[On cooking:] What you keep out is as significant as what you put in.

I need to smell its smells, to hear its sounds, to see food in a pot that simmers, bubbles, sizzles. I enjoy the physical involvement of stirring, turning, poking, mashing, scraping.

I don't cook 'concepts.' I use my head, but I cook from the heart, I cook for flavor.

80% of Italian cooking is done in a sauté pan.

What people do with food is an act that reveals how they construe the world.

Cooking is an art, but you eat it too.

Eating in Italy is essentially a family art, practiced for and by the family. The finest accomplishments of the home cook are not reserved like the good silver and china for special occasions or for impressing guests, but are offered daily for the pleasure and happiness of the family group.