An incredible 90 years for my dear friend Jacques Pépin
One of the legends of the kitchen is 90 this week
Today I want to celebrate one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met: the legendary Jacques Pépin. If you know about Jacques, you know how much he’s influenced over the course of his lifetime—in the kitchen, on TV, and for culinary education everywhere. If you don’t know who Jacques is … wake up people! This week is the best time to learn…because Jacques is turning NINETY years old on Thursday! He’s truly one of our living legends.
I want to tell you about the first time I really saw Jacques up close, to understand his magic. It was at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival, this must have been in the early 200s. He was with Claudine, his daughter, and they were giving one of their amazing master classes. That year the class was about eggs, and obviously because of who Jacques is, the dish he was teaching was the French omelet. And I was watching very closely from the side of the stage and seeing the ritual he went through—even though he was in front of a crowd of 800 people, he was so focused as he went through that moment of holding the egg…the way he handled the pan…the way he put the butter on the pan…the way he was able to get the exact right temperature with that pan: not too hot, not too cold.
But for a second, through all of that, I was able to see a man who created this space—a cocoon around himself where he was sharing what he knew with hundreds of people on stage…but at the same time I felt like that omelet was the only thing in the world, that Jacques was only focused on that omelet.
This is very difficult to do, to forget that you have 800 people watching you. I know this from years of cooking on stage! What I saw there was the amazing connection he had with the ingredients, with simple, humble, unbelievable techniques…and how he was able to execute in less than a minute and a half probably the most perfect omelet I’ve ever seen in my life. That was a very special moment.
And that moment told me more about Jacques than anything else. The connection he had with the fire, with the pan, with the egg, with the butter, with the moment…the right moment to crack the egg, the right moment to flip it, the right moment to do one two three touches on his wrist and turn that omelet over itself. The last moment of rolling over the omelet over the plate and being this unbelievable picture perfect dish.
That was to me one of the moments that I felt…Man, this guy is good.
There have been so many moments over the years that I’ve been lucky enough to be in Jacques’ presence, and every time I learn something new from him. Remember this podcast episode we shared at the beginning of the year? Did you know Jacques turned down the opportunity to cook at the White House after a personal invitation from Jackie Kennedy?
And of course I remember the early days of the pandemic, when my daughters and I were cooking together and sharing recipes, and Jacques was generous enough to spend time with us and teach my daughters how to make his omelet.
To me, Jacques is an incredible, one-of-a-kind educator and a mentor — he is so, so generous with his time, with his knowledge, with his passion. The reason he turned down the job at the White House is not a political thing…it wasn’t a famous position at the time, and he’d already done his government service by cooking for Charles de Gaulle in France. Instead he was interested in being a corporate chef at Howard Johnson, the hotel chain! He is truly a man of the people, more interested in feeding the many than feeding the few. “We’re all equal in the eyes of the stove,” Jacques always says.
From there he became one of the most recognized and celebrated TV chefs and authors, teaching generations of people (along with his friend Julia Child, of course!) about food, about ingredients and very importantly about techniques. Many chefs would hope to write a book a fraction as important and influential than Jacques La Technique—it’s a book that every chef has on their shelf, with bookmarks and stains throughout.
Still today, Jacques is a leading culinary educator! Through the Jacques Pépin Foundation, Jacques and his family support culinary education around the country…their mission is “Enriching lives and strengthening communities through the power of culinary education.” Something we can all get behind, I think! The foundation supports community-based culinary education, working in communities that have historically been underserved to bring opportunities to learn the skills of cooking. This week I will be making a donation to Jacques’ foundation to support this incredible and important work…and I invite you to do the same.
So my friends…today, and on Thursday, (all week long!), please raise a glass with me to celebrate one of the most amazing chefs, educators, and people I’ve ever gotten to spend time with.
Jacques, santé!
What’s not to love about Pepin.💙💙💙
Thank you for sharing this. I have loved Jacques Pépin since I first watched him cook with Julia Childs and then his various shows with and without Claudine. Watching him made me realize that cooking was something we could all do with practice, focus, and the willingness to try. When I look at my collection of cookbooks, his are well represented. Such a delightful person. Wishing him the happiest of birthdays and all the best in the coming year.