--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art is not special sauce applied to…" description: "\"Art is not special sauce applied to ordinary cooking; it is the cooking itself if it is good.\" — William Lethaby" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/william-lethaby-87820_art_art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordi_1638418.jpg" --- # Art is not special sauce applied to ordinary cooking; it… ![“Art is not special sauce applied to ordinary cooking; it is the cooking itself if it is good.” quote by William Lethaby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/william-lethaby-87820_art_art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordi_1638418.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/william-lethaby-87820_art_art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordi_1638418.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/william-lethaby-87820_art_art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordi_1638418.jpg) > “Art is not special sauce applied to ordinary cooking; it is the cooking itself if it is good.” [William Lethaby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lethaby/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art is not an extra garnish on ordinary cooking; when done well, the cooking itself becomes art. **In simple terms:** Good cooking itself is art, not just a topping. Key Takeaway Focus on mastering the craft itself. Themes culinary arts creativity skill Mood appreciative inspired Type culinary philosophical When to use this quote - kitchen work - restaurant management - home cooking Key Concepts process authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What makes ordinary cooking become art? - How can chefs elevate simple dishes? A Different Perspective Skill alone may not guarantee artistic value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is/) [Cooking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooking/) [Cooking Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooking-good-534945/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Ordinary Cooking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary-cooking-545586/) [Sauce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sauce/) [Sauce Applied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sauce-applied-545587/) [Special](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/special/) [Special Sauce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/special-sauce-545588/) ## Related quotes > [“His intensity added that extra special something - sort of like the special sauce on a Big Mac - to the OMG factor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coreene-callahan/his-intensity-added-that-extra-special-something-sort-of-like-the/) [Coreene Callahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coreene-callahan/) > [The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/the-best-way-to-execute-french-cooking-is-to-get-good-and-loaded-and/) [Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/) > [Cooking is good therapy for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-bastianich/cooking-is-good-therapy-for-me/) [Lidia Bastianich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-bastianich/) > [Finally, cooking is good citizenship. It's the only way to get serious about putting locally raised foods into your diet, which keeps farmlands healthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/finally-cooking-is-good-citizenship-it-s-the-only-way-to-get-serious/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I don't barbeque myself because that would involve me cooking. And whereas I can, I'm not a very good cook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reg-e-cathey/i-don-t-barbeque-myself-because-that-would-involve-me-cooking-and/) [Reg E. Cathey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reg-e-cathey/) > [One of the greatest pleasures of my life has been that I have never stopped learning about Good Cooking and Good Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-lewis/one-of-the-greatest-pleasures-of-my-life-has-been-that-i-have-never/) [Edna Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-lewis/) > [For me, thats one of the important things about cooking. What was good enough yesterday may not be good enough today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keller/for-me-thats-one-of-the-important-things-about-cooking-what-was-good/) [Thomas Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keller/) > [Good cooking is good cooking, regardless of the price.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-hanawalt/good-cooking-is-good-cooking-regardless-of-the-price/) [Lisa Hanawalt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-hanawalt/) > [The man you love cooking for you is good for you too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-castillo/the-man-you-love-cooking-for-you-is-good-for-you-too/) [Ana Castillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-castillo/) > [Real food meas big-flavoured, unpretentious cooking. Good ingredients made into something worth eating. Just nice, uncomplicated food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-slater/real-food-meas-big-flavoured-unpretentious-cooking-good-ingredients/) [Nigel Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-slater/) > [One of my dad's biggest passions is cooking, so we always had good food at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-skarsgard/one-of-my-dad-s-biggest-passions-is-cooking-so-we-always-had-good/) [Bill Skarsgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-skarsgard/) > [You need to give yourself a fighting chance on this planet. Health, fitness and cooking good food for yourself are the few things in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-jackson/you-need-to-give-yourself-a-fighting-chance-on-this-planet-health/) [Colin Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-jackson/) > [I love cooking; it's a very good way to get your mind off things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/i-love-cooking-it-s-a-very-good-way-to-get-your-mind-off-things/) [David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/) > [Bistro cooking is good, traditional food, earnestly made and honestly displayed. It is earthy, provincial, or bourgeois; as befits that kind of food, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-liederman/bistro-cooking-is-good-traditional-food-earnestly-made-and-honestly/) [David Liederman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-liederman/) > [I had my first French meal and I never got over it. It was just marvelous. We had oysters and a lovely dry white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-child/i-had-my-first-french-meal-and-i-never-got-over-it-it-was-just/) [Julia Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-child/) ## More by William Lethaby > [An art school is generated only by the intensity and heat of a common pressure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lethaby/an-art-school-is-generated-only-by-the-intensity-and-heat-of-a-common/) [William Lethaby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lethaby/) > [Work done by human beings for human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lethaby/work-done-by-human-beings-for-human-beings/) [William Lethaby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lethaby/) [Explore all 3 William Lethaby quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lethaby/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Art is not special sauce applied to ordinary cooking; it is the cooking itself if it is good.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Lethaby" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lethaby/art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordinary-cooking-it-is-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lethaby/art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordinary-cooking-it-is-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/william-lethaby-87820_art_art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordi_1638418.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/william-lethaby-87820_art_art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordi_1638418.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/495/william-lethaby-87820_art_art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordi_1638418.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art is not special sauce applied to ordinary cooking; it is the cooking itself if it is good.” — William Lethaby", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Lethaby", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lethaby/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art is not special sauce applied...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lethaby/art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordinary-cooking-it-is-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lethaby/art-is-not-special-sauce-applied-to-ordinary-cooking-it-is-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```