Shunryu Suzuki Quotes

Cooking is about presenting flavors and other aspects of food in a way that makes best use of them and makes an engaging, satisfying meal. Taste necessarily comes into it along with technique. Some ingredients require cooking, cleaning or otherwise denaturing them, some are fine as they are.

To become a good cook is to know yourself, and I, at this point, know myself. I know myself, and I know the cook I want to be and the cook I am striving to be.

A chef is a mixture maybe of artistry and craft. You have to learn the craft really to get there.

Patience is the secret to good food.

Fine dining teaches you how to cook many different things, and it gives you the basic fundamentals, but these specialty restaurants, they're not teaching you the broad foundation you need to become a well-rounded cook.

Give yourself enough time to really learn how to cook.

I'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food is a form of expression.

Every cook has to learn how to govern the state.

I don't know if I am a good cook, but I am a dedicated cook.

I can chop and peel vegetables but can't cook full meals.

As chefs, we cook to please people, to nourish people.

Most of my education has been around food.

Everyone could use instructions on every aspect of cooking: pantry, storage, refrigeration, cooking, what to buy. Everyone that I come into contact with could use help.

I feel like there's a lot of tasks in cooking that I want to master, that I want to do better.

The best way to get anybody's attention is dinner. I have good kitchen skills and good grocery shopping skills.

Being a cook doesn't necessarily mean you are a competitor.

I believe that anyone can cook a great meal. Basically all you need to do is get your hands on some fresh ingredients and not be afraid to make a mess in the kitchen.

When you don't know how to cook, you just say, 'I need something quick,' and then you fry something up. Now that I cook, I think, 'Do I want to have fried fish, baked fish, or grilled fish?'

No chaos, no creation. Evidence: the kitchen at mealtime.

Growing up, my mom had a catering business. I used to help her pretty early on and loved doing it. My mom is an amazing cook, and she helped me cultivate a love for food. She taught me that food can be beautiful. We eat not just for survival, but we survive to eat. It's part of who I am.

I really feel I have found myself as a chef. It's very clear to me what I want to do - and how it should taste.

It is a religious duty for those who cook to learn how to prepare food in different ways, hygienically, for the table, so that it may be eaten with enjoyment.

I grew up in a house where I was a spectator to the sport of cooking. In that way, I just learned so much about what it really takes to make food.

I'm not a chef: I'm a cook.

If you want to be a home cook, just have fun with it. Pick up a couple cookbooks. You're gonna make some mistakes; just go in and try it.