Haute Cuisine Quotes

“But for me, dinner at a fine restaurant was the ultimate luxury. It was the very height of civilization. For what was civilization but the intellect's ascendancy out of the doldrums of necessity (shelter, sustenance and survival) into the ether of the finely superfluous (poetry, handbags and haute cuisine)? So removed from daily life was the whole experience that when all was rotten to the core, a fine dinner could revive the spirits. If and when I had twenty dollars left to my name, I was going to invest it right here in an elegant hour that couldn't be hocked.”
― Amor Towles, Rules of Civility

“They have twenty-four one-hour sittings every day with only one table per sitting."
Sam groaned as he closed his laptop. "I'd better grab some sandwiches on the way. It sounds like the kind of place you only get two peas and a sliver of asparagus on a piece of butter lettuce that was grown on the highest mountain peak of Nepal and watered with the tears of angels."
"Not a fan of haute cuisine?" She followed him down the stairs and out into the bright sunshine.
"I like food. Lots of it." He stopped at the nearest café and ordered three Reuben sandwiches, two Cobb salads, and three bottles of water.
"Would you like anything?" he asked after he placed his order.
Layla looked longingly as the server handed over his feast. "I don't want to ruin my appetite." She pointed to the baked-goods counter. "You forgot dessert."
"I don't eat sugar."
"Then the meal is wasted." She held open her handbag to reveal her secret stash. "I keep emergency desserts with me at all times- gummy bears, salted caramel chocolate, jelly beans, chocolate-glazed donuts- at least I think that's what they were, and this morning I managed to grab a small container of besan laddu and some gulab jamun.”
― Sara Desai, The Marriage Game

“Memories fill my mind, as though they are my own, of not just events from Gideon's life, but of various flavors and textures: breast milk running easily down into my stomach, chicken cooked with butter and parsley, split peas and runner beans and butter beans, and oranges and peaches, strawberries freshly picked from the plant; hot, strong coffees each morning; pasta and walnuts and bread and brie; then something sweet: a pan cotta, with rose and saffron, and a white wine: tannin, soil, stone fruits, white blossom; and---oh my god---ramen, soba, udon, topped with nori and sesame seeds; miso with tofu and spring onions, fugu and tuna sashimi dipped in soy sauce, onigiri with a soured plum stuffed in the middle; and then something I don't know, something unfamiliar but at the same time deeply familiar, something I didn't realize I craved: crispy ground lamb, thick, broken noodles, chili oil, fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk, tamarind... and then a bright green dessert---the sweet, floral flavor of pandan fills my mouth.”
― Claire Kohda, Woman, Eating

“Jednakże zdołałem pojąć, jak fałszywym mitem jest haute cuisine, wytworna kuchnia (...) Już sama strata czasu na ich przygotowanie jest nonsensem (...) Panuje również złudny pogląd, że przyrządzenie niezwykle wyszukanej potrawy to zajęcie bardziej 'twórcze' niż gotowanie rzeczy prostych. (...) Pretensjonalna angielska gospodyni nie tylko myli się uważając umiejętność przygotowywania pracochłonnych, wyszukanych potraw za cnotę, lecz także często wykorzystuje ten swój bałamutny kunszt z myślą o tych, którzy w istocie nie znajdują żadnej przyjemności w jedzeniu. Większość moich przyjaciół z teatru była już tak zalana, kiedy podawano pierwsze solidne danie, że nie miała na nie wcale apetytu albo prawie nie zdawała sobie sprawy, co przed nimi postawiono.”
― Iris Murdoch, The Sea, the Sea

“For what was civilization but the intellect’s ascendancy out of the doldrums of necessity (shelter, sustenance and survival) into the ether of the finely superfluous (poetry, handbags and haute cuisine)?”
― Amor Towles, Rules of Civility

“He took the juiciest leg and neck meat, slicing each piece down the middle...
... and layered them so they could be wrapped into a single ballotine tube. Then he sautéed it in a frying pan, successfully subduing its distinctive odor while cooking it to perfect juicy tenderness!
The sauce was a red wine reduction using hare bone fond and meat...
... which was then infused with foie gras, chocolate and the hare's own blood, making it the perfect accompaniment.”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 29 [Shokugeki no Souma 29]

“In the main, my mother’s function was to prepare the meals, which she did like an amoeba might, with neither creativity nor taste, but lots of mayonnaise.”
― Adeline Dieudonné, La Vraie Vie

“She'd ordered the curated wild Alaskan sea cucumbers, sprinkled with artisanal milk thistle foraged at dusk from Springdale Farms and served in a sea of pureed stinging nettles. At least Sam thought that's what it was. She'd eaten the entire cucumber slice in one bite.
"Are you sure you wouldn't like something, sir?" The waiter, dressed in a grain sack with cutouts for his head and arms, hovered at Sam's shoulder.
"No, thank you." Sam rubbed his belly and let out a small burp. "I shouldn't have had that second Reuben on my way over. Or maybe it was the Cobb salad. I'm so full I couldn't even handle an amuse-bouche of fermented sardine foam or dihydrogen-monoxide consommé.”
― Sara Desai, The Marriage Game

“Servers swept across the floor as they could hear invisible music to oohs and aahs from all the tables. Ours presented us with a palm-sized white plate with two teensy golden choux pastry puffs.
"Foie gras spheres with Sauternes jelly," he proclaimed.
The sweet-savory cloud dissolved on my plate, and I couldn't help but hum. "Holy crap, can I have fifty of those and call it a day?" I said. "That's fantastic."
Nicole nudged me with a grin. "Told you."
After the puffs came neatly squared smoked eel sandwiches, the fish's smoky richness bitten off by sharp horseradish. They were delicious, and fairy-sized. So were the next two dishes.”
― Sarah Chamberlain, The Slowest Burn