focused on Florence.' The series also stops to look at some of the social issues roiling Italy, like immigration and gay rights. Tucci and his team spotlight Punjabi migrants, particularly Sikhs, who have a significant presence in the nation's dairy industry, and the impact that Ethiopian immigrants have had despite facing racism and being treated as 'other.' 'Every country does it, and it's never a helpful thing,' says Tucci. 'And after people assimilate, then they often find others to become 'others.' So it's just this sort of weird, vicious circle.' The new series — produced by Salt Productions and BBC Studios — in many ways is more true to Tucci's initial vision, which was to look carefully at trends below the surface of what appears to be a happy, sun-blasted land. 'The original idea of the show that I had almost 20 years ago, at this point, was to show the diversity of Italy. But also to, in a weird way, dispel the myth that it's sunny all the time and everybody's eating pizza and pasta and everybody is happy and smiling all the time. Yeah, that exists, but that's not everything.' It was Tucci who suggested a stop in Lombardy after reading an article about a gay couple who haven't been able to legally adopt their baby boy since the government doesn't recognize adoptions by same-sex couples. 'There's a darker side, as there are with every country,' says Birmingham. 'Italians are so focused on food and family, but what does family mean? That was what we wanted to look at in that story.' Tucci is part of a crowded field of celeb travel hosts, which includes Rainn Wilson, Eugene Levy, Zac Efron, José Andrés, Chris Hemsworth, Will Smith, Macaulay Culkin and Ewan McGregor. Birmingham believes her host has something special to offer. 'I think he's particularly good at putting people at ease,' she says. 'He is genuinely interested, and it is a real passion for him. He's not hosting this series just to host it. He loves Italy more than any of us, and I think that's really apparent.' One of the series' highlights is when Tucci visits Sienna, a city in central Italy's Tuscany region, and watches its medieval-era horse race run around the Piazza del Campo. Afterward, each city ward hosts a dinner party in the streets where thousands sing and toast their neighborhood. 'I didn't know about that and I just think it's incredible,' says Tucci, who first visited Sienna when he was about 12. 'Italy was a very different place and yet still is very much the same.' It's that push and pull of modernity and tradition that the show highlights, like a restaurant in Florence that caused a stir when traditional regional delicacies were done with Japanese styles and ingredients. Tucci found the food delicious and worried that Italians must embrace change. 'They maintain their traditions, they maintain the quality. But it also stops them from growing,' says Tucci. 'There's no reason why you can't have both.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
Stanley Tucci returns to Italy with National Geographic series and vows to 'go more in depth'
NEW YORK -- You can't keep Stanley Tucci from his beloved Italy just like you can't keep cheese from lasagna. The Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning actor is once again elegantly roaming through the land of his heritage in National Geographic's new food-travel series 'Tucci in Italy,' less than three years after a similar show was axed. 'I think that visually it's more interesting this time around, and I think that we try to go more in depth into the stories as much as you can, given the format,' he says. Tucci goes from a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Milan where the staff grow their own vegetables — 'Stop it!' he half-heartedly begs a chef adding salmon eggs to a pesto risotto — to cooking fish for anglers on the banks of the Sarca River. 'I'm exploring the complex connections between the land, the people and the food they eat in order to discover the essence of each region in the country I love – Italy,' the 'Conclave' and 'The Devil Wears Prada' star tells viewers in each installment. Each episode of the first season of 'Tucci in Italy' explores a different region — from Tuscany to Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardy, Abruzzo and Lazio. It was shot over six months, from January to July in 2024. 'It's a lot of planning, it is a lot logistics. But ultimately, once you get to where you're supposed to be, which isn't always easy in Italy, especially in the mountainous areas, it's great,' says Tucci. 'The people are great, extraordinary.' In Tuscany, the cradle of the Renaissance, Tucci eats lampredotto, a sandwich made with the cow's fourth stomach, and a beef tongue stew. In the Alpine region of Trentino-Alto Adige, he skis and munches on beef goulash and polenta near the Austrian border. National Geographic greenlit Tucci's new docuseries a year after CNN canceled his 'Searching for Italy' despite winning Emmys for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special. Much of the same production staff and crew transferred over with Tucci to his new TV home, and they embraced the use of the latest drones, giving the series a sweep and majesty. Executive producer Lottie Birmingham, who worked on 'Searching for Italy' and jumped aboard 'Tucci in Italy,' says the new series pushes viewers into new parts of the European nation. 'I think before we did focus quite a lot on the major cities, whereas this time we've kind of gone out into the wider regions,' she says. 'In Lazio, for example, we haven't just focused on Rome or in Tuscany we haven't just focused on Florence.' The series also stops to look at some of the social issues roiling Italy, like immigration and gay rights. Tucci and his team spotlight Punjabi migrants, particularly Sikhs, who have a significant presence in the nation's dairy industry, and the impact that Ethiopian immigrants have had despite facing racism and being treated as 'other.' 'Every country does it, and it's never a helpful thing,' says Tucci. 'And after people assimilate, then they often find others to become 'others.' So it's just this sort of weird, vicious circle.' The new series — produced by Salt Productions and BBC Studios — in many ways is more true to Tucci's initial vision, which was to look carefully at trends below the surface of what appears to be a happy, sun-blasted land. 'The original idea of the show that I had almost 20 years ago, at this point, was to show the diversity of Italy. But also to, in a weird way, dispel the myth that it's sunny all the time and everybody's eating pizza and pasta and everybody is happy and smiling all the time. Yeah, that exists, but that's not everything.' It was Tucci who suggested a stop in Lombardy after reading an article about a gay couple who haven't been able to legally adopt their baby boy since the government doesn't recognize adoptions by same-sex couples. 'There's a darker side, as there are with every country,' says Birmingham. 'Italians are so focused on food and family, but what does family mean? That was what we wanted to look at in that story.' Tucci is part of a crowded field of celeb travel hosts, which includes Rainn Wilson, Eugene Levy, Zac Efron, José Andrés, Chris Hemsworth, Will Smith, Macaulay Culkin and Ewan McGregor. Birmingham believes her host has something special to offer. 'I think he's particularly good at putting people at ease,' she says. 'He is genuinely interested, and it is a real passion for him. He's not hosting this series just to host it. He loves Italy more than any of us, and I think that's really apparent.' One of the series' highlights is when Tucci visits Sienna, a city in central Italy's Tuscany region, and watches its medieval-era horse race run around the Piazza del Campo. Afterward, each city ward hosts a dinner party in the streets where thousands sing and toast their neighborhood. 'I didn't know about that and I just think it's incredible,' says Tucci, who first visited Sienna when he was about 12. 'Italy was a very different place and yet still is very much the same.' It's that push and pull of modernity and tradition that the show highlights, like a restaurant in Florence that caused a stir when traditional regional delicacies were done with Japanese styles and ingredients. Tucci found the food delicious and worried that Italians must embrace change. 'They maintain their traditions, they maintain the quality. But it also stops them from growing,' says Tucci. 'There's no reason why you can't have both.'
