--- title: "9 Cooks Quotes By Jacques Pépin" description: "9 Cooks quotes by Jacques Pépin. Plus more from Jacques Pépin and more Cooks sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/291/jacques-p-pin-15599_chef_i-tell-a-student-that-the-most-important_1327980.jpg" --- > [I tell a student that the most important class you can take is technique. A great chef is first a great technician.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/i-tell-a-student-that-the-most-important-class-you-can-take-is/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/291/jacques-p-pin-15599_chef_i-tell-a-student-that-the-most-important_1327980.jpg) > [My mother likes what I cook, but doesn't think it's French. My wife is Puerto Rican and Cuban, so I eat rice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/my-mother-likes-what-i-cook-but-doesn-t-think-it-s-french-my-wife-is/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f7/jacques-p-pin-15599_beans_my-mother-likes-what-i-cook-but-doesn-t_2675213.jpg) > [You have no choice as a professional chef: you have to repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat until it becomes part of yourself. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/you-have-no-choice-as-a-professional-chef-you-have-to-repeat-repeat/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/jacques-p-pin-15599_chef_you-have-no-choice-as-a-professional-che_2412191.jpg) > [Basically, I go to the local farmer's market and decide to what to cook then, depending on what I find. Either my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/basically-i-go-to-the-local-farmer-s-market-and-decide-to-what-to/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83c/jacques-p-pin-15599_bottles_basically-i-go-to-the-local-farmer-s-mar_2303361.jpg) > [Fortunately, I knew the cardinal rule of getting on with one's fellow cooks. It applies in any kitchen and can be summed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/fortunately-i-knew-the-cardinal-rule-of-getting-on-with-one-s-fellow-2/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/072/jacques-p-pin-15599_ass_fortunately-i-knew-the-cardinal-rule-of_323207.jpg) > [When I wrote 'Fast Food My Way' in 2004, I hoped that my friends would prepare my recipes. Now, more people cook…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/when-i-wrote-fast-food-my-way-in-2004-i-hoped-that-my-friends-would/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/jacques-p-pin-15599_book_when-i-wrote-fast-food-my-way-in-2004-i_61138.jpg) > [Thirty, 40 years ago, more than that now, even, the cook was certainly at the bottom of the social scale. And any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/thirty-40-years-ago-more-than-that-now-even-the-cook-was-certainly-at/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/jacques-p-pin-15599_architect_thirty-40-years-ago-more-than-that-now-e_1488884.jpg) > [I say: If you don't know how to cook, I'm sure you have at least one friend who knows how to cook.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/i-say-if-you-don-t-know-how-to-cook-i-m-sure-you-have-at-least-one/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf4/jacques-p-pin-15599_cooks_i-say-if-you-don-t-know-how-to-cook-i-m_113192.jpg) > [When you become a good cook, you become a good craftsman, first. You repeat and repeat and repeat until your hands know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/when-you-become-a-good-cook-you-become-a-good-craftsman-first-you/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05d/jacques-p-pin-15599_cook_when-you-become-a-good-cook-you-become-a_3167041.jpg) ## Other authors on Cooks ## More by Jacques Pépin > [“Fortunately, I knew the cardinal rule of getting on with one’s fellow cooks. It applies in any kitchen and can be summed up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/fortunately-i-knew-the-cardinal-rule-of-getting-on-with-one-s-fellow/) [Jacques Pépin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [When I was a child, we always had wine on the table, no matter how simple the meal. The wine had no special identity;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/when-i-was-a-child-we-always-had-wine-on-the-table-no-matter-how/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [When I wrote 'Fast Food My Way' in 2004, I hoped that my friends would prepare my recipes. Now, more people cook from that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/when-i-wrote-fast-food-my-way-in-2004-i-hoped-that-my-friends-would/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [This is what a family is all about - one another, sitting around the table at night. And it's very, very important, I think,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/this-is-what-a-family-is-all-about-one-another-sitting-around-the/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [I say: If you don't know how to cook, I'm sure you have at least one friend who knows how to cook. Well, call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/i-say-if-you-don-t-know-how-to-cook-i-m-sure-you-have-at-least-one/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [Just because I am a chef doesn't mean I don't rely on fast recipes. Indeed, we all have moments when, pressed for time, we'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/just-because-i-am-a-chef-doesn-t-mean-i-don-t-rely-on-fast-recipes/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [When you are at home, even if the chicken is a little burnt, what's the big deal? Relax.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/when-you-are-at-home-even-if-the-chicken-is-a-little-burnt-what-s-the/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [Fortunately, I knew the cardinal rule of getting on with one's fellow cooks. It applies in any kitchen and can be summed up in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/fortunately-i-knew-the-cardinal-rule-of-getting-on-with-one-s-fellow-2/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [Children never lie...I remember my daughter standing in her crib the first time I gave her caviar. I put it on bread. She ate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/children-never-lie-i-remember-my-daughter-standing-in-her-crib-the/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [The idea of old was to conform yourself to a style of cooking, it was not to create a style of cooking. Now the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/the-idea-of-old-was-to-conform-yourself-to-a-style-of-cooking-it-was/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [The menus that remain, for me, are really the menus that you have with your good friends, with your wife, with your mother, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/the-menus-that-remain-for-me-are-really-the-menus-that-you-have-with/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [You know, my parents had a restaurant. And I left home, actually, in 1949, when I was 13 years old, to go into apprenticeship.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/you-know-my-parents-had-a-restaurant-and-i-left-home-actually-in-1949/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [This June, I'll travel once again to the Food and Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen, Colorado. For many years, my dear friend Julia Child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/this-june-i-ll-travel-once-again-to-the-food-and-wine-magazine/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [After 45 years of marriage, when I have an argument with my wife, if we don't agree, we do what she wants. But, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/after-45-years-of-marriage-when-i-have-an-argument-with-my-wife-if-we/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) > [When I left to go into apprenticeship in 1949, it was only four years after the war, and people don't realize, we still had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/when-i-left-to-go-into-apprenticeship-in-1949-it-was-only-four-years/) [Jacques Pepin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-p-pin/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooks/jacques-p-pin/#itemlist", "name": "9 Cooks Quotes By Jacques Pépin", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I tell a student that the most important class you can take is technique. A great chef is first a great technician. 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Now, more people cook from that book than any other I've written in the past 30 years.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jacques Pépin" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-p-pin/when-i-wrote-fast-food-my-way-in-2004-i-hoped-that-my-friends-would/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/jacques-p-pin-15599_book_when-i-wrote-fast-food-my-way-in-2004-i_61138.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/jacques-p-pin-15599_book_when-i-wrote-fast-food-my-way-in-2004-i_61138.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/jacques-p-pin-15599_book_when-i-wrote-fast-food-my-way-in-2004-i_61138.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I wrote 'Fast Food My Way' in 2004, I hoped that my friends would prepare my recipes. 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