"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"
About this Quote
The subtext is family as apprenticeship. “With my mom” quietly establishes lineage and legitimacy without sounding like credential flexing. In a culture that prizes hustle narratives, he reaches for something older and harder to fake: formative intimacy. It frames cooking as caretaking before it becomes performance, which helps explain why his public persona could be loud and showy while still feeling, to many viewers, fundamentally homey.
Context matters here because Lagasse rose during the Food Network boom, when chefs were being remade into entertainers. This kind of quote reassures the audience that the guy selling you enthusiasm on camera wasn’t manufactured by producers; he was made in a household kitchen. “Real serious” at 12 is the final pivot, signaling discipline and intention. The casual phrasing keeps it approachable, but the architecture is strategic: talent, roots, then commitment. A brand built to feel like comfort food, even when it’s broadcast.
Quote Details
| Topic | Cooking |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lagasse, Emeril. (2026, January 15). 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. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-started-cooking-when-i-was-about-10-i-have-68109/
Chicago Style
Lagasse, Emeril. "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." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-started-cooking-when-i-was-about-10-i-have-68109/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"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." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-started-cooking-when-i-was-about-10-i-have-68109/. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.






