The Classic Cocktail Ina Garten Never Tried Until Stanley Tucci Stepped In

Renowned chef and author Ina Garten, endearingly known as the Barefoot Contessa, is celebrated in the culinary world for a multitude of reasons, from her approachable personality on Food Network television favorites, a number of successful cookbooks, and countless culinary hacks that will elevate any basic home-cooked meal. She offers tips for developing recipes to become a better home chef, insights on how to build flavor in any recipe, and knows a thing or two about crafting cocktails such that you and your crew are left with an elegant buzz. 

On the topic of cocktails, did you know that it took the beloved actor and avid food enthusiast, Stanley Tucci, to introduce Ina Garten's taste buds to one of the most classic cocktails ever to exist? On season 3 of Garten's show, "Be My Guest," Tucci made an appearance where he and Garten prepared and served a selection of Tucci's favorite recipes, a nod to his Italian-American upbringing. This is when Garten experienced her first-ever sip of a martini.

Up until this very moment, she had no idea whether or not she would enjoy a martini, until Tucci whipped up a shaken martini garnished with a skewer of olives, of course, and upon first sip, the verdict was a resounding thumbs up, or in Garten's own words, "totally gorgeous," via Today. Her initial expectation was for it to taste like pure alcohol without any nuanced notes or complexity, and that is a presumption that many new to trying martinis may carry. All it took was Tucci's magical mixologist skills to inspire the Barefoot Contessa herself to get with the program and savor a good martini.

There are many floating theories on the origins of the martini cocktail, and while there is no definitive answer as to where the martini was first crafted, its inception can be dated back to the 1800s. The ingredients of a martini are relatively simple, consisting of a base spirit — typically gin or vodka — vermouth, which is a fortified wine, and optionally, bitters. Over time, the composition of the cocktail evolved from a nearly 50-50 ratio of spirit to vermouth during the earlier days, to the drier, more spirit-forward sip that we are more familiar with today. In fact, using vodka as the base spirit was part of the evolution of the martini and has become the default spirit in many a cocktail lounge. If you're looking to stay true to the classics, gin would be the spirit of choice. Its botanical notes impart more flavor to every sip, unlike vodka, which offers a more neutral canvas and may lack complexity for some cocktail connoisseurs. If you enjoy the olives beyond their place as a garnish, the briny notes of olive juice are the trick to a delightful dirty martini.

Shaken or stirred? That is the question with certain cocktails, including martinis, but if you share the same preferences as Mr. 007 himself, shaken martinis are the way to go. The shaking helps aerate the cocktail, and as a result, the texture becomes lighter while the flavors are more subtle. Stirred martinis, on the other hand, are bolder in flavor with a richer mouthfeel. Ultimately, the perfect martini is a matter of playing around with different ratios and preparation methods and landing on what you enjoy best.