Still not a foodie blog and tonight I am going to be Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle AND Simone Beck. Those of you who recognise any of these names will know that they are the authors of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Of course some of you will have seen Julie and Julia from 2009, a great film for fans of Julia Child, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, tasty food or indeed all of the above in one movie. While it is a good movie, there is a better one, called Big Night, from 1996, co-written and co-directed by and starring Stanley Tucci. By pure happenstance, that film was my first introduction to Mr Tucci and to a charming film wonderfully peopled by the aforementioned Mr T, Isabella Rosselini, Minnie Driver, Tony Shalhoub and even Ian Holm in a brilliantly hyperbole cameo. (This is now neither a foodie nor a movie blog. Perhaps its a moodie blog. But a good moodie.) One thing is certain; I will never, ever, even attempt to cook the timpano. Ya wha’? You’ll have to watch Big Night or read Taste: My Life Through Food, Tucci’s memoir-come-cook-book. It’s a blast.

So, to tonight’s tales of the hob and the apron. On his drool-inducing tv series, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, the all-round nice guy raved about a dinner-non-carne he found in a peculiar little restaurant called Lo Scoglio on the Amalfi coast. The meal consists of zucchini, olive oil, basil and parmesan cheese. Nothin special, right? Wrong. It’s pretty damn special and goes by the name of Spaghetti ala Nerano.

I followed Tucci’s instructions from Taste (genius Christmas present from my wife) which essentially commands you to slice 8-10 smaller, sweeter, zucchini, fry them until golden brown in sunflower oil, remove, drain, drizzle with chopped basil and salt, transfer to a bowl where you douse them in as much olive oil as you dare (be brave! she / he / they who dares, wins!).

Cook a whole 500g packet of spaghetti to whatever consistency you like; he is Italian, only eats his pasta al dente and probably deems beyond dente as heresy. Keep a cupful or two of the water when you strain it.

Then, and this is the science bit, where the whole sexy thing comes together; mix the zucchini-basil-salt-oliveoil with the pasta, slowly adding 200g of parmesan and some of the pasta water, til it reaches – sorry, just drooled on the laptop, there – the creamy consistency you deem properly sinful.

Serve immediately and fly your mouth to the moon. It goes without saying that a semi-decent inexpensive white wine would chase this appropriately down your ecstatic throat.

The other good thing about Tucci is, he loves mixed drinks. The martini, the negroni, the old fashioned. I also like mixed drinks – the gin and tonic, thanks to Cork (Dry), the whisky sour, thanks to the Sugar Club, Dublin, the Moscow mule thanks to Stolichnaya and the Reingold bar, Berlin, and most importantly, the Caucasian, thanks to the Dude. But let me introduce you to mah lil fren, invented by me, the Ginger Rocket, thanks to Havana, Kooba.

Glass: Tumbler, filled with ice

Rum: Havana Club Añejo 7 Años, 50ml

Juice: 1 lime

Mixer: Old Jamaica Ginger Beer 100ml

Muddle, resist the temptation to neck it in 2 minutes as this is alcoholic and you will immediately want another one. Tranquilo, dear friend, tranquilo. You could, if you really felt the need for an even stronger treat, use the tasty Irish newcomer, the 4% alc. Zingibeer, instead of Old Jamaica. But then it wouldn’t be a Ginger Rocket.

Now, you may say ‘Whoa, Mr Sigmund Fraud, that’s just a Dark n Stormy, you didn’t invent this!’ to which my riposte would be, that the DnS uses ginger ale, akin to a weeping labradoodle puppy. The regal Irish wolfhound that is ginger beer is a very different animal altogether. Buon appetito agus Sláinte.