A Word From Robert Carrier

ONE OF MY COOKING HEROES

I couldn’t really think of anything to write today so I decided to rummage through my early cookbooks for just a quote - and here it is. (I’ll talk about Robert Carrier some other time.) It's from the preface to Great Dishes of the World.

“The history of every nation lies visible on its table. Its wars and victories, its occupation in defeat, the marriages of its kings, its religion, its overseas empires - all have left behind them a dish or two destined to be adopted into the national life. ...

Civilisation itself, in fact, is founded upon food, for it began with the domestication of animals and the cultivation of crops. As soon as people could stay still - were released at last from the travail of following the game on which they fed - they ceased to live from hand to mouth, began to build up stocks and to store their wealth. With this wealth they bought leisure, and leisure brought them culture. ...

Culture stems from the stomach as well as the brain.”