Stanley Tucci | Cut to the Chase
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00:00 Hello, I'm Stanley Tucci.
00:02 I'm here at Esquire, and I'm going to cut an onion.
00:05 So let's cut to the chase.
00:06 How do you select the right onion is the question.
00:13 And the answer is, it should be firm.
00:15 There are many different kinds of onions.
00:17 It shouldn't be soft.
00:18 If it's soft, don't buy it, don't use it.
00:21 I do it like this.
00:23 There are many different ways of cutting an onion,
00:25 but this is what I do.
00:27 And I know that there are going to be people out there
00:28 who will argue with it.
00:29 That's up to them.
00:35 OK, so a super sharp knife, that's really important.
00:38 Who taught you to cut onions like that?
00:41 I don't know.
00:42 I think a friend of mine, a chef friend of mine.
00:44 His name was Johnny Skeppien.
00:46 He's still alive.
00:47 I mean, it sounded like he was dead.
00:50 OK, so tell us what you're doing.
00:51 So I'm just going to-- so this will be just sort
00:54 of dicing an onion.
00:55 I cut three this way, and then I cut these down
00:58 in strips this way.
01:00 And then we do this.
01:03 And then it all falls into these nice little cubes-ish.
01:09 Do you have a check of crying?
01:11 No, I cried before I came here.
01:13 So I am not crying now.
01:15 I'm all cried out.
01:18 I will cry, I can tell, because this is a very potent onion.
01:22 And I probably will cry after I finish this bit.
01:25 The first bit, you don't usually cry.
01:27 Supposedly, you're supposed to put a piece of bread
01:31 in your mouth or a spoon.
01:34 And that stops you from crying.
01:35 I don't know why or if it's true.
01:38 But I do at home have some goggles
01:41 that I put on that are designed specifically
01:44 for cutting onions.
01:46 I mean, you look kind of insane when you wear them, but you
01:49 know.
01:50 Do you always wear them when you cut onions?
01:52 Not always.
01:53 I usually forget.
01:53 And by the time I'm crying, it's too late.
01:56 There's the onion.
01:58 Can you see it?
01:59 So exciting.
02:00 You sure you haven't fallen asleep yet?
02:05 Do onions belong on--
02:07 A martini.
02:10 Yes, a pickled onion, not like that.
02:12 Yeah.
02:13 On a pizza?
02:15 Yeah, everything, but they must be cooked beforehand.
02:19 Burger.
02:20 On a burger, yes.
02:21 But they-- well, yes.
02:23 People like raw onion.
02:24 I like red onion.
02:25 Red raw onion or cooked white onion.
02:28 Or caramelized both onions.
02:32 On an omelet?
02:33 Sure, if you want onions in your omelet.
02:36 Go ahead.
02:39 I don't eat those, so I don't know and I don't care.
02:43 No, that's really disgusting.
02:44 No, not on a peanut butter sandwich, no.
02:47 Best onion forward dish would be a spaghetti
02:49 with tropea onions, anchovies, a little bit of butter,
02:54 and garlic and breadcrumbs.
02:58 You should look for a good quality pan that
03:01 has some weight to it and a nice heavy bottom
03:06 so that you don't burn the onion.
03:08 I designed these pans with a company called Green Pan.
03:15 And they're all nonstick.
03:17 They're PFAS free.
03:20 And they work really, really, actually, really well.
03:25 Thank God.
03:25 Do you follow a recipe or do you like to experiment as you go?
03:28 I like to--
03:30 I like what recipes suggest.
03:33 And then I go from there.
03:35 Cooking music right now?
03:37 Harry Styles.
03:39 I'm not kidding you.
03:41 Harry Styles and Elvis Costello.
03:44 Did you go to the Harry Styles show?
03:46 Of course I did.
03:47 That's amazing.
03:48 He's a friend of mine.
03:50 There's nobody like that guy.
03:51 He is so fit.
03:52 And he is a great eater, food lover.
03:57 But he's so fit.
03:58 That metabolism is like-- he's like an athlete.
04:02 Music that was played in my house growing up
04:03 was old Italian folk songs and jazz from the '30s, '40s, '50s.
04:16 [INAUDIBLE]
04:17 [LAUGHS]
04:19 I don't know.
04:20 It's funny that you ask that, because I always
04:22 think that socks are incredibly expensive.
04:25 And then you think, well, why?
04:27 It's like these two tubes of fabric.
04:31 Why is it so expensive?
04:32 I don't want to pay more than $20 for a pair of socks.
04:36 I don't want to.
04:37 Even that sounds like a lot to me.
04:39 I can cook various kinds of pasta very well,
04:43 certain kinds of fish very well.
04:45 It's really just the secret is experience
04:50 and good quality ingredients.
04:53 What am I most afraid of?
04:55 The upcoming election.
04:58 That's what I'm most afraid of.
05:00 What bores me?
05:02 Yeah.
05:02 Golf.
05:11 I would use this sauteed onion base for lots of things.
05:16 One would be a tomato sauce.
05:17 I would add garlic to it, saute some mushrooms,
05:20 then combine them together, a little white wine, maybe
05:23 some stock, something like that.
05:25 You could basically use this for everything.
05:26 You know your onion is ready when they become opaque
05:32 and they become soft.
05:35 That's when you know they're ready.
05:37 If you want to brown them, then just turn up the heat
05:39 and brown them.
05:40 If you want to caramelize them, you put balsamic vinegar in,
05:44 you put a little sugar in, like that.
05:47 OK, well, that's it.
05:48 I'm leaving now.
05:49 I'm so glad that I didn't burst into tears
05:53 for a number of reasons, mostly because of the onion.
05:56 And I'm going to go now.
05:59 And you can have these onions.
06:03 Please take them home with you.