The Red Rooster Cookbook Quotes

“Whatever goes down, whatever turns up—make food and music and dance and story out of it.”
― Marcus Samuelsson, The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem

“Just fry the d**n bird,' gave me license to play. Michael Garrett, my sous chef at the time, and I turned chicken skin into cracklings and folded it into our deviled eggs. Our chicken and waffles came with a side of Chicken Liver Butter. We made Wild Wild Wings and our signature Bird Funk. At brunch we serve chicken liver omelets. Occasionally, we offer a dish called Just Fry the D**n Bird. Brioche and chicken liver, chicken gravy, every piece of the bird cooked in schmaltz. What I could do with chicken became the anchor of Red Rooster. The bird is our heartbeat, and it grounds our menu. We make use of every part of it. A ladle of chicken stock goes into just about everything.”
― Marcus Samuelsson, The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem

“If you are having conversations with people about fried chicken, watch out. Their stories are steeped in lore and myth. Regular people fry their bird with a rabbit foot in their pockets, with their uncle's secret cooking hat perched on their heads. Not only do they have special pans - cast-iron skillets top the list - but they have the special pot. You know, the one their great, great, great grandmother forged from volcanic rock.”
― Marcus Samuelsson, The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem

“What Harlem is, is constantly changing. It is a place that comes at you like a duet or a trio. Some avenues reveal a quartet of interest, while on side streets, a soloist steps out and breaks into song.

Harlem is Langston. Harlem is allure. Harlem is jazz. Harlem is my wife, standing on an avenue with chickpea flour perched on her head. 'Come on, Marcus, let's hurry.' We walk as if we are hungry and destined. Harlem is love. And strife. And sorrow. Harlem is art. Harlem is the Apollo and the young woman who stands inside thinking, I'm going to get this. Harlem is poverty. Harlem is wealth. Harlem is America.

Harlem is my home.”
― Marcus Samuelsson, The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem

“It's one of the many reasons that I go to sleep and wake up with thoughts of authorship. Who writes our stories? Who chronicles our tales of cooking it, playing it, writing it? Baldwin, Gordon, the Apollo, Jacob Lawrence, Paul Mooney, James Brown, Malcolm - that's my neighborhood. Why wouldn't I want to cook for the people who lived there?”
― Marcus Samuelsson, The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem

“Right now in Harlem, for every bank and chicken wing franchise joint, there is a small business owner who has spent a decade trying to figure out how to cater to a neighborhood he has fallen in love with. For every man or woman who has succumbed to that spell, I want to tell them: Go for it, do it. I want to pass the word like gospel. Let me tell you something: Right now in Harlem authorship is on the move. This is ours, we tell each other. We have made it, chopped it, cooked it, played it. This is our story. Gordon Parks, photographer, musicians, writer, film director paved a way for us. Bear witness, he told us. That was his gift to the neighborhood. Whatever goes down, whatever turns up - make food and music and dance and story out of it. Right now and since forever, the world keeps telling us there's only room for one: Serena and that's it. Toni and that's it. I wonder if they can hear Harlem across the divide. Come one, come all. That's how we wrestle with urban renewal, black removal. The church ladies know this, and so do the hustlers. Right now in Harlem, we don't shy away from the ugly; we don't bow our heads to what's beautiful. We just keep asking, how does all this new s**t fit with the old? Right now in Harlem there's room; there's hope; there's inspiration; there's good food. I may not be able to explain the magic, but it is there. To be in Harlem and make it takes luck, but nobody told me different.

One thing is certain, wherever you are, you should come to Harlem - right now.”
― Marcus Samuelsson, The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem

“Right now, Harlem is delicious. On the corner of 125th and Frederick Douglass Avenue, I turn my head south and see Little Senegal steeped in barter and food. Then I look north. Charles' Country Pan Fried Chicken is beyond my sight, but I know it's there. Smothered pork chops, hoppin' John, and fried chicken so good it makes you believe in prayer. Charles and his soul food is not alone. When hidden or right on an avenue, Harlem is cooking. An entire neighborhood is draped in spice and smells: cumin, garlic, brown sugar. And if that's not enough, take a peek and pause at the folks selling a heart's desire: wooden bracelets, gold-plated necklaces, sun dresses, bed sheets, Jamaican beef patties. You are in Harlem.”
― Marcus Samuelsson, The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem