My first read of 2023 was Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci. I received it for Christmas and devoured it greedily. It’s a lovely, heart-warming memoir about life, food, memory and family. Whether or not you’re particularly a fan of Stanley Tucci, or knowledgeable about Italian food and culture, it’s just a delight to read someone write evocatively about something they’re passionate about. And even if you never make one of his recipes (I haven’t so far – but if anyone wants to cook me his Timpano, served with a Negroni, I’d be very open to that!) it’s still a lovely read.
It contains some quite moving moments, including the tragic loss of his first wife, and a medical diagnosis that had a huge impact on his appreciation of food. I’ll spare you details – read it for yourself. But it gave me plenty to ponder about my own love of food and cooking, the emotional dimension of food-appreciation, and the line between foodiness and foodolatry, a theme I’ve begun to muse on previously.
I was reminded of a paragraph from it last week, as I prepared to speak on communion. The quote didn’t make it into the sermon – partly because it wasn’t exactly relevant to my point, and partly because the euphemism (implied and then denied!) wasn’t the vibe I was going for in the moment! But it was interesting to see a self-confessed unbeliever grapple – at least momentarily – with the symbolism of communion.
He writes:
‘Until I began to fathom my deep emotional connections with food, I had always thought that the ceremonial eating of the communion wafer, a symbol for the body of Christ, was a strange, almost barbaric, pagan ritual. However, now it may well be the only aspect of Catholicism that makes any sense to me at all. If you love someone, you just want them inside of you. (I know what you’re thinking, but let it go.) How many parents hug and kiss their kids and say, ‘I love you so much I just want to eat you up!’ Love can and does enter through the mouth.’
Taste: My Life in Food by Stanley Tucci, p288
If you found this post helpful or thought-provoking (even if you disagreed with it!) chances are someone else you know may do too. So please take a moment to share it on social media. If you would like to support me further, please consider buying me a coffee via my ko-fi page.
Liam Thatcher 