These Jacques Pépin Recipes Are Like Going to French Cooking School for Free (2024)

FAQs

Did Jacques Pépin attend culinary school? ›

' ” Pépin had meant it when he said he wanted to meet everyone. Connecticut chef and restaurateur Dan Meiser remembers being in awe of Pépin as a student at the French Culinary Institute (now the Institute of Culinary Education) in New York City while Pépin was a dean here.

Despite his classic French culinary roots, Pepin actually spearheaded a modern method of French cooking that offered instruction in recipes and dishes more simple than complex. In fact, his La Potagerie restaurant was originally opened to provide simple French soups and dishes that were affordable and fast.

In addition to his work as a chef, culinary educator, television personality and artist, Jacques Pépin has authored over 30 cookbooks.

Jacques Pépin is world renowned as the host of his acclaimed and popular cooking programs on public television, and as a prolific author, respected instructor, and gifted artist.

HBR: When did you know that food was going to be your career? Pépin: I was seven years old and already in the kitchen with my mother. She was a cook at the little family restaurant, and my father was a cabinetmaker by trade. My goal was to be one or the other.

Born in 1935 in Bourg-en-Bresse, France, near Lyon, Pépin always found the kitchen to be a place of both comfort and excitement. He helped in his parents' restaurant, Le Pélican, and, at age 13, began an apprenticeship at the Grand Hôtel de L'Europe.

Jacques Pépin's Favorite Pound Cake

The French call pound cake quatre-quarts ("four-fourths") because it is made with equal parts flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. Jacques Pépin's mother, aunt, and cousin all have their versions.

He is especially remembered for the Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home television series, for which both he and Julia Child won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2001. An American citizen for more than half a century, Pépin is also the recipient of three of the French government's highest honors.

Jacques Pépin is a legendary French chef and longtime contributor to Food & Wine. Known for his work at New York City's Le Pavillon and his own restaurant La Potagerie, Pépin was also a culinary leader at Howard Johnson's, the World Trade Center, and the French Culinary Institute.

Is Jacques Pépin's daughter a chef? ›

Claudine Pépin

Jacques Pépin / Daughter

Many of you have watched Claudine Pépin in partnership with her father, world-renown chef, Jacques Pépin, preparing delicious meals and sharing cooking techniques on Public Television. All three of their series have received the notable James Beard Award. ...

Google Books

Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer (1931) – approx. 18 million copies.

Without a doubt, Chef Auguste Escoffier is, hands down, the father of modern French cuisine and the most influential French chef of all time.

The early days

His dedication and natural talent led him to train with some of the world's leading chefs, including Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White in London, and Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon in France.

During the early 1990s Ramsay traveled to France, where he prepared classic French cuisine in the kitchens of master chefs Joël Robuchon and Guy Savoy.

Pépin was born in Bourg-en-Bresse, France, near Lyon. His first exposure to cooking was as a child in his parents' restaurant, Le Pelican. At age 13, he began his formal apprenticeship at the distinguished Grand Hôtel de l'Europe in his hometown.

There is no special degree or certification that makes someone a chef. The title is earned through hard work and experience. Gordon Ramsay and award-winning chef Heston Blumenthal, for example, didn't attend culinary school. But other big names like Alton Brown, Anthony Bourdain, and Milk Bar's Christina Tosi did.

Lewis, 25, is mite young for his first book, but what a life it's been in his short time. You might remember him from Gordon Ramsey's MasterChef. He was only 19 when he went viral for being sent home by Ramsey but not without tuition money for culinary school and the promise of a job in New Orleans from Aaron Sanchez.

Celebrity chefs such as Ina Garten, Gordon Ramsay, and Rachael Ray didn't go to culinary school. Ree Drummond, also known as The Pioneer Woman, rose to celebrity chef status through her food blog.