Simone Beck facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Simone Beck
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Beck in 1972
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| Born | 7 July 1904 Normandy, France |
| Died | 20 December 1991 (aged 87) Châteauneuf-de-Grasse, France |
| Pen name | Simca |
| Occupation | Author and cooking teacher |
| Nationality | French |
| Genre | Cookbooks |
| Notable works | What's Cooking in France? |
| Spouses |
Jacques Jarlaud
(m. 1923–1933)Jean Victor Fischbacher
(m. 1937) |
Simone "Simca" Beck (born July 7, 1904 – died December 20, 1991) was a French cookbook writer and cooking teacher. She worked with Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle. Together, they helped bring French cooking techniques and recipes to American kitchens.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Simone Beck was born on July 7, 1904, in Tocqueville-en-Caux, a town near Dieppe in Normandy, France. Her family was wealthy because they made Bénédictine liqueur. As a child, she enjoyed helping her family prepare desserts and meals.
In 1923, she married Jacques Jarlaud. After a car crash in 1928, she worked as a bookbinder and sales representative for four years. During this time, she met her second husband. In 1933, after her marriage to Jacques Jarlaud ended, she applied to the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris.
In 1936, Beck met Jean Victor Fischbacher. They married in 1937. She continued to use her maiden name, Beck, for her professional work and as a pen name. However, she used her husband's name in social settings.
Starting a Cooking Career
Beck's professional journey as a cook and teacher began after World War II. She joined Le Cercle des Gourmettes, which was an exclusive cooking club for women. This helped her become more involved in the world of cooking.
She was inspired by Louisette Bertholle and her husband, Fischbacher, to write a cookbook for Americans. Their first attempt at a cookbook was not very successful. So, Beck and Bertholle published a shorter book called What's Cooking in France? in 1952.
Around the same time, Beck also published her only book in French, Le pruneau devant le fourneau: Recettes de cuisine.
Writing Famous Cookbooks
In 1949, Simone Beck met Julia Child. This meeting inspired her to try writing a French cookbook for Americans again. Beck, Child, and Bertholle worked together to create Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This important cookbook was published in 1961.
Later, in 1970, Beck and Child (without Louisette Bertholle) published Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. II. This second book added more details about topics like baking and charcuterie (prepared meat products) that they felt needed more attention in the first volume.
Teaching French Cooking
Both Louisette Bertholle and Julia Child also became members of Le Cercle des Gourmettes. After three years, the three women started their own cooking school called l'École des trois gourmandes. They taught French cooking to American women who lived in Paris. This school continued to operate until the late 1970s.
While Julia Child became a very successful television chef in the United States, Simone Beck continued to teach cooking from her home. In 1972, she published her own cookbook called Simca's Cuisine. She wrote this book with Patricia Simon and included recipes that had not been in her earlier books with Child and Bertholle.
In 1979, she published a second volume, New Menus from Simca's Cuisine. She wrote this book with Michael James, who was her student, friend, and assistant. Her last cookbook, Food and Friends: Recipes and Memories from Simca's Cuisine, was published in 1991, the year she passed away. This book was also her autobiography and was written with Suzy Patterson.
Later Life and Death
Simone Beck passed away on Friday, December 20, 1991. She was 87 years old. She died at her home in Châteauneuf-de-Grasse, a small village near Nice, France.
Her cousin, Harold Earle, said that she had been having heart problems for several months. He mentioned that she had stopped eating, and the doctor believed this led to her death.
