THE ROMANS SALTED their greens, believing this to counteract the natural bitterness, which is the origin of the word salad, salted.

Whenever I was called a gourmet, I suspected I was being accused of something at least slightly unpleasant. But that was before I heard the term "foodie." I am still not sure that a gourmet is a good thing to be, but it must be better than a foodie.

The egg creams of Avenue A in New York and the root beer float....are among the high points of American gastronomic inventiveness.

Judging foods without regard to price is a rich mans game, and yet poor people can be gourmets able to discern a good potato from a bad one.

Fate likes to tease paranoids.'

Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture.

A Wedding In Haiti is a great experience and its unaffected prose is as true a portrait of complex Haiti as you will find.