The Comfort Food That Never Left Stanley Tucci’s Heart Goes Back to His Mother’s Kitchen
Few people blur the line between Hollywood stardom and culinary passion quite like Stanley Tucci. The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor has spent decades earning critical acclaim on screen, but in recent years his love of Italian food has become just as defining a part of his public identity. His travel food series ‘Tucci in Italy’ premiered on National Geographic in May 2025, following an earlier run of ‘Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy’ on CNN. For someone whose professional life revolves around exploring the depth and diversity of Italian cuisine, there is something deeply endearing about where his personal food story actually begins.
Tucci has gone on record telling Good Morning America that he does not believe he has a single favorite food, insisting “there’s no such thing.” That philosophy is entirely in keeping with a man who has crisscrossed Italian regions hunting for the dish that best captures each one’s soul. But even the most adventurous palate has its roots somewhere, and Tucci’s bring him straight back to his childhood kitchen.
In an Instagram video that quickly captured attention online, Tucci joined his mother Joan to make the dish he called “my favorite.” The dish in question is Italian potato croquettes, something Joan Tucci made regularly when her son was growing up, typically serving them before dinner as a pre-meal snack. In the video, Joan explains that the family “always” had them, and that they were “always” one of her son’s favorites. Watching the two of them cook together without measuring a single ingredient feels less like a recipe demonstration and more like an intimate family portrait.
When Stanley asks about amounts, his mom answers simply that “you have to feel it,” a philosophy that says everything about how deeply embedded this dish is in family memory rather than written instruction. The recipe itself is remarkably unfussy, built from mashed potatoes mixed with Pecorino Romano cheese, whisked eggs, flour, breadcrumbs and minced parsley, with no butter or milk required. The pair shape them by hand into what Tucci describes as “cigar-shaped” forms, with Joan offering guidance along the way on how to get them right.
Known across Italy by different names depending on the region, including panzerotti di patate, crocchette di patate, crocchè and cazzilli, potato croquettes trace their origins to Sicily and evolved from French croquettes after potatoes arrived in Italy in the 1600s. They are traditionally deep-fried, though Tucci prefers his pan-fried or baked. The dish sits in that perfect sweet spot between rustic street food and something a mother makes with love on an ordinary weekday evening.
Fans responded to the video with warmth, with one Instagram commenter writing that Tucci’s mom is awesome and that the croquettes look delicious, while another noted that their own family makes a similar flat patty version. It is the kind of response that reveals how food memories cross borders even when the recipes do not. ‘Tucci in Italy’ earned a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes based on critic reviews, and its second season is currently airing on Disney Plus and National Geographic.
There is something quietly powerful about a man who has eaten at three-Michelin-star restaurants and explored some of the world’s most celebrated regional cuisines still returning, without hesitation, to a pan-fried potato croquette made the way his mother taught him. If you grew up with a dish that still holds that kind of power over you, share what it is in the comments below.
