Mason Cooley Quotes

I pretty much ate everything that I like and I've always wanted to eat and I just didn't hold myself back and it was the best.

All the fabulous and fearless writers gathered here, whether they are living in Manila, the US, or elsewhere in the ever-growing Philippine diaspora, have a deep connection and abiding love for this crazy-making, intoxicating city. There's nothing like it in the world, and they know it.

I found a greater identity with my own emotions in the Armenian culture as I grew older, as well as from the beginning, although I didn't know anything about it.

So there's no guarantee if you like the music you will empathize with the culture and the people who made it. It doesn't necessarily happen. I think it can, but it doesn't necessarily happen. Which is kind of a shame.

I was shocked when I moved to Sydney how very few indigenous people I came across. And so when I go to places like Maroubra or Redfern or Waterloo or Erskineville, I feel more at home because of the people I'm around - anywhere I can see a face that reflects someone that looks like my family, I feel much more at home.

Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one's life.

These days it's cool to be ethnic and to be different, but when I was a kid, it was not cool - at all. My friends would come over and my mom would make crepes with eggs, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and spinach. And they'd be like, 'What is this?'

For us Indians, I don't think English can ever exude that magic of emotions which our mother tongue can.

I would try doing a dish 30 different ways.

I feel very tied to Ireland and the U.K. and that side of the world.

When I eat something like vegetable bibimbap, I get that warm and fuzzy feeling of eating stuff that I grew up with.

I want e by Jose Andres to be a discovery, to be a journey. I want people to find it and be astonished.

When I come to England, I don't claim England; I don't own it. I feel a great kinship because of the literature and the landscape. I have great affection for Edward Thomas and Philip Larkin, but there's still this distance: looking on at what I'm admiring, separate from what I am. And that's OK.

In New York, a 13-year-old Indian girl came up to me crying, saying to everyone nearby, 'This is where I come from.' It's easy to forget that actors have the ability to instill a sense of self in viewers. That's the greatest compliment.

People are always asking me what my favorite food is. I say, 'Food that tells me where I am.'

I'll eat anything, even foods I've always shunned, when a friend cooks it.

Fashion is something that brought me closer to my family as I grew up. It's something that was deep inside me, in my roots, and I started taking more interest as I grew older because it reminded me of my mother and my grandmother. It's not something I take lightly, and I'm going to be open about it.

Food is a way to explore culture and ground the story in a specific time and place. I still remember the meals and snacks from my first novel, 'Shug': pork chops and applesauce and Coca-Cola and peanuts, which are very Southern. When a character has roots elsewhere, food is a way to connect with home and another culture.

My mom's favorite song ever is 'Imagine' because it came out around when she arrived in England.

Portuguese is the language of my heart; it's the language of my feelings. It's the language that I feel I can express myself best in.

I'm always stunned when I find out people like Roosevelt and Tolstoy weren't Jewish. How could I love them so much?

The single greatest pleasure that I have in doing ('Bizarre Foods') is when I meet families with 6, 7, 8-year-olds, or teenagers, who say, 'It's something the whole family can watch, and it lets us show our younger children that one man's 'weird' is another man's 'wonderful,' and we all kind of live in the same place.' It's just the best part of my day.

I'm not a super adventurous eater and I try to make myself try things.

Alas! It is well written, The road to eminence lies through the cheap and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses.

Oh Rome! My country! City of the soul!