Famed chef Jacques Pépin, who turns 85 in December, is featured in an hour-long documentary and short cooking lessons from PBS.
You can stream the 53-minute American Masters feature on Pépin at: Jacques Pépin: The Art of the Craft on PBS
Or, if you want to skip directly to Pépin’s cooking lessons, visit:
Jacques Pépin and more American Masters on Youtube
All the streaming episodes above are currently free of charge. PBS is providing several American Masters episodes for free streaming this month at: PBS American Masters
Other full American Masters full episodes available for streaming include::
Jacques Pépin
Jacques Pépin was born on December 18, 1935 in Bourg-en-Bresse, near Lyon, France. His family owned the restaurant Le Pélican, and Pépin worked there as a child until the age of 13, when he apprenticed at Le Grand Hôtel de l’Europe in Bourg-en-Bresse. At 16, he went on to work in Paris at the Plaza Athénée. He was in the military service and eventually became the personal chef to three French heads of state, including Charles de Gaulle.
In 1959 he emigrated to the U.S. and met Julia Child, who became a lifelong friend and colleague.
He began his television career in 1982, filming a regular cooking show at PBS local station WJCT-TV in Jacksonville, FL. He published a companion cookbook, Everyday Cooking with Jacques Pépin, and wrote for The New York Times and other national publications. He authored several more cookbooks, including The Art of Cooking, volumes 1 and 2, and The Short-Cut Cook.
In 1994 and 1996, Pepin and Julia Child created a series of 90 minute PBS specials, Cooking In Concert and More Cooking In Concert, filmed live before a Boston audience. In 1999, Pépin teamed up with Julia Child for a follow-on series and companion book, Jacques and Julia Cooking at Home.
Today, Pépin and his wife Gloria live in Connecticut, where they have been since 1975. Along with his daughter, Claudine Pépin, and his son-in-law, Rollie Wesen, Pépin oversees the Jacques Pépin Foundation to support culinary education for disadvantaged adults.
Below is one of the cooking lessons available on Youtube, “Pépin Makes a Seafood Omelet.”
Books by Jacques Pépin
Jacques Pépin has written several books, which you can find on Amazon. He narrated his autobiography, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, available on Audible.
Jacques Pépin Online
Jacques Pépin Official Facebook Page
Jacques Pépin Looks Back
Jacques Pépin talked about his career, which began just after World War II, at the age of 13 in Lyon, France, and continues to this day, in the interview below with CBS Sunday Morning.
Contact Jacques Pépin
Jacques Pépin is very active on Facebook and you can connect with him and with his fans on his Facebook page. Here are the latest posts on the Jacques Pépin Facebook Page.