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.

Mom ran the house, so we grew up Portuguese.

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...

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.

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.

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.

I came here because the city has a tradition and is a very respected food city.

If you don’t follow your dream, who will?

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.

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...

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.

If you think big, then it’s going to be big.

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...

I spent a lot of time on farms when I was young. My uncle and my dad owned a big farm.

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.

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.

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...

I’m not a TV guy. I’m a restaurant chef and a businessman.

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...

Life just doesn’t hand you things. You have to get out there and make things happen. that’s the exciting part.

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...

I ended up turning down a full scholarship of music at the conservatory to pay to go to cooking school.

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...

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...

We’re a new show. We can’t afford instant replay.

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...

I grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts. My background was modest, and I worked at a Portuguese bakery in town.

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...

Scatter soaked hardwood chunks over your coals for a quick and easy way to add a smoky nuance to your grilled foods.

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...

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...

Whether it’s books or TV, or whatever the case may be, the backbone of what I do is my restaurants.

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...

I think many cooks are afraid of undercooked meats. A good thermometer is a cook’s best friend.

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 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...

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...

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.

I don’t limit myself.

Wrap fish fillets, sliced veggies, and other quick-cooking items inside foil packets with bundles of fresh herbs and throw them directly on the grill; the steam will release the herb’s perfume and flavor anything contained...

If somebody has a chance to put my food in their mouth, that tells the story.

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...

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...

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...

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?

In the restaurant it’s much more serious.

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...

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.

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...

I think you’ve got to keep it simple, keep it fresh. Stay away from all that processed stuff, read the labels.