Some children like to make castles out of their rice pudding, or faces with raisins for eyes. It is forbidden -- so sternly that, when they grow up, they take a horrid revenge by dying meringues pale blue or baking birthday cakes in the form of horseshoes or lyres or whatnot.

Just like becoming an expert in wine–you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford–you learn about great food by finding the best there is, whether simply or luxurious. The you savor it, analyze it, and discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences.

The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.

In the 1960s, you could eat anything you wanted, and of course, people were smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, and there was no talk about fat and anything like that, and butter and cream were rife. Those were lovely days for gastronomy, I must say.

I love root vegetables: carrots, parsnips, and turnips.

A house without a cat is like a day without sunshine, a pie without fromage, a dinner without wine.

The shellfish thing is very scary. You have to know the people you buy from and exactly where their wholesalers are getting the fish from.