A Literary Culinary Journal
I don’t like to say that my kitchen is a religious place, but I would say that if I were a voodoo priestess, I would conduct my rituals there.–Pearl Bailey, Pearl’s Kitchen
Pearl Bailey was an American Tony-award winning actress for her role in Hello Dolly! (1968). President Richard Nixon appointed her America’s “Ambassador of Love” in 1970, three years before she published Pearl’s Kitchen.
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Somehow we have fallen for a myth, the notion that food that isn’t fast prepared and fast cooked is inherently more difficult, more time consuming, more of a sweat, almost not worth the effort, or, at least, only worth the effort of the time.–Tamasin Day-Lewis, Good Tempered Food
Tamasin Day-Lewis is an English television chef, daughter of the poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis and actress Jill Balcon, and sister of the actor Daniel Day-Lewis. For those who live in the UK , her cooking show can be watched on TV.
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The world’s very first restaurant was probably some pre-historic boîte, settled in an intimate cave, we assume, which featured specialtiés de la maison that no cave lady could master.–Matty Simmons, Vice President Diners’ Club, Inc. The Diners’ Club Cookbook, Great Recipes from Great Restaurants, 1959
Matty Simmons was a newspaper reporter at The New York World-Telegram and the New York Sun, and then Executive Vice President for Diner’s Club, the first credit card.
Click here to read about his perspective on the early days of credit cards.
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Cooking is a test without paper, the questions, or the answers, in the sense that you, the cook, are constantly trying to please a disparate bunch of people, who most often, being family, will not hold back on the criticism.–Tamasin Day-Lewis, Good Tempered Food
Tamasin Day-Lewis is an English television chef, daughter of the poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis and actress Jill Balcon, and sister of the actor Daniel Day-Lewis.
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“…there is a difficulty in bringing to life in one’s own kitchen the memories of gastronomic travels. Most of us do not wish to eat at home as we do in restaurants, nor would we want to cook like expert chefs every day even if we knew how.”–Narcisse Chamberlain and Narcissa G. Chamberlain, The Flavor of France in Recipes & Pictures
Narcisse Chamberlain was the daughter of cookbook writers Samuel and Narcissa G. Chamberlain. Her father, Samuel, was one of the founders of Gourmet Magazine, and along with his wife and daughter, teamed up to help make French food accessible to American homes in the 1950s and 60s. Narcisse Chamberlain’s books and papers can be found at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University.
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Grimod de la Reynière drank Swiss absinthe with foie gras, but warned: . . . nothing surpasses an excellent pâté de foie gras: they have killed more gourmands than the plague.–Ben Schott, Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany
Ben Schott, born in 1974, is an author and curator of knowledge. He can be found on his own website and on twitter @benschott.
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I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food. –William Claude Dukenfield
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as “W. C. Fields,” was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer. He first made his fame in Vaudeville, and later in Hollywood. He carefully crafted his image as a boozer always ready to come out with a wise crack.
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Food is our common ground, a universal experience.–James Beard
James Beard, renowned American cookbook author, creator of The James Beard Cooking School, and authority on American food. In his time, he was hailed as “The Father of American Gastronomy.” Though he died in 1985, his names live on through the James Beard Foundation, which names outstanding restaurants in several categories every year and continues to pursue Beard’s interest in food.
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Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.–Alice May Brock
Alice May Brock was the inspiration for Arlo Gutherie’s album Alice’s Restaurant. She was a painter, designer and owner of Alice’s Restaurant, formerly known as the Back Room Restaurant in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in the U.S.
Front of cookbook from Alice's Restaurant, Alice May Brock on cover. Photo courtesy of Aquarium Drunkard.
To read more about Alice and her cookbook, click here. To listen to Guthrie’s song Alice’s Restaurant, click here.
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Meet Jonell Galloway, a freelance writer and editor specialized in French cuisine. 
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