In honor of our favorite chef, a roundup of Julia Child’s most charming quotations…
1. “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.”
2. “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.”
3. “I think every woman should have a blowtorch.”
4. “Fat gives things flavor.”
5. “Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed — eh bien, tant pis! Usually one’s cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, as my ersatz eggs Florentine surely were, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile — and learn from her mistakes.”
6. “I think one of the terrible things today is that people have this deathly fear of food: fear of eggs, say, or fear of butter. Most doctors feel that you can have a little bit of everything.”
7. “I always give my bird a generous butter massage before I put it in the oven. Why? Because I think the chicken likes it — and, more important, I like to give it.”
8. “I think careful cooking is love, don’t you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who’s close to you is about as nice a Valentine as you can give.”
9. “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces — just good food from fresh ingredients.”
10. “Always remember: If you’re alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who’s going to know?”
11. “I just hate health food.”
12. “Learn how to cook — try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun.”
