Crepes anyone? Famed French chef visits Stonington High

Stonington — Iconic French chef Jacques Pépin treated culinary students at the high school to a cooking demonstration on Wednesday.

The 87-year-old chef, television host, culinary educator and artist, who lives in Madison, was at the high school to demonstrate crepe-making techniques. He regaled students in the culinary class with stories about his life, tips and techniques, dispensed life advice and answered questions before signing some autographs and posing for pictures with students.

“I thought it was really exciting to have someone popular come to our town and do a demo for us, especially since he’s really experienced and knows a lot about this, so it was fun to learn about it,” said Addison Johnson, a student in the school’s Food and Nutrition Foundations class.

Pépin , the winner of 16 James Beard Foundation awards, has authored over 30 cookbooks and starred in numerous television cooking shows, including Every Day Cooking, The Complete Pépin and Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home, with Julia Childs.

“Crepes are very inexpensive,” he told the students as he worked. He showed them what consistency the batter should have and talked about things that could go wrong in the process.

He explained that crepes are very versatile and said that the crepes he made for the students would contain Nutella or apricot preserves, but they could also become a savory dish by adding chicken or fish, and they were an excellent way to use leftovers.

After more than seven decades in the industry, Pépin still loves to cook and share his knowledge with others.

“I’m always hungry,” he said, laughing.

“What am I going to do? Get up and wait until the night comes and go to bed? No. As long as I can work and get around, I like to see people and cook and enjoy life,” he said when asked why he continues to educate and work when he could easily retire.

Indeed, during the pandemic, Pépin began filming short cooking videos with tips and techniques for his official Facebook page, which has 1.6 million followers, from the kitchen of his Madison home.

Majido Demartino, a student in the class, said she watches Pépin’s videos with her mother.

“It’s a very once in a lifetime sort of experience,” she said.

While Pépin cooked, he spoke of his career, which began at the age of 13 with an apprenticeship at the Grand Hôtel de l’Europe in Paris. He said he truly began to cook at home alongside his mother, and in his parents’ restaurant, Le Pelican, as a young child.

Flipping crepes off the pan with his bare hand, he told the students the stove was the great equalizer, because it did not matter what color your skin is, or what gender you are or where you came from. He cautioned that being a chef is a challenging career full of long hours, late nights and weekends for pay that is not always great.

One student asked how he managed to find work-life balance, and his sense of humor was on full display.

“I drink a lot of wine,” Pépin replied.

Pépin also spoke of his military service, from 1956-1958, during which he was personal chef to three French heads of state, including President Charles de Gaulle.

“Usually you do what the President wants,” he jokingly told the students.

He explained that cooking for a president was complicated because there were so many protocols to follow, and timing and menus were different for each meal, depending on the number of guests and dietary restrictions. He said he had the opportunity to cook for President Barack Obama using food grown in the White House Garden.

He also talked of how choices can lead to unforeseen opportunities.

Less than two years after he came to the United States in 1959, Pépin was offered a position cooking for President John F. Kennedy, but turned it down. Instead, he ended up working at the restaurant chain Howard Johnson’s, where he learned about large scale production and found a new skill set in hamburgers, fried clams and clam chowder.

Pépin said that he initially planned to spend only a year or two in the United States, but now, more than 60 years on, he has raised a family and built an extensive legacy through his books, television shows, teaching and the Jacques Pépin Foundation, which supports community organizations that provide free culinary and life skills training.

“I feel more of an American than French,” he said.

Though he is known as a French chef, Pépin said living in America, and his time in New York City, with over 24,000 restaurants from a wide array of ethnic cuisines, has changed the way he cooks.

“I don’t cook the same way I did 50 or 60 years ago,” he said. “I’m probably the quintessential American chef now.”

“The best restaurant is free,” he told the students, adding that a tomato, fresh from the garden, with a little oil and salt has always been a favorite meal.