“Casseroles don’t have to be about canned ingredients and vegetables you normally wouldn’t even think of eating alone, much less stuck in between layers of sauce and breadcrumbs. They can vary from everyone’s favorite all-time casserole, macaroni and cheese, to the ultimate English casserole, Shepherd’s Pie.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“They say never trust a skinny chef, but the fact is, to stay healthy when you’re a chef means you have to work twice as hard.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“I came into this environment where there was so much love, so much positive energy. I never heard my parents say, ‘We have adopted kids.’ The minute my sister Linda and I landed in Sweden, we were their kids.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Being an Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised chef, there’s nothing traditional about my Thanksgiving spread.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Thanksgiving is one of my favorite American traditions. I quickly picked it up when I moved to the U.S. from Sweden.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday – it’s a day that’s American to the core and it’s a day that’s all about what and how we eat.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“I’ve been lucky to travel and work all over the world through the lens of the back of the house, and I love that monocle. I love that lens, because it’s real people.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“It’s often hard for us to imagine going without some of our luxuries like travel, dining out, or Internet, much less our basic necessities like food and water. But try for a minute to imagine how life would be with such deprivations.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Not only are pasta dishes delicious, but they are also great, easy options for a quick dinner during a busy weekday.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Whether you’re on a diet, or you’re looking for a go-to one bowl dinner recipe, salads should be thought of as crowd-pleasers, not a dreaded component of a meal.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Since the gluten-free diet is not for everyone, it’s recommended that you stick with a gluten-free diet for at least 3 weeks first to see if it works for you.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Just like keeping a healthy diet is important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating the right foods is just as important for getting the most out of your workout.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“While I’m more of a soccer and tennis fan myself, I still enjoying catching some football games when I get the chance.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“When I get the chance to make my favorite breakfast on the weekend, I often choose to make pancakes.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“The reasons for food insecurity are many and varied. But part of the problem is the global farming systems.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“I had a long-lasting love affair with the flavors from Japan and the hustling New York street vendors. And, of course, a life-changing return to Ethiopia has made huge impacts on my life in food.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Like all food, whether you’re talking about Persian food, or Chinese food, or Swedish food, it’s always a reflection of wars, trading, a bunch of good and a bunch of bad. But what’s left is always the food story.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Pasta isn’t just for Italian food anymore. Now there are tasty pasta recipes found in Asian cuisine, and it’s emerging as a newfound love for vegans.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“People come up to me all the time and ask how I stay the way I am, and it’s no secret. The first lesson a chef needs to learn is how to handle a knife; the second is how to be around all that food.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Children want to mimic adults. They notice when you choose to prepare fresh vegetables over calling in another pizza pie for dinner. They will see that food made with love and care outweighs going through the drive-through window.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“You have to balance, but you can be aggressive as a chef. It benefits the food. You have to be passionate. You can’t be angry cooking.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Cooking with your kids and engaging them in hands-on activities are two ways to begin to educate children about the healthy eating, and kick start the important task to help change how the younger generation looks at food and nutrition.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“We struggle with eating healthily, obesity, and access to good nutrition for everyone. But we have a great opportunity to get on the right side of this battle by beginning to think differently about the way that we eat and the way that we approach food.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Every time you use the word ‘healthy,’ you lose. The key is to make yummy, delicious food that happens to be healthy.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Without food, we cannot survive, and that is why issues that affect the food industry are so important.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“I would love to take a cooking class from Gandhi. Maybe I could teach him how to cook, and he could teach me his message. I wouldn’t mind learning how to make couscous from scratch from a North African woman, either.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Since truffle oil and caviar aren’t always in the budget, learning to tweak and enhance just a few ingredients and flavor combinations can help you transform those ordinary ingredients into the extraordinary!”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“I love cookbooks for completely different reasons. I love ‘The Harry’s Bar Cookbook’ and Marco-Pierre White’s ‘White Heat’ for their feel. For pure learning, Gray Kunz wrote a great cookbook, ‘The Elements of Taste’, published in 2001. The first time I read Charlie Trotter’s, the Chicago chef’s first cookbook, I was blown away.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“I love Thanksgiving because it’s a holiday that is centered around food and family, two things that are of utmost importance to me.”
— Marcus Samuelsson
“Weekends are sacred for me. They’re the perfect time to relax and spend time with family and friends.”
— Marcus Samuelsson