4 ms·

I really enjoyed Jacques Pepin's autobiography and was surprised to discover that working at Howard Johnson's was a major, formative experience in his life. ht

by jpm_sd 4y ago

I really enjoyed Jacques Pepin's autobiography and was surprised to discover that working at Howard Johnson's was a major, formative experience in his life. https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/apprentice-my https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/apprentice-my https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/opinion/howard-johnsons-adieu.html https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/opinion/howard-johnsons-a...

dharmon 4y ago
I just read this and also really enjoyed it. Pépin heaps praise on Howard Johnson (the person), and has no kind words for his son, whom he blames for the restaurant’s decline. Mainly lack of adaptability as fast food hit the country, but then also drastically cutting quality in ingredients. Pépin claims that he would take home frozen restaurant food (as it was shipped to the restaurants), reheat it, and serve it to his NYC “foodie” friends, including renowned French chefs, without them being able to tell. I actually believe this since most of the pre-prepared food were stocks and sauce bases which freeze just fine, and also take the most time to prepare.
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- Balgair 4y ago
  Aside: Holy crap, are those french sauces hard to prep at home. During lock downs I got into french sauces. The mother sauces, specifically the fond brun, are quite time consuming to make. I'm talking 2-3 days worth of time. I mean, the pay off is amazing. I've had guests literally licking the china. But my lord, is it hard to do. If anyone out there is looking to really up their cooking game but not also spend days in the kitchen, I recommend this: https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Gourmet-16-Ounce-Packages/dp/B0010OOL46/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=brown+stock&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Gourmet-16-Ounce-Packages/d... It's not as good as home made, but it's ~85% the way there, 90% with filtered tap water (in my experience). Do be careful with a demi glace though, you do need to get their product for that. Just trying to reduce the water by half for the fond brun and calling it demi glace doesn't taste the same, at least to me.
CharleFKane 4y ago
And to kind of tie several things together at once: The podcaster Simon Majumdar recently did an interview with Jacques Pepin. https://www.eatmyglobe.com/season-8/jacquespepin https://www.eatmyglobe.com/season-8/jacquespepin During that interview, he mentioned that, as a special event, with Paul Freedman (author of "10 Restaurants that Changed America", they cooked one dish from each of the 10 restaurants for about 100 people. Some of these dishes were from really high-end restaurants like Le Pavillon (where Pepin also worked). "But the dish that everybody loved was the fried clams from Howard Johnson’s."
- wrycoder 4y ago
  Clam strips, as I recollect. No bellies. But very tasty.

by jpm_sd 4y ago

dharmon 4y ago

I just read this and also really enjoyed it. Pépin heaps praise on Howard Johnson (the person), and has no kind words for his son, whom he blames for the restaurant’s decline. Mainly lack of adaptability as fast food hit the country, but then also drastically cutting quality in ingredients. Pépin claims that he would take home frozen restaurant food (as it was shipped to the restaurants), reheat it, and serve it to his NYC “foodie” friends, including renowned French chefs, without them being able to tell. I actually believe this since most of the pre-prepared food were stocks and sauce bases which freeze just fine, and also take the most time to prepare.

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Balgair 4y ago
Aside: Holy crap, are those french sauces hard to prep at home. During lock downs I got into french sauces. The mother sauces, specifically the fond brun, are quite time consuming to make. I'm talking 2-3 days worth of time. I mean, the pay off is amazing. I've had guests literally licking the china. But my lord, is it hard to do. If anyone out there is looking to really up their cooking game but not also spend days in the kitchen, I recommend this: https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Gourmet-16-Ounce-Packages/dp/B0010OOL46/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=brown+stock&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Gourmet-16-Ounce-Packages/d... It's not as good as home made, but it's ~85% the way there, 90% with filtered tap water (in my experience). Do be careful with a demi glace though, you do need to get their product for that. Just trying to reduce the water by half for the fond brun and calling it demi glace doesn't taste the same, at least to me.

CharleFKane 4y ago

And to kind of tie several things together at once: The podcaster Simon Majumdar recently did an interview with Jacques Pepin. https://www.eatmyglobe.com/season-8/jacquespepin https://www.eatmyglobe.com/season-8/jacquespepin During that interview, he mentioned that, as a special event, with Paul Freedman (author of "10 Restaurants that Changed America", they cooked one dish from each of the 10 restaurants for about 100 people. Some of these dishes were from really high-end restaurants like Le Pavillon (where Pepin also worked). "But the dish that everybody loved was the fried clams from Howard Johnson’s."

wrycoder 4y ago
Clam strips, as I recollect. No bellies. But very tasty.