Jacques Pepin
Chef, artist, and master of the life well-lived.
Jacques Pepin is a world renowned chef, cooking instructor, and television personality. He also lives in the town where I went to high school. In my bookselling days at R. J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut, I worked several events where Jacques appeared and gave demos. He often joked about always cooking with wine, and sometimes putting it in the food.
Unfortunately, back in high school I knew nothing about cooking, so those events were wasted on me. It wasn’t until about fourteen years ago that my wife and I came home from a night out with friends and turned on the TV to see an episode of Fast Food My Way. No doubt slightly buzzed from our drinks and craving a bite to eat, we watched, rapt, as Jacques effortlessly whipped up a batch of truffled scrambled eggs and a quick dessert. We were both instantly hooked, and I immediately regretted all the missed opportunities that must have occurred over the eight years I worked at the bookstore and no doubt crossed paths with him repeatedly, particularly during the hectic holiday shopping seasons. Unfortunately, other than Clive Cussler and John Irving books, my thoughts back then were consumed with nothing but movies and moviemaking, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate the life lessons Jacques casually passed along in his books and in the course of his seemingly effortless cooking demonstrations.
But here’s the thing, if you have any interest in cooking, painting, gardening, family, or simply a life well-lived, you’re sure to find inspiration in the work of Jacques Pepin.
His memoir The Apprentice is one of my favorites. I also love his beautiful coffee table book Chez Jacques. Like his cookbooks, The Apprentice and Chez Jacques contain recipes, but more importantly, they’re filled with personal stories about lazy summer mornings, days spent smoking fish, winter meals, starting businesses, fixing up old homes, and digging out and constructing wine cellars. In general, details about making a home, raising a family, establishing traditions, and just appreciating days lived to the fullest. More than anything, what I take away from Jacques’ books and demonstrations is the importance of living in the moment, enjoying time with family, and savoring the process of making things, or, as the PBS documentary about his life puts it: The Art of Craft
Jacques Pepin is 88 years old as of this writing, and he is as active as ever painting, cooking, sharing quick and easy recipes and techniques on his YouTube channel, and helping to change lives through The Jacques Pepin Foundation, which provides culinary training to individuals who have struggled to find employment due to poverty, homelessness, battles with substance abuse, and records of incarceration.
In addition to the books I’ve mentioned above, be sure to check out The Jacques Pepin Foundation, where you can find links to his YouTube page and information on his most influential cooking programs and their accompanying cookbooks (My favorites are Fast Food My Way, More Fast Food My Way, and Essential Pepin).