10/19/2020

Some of culinary legend Child’s notable quips and quotes are collected in this slim compendium culled from her writing, television appearances, interviews, and correspondence. Child’s words are predictably clever (“Don’t forget the butter—the French never do!”) and even inspiring (“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it”), but this is a scanty selection, with fewer than 90 aphorisms, padded with illustrations of kitchen utensils. Remarks like “I’m a beet freak” and “Fat give things flavor” float in space, naked of any context. “No one is born a great cook, one learns by doing” and “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces—just good food from fresh ingredients” are encouraging bits of counsel, but they are concepts that have long permeated culinary culture, due in no small part to Child herself. The work concludes with a brief biography detailing Child’s trajectory, including her Pasadena, Calif., upbringing, her degree from Smith College, her stint in Paris, and her famous tenure at PBS. When Child commands “Don’t eat meekly!” one wishes this volume reflected that same adventurous spirit. (Nov.)

Read an Excerpt

“Learn how to cook—try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”


“Certainly one of the important requirements for learning how to cook is that you also learn how to eat. If you don’t know how an especially fine dish is supposed to taste, how can you produce it? Just like becoming an expert in wine—you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford—you learn about great food by finding the best there is, whether simple or luxurious. Then you savor it, analyze it, and discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences.”


“Food, like the people who eat it, can be stimulated by wine or spirits. And, as with people, it can also be spoiled.”


“A fine loaf of plain French bread, the long crackly kind a Frenchman tucks under his arm as he hurries home to the family lunch, has a very special quality. Its inside is patterned with holes almost like Swiss cheese, and when you tear off a piece it wants to come sideways; it has body, chewability, and tastes and smells of the grain.”


“Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it’s done right. Even a pancake.”