It is no piccoli segreti that screen legend Sophia Loren (1934–) loves to cook. Her cookbook Recipes and Memories (1998) is a love letter to food, family, and friendship.

“Don’t be a slave to recipes,” she advised. “Let your convictions, and above all, love, guide you.” Her words, like her presence, nourish the soul.

Born Sofia Scicolone in Rome, Italy, Loren overcame poverty and early teasing—nicknamed Stechetto, the stick—to become a global icon of beauty, talent, and grace. Her partnership with director and husband Carlo Ponti was the steady fire that warmed her world.

“The only person who understands me is Carlo,” she said. “If you could see him through my eyes, you would see the most graceful man in the world.”

With an Academy Award for Two Women (1961), Loren’s legacy is etched in cinematic history. But she credits much of her joy to a life spent in the kitchen. “Everything you see,” she famously declared, “I owe to spaghetti.”

Recognized by the Italian government for her culinary skill, she cooked for film crews of 70 or more—feeding them with love, laughter, and recipes passed through generations. She believed each dish was a story, a blessing, a warm embrace on a plate.

She remembered that Marcello Mastroianni loved her Fagioli con le Cotiche, Clark Gable adored Neapolitan meals, and Richard Burton was addicted to her gelo di anguria.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” she once said. “I don’t think I am beautiful, at least not in the classical way.” She called her face “interesting” and credited her allure to attitude, self-respect, and confidence.