Lidia Bastianich Quotes
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Food is culture. Food is an identity, a footprint of who you are.
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When I started as a young chef, I was Italian, and I was a woman, and everyone else in New York was French and a man.
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All of my books have been about authentic Italian food in Italy and bringing that message about simple and authentic food.
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Simplicity in preparation is the Italian way. Make easy dishes, and then you can elaborate the final preparation by decorating with vegetables or herbs or adding a dash of olive oil.
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I just love engaging a live audience - I love that.
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Italian food is seasonal. It is simple. It is nutritionally sound. It is flavorful. It is colorful. It's all the things that make for a good eating experience, and it's good for you.
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My success is that I have these two great cultures behind me. One is Italian. I've continued to nurture that. But I also feel very American.
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Why do you think millennials are so into food? It's the way they relate to each other.
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Traditions are our roots and a profile of who we are as individuals and who we are as a family. They are our roots, which give us stability and a sense of belonging - they ground us.
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For me, it's the ultimate to be able to nurture and nourish someone. They trust you. It's a basic form of intimacy in a community.
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When you sit down to eat at a table, you are ready to take in nourishment - we all need to eat to live. Even in primal tribes, people ate together. It's the opening for friendship.
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Telling my grandchildren stories of my growing up is some of our favorite times spent together. They want to know what it was like and what I did as a child. They seem to be especially interested in the organic and simplistic setting I grew up in.
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I think that lunch is one of the most enjoyable and important things in the day. But you need to create the space and the time to do just that. And in Italy, we do that.
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When I say, 'Everybody to the table and eat,' I mean it. That is the glue, the center that holds the family, that gives security. Good food brings everybody to the table.
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My evolution came not as a plan but as opportunities came. People offer them when they see you're doing something well. It's up to you to recognize them, take them, and then dedicate yourself to them.
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I love that I've become a mentor, almost like a mother, to all the people out there that love Italian, that love cooking. I seem to make them comfortable.
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Food feeds our souls. It is the single great unifier across all cultures. The table offers a sanctuary and a place to come together for unity and understanding.
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Match the right food to the right occasion. Think about what you are celebrating. If you are honoring people, what are their favorite foods? If it is a holiday, what is the food for it? When you give an identity to the party, people appreciate that.
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I am blessed that the food business is good for me. Good to me.
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Holidays - any holiday - are such a great opportunity to focus on bringing the family together.
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I was an immigrant. I came here at 12. We were caught behind the Iron Curtain until I was 10.
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I develop trust, and I think it's the most important to my growth. If my restaurants are always full and my books sell, it's this trust.
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My grandmother had a courtyard of animals, like goats and chickens. She made ricotta cheese, cooked with potatoes warm from the garden, grew everything from beans to wheat. It was simple, seasonal food, and we all ate what was produced 10 miles from where we lived. It was that way for centuries.
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As a chef, I feel that it is my duty to make the most of what the earth gives us.