James Beard > Quotes

“A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.”
― James Beard

“The secret of good cooking is, first, having a love of it… If you’re convinced that cooking is drudgery, you’re never going to be good at it, and you might as well warm up something frozen.”
― James Beard

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”
― James Beard

“There is absolutely no substitute for the best. Good food cannot be made of inferior ingredients masked with high flavor. It is true thrift to use the best ingredients available and to waste nothing.”
― James Beard

“I’m going to break one of the rules of the trade here. I’m going to tell you some of the secrets of improvisation. Just remember—it’s always a good idea to follow the directions exactly the first time you try a recipe. But from then on, you’re on your own.”
― James Beard

“The only thing that will make a souffle fall is if it knows you're afraid of it.”
― James Beard

“I believe that if ever I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around.”
― James Beard

“Be simple. Be honest. Don't overcook and don't undercook, but it's better to undercook than overcook.”
― James Beard

“Taste every time you cook, and take nothing for granted--not even your own palate, for it can change. Mine has.... Since doing time on a salt-free diet, I approach a plain baked potato reverently. Maybe I've been missing the truth--the nutty, delicate earthiness of a perfect baked potato. Salt only masks it. In a fancy mood, I heighten it with caviar; in a plain mood, I just give it several grinds of fresh black pepper.”
― James Beard

“People are also trying to achieve good honest bread in their own kitchens once again, and that is perhaps the healthiest sign of all—a return not only to home baking but also to the most fundamental traditions of American cookery.”
― James Beard

“It is one of the great sandwiches of all time and has swept its way around the world after an American beginning. Nowadays the sandwich is bastardized because it is usually made as a three-decker, which is not authentic (whoever started that horror should be forced to eat three-deckers three times a day the rest of his life), and nowadays practically everyone uses turkey and their’s a vast difference between turkey and chicken where sandwiches are concerned.”
― James Beard

“The Spanish, contrary to a widespread misconception, do not eat hot, heavily seasoned food. They use very little pepper and very few herbs. I believe this conception of the Spanish diet must have originated in Texas, where they do Mexican and Spanish dishes in the hottest manner I know.”
― James Beard

“There is absolutely no relationship between an artificially flavored canned pork and a real ham.”
― James Beard