Life just doesn’t hand you things. You have to get out there and make things happen. that’s the exciting part.
If kids can learn how to make a simple Bolognese sauce, they will never go hungry. It’s pretty easy to cook pasta, but a good sauce is way more useful.
Cooking is so popular today because it’s the perfect mix of food and fun.
If you don’t follow your dream, who will?
Food is very representative of a city’s culture. In order to really get to know a place and the people, you’ve got to eat the food.
The cool thing is that now that people have made this evolution where cooking is cool, people are doing it on weekends, they’re doing their own challenges. It’s back to cooking. And it’s real cooking.
It’s okay to play with your food.
I had these recipes that say do this, do that. Who MAKES these rules?
I ended up turning down a full scholarship of music at the conservatory to pay to go to cooking school.
Music is one of those things that is constantly going in my head all the time. It’s sort of like the evolution and creation of doing food, or my philosophy about wine. It’s always beating in my head, so it keeps the spirit moving.
When I cook with my son, I might chop vegetables and have fun with different shapes. Cooking is a way to teach kids about other things, like reading or math with all of the weights and measures. There are so many things that are part of cooking that are also very educational.
I guess I feel that I was following my instincts, and at the same time being guided by the best. I became totally intrigued with Louisiana – the people, the food. It is a part of my life. Everything that has happened for me since moving here has just been icing on the cake.
You gotta have good olive oil. You should have a cooking olive oil and you should have a finishing olive oil, like an extra-virgin olive oil.
I like to keep things simple. It’s really about the wine, food and the beach view. Nothing can beat that.
I had a fierce curiosity about this food thing.
Cleanliness is very important. If you let kids make a total mess in the kitchen and then leave, you’re not really teaching them anything.
What I go for in my cooking is sinful, bold and real.
Kids are now eating things like edamame and sushi. I didn’t know what shiitake mushrooms were when I was 10 – most kids today do.
You go to a restaurant in the States and kids have these game boards at the table. You don’t see that in Italy or Spain. It’s not because they can’t afford to buy them, it’s because that’s not what eating together as a family is about.
I think all kids need snacks. Mine are fruit machines. I give them things like apple slices, berries and melon. Do I let them eat ice cream? Absolutely. But not every day.