“I wanted to write in Kitchenese, the secret language of cooks, instantly recognizable to anyone who has ever dunked french fries for a summer job or suffered under the despotic rule of a tyrannical chef or boobish owner.”

“Good heavens, no! I would not wish a British chef on anyone except the French tax collectors.”

“I would have thought you'd import an English staff?""Good heavens, no! I would not wish a British chef on anyone except the French tax collectors.”

“I like French fries," I say. I like French fries? I sound like a slow child in a made-for-TV movie.”

“And we are made different. On the instant. What we know, what we were, is banished by that instant, razed like a castle under siege, and nothing is recognizable is left. The world is unmade.”

“I didn't understand for a long time, but what attracted me to MtAoFC [Mastering the Art of French Cooking] was the deeply buried aroma of hope and discovery of fulfillment in it. I thought I was using the Book to learn to cook French food, but really I was learning to sniff out the secret doors of possibility.”