Quotes from Elizabeth David

Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle.

To eat figs off the tree in the very early morning, when they have been barely touched by the sun, is one of the exquisite pleasures of the Mediterranean.

Everyday holds the possibility of a miracle.

There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back.

A sole cooked in a rich sauce of cream and mushrooms must be followed by a dry dish of entirely different aspect such as a roast partridge or a grilled tournedos, cold ham, jellied beef or a terrine of duck. It must not be preceded by a creamy mushroom soup, nor followed by chicken cooked in a cream sauce. Have some regard for the digestions of others even if your own resembles that of the ostrich.

beautifully fresh-looking which will at the same time arouse your appetite and put you in good spirits

To translate all this into practical terms I would say that a well composed mixed hors-d'œuvre consists, approximately, of something raw, something salt, something dry or meaty, something gentle and smooth and possibly something in the way of fresh fish. Simplified though it is, a choice based roughly on these lines won't be far wrong.

I don't copy recipes without trying them out. I don't reprint without trying them again.

An awful lot of people think it's easy to lift recipes out.

Good food is always a trouble and its preparation should be regarded as a labour of love.

Writing doesn't come easily to me. It gets more and more difficult.

Summer cooking implies a sense of immediacy, a capacity to capture the essence of the fleeting moment.