How to Eat Like Stanley Tucci This Summer

As a general rule of thumb, I aim to live my summers the way Stanley Tucci does. This means that on any given evening you can probably find me with a Negroni in hand as I enjoy a bowl of Spaghetti alla Nerano — a strategy for simple, attainable pleasures that I highly recommend. (The only time I might not be taking his advice is when it comes to passionfruit, which Tucci says is the only ingredient he doesn’t like. The tart and almost citrusy fruit, which is in season from midsummer to spring in my home state of Texas, is one I don’t ever want to miss out on in tropical desserts.)

So when the award-winning actor, Searching for Italy host, and Italian food enthusiast recently shared on his social media feeds what he was foraging for over the weekend, I made sure to take note for my own seasonal cooking plans.

In the video — which has quickly racked up over 5 million views on Instagram to-date — Tucci is gathering produce at Garsons Farm in the UK. He's holding a carton of bright, plump red currants in one hand, while in the other, he’s gripping a fistful of dandelion greens as he details his plans to make a salad with the leafy plant.

This farm’s location — just an hour away by car from Tucci’s London home — in Esher, Surrey has 155 acres of land where visitors can pick their own crops, in addition to a garden center, farm shop, cafe, and more. Based on the voice behind the camera, it seems likely that Tucci spent the day with his wife, literary agent Felicity Blunt, who typically films his videos for social media.

Both dandelion greens and red currants are often underappreciated heroes of the produce world, especially in the United States. The former is a bitter leafy green that also has earthy and peppery notes. Dandelion greens are known to be their best in the spring and fall seasons, with slightly less sharp-tasting leaves at these peak times, but you can find them year-round — they’re currently at my local farmers' market in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and you can usually find them at major grocery store chains with a wider produce array, like Whole Foods.

Like all bitter greens, adding fat, acid, salt, and sugar will help mellow out their flavor. Consequently it makes a lot of sense that Stanley Tucci says he plans to use his in a salad with vinaigrette and hard-boiled eggs; a well-balanced vinaigrette will have all four of these essential components. If you don’t want to eat your dandelion greens raw like Tucci, sautéing them in olive oil with some onions or garlic is another way to tamp down their bitterness. You can even add them to a vegetable-forward pasta dish, which would definitely be Tucci-approved.

Just like dandelion greens, red currants can be enjoyed either raw or cooked. In America, these tart berries are in season during the summer months of June, July, and August, so make sure you grab some while they’re still at their peak. The plant prefers a cooler summer and, when grown in the United States, can be most commonly found in the Northeast or Pacific Northwest. 

I love serving currants simply over yogurt with granola, but I do recommend adding an extra drizzle of honey or maple syrup, which will offset their sour flavor. When cooked, red currants become sweeter as their natural sugars concentrate, and if you happen to have access to a bountiful harvest they make an excellent jam.

Since this fruit is a summer crop, making a batch of red currant ice cream is one refreshing and unexpected way to incorporate it into your cooking. This combination creates the ideal balance of sweet, tart, and refreshing flavor. Regardless of what you do with your dandelion greens or red currants, I feel confident Stanley Tucci would just be happy that people are taking advantage of seasonal ingredients that might be new to them. In case you’re able to get your hands on these summer specialties, here are a few of our favorite recipes to make with them: