In this captivating memoir, the man whom Julia Child has called "the best chef in America" tells the story of his rise from a frightened apprentice in an exacting Old World kitchen to an Emmy Award-winning superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook and shaped the nation's tastes in the bargain. As a homesick boy in war-ravaged France, Jacques works on a farm in exchange for food, dodging bombs and bearing witness as German soldiers capture his father, a fighter in the Resistance. After the war he is caught up in the hurly-burly action of his mother's café, where he proves a natural. He endures a literal trial by fire and works his way up the ladder in France's most famous restaurant, finally becoming Charles de Gaulle's personal chef.

When Jacques comes to America, he falls in with a small group of as-yet-unknown food lovers, including Craig Claiborne, James Beard, and Julia Child. A master of the American art of reinvention, he goes on to earn a graduate degree from Columbia University, turn down a job as John F. Kennedy's chef to work at Howard Johnson's, and, after a near-fatal car accident, switch careers to become a charismatic leader in the revolution that changed the way Americans approached food.

Also included in this book are Jacques's all-time favorite recipes created during the course of a career spanning nearly half a century, from his mother's utterly simple cheese soufflé to his wife's pork ribs and red beans.

The Apprentice is the poignant and sometimes funny tale of a boy's coming of age. It is also the story of America's culinary awakening and the transformation of food from an afterthought to a national preoccupation.

"Prose as joyful and rich as the author's food." Kirkus Reviews

"In simple, light, unpretentious prose, chef and cooking teacher extraordinaire Pepin recounts his life in food and cooking." Mark Knoblauch, Booklist

"Part of Pepin's appeal is that he is not a man who does things by the book. This may also explain why — when just about every other food personality has already cranked out a kitchen memoir or two — Pepin, the author of 21 cookbooks, waited until now to tell one of the liveliest stories of them all." Eve Zibart, Time Out New York

"As lively and personable as Pepin himself." Alison Arnett, The Boston Globe

"This charming memoir will not disappoint." Publishers Weekly

"[Pepin] made his way late to the written word, having been a chef before he was a scholar, and a teacher and a restaurateur before he published. But first — the good luck is ours — he was a hungry child, in a country in which food was religion, and in which history imprinted itself culinarily." Stacy Shiff, The New York Times

"Lest any reader think this is another saga of sex and drugs in the kitchen, it definitely is not. Instead, it's the story of just what it takes to turn a talented young Frenchman into one of the most admired figures in the culinary world." Judith Weinraub, The Washington Post

With sparkling wit and occasional pathos, Pepin tells the captivating story of his rise from a terrified 13-year-old toiling in an Old World French kitchen to an American culinary superstar.

Jacques Pépin is the author of twenty-one cookbooks, including the best-selling The Apprentice and the award-winning Jacques Pépin Celebrates and Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (with Julia Child). He has appeared regularly on PBS programs for more than a decade, hosting over three hundred cooking shows. A contributing editor for Food & Wine, he is the dean of special programs at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. Before coming to the United States, he served as personal chef to three French heads of state.

'Contents

Acknowledgments · vii

1. The War Years · 1

2. The Call of the Stove ·23

3. My Apprenticeship · 46

4. Seasons ·66

5. Paris · 76

6. The Plaza Athénée · 88

7. Cooking for Presidents · 106

8. Home Again · 128

9. New York, New World · 134

10. Only in America · 151

11. Cooking with Friends · 168

12. Gloria · 185

13. Living Off the Land · 200

14. Soup's On · 216

15. Teaching · 224

16. Writing · 250

17. Television · 262

18. Gloria's Restaurant · 272

19. A New Way to Cook · 286

Index · 295\n

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