I'm not a slave driver or a yeller. I was yelled at in kitchens and other workplaces.

Molecular gastronomy is not bad... but without sound, basic culinary technique, it is useless.

My advice: write down everything you eat. It's amazing what that "self honesty" can do for you. (Do you really want to have to confess that doughnut? I thought not.)

Basting is evil. Basting does nothing for the meat. Why? Skin. Skin is designed to keep stuff out of the bird, so basting just lets heat out of the oven. That means the turkey will take longer to cook... so don't touch that door!

I am firmly in the lard camp. It must be what we call leaf lard, which is a specific kind of lard that resides around certain internal organs in the pig.

A home cook who relies too much on a recipe is sort of like a pilot who reads the plane's instruction manual while flying.

My feeling has always been that 'Good Eats' would have never happened had it been left to a committee.