Quotes by Emeril Lagasse

“Spice is life. It depends upon what you like... have fun with it. Yes, food is serious, but you should have fun with it.”

“I had these recipes that say do this, do that. Who MAKES these rules?”

“I guess I feel that I was following my instincts, and at the same time being guided by the best. I became totally intrigued with Louisiana-the people, the food. It is a part of my life. Everything that has happened for me since moving here has just been icing on the cake.”

“After talking to people all day long in the restaurant, which I love to do, I look forward to being quiet at home.”

“Im just fortunate that now I have an audience of people on the show who dont have to pretend they have smell-o-vision. Were actually feeding these people. Im putting my reputation on the line as an artist, as a chef.”

“Growing up in New England, being schooled and classically trained, it needed to shake, it needed to evolve.”

“I grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. My background was modest, and I worked at a Portuguese bakery in town.”

“I ended up turning down a full scholarship of music at the conservatory to pay to go to cooking school.”

“I love it all, because its all real.”

“Now that years have gone by and I look back at it and I can put one and two together, it was my childhood memories and cultural feelings and beliefs in the whole tie-in of the French Canadian/Portuguese thing.”

The cool thing is that now that people have made this evolution where cooking is cool, people are doing it on weekends, theyre doing their own challenges. Its back to cooking. And its real cooking.

Music is one of those things that is constantly going in my head all the time. Its sort of like the evolution and creation of doing food, or my philosophy about wine. Its always beating in my head, so it keeps the spirit moving.

My family... always had the value of the family table and these cultural influences of growing up.

My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individuals knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis.

You know, for 300 years its been kind of the same. There are restaurants in New Orleans that the menu hasnt changed in 125 years, so how is one going to change or evolve the food?