Emeril Lagasse is an American chef that has been in the culinary industry and public eye for many decades. He first became famous for his work on the cooking show Essence of Emeril, but he has since been featured on other TV shows and worked as a spokesperson for a variety of products. Emeril’s culinary style is often described as Cajun-Creole, and he took inspiration from his mother’s cooking.
Emeril became interested in the culinary world at a young age when he would watch his mother cook at home. He then went to New Orleans Culinary Institute to learn more about the culinary world before working under Guy Savoy in Paris for two years. After he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1978, he spent time working in various restaurants such as Shun Lee West and Sullivan’s Steakhouse. In 1983 he opened his first restaurant – Emeril’s – which would later become a successful chain with locations in twelve states.
In 1995, Lagasse won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Southeast and became known as “the Ragin’ Cajun.” In 1996, he wrote his first cookbook by the same name. In 2007, he received an honorary degree from Johnson & Wales University for his culinary work and was inducted into their Hall of Fame of Distinguished Chefs. He has been awarded 14 James Beard Awards including the prestigious Humanitarian Award.
Emeril also has his own line of kitchen products – You can find his products here.
These quotes from Emeril are about food, cooking, ingredients and generally how to have more fun in the kitchen – enjoy!
Emeril Lagasse’s Most Inspirational Quotes
“We’re a new show. We can’t afford instant replay.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I had these recipes that say do this, do that. Who MAKES these rules?”
Emeril Lagasse
“I grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. My background was modest, and I worked at a Portuguese bakery in town.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I have a lot of influences. I’m American-schooled. I’m classically trained. I’m a pretty universal student, if you will. I have a lot of degrees, which really don’t pay the rent. I have two doctorate degrees, I have a bachelor’s degree, but I’m still a cook.”
Emeril Lagasse
“The cool thing is that now that people have made this evolution where cooking is cool, people are doing it on weekends, they’re doing their own challenges. It’s back to cooking. And it’s real cooking.”
Emeril Lagasse
“You gotta have good olive oil. You should have a cooking olive oil and you should have a finishing olive oil, like an extra-virgin olive oil.”
Emeril Lagasse
“If you think big, then it’s going to be big.”
Emeril Lagasse
“If you don’t follow your dream, who will?”
Emeril Lagasse
“My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individual’s knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis.”
“My inspiration was my mom. She’s a great cook, and she still cooks, and we still banter back and forth about cooking. Growing up in a mostly Portuguese community, food was important and the family table was extremely important. At a very young age I understood that.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I make some of my best recipes with a simple homemade stock. Keep shrimp shells stored in a plastic bag in the freezer. When you have almost a gallon-bag full, you can make a stock in 30 minutes that you can use in soups and sauces. You can then freeze the stock in ice-cube trays.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Home base is the support system where we have a culinary team, my own writers because of the shows and the books and stuff, we have a culinary team of about six people. Marketing, public relations, accounting and all that sort of stuff.”
Emeril Lagasse
“When I cook with my son, I might chop vegetables and have fun with different shapes. Cooking is a way to teach kids about other things, like reading or math with all of the weights and measures. There are so many things that are part of cooking that are also very educational.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I make some of my best recipes with a simple homemade stock. Keep shrimp shells stored in a plastic bag in the freezer. When you have almost a gallon-bag full, you can make a stock in 30 minutes that you can use in soups and sauces. You can then freeze the stock in ice-cube trays.” Emeril Lagasse
“Music is one of those things that is constantly going in my head all the time. It’s sort of like the evolution and creation of doing food, or my philosophy about wine. It’s always beating in my head, so it keeps the spirit moving.” Emeril Lagasse
“I can’t tell you enough about cinnamon. Cinnamon is an awesome spice to use and it goes great with something like apples in the morning or in a mixture of fruit or in your oatmeal or even in your cereal.” Emeril Lagasse
“I love fresh citrus and always keep lemons, limes, and oranges on hand; they come in handy for spritzing up quickly grilled meats, seafoods, and vegetables, especially when followed up by a quick drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.” Emeril Lagasse
“Life just doesn’t hand you things. You have to get out there and make things happen. that’s the exciting part.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Start with a clean grill. Keep it clean by brushing with a wire brush after preheating, and again after cooking. Make sure to oil your grates and your food before putting it on the grill to keep it from sticking.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I think all kids need snacks. Mine are fruit machines. I give them things like apple slices, berries and melon. Do I let them eat ice cream? Absolutely. But not every day.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Soups are a great way to introduce a lot of vegetables to kids. Stir-fries, too, because they contain so many different shapes and colors.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I think you have to be careful with spices. Kids’ palates can be very delicate, and they might not like things overspiced. In my cookbooks for kids, I do a milder version of my signature spice blend, Emeril’s Essence, called Baby Bam, which has no cayenne pepper.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I don’t limit myself.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I’m not a TV guy. I’m a restaurant chef and a businessman.”
Emeril Lagasse
“My family… always had the value of the family table and these cultural influences of growing up.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I’m working harder than ever now, and I’m putting on my pants the same as I always have. I just get up every day and try to do a little better than the day before, and that is to run a great restaurant with great food, great wine, and great service. That’s my philosophy.”
Emeril Lagasse
‘When it ceases to be fun, I’ll stop and just stay in my restaurants.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I came here because the city has a tradition and is a very respected food city.”
Emeril Lagasse
“You have to be cautious of eating continuously the same thing. Beef comes to mind right away, and there’s nothing wrong with beef, but you’ve got to do whatever you’re doing in moderation. So try to break it up a little bit. Eat some fish or some shellfish at least a couple of times a week.”
Emeril Lagasse
‘I respected it. I submerged myself into it. So on a lot of days off I would go and fish with the fishermen and the families that ran the boats. I would go work the fields with farmers. I would go and talk with farmers about growing particular products for me.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I launched The Emeril Lagasse Foundation to provide culinary training, and developmental and educational programs to children in the cities where my restaurants operate. I think everyone has a responsibility to give back to the community if they can, and to help future generations learn new skills.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I was on the board of Andre Agassi’s foundation, and seeing the way it operated blew my mind. In 2002, I told my wife, I want to start a foundation to give back, I want it to be for kids in hard circumstances, and I want it to be culinary-driven, because that’s who I am.”
Emeril Lagasse
“We’re setting up an urban farm for kids on more than 20 acres in New Orleans. We want to make this a world-class educational center for the community.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Cleanliness is very important. If you let kids make a total mess in the kitchen and then leave, you’re not really teaching them anything.”
Emeril Lagasse
“If somebody has a chance to put my food in their mouth, that tells the story.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Radishes grow just about anywhere. People think, ‘Oh it’s just a radish.’ But radishes are delicious, and people don’t think of cooking them.”
Emeril Lagasse
“My office in New York is overflowing with all kinds of cookbooks, and in New Orleans we have a huge culinary library. So yeah, I guess I’m a little bit obsessed.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I guess I feel that I was following my instincts, and at the same time being guided by the best. I became totally intrigued with Louisiana – the people, the food. It is a part of my life. Everything that has happened for me since moving here has just been icing on the cake.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I think you’ve got to keep it simple, keep it fresh. Stay away from all that processed stuff, read the labels.”
Emeril Lagasse
I’ve always done food that can work in a set time frame. The message I’m trying to get across is, it doesn’t have to take three days to do this. With planning, you can do a lot and really have quality food every day.
Emeril Lagasse
“Mom ran the house, so we grew up Portuguese.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Those other 10 o’clock shows that come on, all you get from them is headaches and nightmares when you go to bed! At least we give you food, know what I mean?”
Emeril Lagasse
“I ended up turning down a full scholarship of music at the conservatory to pay to go to cooking school.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I started cooking when I was about 10. I have memories like when I was 6 or 7 with my mom, and when I was 12 I started getting real serious about cooking.”
Emeril Lagasse
“You know, for 300 years it’s been kind of the same. There are restaurants in New Orleans that the menu hasn’t changed in 125 years, so how is one going to change or evolve the food?”
Emeril Lagasse
“I spent a lot of time on farms when I was young. My uncle and my dad owned a big farm.
Emeril Lagasse
“Growing up in New England, being schooled and classically trained, it needed to shake, it needed to evolve.”
Emeril Lagasse
“We began building this incredible new foundation in this restaurant, and that’s what began giving me the left-hand side of tradition and the right-hand side, my new palate.”
Emeril Lagasse
“The world has changed, and it’s almost been 11 years. I have 975 employees. I have six restaurants. We haven’t opened any new ones in almost three years.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Many of my staff have been with me for over 20 years. I have a great team, and I make sure they feel respected and appreciated.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I wouldn’t ask any of my employees to do anything I wouldn’t do. And I work as hard, if not harder than the rest of the staff, to set an example. I also believe in giving my employees a lot of room to be creative and to express themselves.”
Emeril Lagasse
“When I first decided to open a restaurant, I was turned down by several banks. It was the late 80’s and many restaurants were failing. I refused to give up because I knew I had a good concept.”
Emeril Lagasse
“In the restaurant it’s much more serious.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I’m pretty actively involved with the military because I think they’re incredible human beings. If I can give back to them for what they’re doing for us, it’s a good thing. And I think to have happy soldiers, you need to feed them well.”
Emeril Lagasse
“My Food Network shows, ‘Emeril Live’ and ‘Essence of Emeril,’ are not in production right now, but I wouldn’t say that I’m necessarily leaving Food Network. I have a lot of television still in me. I enjoy teaching people, so it’s just a matter of time before I do something new.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Scatter soaked hardwood chunks over your coals for a quick and easy way to add a smoky nuance to your grilled foods.”
Emeril Lagasse
“A lot of parents ask me how to get kids to eat more vegetables. The first thing I say is that it starts from the top.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Kids are now eating things like edamame and sushi. I didn’t know what shiitake mushrooms were when I was 10 – most kids today do.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Being a food show and being me, I always kicked it up a notch, which means I would always elevate the spice level or the complexity of a particular dish. So, it was always like we’re going to kick this up a little bit.”
Emeril Lagasse
“My food is Louisiana, New Orleans-based, well-seasoned, rustic. I think it’s pretty unique because of my background being influenced by my mom, Portuguese and French Canadian. There’s a lot going on there.”
Emeril Lagasse
“My favorite Aspen memory is saving an upside-down cake that had exploded from the high altitude.”
Emeril Lagasse
“We’re probably close to reaching 2,000 shows, which is more than Julia Child and Jacques Pepin together.”
Emeril Lagasse
“You know, in 1975 I couldn’t get a job in New York City because I was American. The kitchens were predominantly run by French, Swiss, German, and basically I got laughed at. I had education, I had experience, but got laughed at because I was American.”
Emeril Lagasse
“If kids can learn how to make a simple Bolognese sauce, they will never go hungry. It’s pretty easy to cook pasta, but a good sauce is way more useful.” Emeril Lagasse
Related: Guy Fieri’s Most Entertaining Quotes
“I’ve always been known for bold flavors and rustic cooking, but there is another side to me. As you evolve as a cook, you understand life and how serious it is. There comes a point where there’s got to be a better balance.”
Emeril Lagasse
“You go to a restaurant in the States and kids have these game boards at the table. You don’t see that in Italy or Spain. It’s not because they can’t afford to buy them, it’s because that’s not what eating together as a family is about.”
Emeril Lagasse
“We’ll be going to the fish market and a farmer’s market this afternoon to get what we need to make and eat dinner as a family. I’m trying to expose my kids to going to a farmers market or the fish market and learning what that’s all about.”
Emeril Lagasse
“Whether it’s books or TV, or whatever the case may be, the backbone of what I do is my restaurants.”
Emeril Lagasse
“You are going to be what you put in your body, so I try to teach that to my kids, and the kids around me.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I try to teach my son about sanitation, especially when handling foods like chicken that could be dangerous. I remind him to wash his hands all the time. When my son cooks with me, he stands on a step stool so he can reach the stove. I teach him about safety and fire.”
Emeril Lagasse
“You can easily put together your own favorite spice blend, whether that’s a salt and pepper mixture or you’re adding herbs to it or Creole spice. Just watch out for the sodium content. That why I encourage you to make your own.”
Emeril Lagasse
“I think many cooks are afraid of undercooked meats. A good thermometer is a cook’s best friend.”
Emeril Lagasse
“When I want to kick it up, I like to add hardwood chips or chunks to the grill; it adds bold smoky flavors. The most common woods are hickory and mesquite, but you can find alder, apple, cherry and, my personal favorite, pecan.”
Emeril Lagasse
Related: Jamie Oliver’s Most Inspiring Quotes
Video: Why Haven’t You Heard from Emeril Lagasse Lately?
For a while, it seemed like Emeril Lagasse was everywhere. A mainstay on Food Network for years, the chef helped put the channel on the map, and his name was plastered on everything from cookware to spice blends. Then, seemingly overnight, Lagasse disappeared but he didn’t exactly retire…
See also: Rachael Ray Quotes
Summary
Emeril Lagasse is a well-known chef and TV personality. His quotes are inspirational to inspire you in the kitchen.
Does not matter if you just like to cook, or are a professional chef, Emeril will add some inspiration and fun to the way you see creativity in the kitchen!
Emeril has his own line of kitchen products – You can find his products here.
You can find more about Emeril on his corporate website.
Related: David Chang’s Best Quotes
Image Credit: Denise Gould, according to File:Emeril Lagasse, USAF.jpg, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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