A recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play
each time with a variation.
-- Madame Benoit
The whole Mediterranean, the sculpture, the palms, the gold
beads, the bearded heroes, the wine, the ideas, the ships, the moonlight, the
winged
gorgons, the bronze men, the philosophers - all of it seems to
rise in the
sour, pungent taste of these black olives between the teeth.
A taste older
than meat, older than wine. A taste as old as cold water.
-- Lawrence Durrell
We should look for someone to eat and drink with before
looking
for something to eat and drink,
for dining alone is leading the life
of a lion or wolf.
-- Epicurus
Let the progress of the meal be slow,
for dinner is the last business of the day;
and let the guests conduct themselves
like travelers
due to reach their destination together.
-- Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
If the soup had been as warm as the wine;
if the wine had been as old as the turkey;
and if the turkey had had a breast like the maid,
it would have been a swell dinner.
-- Duncan Hines
