Everything happens in the kitchen. Life happens in the kitchen.
Andrew Zimmern
I am grateful to have my life back and for the friends and family who never gave up on me, for a God who was there when I was ready to find him. I am grateful for so much, that every day, one day at a time, is Thanksgiving.
I'm obsessed with Chinese food and culture. It's food that I adore above all others.
I have a tremendous platform and responsibility to talk to people about these issues about sustainability and about health and wellness when it comes to food.
In tribal Botswana, I received some woven necklaces and a handmade bow with three poison arrows. It's framed and hanging on the wall in my living room and is, without a doubt, one of my favorite possessions.
Let me say this: Camel is delicious, but when handled improperly, it's rank.
The Internet has democratized content, and the gatekeepers are no longer in control. That democracy is wonderful for entrepreneurs.
I famously tasted shark fin soup many, many years ago before we understood exactly what was going on with the harvesting of sharks. I've consequently come out against it. I make personal choices in my life and stand behind them.
For wok cooking, use oils with a high smoke point and low polyunsaturated-fat content: grapeseed oil, peanut oil, etc. Sesame oil and olive oil will burn and taste bitter. Oils with high polyunsaturated-fat contents like soybean oil will also make your food texturally unpleasant.
It might seem strange to feast on Guinea pig, but Ecuadorians love to eat cuy. Personally, I think it's a phenomenal alternative to pork or chicken. High in protein, low in fat, cheap and easy to raise. Oh, and cuy tastes great, much like roast pig. You might call it a pet, but I prefer to call it dinner.
I consider a perfect hot dog on the street to be as valid a food experience as dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
I was born and raised in New York. My family has been in New York City since the Civil War. I have a ton of N.Y.C. in my DNA, from both sides of my family. I had a wonderful childhood in the city.
We will, as Americans, inhale another culture on a fork before we try their music or their art or even, God forbid, hang out with the actual people.
Any decision that I make, anything that I do, every single consideration of my day goes through the prism of what my former experience has been.
You can tell the history of people on a plate.
I think we have cultural bias and practice some ethnocentrism when it comes to ethnic food in America.
I'm a 'bright, shiny objects' guy. I'm always looking for what's next.
I love eating in San Francisco, Chiang Dao, China, Tokyo, Hanoi.
I love bugs. And as the first person to popularize their eating in America, I take special pride in seeing their appreciation soar.
Sardinia has to have some of the best seafood on the planet. I'm a sea urchin freak, and Sardinia's are some of the best I've had.
Like many other chef-entrepreneurs, I am convinced that fast food does not mean bad food.
Everyone knows about hot dogs and the Big Apple. But for me, New York City street food is all about the Biryani Cart.
Good vinegars come in all shapes, sizes, strengths, and viscosities and are probably my most often used seasoning agent in the kitchen after the other major acids we use in solid form: sugar and salt.
Having been in the restaurant business, our job in the restaurant business is to be responsible for our customers' happiness. It's the nature of the hospitality business. You need to take care of people. You take care of customers above all others. Customers are your lifeblood.
Thanks to my parents, who had me traveling around the world mouth-first, I knew from a young age I wanted a career in food.
My life gets better every year.
I'd rather be a good guest in someone's home than tell them I don't like their food or make fun of them.
As I famously said before, I don't like to waste meals. I'm no one's food snob.
I can tell everything about a restaurant through their mussels. You have to work so hard to keep them perfect.
Copper is a superb cooking metal, conducting heat so evenly it has unparalleled control, especially at low temperatures.
Don't pile your tomatoes in a container that doesn't breathe. I like my baskets or grass mesh plates, and I layer them single deep, stem end down to prevent bruises and premature rotting.
I find that most home cooks don't get vinegars. They're misunderstood, mostly due to the factory-made red wine vinegar that everyone commonly cooks with... that, and the giant gallon of white distilled vinegar that we all use, mostly to clean and disinfect things!
I'm an advocate for alternative proteins, and I believe we can eat many.
Yelp is - I mean, Yelp's not even good for looking up the restaurant's phone number because, you know, on the site, they just want you to read their reviews and look at their ads. They don't even actually want to give you the information about the restaurant or the menu.
I can't tell you how many times I get into a taxicab in New York or Los Angeles, and I'm talking to somebody who is a recent immigrant who was a doctor or lawyer or engineer or professor in the country they just came from. They're starting over again in life, and I think the majority of people out there can relate to that.
I log 250 days a year on the road. I need pants that are versatile, easy to clean, and dry in my hotel room if necessary.
When I go into a steakhouse and order a steak, I'll order the cut of my choice, and I'll order it black and blue. And I'll ask them to bring it with my first course, and I'll just let it sit there.
Be aware of what you cook tomatoes with. The high acid content of the tomato slows down the cooking process of some other foods. Dried beans cooked with tomatoes added to the pot can take up to 20 percent more cooking time than beans without tomatoes added.
I love the Mexican chapulines. These little crickets are beautifully roasted with salt and lime.
I've spent time in the coastal Carolinas and have seen what small business development has done to maintain the wetlands and reestablish the fisheries and secure jobs for the people that make their living off the water.
A five-pound boneless rolled-and-tied breast of veal, like any other piece of meat fit for braising, can come in many shapes and sizes. So recipe times aren't uniformly applicable. A long and thin tied roast will cook more quickly than its stouter, football-shaped cousin.
Remember for stir-frying not to use a wok bigger than 16 inches. Once it has food in it, you won't be able to work very efficiently.
The restaurant industry in New York in the '80s was a good place to hide out if you had issues.
There's fresh fish, and then there's fresh fish. Samoa is ranked as one of the best places for game fishing in all the world, and runs thick in the waters off the island chain. In fact, it's used as an edible currency in local markets. The day I fished there, we caught loads of yellowfin.
After attending The Dalton School and then Vassar College, I began cooking in New York City restaurants helmed by Anne Rosenzweig, Joachim Splichal and Thomas Keller.
My phone is my favorite travel gadget because it has my translator.
The greatest food city in the world is New York City, just in terms of depth and breadth, variety, size, infrastructure.
I think that Manila is underrated in terms of food in the Philippines.
Too many children and adults go hungry every day.
Too many Americans are getting sick on our over-commercialized food system.
