Alice Waters > Quotes

“Teaching kids how to feed themselves and how to live in a community responsibly is the center of an education.”
― Alice Waters

“Let things taste of what they are.”
― Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any -”
― Alice Waters

“He understands that creating a meal means creating your own reality...”
― Alice Waters

“When you have the best and tastiest ingredients, you can cook very simply and the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is.”
― Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution

“It shouldn’t be an afterthought. The right environment around you can make whatever job you’re doing pleasurable, no matter how small the task.”
― Alice Waters, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook

“1¼ cups white wine vinegar 1¾ cups water 2½ tablespoons sugar ½ bay leaf 4 thyme sprigs A pinch of dried chile flakes ½ teaspoon coriander seeds 2 whole cloves 4 garlic cloves, halved 1½ teaspoons sea salt Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add small or chopped vegetables to the brine, cooking each type of vegetable separately and removing them when they are cooked but still a little crisp. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set them aside to cool to room temperature. Once all the vegetables are cooked and cooled, allow the brine to cool as well. Stir the vegetables together gently in a large bowl, then transfer to jars or other covered containers, cover with the cooled pickle brine, and refrigerate. You can keep this basic brine in your refrigerator and reheat it to make fresh pickles when you are inspired by a trip to the farmers’ market.”
― Alice Waters, My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own

“When all we care about is cheapness, we don't ask how long things will last or how well they are made--and in truth, we don't particularly care. Because when a product is cheap, it becomes disposable; we are more likely to throw out that skirt from H&M that cost only $29.99 and buy a new one. Despite our understanding of the environmental hazards of plastic, countless objects are made out of it--appliances, toys, furniture, shopping and produce bags--which cost less to manufacture than their non-plastic counterparts. When cheapness becomes the priority, it's also hard for people to tell if what they are buying has been made with integrity. Part of the issue behind cheapness is that we have no sense of craftsmanship. We don't know how many hours or materials went into producing our smartphone or our space heater, or even our chest of drawers. And once you can't imagine how things are made, you are free to have an utter fantasy that everything can and should be cheap.”
― Alice Waters, We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto

“Learn to trust your own instincts. A good cook needs only to have positive feelings about food in general, and about the pleasures of eating and cooking.”
― Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook

“Do I think if something's beautiful, it's perfect? I guess you could say that. If I'm in a rapture of beauty, it's perfect to me.”
― Alice Waters, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook

“In the United States alone, about 30 to 40 percent of our entire food supply is wasted every year, according to estimates from the USDA. I find that particularly sad.”
― Alice Waters, We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto

“Los Angeles felt endless to me.”
― Alice Waters, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook