People come up to me all the time and say, 'Oh, I love to watch Food Network,' and I ask them what they cook, and they say, 'I don't really cook.' They're afraid, they're intimidated, they know all about food from eating out and watching TV, but they don't know where to start in their own kitchen.
Michael SymonThings are going to go wrong. The great chefs are the ones that don't let it fluster them. They just move through it.
Michael SymonWhats more important than recipes is how we think about food, and a good cookbook should open up a new way of doing just that.
Michael SymonFor the longest time, chefs and restaurateurs were able to get products home cooks couldnโt get, but thatโs not the case anymore.
Michael SymonChefs hate desserts. The smartest thing a chef can do is hire a great pastry chef. Cooking savory food is all about feel - you season something, you taste it, you go back in and adjust, more butter, more olive oil, more acid, whatever you want to get it to taste the way you want. Pastries are like a science project. To me, the greatest chefs are the ones who have the greatest feel for food, while the greatest pastry chefs have to be people that are extremely precise.
Michael Symon