Jacques Pépin facts for kids
Pépin at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic 2006
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| Born | 18 December 1935 Bourg-en-Bresse, France |
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| Cooking style | American-French |
| Education | Columbia University (B.A., M.A.) |
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Gloria Evelyn Augier
(m. 1966; died 2020) |
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Previous restaurant(s)
Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Le Pavillon, Howard Johnson's, La Potagerie, Windows on the World, Russian Tea Room
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Television show(s)
The Complete Pépin (PBS; originally aired 1997; relaunched 2007)
Fast Food My Way More Fast Food My Way Jacques Pepin: Heart & Soul (2015–2016) |
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Award(s) won
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Jacques Pépin (born December 18, 1935) is a famous French chef, writer, cooking teacher, TV star, and artist. He was even the personal chef for French President Charles de Gaulle. In 1959, he moved to the United States. After working in top French restaurants in New York, he was offered a job as President John F. Kennedy's chef at the White House. However, he chose to work for Howard Johnson's instead, helping them create new food products.
Throughout his career, Pépin has worked in many famous restaurants in Paris and America. He has appeared on American television and written for well-known magazines like The New York Times and Food & Wine. He has also written over 30 cookbooks, with some becoming best sellers. Pépin was a close friend of the American chef Julia Child. Their 1999 PBS cooking show, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, won a Daytime Emmy Award. He also earned two degrees from Columbia University in French literature.
Pépin has received many awards, including 24 James Beard Foundation Awards. He has also been given five honorary degrees and a lifetime achievement award from American Public Television. In 2019, he received an Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement. France honored him with its highest award, the Légion d'honneur, in 2004.
Since 1989, Pépin has taught cooking at Boston University. He also served as a special programs dean at the International Culinary Center in New York City. In 2016, he started the Jacques Pépin Foundation with his daughter, Claudine Pépin, and son-in-law, Rollie Wesen. This foundation helps adults facing challenges get culinary education. Pépin has lived in Connecticut since 1975.
Contents
Growing Up and Learning to Cook
Early Life in France
Jacques Pépin was born in 1935 in Bourg-en-Bresse, France. He was the second of three sons. His parents, Jeannette and Jean-Victor Pépin, opened a restaurant called Le Pélican after World War II. Jacques worked there as a child and developed his love for food.
When he was thirteen, he began his cooking training. He started as an apprentice at Le Grand Hôtel de l'Europe in Bourg-en-Bresse.
University Education in the U.S.
Pépin went to university in his 30s, after moving to the United States in 1959. He first took English classes for foreign students. Then, he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree at Columbia University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1970. In 1972, he received his Master of Arts in French literature from Columbia. He wanted to study French food in literature for his doctorate, but his idea was not accepted.
Starting His Cooking Career
Working in Paris
At age sixteen, Pépin moved to Paris to work. He trained under a famous chef named Lucien Diat at the Plaza Athénée hotel. From 1956 to 1958, during his military service, his cooking skills were noticed. He was asked to work for the Office of the Treasury. There, he met his long-time cooking partner, Jean-Claude Szurdak. Eventually, Pépin became the personal chef for three French leaders, including Charles de Gaulle.
Moving to America
In 1959, Pépin came to the United States to work at the restaurant Le Pavillon. Soon after arriving, a food editor from The New York Times introduced him to other famous food experts. One of them was Julia Child, who became his lifelong friend and cooking partner.
In 1961, Pépin turned down an offer to be the chef at the White House for President John F. Kennedy. Instead, Howard Johnson, a regular customer at Le Pavillon, hired him. Pépin worked with another French chef, Pierre Franey, to create new food products for the Howard Johnson's restaurant chain. He was the director of research and development there for ten years.
In 1970, Pépin opened his own soup restaurant in New York City called La Potagerie. He became popular and appeared on TV shows like What's My Line? and To Tell the Truth. His career as a restaurant chef ended suddenly in 1974 after a serious car accident.
Becoming a Teacher and TV Star
New Beginnings After an Accident
After a car accident in 1974, which injured his left arm, Pépin changed his career. He became a teacher, author, and TV personality. He worked as a consultant for a restaurant project called Windows on the World. He also taught cooking classes at small schools across the United States.
In 1976, Pépin wrote his cookbook La Technique. This was followed by La Méthode in 1979. These books used thousands of photos to show cooking techniques. Chefs like Tom Colicchio say these books helped them learn how to cook.
Teaching and Writing
In 1982, Pépin became one of the deans at a new cooking school in New York City. This school is now known as the International Culinary Center (ICC). Also in 1982, he filmed his first TV series, Everyday Cooking with Jacques Pépin, for PBS. He also published a cookbook to go with the show.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Pépin wrote columns for The New York Times. He was also a guest writer for magazines like Gourmet and Food & Wine. He wrote several more cookbooks, including The Art of Cooking and The Short-Cut Cook.
Working with Julia Child
In 1989, Pépin teamed up with Julia Child and Rebecca Alssid. They created a cooking program at Boston University (BU). This program eventually led to a Master's degree in Gastronomy, which is the study of food and culture.
Pépin's 1991 TV series, Today’s Gourmet, was filmed in San Francisco. It featured recipes from several of his books. In 1994 and 1996, Pépin and Julia Child appeared in live PBS specials called Cooking In Concert. In 1996, Pépin introduced his daughter, Claudine, in three TV series: Cooking with Claudine, Encore with Claudine, and Jacques Pépin Celebrates. These shows highlighted his role as a chef and teacher. Both Pépin and Claudine won James Beard Foundation Awards for these series.
In 1999, Pépin and Julia Child worked together again for the series and book Jacques and Julia Cooking at Home. This TV show won a Daytime Emmy Award and a James Beard Foundation Award. In 2003, Pépin published his autobiography, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen.
Recent Work and Art
Continuing to Cook and Teach
In the 21st century, Pépin continues to cook, write, publish books, film for television, and paint. He has also taught on cruise ships like the Queen Elizabeth 2. Since 2003, he has been the executive culinary director for Oceania Cruises. He is known for helping them achieve their excellent food reputation.
Pépin still teaches at the ICC and at BU. He also does book signings, cooking demonstrations, and classes on Oceania cruises and in different places across the U.S.
Painting and New Cookbooks
Since his time at Columbia University, Pépin has enjoyed drawing and painting. In recent years, he has spent more time on his art. He has sold his artwork on his website, Jacques Pépin Art, and shown it in art shows.
In the early 2000s, Pépin published more cookbooks. These included Fast Food My Way and More Fast Food My Way, which also had TV shows. His book Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook featured a lot of his art. In 2011, Pépin filmed the series Essential Pépin and published a cookbook with over 700 recipes. In 2012, he published New Complete Techniques, which updated his earlier important books, La Technique and La Méthode.
Health and Philanthropy
In 2015, Pépin, then 79, recovered at home after a minor stroke. He canceled one appearance but wanted to return to his normal schedule. His daughter, Claudine, said he was determined to keep going.
In 2016, Jacques Pépin, his daughter Claudine, and son-in-law Rollie Wesen created the Jacques Pépin Foundation (JPF). This non-profit organization helps groups that offer cooking training to adults and young people facing challenges in finding jobs. The JPF provides grants, teaching materials, equipment, and video lessons to community cooking programs across the USA.
In 2017, Pépin published a cookbook with his granddaughter, Shorey Wesen, called A Grandfather's Lessons. In the same year, he received an honorary doctorate from Columbia University. Pépin lived in Connecticut with his wife, Gloria, until she passed away in 2020.
Television Shows
Pépin's book La Technique was used to teach French cooking basics. This led to a TV show called The Complete Pépin on PBS in 1997. The show was re-aired ten years later. In the new introduction, Pépin explained that knowing proper cooking techniques is key to being a successful chef.
In 1999, Pépin co-starred with Julia Child in the PBS series Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. This show won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2001.
His shows Jacques Pépin: Fast Food My Way (based on his 2004 book) and Jacques Pépin: More Fast Food My Way aired on PBS and Create. In Essential Pépin (2011), Pépin updated some of his favorite recipes. In this 26-part series, he showed over 125 dishes. The companion book had more than 700 recipes. In this series, Pépin cooked with his daughter, Claudine. All his shows have been produced by KQED-TV in San Francisco.
Pépin was a guest judge on season five of the Bravo TV show Top Chef in 2008. He said his ideal "final meal" would be roast squab and fresh peas. He was also a guest on the TV show Wahlburgers in an episode called "Pauli Day." Donnie Wahlberg arranged for Pépin to surprise his brother Paul Wahlberg for his birthday.
In 2015, his TV series Jacques Pépin Heart & Soul began airing. The producer said it would be his "most personal and special" series. It would show a man whose love for life, 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 Pépin: The Art of Craft, was part of the PBS series American Masters. It first aired on May 26, 2017. The film was narrated by Stanley Tucci.
In 2020, Jacques and KQED started filming "Cooking at Home" for YouTube.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Besides the Daytime Emmy Award he won with Julia Child, Pépin has received three honors from the French government. He is a Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1997) and a Chevalier de L'Ordre du Mérite Agricole (1992). In October 2004, he received France's highest honor, the Légion d'honneur. He has also won 24 James Beard Foundation awards.
On May 13, 2010, Pépin and other chefs from the International Culinary Center prepared a special dinner. This dinner was for President Barack Obama's fund-raiser in New York City.
On February 5, 2010, during the naming ceremony of the MS Marina cruise ship, Pépin was named an honorary commodore. He serves as the executive culinary director for the Oceania Cruises fleet.
He received an honorary doctorate from Boston University on May 22, 2011. In October 2011, Pépin was honored at the New York Food and Wine Festival. Chefs like Alain Ducasse and Daniel Boulud cooked for him at the event, which was hosted by Martha Stewart. In 2015, Pépin was the first person to receive the Julia Child Award from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts.
In May 2017, Pépin received another honorary doctorate from Columbia University.
Personal Life and Challenges
Family Life
Jacques Pépin married Gloria Evelyn Augier in 1966. He met her while working as a ski instructor. Gloria passed away on December 5, 2020. They had one daughter, Claudine, who was born in 1968.
Overcoming an Accident
In 1974, Pépin was seriously injured in a car accident. A deer jumped in front of his car, and he swerved to avoid it. His car hit the deer, went off the road, hit a telephone pole, and crashed into a ravine. It landed upside-down and caught fire. He broke 14 bones in his back, pelvis, and arms. His left arm was so badly hurt that doctors first wanted to remove it. Pépin recovered, but his left shoulder's movement remained limited. His left arm is also shorter than his right. In his autobiography, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, Pépin wrote that this accident made him realize he could not continue working full-time as a restaurant chef. This led him to become a teacher and author instead.
