This is the great challenge: to maintain passion for the everyday routine and the endlessly repeated act, to derive deep gratification from the mundane.
Thomas KellerRead
When you acknowledge, as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving toward perfection becomes clear: to make people happy, that is what cooking is all about.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Cooking is about bringing happiness, not about achieving perfection in food.
This quote emphasizes that the essence of cooking lies not in creating perfect dishes but in the joy and satisfaction that food brings to people. By recognizing that perfection in food is an unattainable ideal, chefs can focus on the true purpose of their craft: enhancing the happiness of those who enjoy their meals.
Themes
CookingHappinessPerfectionFoodJoy
In practice
Example use cases
In a cooking class, to inspire students about the joy of cooking.
More from Thomas Keller
All quotes →Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it's French or Italian or Japanese - you really don't need a cookbook anymore.
Thomas KellerRead
It wasn't about mechanics; it was about a feeling, wanting to give someone something, which in turn was really gratifying. That really resonated for me.
Thomas KellerRead
I think that you’ve got to make something that pleases you and hope that other people feel the same way.
Thomas KellerRead
I hope the cooks who are working for me now are getting that kind of experience so they can use what they're learning now as a foundation for a great career.
Thomas KellerRead
Its not about passion. Passion is something that we tend to overemphasize, that we certainly place too much importance on. Passion ebbs and flows. To me, it's about desire. If you have constant, unwavering desire to be a cook, then u'll be a great cook.
Thomas KellerRead
Similar quotes
The centuries last passed have also given the taste important extension; the discovery of sugar, and its different preparations, of alcoholic liquors, of wine, ices, vanilla, tea and coffee, have given us flavors hitherto unknown.
Jean Anthelme Brillat-SavarinRead
Our food chain is in crisis. Big agribusiness has made profits more important than your health—more important than the environment—more important than your right to know how your food is produced. But beneath the surface, a revolution is growing.
John RobbinsRead
Because of media hype and woefully inadequate information, too many people nowadays are deathly afraid of their food, and what does fear of food do to the digestive system? ... I, for one, would much rather swoon over a few thin slices of prime beefsteak, or one small serving of chocolate mousse, or a sliver of foie gras than indulge to the full on such nonentities as fat-free gelatin puddings.
Julia ChildRead
Tokyo would probably be the foreign city if I had to eat one city's food for the rest of my life, every day. It would have to be Tokyo, and I think the majority of chefs you ask that question would answer the same way.
Anthony BourdainRead
You have an impeccable argument if you said that Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo are food capitals. They have a maximum amount of great stuff to eat in the smallest areas.
Anthony BourdainRead
Food for us comes from our relatives, whether they have wings or fins or roots. That is how we consider food. Food has a culture. It has a history. It has a story. It has relationships.
Winona LadukeRead