Lidia Bastianich

I am a transporter of the Italian culture - culinary culture, family culture - because I love it, I thrive in it, and I think it's the right way.

If I'm not tasting wine and food... I'm thinking about wine and food. If I'm not thinking about wine and food... I'm writing about wine and food.

The Caprese salad perfectly represents the colors of the Italian flag. While I am not so sure that the colors of the flag stem from the cuisine, there is no denying that those colors do evoke a typical Italian plate.

Younger generations, they ask more questions, like on a recipe. But they ask them online. If my staff doesn't know how to answer it, I will answer.

Don't accept what a grocery store has for you. Tell the store to get you want you want. If you want honey from a local farmer, organic honey, you tell them. We are in control. It's up to us as the consumer to get what we want.

I see how people connect with me on different level through my show, how they want to transport what I cook into their home kitchens for their own families. It's my responsibility to always make sure that is quality.

I am blessed that the food business is good for me. Good to me.

Choose recipes like a base recipe; make a big pot of soup and freeze it. From then on, you can take it in any direction. Another day put rice in it, or then put corn or sausages. From there, it's endless.

I think people make it too systematic in a way, like it's a chemistry formula. Food is not like that; food is very forgiving. Connecting and making do with a lot of the food elements can be fun and exciting.

Whether you talk about the olive oil, whether you talk about Aceto Balsamico, whether you talk about Grana Padano, whether you talk about Mozzarella di Bufala. These are all traditional Italian products that are hard to beat, and they're easy to transport and buy. You don't have to do much around it. Just eat them.

Eating well, being around the table with the family or friends or relatives - it doesn't get any better.

When I started as a young chef, I was Italian, and I was a woman, and everyone else in New York was French and a man.

Kids today are really so alienated from the source of food. If they are going to nourish themselves properly, if they are going to safeguard this environment we have and the economy that goes with it and world hunger that goes with it, they need to know about food.

I just love engaging a live audience - I love that.

I'll get home from work on Friday night and take out some beans and soak them. The next morning, I'll put them in a pot for soup, then just keep chopping, chopping, chopping - carrots and celery and cabbage - and in two or three hours, you have this wonderful, mellow soup that fills up the whole house with its aroma.

What I do is my life, but it's not like I spend 18 hours a day, seven days a week in the restaurants.

I think Chicago's a great city. Like New York, it's full of energy.

What I continuously remember is when I was a child in the courtyard with my grandmother and we milked the goat and we made the ricotta. The still-warm ricotta from our goat, on top of a piece of bread, and we used to sprinkle just a little bit of honey or sugar on it. That flavor, that stays in my memory.

Cooking for somebody is very personal.

With the Industrial Revolution, the production of food was delegated to big companies in order for women and men to be in the labour force, to come home, stick something in the oven, and eat. It became a big industry that does not have a love affair with food nor is really concerned about nurturing you or giving you the right nutrition.

Make your refrigerator or freezer like a treasure chest.

I love making apple strudel.

I think a ricotta cheesecake is very easy to make.

What really makes your business is your workers - their commitment, their knowledge, how you train them, how you treat them. They have to make the entity a winning entity.

What I learned being a young child was respect for food. Don't throw anything away.

Chemistry was my college interest. Cooking is about chemistry.

Why do you think millennials are so into food? It's the way they relate to each other.

For me, it's the ultimate to be able to nurture and nourish someone. They trust you. It's a basic form of intimacy in a community.

Everybody can cook. You don't have to do anything fancy. You can do a nice antipasto spread with sardines, anchovies, some meats, marinated vegetables, fruits, cheese, nuts, and crackers.

I was born in Allied-controlled Pola. At the end of World War II, the victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of peace treaties and borders with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland. The Paris Treaty was signed on February 10, 1947. I was born a few days later.

I attended classes and taught classes, in Food Anthropology at Pace University, with an anthropology professor. You can trace history by the architecture and food of a place. Food is one of those things that transcends and stays in the culture.

When you invite friends over, especially for food, with the food you want to send out a message of affection, of appreciation, of celebration. But also of culture - who your family is.

If you're like me, food is a medium for communication. It's an expression of love and affection.

All of my books have been about authentic Italian food in Italy and bringing that message about simple and authentic food.

Holidays - any holiday - are such a great opportunity to focus on bringing the family together.

Vin brule is a version of mulled wine enjoyed in Piemonte, in northwestern Italy. It's a perfect choice for holiday entertaining because you can double or even triple the recipe and leave it over very low heat, ladling it out as your guests come in from the cold.

Food is kind of my entry card into everything. Food kind of opens the doors... because food is peace. It's good; it's positive.

I was an immigrant. I came here at 12. We were caught behind the Iron Curtain until I was 10.

By cooking with your kids, you can help them understand that food is a powerful tool in connecting human beings.

When I first came here, Italian food wasn't anything I recognized. I didn't know what Italian American food was; we never ate it at home. It was the food of immigrants who came here and made use of the ingredients they had.

When we're filming, I sometimes look into the camera and wonder who's out there, who will be watching.

I love that I've become a mentor, almost like a mother, to all the people out there that love Italian, that love cooking. I seem to make them comfortable.

When you sit down to eat at a table, you are ready to take in nourishment - we all need to eat to live. Even in primal tribes, people ate together. It's the opening for friendship.

Food is the common language for all of us.

Food feeds our souls. It is the single great unifier across all cultures. The table offers a sanctuary and a place to come together for unity and understanding.

It's in the nature of Italians to live life with a positive tone and to celebrate the invitations that come along in life. Italian food is so conducive to all of that.

When I say, 'Everybody to the table and eat,' I mean it. That is the glue, the center that holds the family, that gives security. Good food brings everybody to the table.

Food is culture. Food is an identity, a footprint of who you are.

That's the beauty of risotto. You can make it any flavor you want. It's a great carrier.