I get bored of vacation.
America gave me the opportunity to open successful restaurants, start a TV show, and write books. I can even fill an auditorium when I give a speech, which in America is rare for a chef.
For food to be romantic, it should be light. Too many times people plan a romantic meal, and the food is too heavy.
We still have to keep betting on markets like America that are full of opportunities to grow, even if we have to work our heads off to do it.
Let me tell you a story about when I was growing up in Spain. Many Sundays, we would invite 30, 40, 50 people to the countryside, and my father would make a big paella. He put me in charge of the fire and the 'stove' - the rocks that hold the pan. But he wouldn't let me cook. I got so unbelievably upset.
We should all be involved in the avant-garde as long as we look toward the past.
My whole life, I have been trying to cook an egg in the right way.
When you go to watch a baseball game, when you go to watch an NBA game, when you watch an NFL game, when you go to watch movies, the offering that those arenas are doing foodwise is 'all the hot dogs you can eat'; all the French fries you can eat; for $20 you can eat 20 hot dogs.
Your parents would not be happy if you came home and said you wanted to grow up to be a chef or a rock star.
For me, Romesco is one of the greatest sauces in the world.
Most people only use their griddles for pancakes, but you can sear vegetables like sliced zucchini or mushrooms, thinly sliced meats like chicken or pork, or thinly sliced fish or squid.
Tapas is a celebration of life.
Gelatins are one of most unbelievable areas in cooking today.
Don't put too many chefs to work. Sometimes they get too involved in the ingredients and are of no help.
Listen to me: Leek is a vegetable. It can be the center of a dish.
The federal government spends about $2.51 per child per day to feed them lunch. Out of that, you have to pay for labor, facilities, and administrative costs, leaving about a dollar for food. Imagine trying to feed yourself a nutritious meal every day with only a dollar. Very difficult.
A lot of people prefer to be alone. They would rather be a palm tree on an island. I don't get it.
Simple ingredients, treated with respect... put them together and you will always have a great dish.
To me, what I'm interested in, in the end, is the meaning of food in our lives.
If what I have to do is share a sandwich to lift someone's spirits, put a smile on their face - the worst thing that happens is I go broke!
People travel north from Barcelona, not south.
Education is everything. It's for everyone. We all need to be educated.
If you have some potatoes, green beans and cauliflower, you have a heck of a dish that can feed an entire family.
American cooking is one of the unknown cuisines in America.
I remember being a young boy in Spain and watching my parents cook. We didn't go to a lot of restaurants because we didn't always have the money, so cooking at home was just what we did.
I was very impressed with the street food of Singapore. I was very impressed with the dishes that they did.
For me, there is no better tapa than a really good stuffed olive.
I remember that at the beginning of the month, the kind of menus my mom and father would prepare for us would have fish, chicken. But at the end of the month - because my father would be waiting for paycheck - the refrigerator would get empty. I remember that without a lot of food left, some of the best meals happened right there.
Cotton candy is the most amazing form of caramelization ever invented by man.
As chefs, we cook to please people, to nourish people.
Steakhouses serve these big steaks. The first piece is hot, and the last piece is cold. The way I like to eat is to try three or four cuts of meat. People should actually be eating less meat, and the meat they eat should be special.
A plancha is just a hot flat surface. So if you think about it, anything is a plancha, like a saute pan or a griddle. A la plancha is the perfect way to cook for a crowd.
Sometimes you need to give dishes a nap.
I'm sorry for the ducks; I love foie gras.
In Spain, you can go into any tapas bar, and you'll see anchovies all over the menu.