My grandfather's family used to own a pasta factory in Naples and they would go door-to-door selling their pasta. So his love of food came from his parents, which was then passed down to my mother and then again to me.
Oh, my wife is a wonderful cook. She comes from a food-loving Italian family - her father owned a pizzeria!
There's never been anyone like Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, and there never will be. She is such an important source of inspiration for me, reluctant recipe writer and follower that I am.
I was born in the '60s and grew up in the '70s - not exactly the best decade for food in British history. It was horrendous. It was a time when, as a nation, we excelled in art and music and acting and photography and fashion - all creative skills... all apart from cooking.
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.
Every country can be defined through their food, their music and their language. That's the soul of a country.
I learned to cook from my mom. Most of what I ate growing up was Italian cooking.
I love educating myself on different cultures' dishes and foods that are important and celebrated within that culture. I also think food brings people together. It's unifying!
Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.
All the women in my family were superb cooks.
Women's cooking has always had a big influence on me personally.
Food is culture. Food is an identity, a footprint of who you are.
Look at our farmers' markets today, bursting with heritage breeds and heirloom varieties, foods that were once abundant when we were an agricultural nation, but that we have lost touch with. Bringing all these back helps us connect to our roots, our communities and helps us feed America the proper way.
I love cooking. It's one of my favorite things to do. To share my parents' recipes that I grew up with is just something very special to me.
Romanian-Yiddish cooking has killed more Jews than Hitler
We know so much about the European food story, and we're getting to know about the American food story; but we know so little about the African food story.
Food is never static; culture is never static.
I think food culture is always evolving, and there will constantly be people looking both forward and back. That's what makes it exciting.
Writers like John T. Edge, whose work is all about the cultural histories behind food, have done so much to show that these stories are a really vital part of our cultural heritage.
My mom makes the best Cajun stuff. I'm a big gumbo guy. I've lost a lot of my Louisiana accent, so now when I say 'gumbo,' I feel like someone who's never said the word before.
We know there is a deep reservoir of food wisdom out there, or else humans would not have survived to the extent we have. Much of this food wisdom is worth preserving and reviving and heeding.
I love breakfast. Well, I just like food. I'm properly into my food. It comes from my father. If we go anywhere, we like to look up the best restaurants.
The food we eat is our identity. The youth of the nation must save our food culture and traditions. If not, it will affect future generations.
In '71 or '72 I returned to New Orleans and stayed there. I started cooking Louisiana food. Of all the things I had cooked, it was the best-and it was my heritage.
You can tell the history of people on a plate.
