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MANILA, Philippines - Who is the renowned French chef who served as the personal chef of Charles de Gaulle and two other French premiers, and who starred in an Emmy-winning PBS series with Julia Child in 1999?
He was born on Dec.18, 1935 in Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain, and began cooking in his parents’ restaurant, Le Pelican, at the age of 12. He went to Paris and trained with Lucien Diat at the Plaza Athenee, and eventually served as personal chef to Charles de Gaulle and two other French premiers.
Upon migrating to the US in 1959, he turned down a job offer at the Kennedy White House, and instead accepted a position as the director of research and new development for the Howard Johnson’s chain of hotels, where he stayed for 10 years.
Demonstrating interests beyond cooking, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the Columbia University School of General Studies in 1970, followed by a master of arts in 18th- Century Poetry from Columbia in 1972.
Since that time, he has been featured in several highly acclaimed television shows and written 18 books. His celebrated Le Technique is used to this day as a textbook for teaching the fundamentals of French cuisine.The success of Le Technique prompted him to launch a televised version of the book in 1997. It was re-launched on PBS 10 years later and included a new introduction by him where he stressed that now, more than ever, the secret to being a successful chef and a mere cook lies in knowing and using the proper technique.
He also costarred in the award-winning 1999 PBS series Cooking at Home with Julia Child and their work together was honored with a daytime Emmy in 2001. A third series had him cooking with his daughter Claudine, wife of Rolland Wessen.
His show, Fast Food My Way based on his 2004 book of the same name, ran on PBS.
“Conventionally fast food is associated with processed food,” he says. “My food is usually easy and fast to prepare, but it is not processed food. I use fresh and occasionally canned ingredients, but never processed food full of all kinds of chemicals. I also try to use organic ingredients whenever possible. A simple tomato salad with fresh basil and red onion, for example, is a fast-food recipe, as I define the term.”
He now has a show More Fast Food My Way on PBS.
He was also a guest judge on the Bravo television show Top Chef. He stated that his final meal would be roast squab and fresh peas.
Today, he serves as dean of special programs at the French Culinary Institute, which is part of the International Culinary Center in New York City.
He is also an active contributor to the Gastronomy Department at Boston University, where he teaches an online class on the cuisine and culture of France along with Prof. Kyri Claffin of Boston University’s History Department.
He also writes a quarterly column for Food & Wine and offers an amateur class each semester based on varied culinary topics.
In addition to the Daytime Emmy Award won with Julia Child, he has received two of the French government’s highest honors. He is a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres (1997) and a Chevalier de L’Ordre du Merite Agricole (1992).
In October 2004, he received France’s ultimate civilian recognition, the Legion d’honneur.
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Last week’s question: Who is the American food and wine connoisseur on the Emmy-winning Queer Eye for the Straight Guy who is now the host of the Food Network’s Chopped and Food Detectives?
Answer: Ted Allen
Winner: Erika Sandra dela Paz of Marikina City
Text your answer to 0905-3142614 with your name and address. One winner will be chosen through a raffle of texts with the correct answer. The winner will receive P2,000 worth of SM gift certificates for use at Our Home, SM Department Store, or SM Supermarket. They can claim their prize at Our Home in SM Megamall. Call the store manager at 634-1950, 634-1943. Bring photocopies of two valid IDs and a clipping of the Design Quiz issue in which you appear as winner.
