We in America have gotten addicted to cheap food. The result of that is antibiotic-laden fish, foods that are bred to be portable. – Ruth Reichl
If you start with a great peach, there’s nothing you’re ever going to do that’s going to make it any better than when it comes off the tree. In 1970, that was a revolution. – Ruth Reichl
Some magazines are run from the top down, where the editor-in-chief decides what every article is going to be and who’s going to write them, and then they’re doled out. My idea is to do it the opposite way, to do it from the bottom up. – Ruth Reichl
I don’t have my own garden; we’re on shale and in the woods. And if I did have a garden, the deer and chipmunks and squirrels and bears would eat everything anyway. – Ruth Reichl
I love to make pies – pot pies, quiches, savory tarts, fruit pies. I use an old-fashioned pastry blender with wires and a wooden handle. I never use a recipe. – Ruth Reichl
If you have caviar, the way to eat it is by the spoonful. Don’t combine it with shrimp, pomegranate seeds and huitlacoche. – Ruth Reichl
The American government policy on what we supported and subsidised in agriculture was a social experiment on a whole generation of children. – Ruth Reichl
We in the media have been guilty about not doing a better job of making people understand how really simple cooking is. We’ve made everyone feel like they have to be a chef. – Ruth Reichl
M. F. K. Fisher was a wonder and a huge influence, and someone I got to know pretty well at the end of her life. – Ruth Reichl
I bake bread nearly every day; I use Jim Lahey’s no-knead method and leave it to rise overnight. – Ruth Reichl
I wanted to figure out a way of living where I didn’t have to be in an office every day. – Ruth Reichl
You don’t want to give people what they want. Give them something that they didn’t know that they wanted. – Ruth Reichl
My kitchen was built for my body. It forms a ‘U’ in the middle of the living room and dining room. It’s not huge, because I don’t like huge kitchens. – Ruth Reichl
I loved being at the ‘Times,’ and they were incredibly good to me. I think it’s a wonderful paper, and I was really well edited. – Ruth Reichl
There is an almost anti-epicurean tradition at the very base of America. For much of the middle part of American history, people who wanted to overcome that went to France. – Ruth Reichl
In really good times, you say, ‘No, I’m not taking that ad.’ But in bad times, you’ll take anything. – Ruth Reichl
