A Conversation with Jacques Pépin – My Menus & Apron Giveaway
September 2, 2017 by Jenny
Legend is a powerful word that
carries substantial weight and responsibility. Leading a well-lived
life, educating others, contributing to the beauty of the world all
adds to the definition of legendary in my estimation. A legend is a
role model and a source of inspiration – not all who are famous are
deserving of this title.
Jacques Pépin is a legend. His career has spanned over 60 years, he has written almost thirty cookbooks, taught us how to cook on television for decades, he is devoted to his family, his painting is world renowned and rumor has it that he is quite the crooner. He is more than a triple-threat – he is the whole package.
In my cookbook collection, I
have many of his titles. One of my favorites is Heart
& Soul in the Kitchen which I reviewed last year. This month and
next, Jacques has two more books being released: A Grandfather’s Lessons (look for a
promotion soon on that title) and My Menus which will be available
exclusively at Sur La Table in October.
My Menus: Remembering Meals with Family and Friends is a stunning collection of the chef’s menus that have been preserved over the decades – from his granddaughter’s First Communion to other special occasions. In speaking with Jacques, I gathered every meal with family and friends is a special occasion and I vowed to keep that in my mind and heart going forward. These menus have become a history of his life through meals, conversations and time spent with those that matter the most.
On Monday, I had the honor of speaking to Jacques and that will go down as one of the epic moments of my life. Confession time, I was nervous when I dialed his number almost hoping that the call would go to voice mail. But no, that silky French voice on the other end was the legend himself. I feel the need to share what has been going on in my life. My just turned 13 year old son has Aspergers (since birth) and officially bipolar for the last four years. He was admitted to the hospital on August 11 and was an inpatient for twelve days. He is now a patient in the partial hospitalization program since discharge. His team is working on his medications along with therapy and hopefully he will be discharged on the 5th. So, not only was I dealing with exhaustion and stress, I was also nervous calling a world famous chef that I respect and admire and wasn’t able to hide behind my keyboard.
Originally, I had the call planned earlier but had to reschedule due to a meeting at the hospital – Jacques was very understanding. Thirty seconds into our conversation, he had me at ease. It was less an interview and more a conversation – sharing his love of family, food and art and my sharing my thoughts on same. I was so engrossed in actually talking to him – I took very little notes and found myself calm and relaxed by the end of our time together.
During our conversation, I asked if his food inspired his art or was it the other way around. He tends to keep his food straight-forward without embellishments – his art is where he is more expressive and abstract. He loves food in its natural form – cooked well without fancy plating. Often times, food can inspire his painting and he finds much of his art has some ties to the kitchen. Recently he was sitting at the dinner table, looking at the food on the table and noticed the sun reflecting off the glasses and relished the beauty in that simple moment. He can also paint an image with his words and I felt as if I was seated at that table gazing on that same image.
Jacques has a wonderful sense of humor – when asked which gave him more joy cooking or painting. “Cooking, if I am hungry.” I knew it was an impossible question to answer but I did ask what his favorite piece of art was – and he stated that he probably would have to choose the essential rooster that he created and has been a trademark in his Sur la Table line.
We talked a bit about family and how proud he is to have worked with Claudine, his daughter, and Shorey, his granddaughter. I mentioned how impressive to have worked with his family to bring their love of food into the work aspect of his life – but when food is family and time together – it must not seem like work at all. Jacques shared stories of foraging for wild mushrooms or fishing off the coast of Connecticut, where he lives, – catching tiny fish – dredging them with flour and frying them up. The man treasures his family and feels that time spent together is the glue that holds a family together.
I asked if he had something sentimental in his kitchen that he holds dear – he mentioned a garlic press from Julia Child and a piece of copper from James Beard and it hit me again that I was talking with a legend.
We spoke a little of A Grandfather’s Lessons and the joy he experienced creating this book with Shorey. The recipes or lessons contained in this book range from fast but elegant, easy to sophisticated – for instance a fish dish that takes just a few minutes but is elegant and presents beautifully to something playful as a curly dog – a hot dog with slits that fries up in a pan. I wondered if there were any plans for a television tie in for this book. Jacques stated that they had just finished filming 36 lessons – each 10 to 12 minutes long – that can be found on Sur la Table starting September 13th (the links are set forth below each recipe in the book). We will have more on this title and a promotion close to the publication date of September 13th.
Jacques, Shorey and Claudine will be touring for A Grandfather’s Lessons and you can find their
scheduled events
on our calendar. Besides a copy of the My Menus book that will be available in October
at Sur La Table we also have the gorgeous watercolor apron pictured
to the left from the chef’s collection as part of our promotion
here today for two lucky members. Be sure to scroll down to
enter.
I wish to share some advice Jacques provided me with regard to my son. “Get him in the kitchen. Even if he doesn’t want to participate – have him sitting at the table or standing nearby. The sights, sounds and aromas will be something that he will always remember.” Andrew, my son, is quite often in the vicinity of the kitchen when I am cooking, I try to coax him into helping but right now he is a bit scattered as am I. Each night, I recall this advice and make an extra effort to comment on what I am doing and hope that this will encourage Andrew to eventually participate in the process of cooking.
Lastly, a few years back I reached out to Claudine and told her it would mean so much to me to have her and her father’s autographs for my copy of Cooking with Claudine. Within a week, I received a lovely note, their combined autographs and a singular autograph from Jacques with his trademark little drawing – I told Jacques that this gesture meant the world to me – and reinforces my opinion that legends can be down-to-earth and kind.
Sur La Table is offering two winners a copy of My Menus and a Jacques Pépin Watercolor Apron in our contest open to Eat Your Books members in the US. One of the entry options is to answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.
Which piece in Jacques Pépin’s collection at Sur La
Table is your favorite? (My answer is all of them – and
especially the beautiful copper pots.)
Please note that you must be logged into the Rafflecopter contest
before posting or your entry won’t be counted. Please be sure to
check your spam filters to make sure you receive our email
notifications. Prizes can take up to 6 weeks to arrive from the
publishers. If you are not already a Member, you can join at no cost. The contest ends at
midnight on October 4th, 2017.
Photos used here are courtesy of Jacques Pépin and Sur La Table.
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