Tamsin Greig Quotes

I love the idea of cooking, but I don't like using recipe books, so I'll put a mish-mash together, and it might be amazing by total accident, or it will be a catastrophe.

I'm a very improvisational cook. I sort of like to make things up as I go along. I'm quite creative in the kitchen.

I never learned to cook, so I've got no rules. I'll put things together just because I think they belong together.

When I walk into a market I may see a different cut of meat or an unusual vegetable and think, ‘I wonder how it would be if I took the recipe for that sauce I had in Provence and put the two together?’ So I go home and try it out. Sometimes my idea is a success and sometimes it is a flop, but that is how recipes are born. There really are not recipes, only millions of variations sparked by someone’s imagination and desire to be a little creative and different. American cooking is built, after all, on variations of old recipes from around the world.

I like to add something unusual to a dish.

It was improv that really helped me start coming up with recipes and just believe in my instincts. That's why the first recipe I made up was 'I Ain't Chicken Chicken' because I finally felt bold and fearless in the kitchen, which was an entirely new feeling for me.

No rules. Don't be afraid to do whatever you want. Cooking doesn't have to have rules. I don't like it that way.

What has impressed me the most about the Italians whose tables we've sat at is that they are traditional cooks but also outrageously innovative. These people are wild improvisers.

I present classics in an unfamiliar way or unfamiliar ingredients and preparations in a classical way.

For me, it's the unexpected and surprising combinations of produce that are the most exciting and lure me into the kitchen for a little bit of experimenting. Apples and sweet potatoes together? Who knew? Carrots with grapes? Okay. I may not be Julia Child, but I can do pretty well with a simple recipe and a lot of enthusiasm.

What makes the food that we do at Alinea so interesting on the outside is that we really don't let ourselves say no to an idea.

I think people make it too systematic in a way, like it's a chemistry formula. Food is not like that; food is very forgiving. Connecting and making do with a lot of the food elements can be fun and exciting.

I just love food and the art of it. There's such an art to being a good chef and the way you present food and the different ingredients you use. It's like music - you get inspiration from different genres. It's the same with art, too.

As a kid, I remember my mother always experimenting with bizarre combinations of food such as gulab jamun and pickle! Surprisingly, many years down the line, I have adapted the same.

I enjoy experimenting with food and dish out innovative food items as well.

I love a good challenge of looking with new eyes at a tried and true recipe in my recipe Rolodex.

My favorite way to cook is to look in my cabinets and see what I have. That's the most fun. 'I don't have tomatoes, but I have this chili-garlic sauce from the Asian grocery store. Let's throw that in there and see how it affects my beef barley soup!'

Cooking is an observation-based process that you can't do if you're so completely focused on a recipe.

I love working with actors who will just go, 'Oh O.K., let's try it and see where it goes,' and 'Let's see what we can discover.'

I always just experiment with different sounds and styles until I find something that evokes the feeling I'm going for. I'm not trying to think too much about what anyone else is doing.

I'm definitely one of them artists that loves putting the track on and having fun with it, but in my own way.

I love starting a track in one place and not knowing where it's going to end up.

I am not very convinced with having a signature dish. The whole point of being a chef is going to a new place, adapting and curating a new menu as per the culture and community.

We've never gone into the studio with prepared material... we never have.

I'm trying all kinds of crazy stuff at house shows just for my own amusement and to see what the people are gonna do.