A meal can be thought of as a ritual and a work of art, with limits laid down, desires aroused and fulfilled, enticements, variety, patterning and plot. As in a work of art, not only the overall form, but also the details matter intensely.

Salt represents the civilized: it requires know-how to get it, and a sophisticated combination of cooking and spoilt, jaded appetites to need it.

The extent to which we take everyday objects for granted is the precise extent to which they govern and inform our lives.

food is never just something to eat.

Our perception that we have 'no time' is one of the distinctive marks of modern Western culture.

Eating is aggressive by nature, and the implements required for it could quickly become weapons; table manners are, most basically, a system of taboos designed to ensure that violence remains out of the question.

We use eating as a medium for social relationships: satisfaction of the most individual of needs becomes a means of creating community.