“The less you do to beautiful food, the better it's going to taste. You don't need to mess with it all the time.”

“Basically, there are two things we know: Everybody has less time, and the general public is demanding better food - better in terms of quality and better in terms of flavor.”

“There's never been a culture that wasn't obsessed with food. The sort of sad thing is that our obsession is no longer with food, but with the price of food.”

“It is great to add some glamour to the food industry, like television shows have done for the food world and inspiring people to work in the industry. The flip side of that is unfortunately people think that after they get their qualifications, they get their invitation to compete on 'Top Chef.'”

“After my pregnancy, I discovered I have an allergy to yeast. Problem is, all the food I love has yeast in it. So I have to relearn how to cook.”

“Most of the food imported to Russia came from China.”

“I don't feel any pressure to lose weight - and in any case, if I didn't have my food I'd be a nasty piece of work and wouldn't be able to function.”

“People come up to me all the time and say, 'Oh, I love to watch Food Network,' and I ask them what they cook, and they say, 'I don't really cook.' They're afraid, they're intimidated, they know all about food from eating out and watching TV, but they don't know where to start in their own kitchen.”

“Well, it's very easy for me to gain weight, but even though I tried not eating for a week when I was really young, I couldn't do it any longer because I liked my food too much.”