I manifest greatness

The greatness of a serious kitchen is a stock pot started at five in the morning by somebody who will not be there when it is served.

Nothing about that is impressive to watch. Bones, a slow reduction, hours of nobody looking. What arrives at the table at eight is only the visible end of it.

Almost everything described as great is assembled the same way, out of unglamorous repetition performed with more care than the situation strictly required. The care is the whole of it. Greatness is a description applied afterwards, by other people, usually late.