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The most amazing ways to experience Italy this year

Television

Freelance news reporter

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Hearst Editorial

- Hello, I'm Stanley Tucci. I'm here at Esquire and I'm going to cut an onion. So, let's cut to the chase. (accordion music) "How do you select the right onion?" is the question. And the answer is, it should be firm. There are many different kinds of onions. It shouldn't be soft. If it's soft, Mm. Don't buy it, don't use it. I do it like this. There are many different ways of cutting an onion but this is what I do, and I know that there are going to be people out there who will argue with it. Well, that's up to them. Okay, so a super sharp knife, that's really important. - [Woman] Who taught you how to cut an onion like that? - Uh, I don't know. I think a friend of mine, a chef friend of mine, his name was Johnny Scapine. He's still alive. I mean, it's not like he was dead. - [Woman] Okay, so tell us what you're doing. - So, I'm just going to, so this will be just, sort of dicing an onion. I cut three this way and then I cut these down in strips this way, and then we do this, and then it all falls into these nice little cubes-ish. - [Woman] Do you have a trick for not crying? - No, I cried before I came here. So I, Uh, I'm not crying now. I'm all cried out. I will cry. I can tell because this is a very potent onion and I probably will cry after I finish this bit. The first bit, you don't usually cry. Supposedly, you're supposed to put a piece of bread in your mouth or a spoon and that stops you from crying. I don't know why or if it's true. But I do, at home, have some goggles that I put on that are designed specifically for cutting onions. I mean, you look kind of insane when you wear them, but you know. - [Woman] Do you always wear them when you cut onions? - Not always. I usually forget and by the time I'm crying, it's too late. There's the onion. - [Woman] Okay. - [Stanley] Can you see it? It's so exciting. Are you sure you haven't fallen asleep yet? Do onions belong on... - [Woman] A martini? - Yes. A pickled onion. Not like that. Yeah. - [Woman] On a pizza. - Yeah, everything. But they must be cooked beforehand. - [Woman] Burger? - On a burger? Yes. But they, well, yes. People like raw onion. I like red onion, red raw onion or cooked white onion or caramelized both onions. - [Woman] On an omelet? - On an omelet? Sure. If you want onions in your omelet, go ahead. - On a chili cheese dog? - I don't eat those, so, I don't know and I don't care. - [Woman] Peanut butter sandwich? - No, that's really disgusting. No, not on a peanut butter sandwich. No. Best onion forward dish would be a spaghetti with tropea onions, anchovies, a little bit of butter, and garlic and breadcrumb. You should look for a good quality pan that has some weight to it and a nice heavy bottom so that you don't burn the onion. I designed these pans with a company called GreenPan and they're all non-stick. They're PFAS-free and they work really, really actually really well, thank God. - [Woman] Do you follow a recipe or do you like to experiment as you go? - I like to, I like what recipes suggest and then I go from there. Cooking music? Right now, Harry Styles. I'm not kidding you. Harry Styles and Elvis Costello. - Did you go to the Harry Styles show? - Of course I did. - [Woman] That's amazing. - He's a friend of mine. There's nobody like that guy. He's so fit and he is the, he's a great eater, food lover. And, but he's so fit. That metabolism is like, he's like an athlete. Music that was played in my house growing up was, old Italian folk songs and jazz from the thirties, forties, fifties. (Stanley chuckles) I don't know. It's funny that you asked that because I always think that socks are incredibly expensive and then you think, well, why? It's like these two tubes of fabric. Why is it so expensive? I don't want to pay more than $20 for a pair of socks. I don't want to. Even that sounds like a lot to me. I can cook various kinds of pasta very well. Certain kinds of fish very well. It's really just the secret is, is experience and good quality ingredients. What am I most afraid of? The upcoming election. That's what I'm most afraid of. What bores me? - [Woman] Yeah. - Uh. Golf. I would use this sauteed onion base for lots of things. One would be a tomato sauce. I would add garlic to it, saute some mushrooms, then combine them together. Little white wine, maybe some stock, something like that. You could basically use this for everything. You know your onion is ready when they become opaque and they become, they become soft. That's when you know they're ready. If you wanna brown them, then just turn up the heat and brown them. If you want to caramelize them, put a little, you put balsamic vinegar in, you put a little sugar in, like that. Okay, well, that's it. I'm leaving now. It's, I'm so glad that I didn't burst into tears for a number of reasons. Mostly, because of the onion. And I'm gonna go now and you can have these onions. Okay. Please take them home with you.

Esquire US

Stanley Tucci | Cut to the Chase

Stanley Tucci

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