The Secret Of Good Cooking Is, First,

If You Have Never Tasted A Braised Vegetable, You'll Find It Is A Revelation.

What Comforted Me? That Is Easy. It Was A Strong Cold Chicken Jelly So Very, Very Thick. My Mother's Chinese Cook Would Fix It. He Would Cook It Down, Condense It-this Broth With All Sorts Of Feet In It, Then It Would Gell Into Sheer Bliss. It Kept Me Alive Once For Three Weeks When I Was Ill As A Child. And I've Always Craved It Since.

It's Foolish To Go Through Life Bemoaning The Fact That You Can't Have This Or That. Twaddle! You Can Omit Certain Foods And Still Enjoy Eating.

There Is Absolutely No Substitute For The Best. Good Food Cannot Be Made Of Inferior Ingredients Masked With High Flavor. It Is True Thrift To Use The Best Ingredients Available And To Waste Nothing.

When I Walk Into A Market I May See A Different Cut Of Meat Or An Unusual Vegetable And Think, ‘i Wonder How It Would Be If I Took The Recipe For That Sauce I Had In Provence And Put The Two Together?’ So I Go Home And Try It Out. Sometimes My Idea Is A Success And Sometimes It Is A Flop, But That Is How Recipes Are Born. There Really Are Not Recipes, Only Millions Of Variations Sparked By Someone’s Imagination And Desire To Be A Little Creative And Different. American Cooking Is Built, After All, On Variations Of Old Recipes From Around The World.