Simple truths

"Culinary art is not solely the making of a sumptuous dish; not at all! It can be magnificently achieved in preparing the most common and simple dishes.

"Do you think it is easy to prepare a fried egg without the white being tough, the yolk heated but not overdone? Have you often had fried potatoes golden brown to a turn, creamily soft inside and crusty? And the ordinary pot-au-feu of our grandmothers. Have you often tasted it with appreciation and surprise? That is when it is deliciously perfumed, soft and juicy but still firm.

"The triumph of cooking is to be able to produce the simple things so that they taste as they were meant to."

James Beard in "Delights and Prejudices"