Why Stanley Tucci Will Never Make A Passionfruit Dessert

Stanley Tucci is an acclaimed actor, but lately, he's best known for his prowess in the kitchen thanks to "Searching for Italy," his former CNN show. Although Tucci is a bona fide gourmand with a globe-trekking palate, there's one food he's not a fan of. In a TikTok interview with Katie Couric, Tucci admitted to not enjoying passionfruit. And while it might be a bit hard to believe, the multi-talented star also revealed that he's not adept at baking.

If you're not familiar with Tucci's least favorite food, passionfruit has the texture of jelly and a taste similar to melon. However, the riper the fruit gets, the more intense its flavor becomes, and it can end up tasting increasingly sour as a result. The interior of passionfruit is soft, but there is some crunch thanks to the edible seeds peppered throughout. The combination of aggressive flavor and unique texture could be why the Tucc passes on the passionfruit, but perhaps he's just disappointed that he'll never be able to whip up a passionfruit dessert on his own.

While promoting his new line of cookware, Stanley Tucci took the time to answer a few burning culinary questions posed by Katie Couric. Among queries about which ingredient he can't go without in the kitchen (olive oil) and which odd food combination tastes amazing (vitello tonnato, which combines veal with a tuna-based sauce), Tucci disclosed his least favorite food. "I like just about everything," Tucci stated, before offering up, "I suppose, I don't like passionfruit."

@katiecouric

Grilling the Sauce Man in the kitchen! Congrats on your new cookware line, @Stanley Tucci 🍸❤️ #cook #cooking #stanleytucci #kitchen

♬ original sound – Katie Couric

When asked if there's anything he's not great at when it comes to culinary pursuits, Tucci replied, "I can't bake anything." Although Tucci's talent in the kitchen is undeniable, baking is a whole other beast. Consider that baking requires precise measurements and exact oven times, while cooking is much less exacting. For example, it's often easy to correct errors when cooking, but this isn't always the case when it comes to baking. 

There are many dishes and recipes that Tucci counts among his favorites, no baking required.

Tucci may not consider himself much of a baker, but the man definitely has a sweet tooth. In the TikTok video with Katie Couric, he described his top-tier midnight snack of toast with honey, bananas, and peanut butter. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches are a winning combination, and extremely easy to make, so Tucci is not alone in his preference.

As for his favorite comfort food, Tucci is a big fan of chicken noodle soup featuring meatballs, which also goes by the Italian moniker of brodo di gallina con polpettine di pollo. Tucci is a huge proponent of Italian cuisine due in no small part to his heritage. When it comes to his favorite pasta, he holds gnochetti con salsiccia e broccolini in high esteem. This dish features Italian sausage, Romano cheese, broccolini, and gnocchetti sardi, a special type of pasta hailing from the Sardinian region of Italy. While baked goodies featuring passionfruit may not be in Tucci's culinary bag of tricks, the actor and television host has lots to offer in the kitchen.