One Massive Difference Between American And Italian Food, Per Stanley Tucci

Apart from the culture, history, and beauty, a major reason Americans travel to Italy is for the opportunity to savor the country's cuisine. They relish the chance to taste iconic dishes — such as Florentine Steak and Neapolitan pizza — and sample foods popular in the Italian diet, including fluffy focaccia, the classic cacio e pepe, and cured meats like prosciutto di Parma and spicy salumi. 

Everything about Italian food, from the ingredients and preparation to the types of dishes, differs from typical American fare — and few would know that better than actor and travel host Stanley Tucci. Tucci, whose grandparents were born in Italy, hosted "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy," a 14-episode series on CNN in which he traveled around his ancestral homeland, tasting regional dishes across areas like Liguria, Puglia, Sardinia, and Calabria. He came away from the experience with a list of favorite destinations to eat and stay in Italy, including one mouthwatering restaurant he recommended in Florence. He also suggested the most underrated destinations that travelers to the country should visit.

According to Tucci, the biggest difference between American and Italian food is the immediacy of most Italian dishes. "This is the thing ... about most Italian food — it's very immediate," Tucci said on "Dish," a food and entertainment podcast. "There are obviously some recipes, but not a huge number of recipes, that are sort of slow-cooked. It's all," he said, snapping his fingers, "like that fast."

Tucci discussed his time as a travel-show host on the August 2024 episode of "Dish." During the recording, one of the hosts, Michelin-star chef Angela Hartnett, cooked Tucci spaghetti alle vongole — a pasta dish with clams, white wine, garlic, parsley, and toasted breadcrumbs. Her preparation of the meal kicked off Tucci's comments about the key distinction between American and Italian cooking: Most Italian fare is made just before you eat it, not ahead of time. 

He spoke about daily meals with his wife, Felicity Blunt. "The stuff that she does, the roasting and the baking and all that stuff, it's much sort of slower, and you can prepare things in advance," he explained, giving an example of how he would throw a dish together on the spot. "She'll go, 'What are we having tonight?' I go, 'I don't know.' And then I go, 'Oh, this,'" he said. "And you can make it, like, that fast."  

Tucci guessed that about 75% of Italian food was made just before sitting down to eat. Hartnett agreed with him, declaring that dishes in Italy don't need to be manipulated too much because the ingredients are so good on their own. "It's about the ingredients more than anything," she said. "It's just, buy the best, seasonal, most delicious, and don't muck around with it."