Creating deluxe cuisine is like playing a sport. Always competitive. Always challenging. And if you slow down a bit, you can no longer return to the top level.
Joel RobuchonRead
The older I get, the more I realize the truth is the simpler the food, the more exceptional it can be.
Interpretation
Simplicity in food often leads to exceptional flavors and experiences as one matures.
This quote by Joel Robuchon highlights the wisdom gained with age regarding the appreciation of food. As one grows older, there is a recognition that simpler, well-prepared meals can deliver profound satisfaction and excellence, suggesting that often, the complexity of flavors is not as important as the quality and straightforwardness of the ingredients used.
In practice
During a cooking demonstration, one might quote Robuchon to emphasize the importance of using fresh, simple ingredients.
Creating deluxe cuisine is like playing a sport. Always competitive. Always challenging. And if you slow down a bit, you can no longer return to the top level.
When new cooks come to work for me, they obviously make mistakes at the beginning or there's some messiness to the presentation. What I always say to them is: 'If you were cooking this for your mother or your girlfriend, would you make those mistakes?'
I am very honored for all the distinctions and accolades, but what I am most sensitive to is my clientele and the fact they are pleased with my food and my restaurants.
From the age of 15 to 50, I'd hardly stepped out of a kitchen. I just wanted to live a little, to spend time with my wife and children. The first time I saw snow was when I was 50, because I'd never had the time before.
When a dish works, it works for everyone, whether you're Asian, European, African, American or anybody else.
To butcher a pork shoulder is to be forcibly reminded that this is the shoulder of a large mammal, made up of distinct groups of muscles with a purpose quite apart from feeding me. The work itself gives me a keener interest in the story of the hog: where it came from and how it found its way to my kitchen.
Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it, But we hae meat and we can eat, And sae the Lord be thankit.
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.
The egg can be your best friend if you just give it the right break
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.
Get up early and go to the local produce markets. In Latin America and Asia, those are usually great places to find delicious food stalls serving cheap, authentic and fresh specialties.
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