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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 28, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Saturday, April 12, 2014 Permalink 0

From the Archives: Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, January 28, 2011

Food Writing Prompts

by Simon de Swaan

“A” is for dining Alone… and so am I, if a choice must be made between most I know and myself. This misanthropic attitude is one I am not proud of, but it is firmly there, based on my increasing conviction that sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.–M.F.K. Fisher, An Alphabet for Gourmets

M.F.K. Fisher, born in 1908, is perhaps America’s best-known food essayist. She redefined the way Americans write and talk about food, and is therefore a true reference in American food writing. Gourmet wrote a lovely homage to her in 2008, the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Alphabet for Gourmets was originally published in Gourmet magazine in 1948.

Read more about her classic T he Art of Eating.

Photo courtesy of Cliff 1066

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, April 24, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Sunday, April 24, 2011 Permalink 0

by Sim ón de Swaan

“…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.