The beauty of the culinary world is that it unites people over food and beverage. Since food and beverage are basic human needs, the bonds formed feel genuine and inspiring," Grace says. "I love learning about peoples' wine experiences and from the community in general.

Food makes people happy, it takes you back home, it says so many things that words can’t say.

If you truly want to learn a place, eat the food of its people.

I believe that cuisine is the most important link between nature and culture.

Food, like language, is the first and last cultural bastion. We grow up with it, and we associate ourselves with it. Countries communicate with other countries through food.

Food is an important symbol. It’s particularly important for immigrants as the one thing they hope to be able to carry forward that’s relatively easy to recreate, although it was much harder in the early days when there weren’t many Indian groceries. Immigrants learned to make substitutions, like using Bisquick for gulab jamuns, tricks like that. I’m interested in food in my personal life, too. But food exists on many levels in my books. It reflects changes in our culture as we take shortcuts in how we cook our food, how it remains a comfort regardless.

Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.

Anything having to do with food is pleasurable for me. Any conversation about food, review of food, story of food, picture of food, thought of food...

Everyone gets to enjoy our cuisine but needs to celebrate it a little more. I hope to introduce the cuisine of my home more by doing residencies and pop-ups like this. The best thing about African cuisine is the people who make it and the stories behind them.

Food is art. Every new recipe comes with its own experience and I am open. I cook everyday and I might as well eat it… I also love take outs too when I find good food.

I’m Singaporean and I’m Chinese, so, yes, food is a big part of my life and of my writing. Because I write mainly Asian characters and settings for a predominantly American audience, food is just one more way to explore my characters’ cultures and customs in a manner that (I hope) never feels forced.

The thing that I’m most excited about is the sense of pride. There is a sense of pride to be Filipino again, and that has come from food.

I love cooking and learning more every day in cooking. I look at food as I would languages or art and my vocabulary and palate keep expanding. I continue to do pastry and have been doing savory all along and it's a beautiful marriage. (discussing her interest in both pastry and savory cooking)

Just like becoming an expert in wine–you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford–you learn about great food by finding the best there is, whether simply or luxurious. The you savor it, analyze it, and discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences.