A Bearnaise sauce is simply an egg yolk, a shallot, a little tarragon vinegar, and butter, but it takes years of practice for the result to be perfect.

Cuisine is not invariable like a Codex formula. But one must guard against tampering with the essential bases.

A good meal must be as harmonious as a symphony and as well-constructed as a Norman cathedral.

Every morning the cuisinier must start again at zero, with nothing on the stove. That is what real cuisine is all about.

Before judging a thin man, one must get some information. Perhaps he was once fat.

As far as cuisine is concerned one must read everything, see everything, hear everything, try everything, observe everything, in order to retain in the end, just a little bit.

If he is thin, I will probably dine poorly. If he is both thin and sad, the only hope is in flight.