French-American chef
Jacques Pepin
|
---|
Pepin at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic 2006
|
Born
| (
1935-12-18
)
18 December 1935
(age 88)
|
---|
Education
| Columbia University
(
B.A.
,
M.A.
)
|
---|
Spouse
|
Gloria Evelyn Augier
(
m.
1966; died 2020)
|
---|
Children
| 1
|
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Culinary career
|
Cooking style
| American-French
|
---|
- Hotel Plaza Athenee, Le Pavillon, Howard Johnson's, La Potagerie
|
- The Complete Pepin (PBS; originally aired 1997; relaunched 2007)
Fast Food My Way
More Fast Food My Way
Jacques Pepin: Heart & Soul (2015?2016)
|
|
|
Website
| jacquespepin
.net
|
---|
Jacques Pepin
(
French pronunciation:
[?ak
pep??]
; born December 18, 1935)
[1]
is a French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and artist.
[2]
After having been the personal chef of
French President Charles de Gaulle
, he moved to the US in 1959 and after working in New York's top French restaurants, refused the same job with President
John F. Kennedy
in the
White House
and instead took a culinary development job with
Howard Johnson's
. During his career, he has served in numerous prestigious restaurants, first, in Paris, and then in America. He has appeared on American television and has written for
The New York Times
,
Food & Wine
and other publications. He has authored more than 30 cookbooks, some of which have become best sellers. Pepin was a longtime friend of the American chef
Julia Child
, and their 1999
PBS
series
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
won a
Daytime Emmy Award
. He also holds a BA and a MA from
Columbia University
in
French literature
.
He has been honored with 24
James Beard Foundation Awards
,
[3]
five honorary doctoral degrees, the
American Public Television
's lifetime achievement award, the Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2019
[4]
and the
Legion d'honneur
, France's highest order of merit, in 2004.
[5]
Since 1989, Pepin has taught in the Culinary Arts Program at
Boston University
and served as dean of special programs at the
International Culinary Center
in New York City.
[5]
In 2016, with his daughter, Claudine Pepin and his son-in-law, Rollie Wesen, Pepin created the
Jacques Pepin Foundation
to support culinary education for adults with barriers to employment.
[6]
He has lived in Connecticut since 1975.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Pepin was born in 1935 in
Bourg-en-Bresse
,
France
.
[1]
He was the second of three sons born to Jeannette and Jean-Victor Pepin. After
World War II
, his parents opened a restaurant called Le Pelican, where Pepin worked as a child, and later became known for his love for food.
[1]
At the age of thirteen, he started his apprenticeship at Le Grand Hotel de l'Europe in Bourg-en-Bresse.
Pepin achieved his university education in his 30s, after his move to the United States in 1959. There he enrolled in English for foreign students, a GED equivalent, and eventually General Studies classes toward a
Bachelor of Arts
degree at
Columbia University
. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1970 from Columbia University's
School of General Studies
, and in 1972, his Masters of Arts in French literature from the
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
.
[7]
[8]
He entered into a doctoral program at Columbia, but his proposed thesis on French food in literature was rejected for being too frivolous for serious academic pursuit.
[9]
Early career
[
edit
]
At age sixteen, Pepin went on to work in Paris, training under Lucien Diat at the
Plaza Athenee
. From 1956 to 1958, during his military service, he was recognized for his culinary training and skill and was ordered to work in the Office of the Treasury, where he met his long-time cooking partner, Jean-Claude Szurdak, and eventually became the personal chef to three French heads of state, including
Charles de Gaulle
.
[7]
[10]
In 1959, Pepin went to the United States to work at the restaurant
Le Pavillon
. Soon after his arrival,
The New York Times
's
food editor
Craig Claiborne
introduced him to
James Beard
and
Helen McCully
. McCully introduced him to
Julia Child
, who became a lifelong friend and collaborator. In 1961, after Pepin had declined an offer from
John F. Kennedy
and
Jacqueline Kennedy
to serve as chef at the White House,
Howard Johnson
, a regular Le Pavillon customer, hired him to work alongside fellow Frenchman
Pierre Franey
to develop food lines for his chain of
Howard Johnson's
restaurants, where Pepin served as the director of research and development for a decade.
In 1970, Pepin opened a specialty soup restaurant and lunch counter on Manhattan's 5th Avenue called La Potagerie, and began to enjoy popular success with appearances on talk shows such as
What's My Line?
and
To Tell the Truth
.
His career as a restaurant chef ended abruptly with a near fatal car accident in 1974.
[1]
Middle career
[
edit
]
Beginning in the mid-1970s, after a car accident which damaged his left arm, Pepin reinvented himself as an educator, author and eventually a television personality. Pepin worked as a consultant for restaurateur
Joe Baum
on his
Windows on the World
project, and offered classes at small cooking schools and cookware shops around the United States. In 1976, Pepin authored his cookbook
La Technique
, followed by
La Methode
in 1979. The use of thousands of photographs, illustrating the techniques and methods required to achieve certain culinary results, provided a window into the art of cooking. The books are credited by chef
Tom Colicchio
and others as helping them to learn the craft of cooking.
[11]
In 1982, along with
Alain Sailhac
and
Andre Soltner
, Pepin was invited by
Dorothy Cann Hamilton
to become one of the deans at the newly formed culinary school, the French Culinary Institute, in New York City, now known as the
International Culinary Center (ICC)
. Also in 1982, he filmed his first television series, with
PBS
local station WJCT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, and published a companion cookbook entitled
Everyday Cooking with Jacques Pepin
. Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, Pepin was published as a columnist for
The New York Times
, and a guest author for
Gourmet
,
Food & Wine
and many others. He authored several more cookbooks, including
The Art of Cooking
, volumes 1 and 2, and
The Short-Cut Cook
.
In 1989, Pepin partnered with
Julia Child
and Rebecca Alssid to create a culinary certificate program within the
Metropolitan College
at Boston University (BU). This effort eventually led to the first, and still one of the few, Master's degrees in
Gastronomy
.
[12]
Pepin's 1991 television series
Today’s Gourmet
, filmed at
KQED
studios in San Francisco was created from recipes from several books, brought together in the companion cookbook
Jacques Pepin's Table
. In 1994 and 1996, Pepin and Julia Child appeared in 90 minute PBS specials,
Cooking In Concert
and
More Cooking In Concert
, filmed live before a Boston audience as part of the PBS annual fund drives for those years. In 1996, Pepin introduced his then 27-year-old daughter Claudine, in three television series and companion books:
Cooking with Claudine
,
Encore with Claudine
and
Jacques Pepin Celebrates
. The father to daughter relationship, combined with an instructor to culinary novice relationship, demonstrated Pepin's work as a chef and teacher. Each of the three series earned the pair
James Beard Foundation Awards
. In 1999, Pepin teamed up with Julia Child for the series and companion book
Jacques and Julia Cooking at Home
. The TV series, produced by Susie Heller, won a
Daytime Emmy Award
and a James Beard Foundation Award. In 2003, Pepin published his autobiography,
The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen
.
Later career
[
edit
]
In the 21st century, Pepin continues to cook, write, publish, film for television, paint and take on new projects. Throughout his career, he has toured and taught on cruise ships including the
Queen Elizabeth 2
, and the
Crystal Cruises
and
Princess Cruises
lines. In 2003, he was named the executive culinary director of
Oceania Cruises
, and "is credited with helping it achieve its reputation for culinary excellence and style".
[13]
Pepin continues to teach at the
ICC
and at BU, and offers book signings, culinary demonstrations and classes on Oceania cruises and at various locations across the US, several times per year.
Since his time as a student at Columbia University, Pepin has dabbled in and enjoyed drawing and painting. In recent years, he has committed more time to his art, and enjoyed some success with commercial sales on his website,
Jacques Pepin Art
, and juried shows.
[14]
In the first decade of the 2000s, Pepin published several more cookbooks including
Fast Food My Way
and
More Fast Food My Way
, which were paired with television series of the same name, produced by Tina Salter, and
Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook
, that significantly featured Pepin's art. In 2011, Pepin filmed the series
Essential Pepin
at
KQED
studios and published a companion cookbook with more than 700 recipes and a set of technique-oriented videos. In 2012, he published
New Complete Techniques
, which combined and updated his important earlier works
La Technique
and
La Methode
.
In 2015 Pepin, 79, recovered at his home in Connecticut after suffering a minor stroke. He canceled his appearance at the annual
International Association of Culinary Professionals
conference in Washington D.C., but otherwise insisted on returning to his normal schedule, according to the Associated Press. "Oh my god, he made soup this morning", Pepin's daughter Claudine told the Associated Press. "I will do my best to lighten the load, but he's not of the mind to cancel anything. Honestly, he wanted to go to IACP. He's like, 'I'm talking. I can walk. Let's go.
'
"
[15]
In 2016, with his daughter Claudine Pepin and son-in-law Rollie Wesen, Jacques created his eponymous, non-profit, organization the
Jacques Pepin Foundation
(JPF). The mission of the foundation is to support organizations that provide culinary training to adults and youths with barriers to employment such as low-income, low-skills, homelessness, issues with substance abuse and previous incarceration. The JPF provides grants, independent research, source and curricular materials, equipment, direct teaching and video instruction to community-based culinary training programs around the USA.
[16]
In 2017, Pepin published a cookbook with his granddaughter Shorey Wesen, entitled
A Grandfather's Lessons
. In the same year, Pepin received an honorary doctorate from the Columbia University School of General Studies. Pepin resided in Connecticut with his wife Gloria,
[17]
until her death in 2020.
[18]
[19]
Television
[
edit
]
The success of Pepin's book
La Technique
, used as a textbook for teaching the fundamentals of French cuisine, prompted him to launch a televised version resulting in a 1997
PBS
series,
The Complete Pepin
. Relaunched on PBS ten years after its initial run, the series included a new introduction by Pepin where he stressed that the secret to being a successful chef and not a mere
line cook
lies in knowing and using the proper technique.
[20]
[21]
In 1999, Pepin co-starred in the
PBS
series
Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
alongside Julia Child. The program was awarded a
Daytime Emmy
in 2001.
[20]
His show
Jacques Pepin: Fast Food My Way
(based on his 2004 book of the same name) ran on
PBS
, and
Jacques Pepin: More Fast Food My Way
was broadcast on PBS'
Create
. In
Essential Pepin
(2011), Pepin brings modern touches to some of his favorite recipes from his career. In the 26-part public television series, Pepin demonstrates more than 125 dishes while the companion book, published by Houghton-Mifflin, contains more than 700 recipes. In this series, Pepin cooks with his daughter, Claudine, wife of chef
Rolland Wesen
. All of his programs have been produced by
KQED-TV
in
San Francisco
.
Pepin was a guest judge on season five of the Bravo television show
Top Chef
, which aired in 2008. He stated that his ideal "final meal" would be roast
squab
and fresh peas.
Pepin was a guest on the television show
Wahlburgers
episode called "Pauli Day".
Donnie Wahlberg
arranged for Pepin to surprise his brother
Paul Wahlberg
for his birthday.
In 2015, his television series
Jacques Pepin Heart & Soul
began airing. According to its producer, Tina Salter
KQED-TV
, the series would be his "most personal and special, revealing a man ? a legend ? whose lust for life, love of food, family and friends continues". The series premiered on KQED on September 12, 2015, and nationally on September 19.
A documentary about his life,
Jacques Pepin: The Art of Craft
,
[22]
aired as part of the
PBS
series
American Masters
, premiering May 26, 2017.
[23]
The film, narrated by
Stanley Tucci
, was produced and directed by Peter L. Stein, who had produced several of Pepin's early television cooking series at KQED in the 1990s.
[24]
In 2020, Jacque and KQED began filming "Cooking at Home" for release on YouTube.
Awards and honors
[
edit
]
In addition to the
Daytime Emmy Award
won with
Julia Child
, Pepin has received three of the French government's honors: He is a Chevalier de
L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
(1997) and a Chevalier de
L'Ordre du Merite Agricole
(1992). In October 2004, he received France's
Legion d'honneur
.
[25]
He has also received 24
James Beard Foundation
awards.
[26]
On May 13, 2010, Pepin, along with other chefs from the French Culinary Institute (known as the
International Culinary Center
),
Alain Sailhac
,
Jacques Torres
and
Andre Soltner
, prepared a $30,000-per-couple dinner for President
Barack Obama
's fund-raiser for the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
at Manhattan's
St. Regis Hotel
.
[27]
On February 5, 2010, during the christening of
MS
Marina
, Pepin was named an honorary commodore of the
Oceania Cruises
fleet,
[28]
for which he serves as executive culinary director.
[29]
He received an
honorary doctorate of Humane Letters
from
Boston University
on May 22, 2011. In October 2011, Pepin was the recipient of the first-ever tribute dinner at the New York Food and Wine Festival. Cooking for Pepin at the event, hosted by
Martha Stewart
, were French chefs
Alain Ducasse
,
Daniel Boulud
, and others. In 2015, Pepin was the first recipient of the
Julia Child Award
from
The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts
.
[30]
[31]
In May 2017, Pepin received an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from
Columbia University
.
[32]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Pepin married Gloria Evelyn Augier in 1966, whom he met while working as a ski instructor.
[33]
She died on December 5, 2020.
[18]
They had one daughter, Claudine (b. 1968).
[34]
In 1974, Pepin was badly injured while driving on a country road when a deer leapt in front of his car and he swerved to avoid it. His car hit the deer, veered off the road, struck a telephone pole, then crashed into a ravine and landed upside-down and on fire. He fractured 14 bones in his back, pelvis, and arms. His left arm was so badly injured that physicians initially wanted to amputate it. Pepin recovered, but his left shoulder remained limited in mobility and his left arm is several inches shorter than his right.
[35]
[36]
In his autobiography,
The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen
,
[1]
Pepin notes that his accident caused him to realize that he would not be able to continue working full-time as a chef/restaurateur; this realization motivated his reinvention as a teacher and author.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- The Other Half of the Egg
(1967) (with
Helen McCully
and
William North Jayme
)
- Jacques Pepin: A French Chef Cooks at Home
(1975)
- La Technique
(1976)
- La Methode
(1979)
- Everyday Cooking With Jacques Pepin
(1982)
- The Art of Cooking, Vol 1
(1987)
- The Art of Cooking, Vol 2
(1988)
- Short-Cut Cook
(1990)
- Today's Gourmet
(1991)
- Cuisine Economique
(1992)
- Today's Gourmet II
(1992)
- Jacques Pepin's Simple and Healthy Cooking
(1994)
- Jacques Pepin's Table
(1995)
- Jacques Pepin's Kitchen: Cooking with Claudine
(1996)
- The Complete Pepin
(1997)
- The French Culinary Institute's Salute to Healthy Cooking
(1998) (with
Alain Sailhac
,
Andre Soltner
, and
Jacques Torres
)
- Jacques Pepin's Kitchen: Encore with Claudine
(1998)
- Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home
(1999) (with
Julia Child
and
David Nussbaum
)
- Jacques Pepin Celebrates
(2001)
- The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen
(2003)
- Fast Food My Way
(2004)
- Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook
(with
Tom Hopkins
, 2007)
- More Fast Food My Way
(2008)
- Essential Pepin
(2011)
- New Complete Techniques
(2012)
- Jacques Pepin: Heart & Soul in the Kitchen
(2015)
- A Grandfather's Lessons: In the Kitchen with Shorey
(2017)
- Poulets & Legumes
(2018)
- Jacques Pepin Quick & Simple
(2020)
- Jacques Pepin Art of the Chicken: A Master Chef's Paintings, Stories, and Recipes of the Humble Bird
(2022)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Pepin, Jacques (2003).
The apprentice : my life in the kitchen
. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp.
4, 23?43
.
ISBN
0618197370
.
- ^
"Biography of Jacques Pepin - American Masters - PBS"
.
PBS
. April 7, 2017. Archived from
the original
on September 3, 2018
. Retrieved
September 3,
2018
.
- ^
"Awards Search | James Beard Foundation"
.
www.jamesbeard.org
. Retrieved
December 1,
2019
.
- ^
"Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Winners Announced ? The Emmys"
.
theemmys.tv
. Retrieved
December 1,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"Jacques Pepin | Jacques Pepin Foundation"
.
Jacques Pepin Foundation
. Retrieved
December 1,
2019
.
- ^
"The Jacques Pepin Foundation"
.
Jacques Pepin Foundation
. Retrieved
December 1,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"New York City Wine & Food Festival"
. The Food Network. October 2, 2011. Archived from
the original
on April 19, 2012
. Retrieved
August 13,
2012
.
- ^
Pepin, Jacques (April 28, 2005).
"Howard Johnson's, Adieu"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
"The Art of the Meal"
.
Columbia Magazine
. Retrieved
December 3,
2019
.
- ^
Orvedahl, Reid (November 24, 2019).
"Jacques Pepin, the chefs' chef"
.
CBS News
.
Archived
from the original on December 3, 2019
. Retrieved
December 4,
2019
.
- ^
Gordinier, Jeff (October 18, 2011).
"Jacques Pepin Demonstrates Cooking Techniques"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
December 3,
2019
.
- ^
"Graduate Programs"
.
FoodAnthropology
. October 19, 2011
. Retrieved
December 3,
2019
.
- ^
Levine, Irene S.
"Artistry From Ship To Shore: Talking To Chef Jacques Pepin"
.
Forbes
. Retrieved
December 3,
2019
.
- ^
"Guilford Art Center"
. June 14, 2019
. Retrieved
December 3,
2019
.
- ^
J. M. Hirsch (March 25, 2015).
"Television chef Jacques Pepin recovering from minor stroke"
.
AP News
.
- ^
"The Jacques Pepin Foundation"
.
Jacques Pepin Foundation
. Retrieved
December 3,
2019
.
- ^
Maker, Elizabeth (June 1, 2003).
"Suddenly, Balls in Every Court"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
January 27,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
Pasquini, Maria (December 20, 2020).
"Chef Jacques Pepin's Wife of 54 Years Gloria Dies: 'We Are Overcome with Grief'
"
. Food.
People
. Retrieved
December 21,
2021
.
- ^
Braine, Theresa (December 7, 2020).
"Renowned chef Jacques Pepin mourns death of wife of 54 years, Gloria"
.
New York Daily News
. Retrieved
October 26,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"About Jacques"
.
Essential Pepin
. KQED.
- ^
"Complete Pepin, The | KQED"
.
KQED Public Media
. Archived from
the original
on September 11, 2018
. Retrieved
September 10,
2018
.
- ^
"Jacques Pepin: The Art of Craft - About the Film - American Masters - PBS"
.
PBS
. April 28, 2017.
- ^
"American Masters ? Jacques Pepin: The Art of Craft - Press Release - Pressroom - THIRTEEN"
.
- ^
"Filmmaker Interview: Peter L. Stein on Jacques Pepin: The Art of Craft"
.
Vimeo
.
- ^
"Jacques Pepin Chef and Cooking Show Host"
.
PBS Food
. October 17, 2011
. Retrieved
December 2,
2017
.
- ^
"Awards Search"
.
James Beard Foundation
. Retrieved
December 2,
2017
.
- ^
McAuliff, Michael; Saltonstall, David (May 13, 2010).
"After beating up Wall Street 'fat cats,' President Obama ready to take their money in NY fund-raiser"
.
Daily News
. New York
. Retrieved
December 28,
2012
.
- ^
"Oceania Cruises new ship Marina Christened in Miami"
. PRLog. February 8, 2011
. Retrieved
August 13,
2012
.
- ^
"The Finest Cuisine at Sea, Master Chef Jacques Pepin"
.
Oceania Cruises
.
- ^
Chris.
"Recipients"
.
The Julia Child Award
. Retrieved
May 12,
2022
.
- ^
Krystal, Becky (August 13, 2015).
"Jacques Pepin named first recipient of the Julia Child Award"
.
The Washington Post
.
ISSN
0190-8286
. Retrieved
May 12,
2022
.
- ^
"Columbia's 2017 Commencement Week Events Take Place from May 13 to 18"
.
Columbia News, Office of Communication and Public Affairs
(Press release). May 9, 2017
. Retrieved
June 28,
2017
.
- ^
"How Jacques Pepin met his wife, Gloria"
.
PBS
. n.d
. Retrieved
December 21,
2021
.
- ^
Stein, Joshua David (September 21, 2017).
"The World's Greatest Chef on the Art of Cooking With Kids"
.
Fatherly
. Retrieved
October 18,
2020
.
- ^
Lang, Joel (May 8, 2016).
"At 80, master chef Jacques Pepin still has a lot on his plate"
.
Connecticut Post
. Retrieved
October 18,
2020
.
- ^
Mansfield, Stephanie (October 6, 1977).
"The Sensual Chef"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
October 18,
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]
Awards for Jacques Pepin
|
---|
|
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1980s
| |
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1990s
| |
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2000s
| |
---|
2010s
| |
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2020s
| |
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No lifetime achievement award was presented in 2020 and 2021.
[1]
|
|