Jacques Pépin on “Taste Memory” and a Life in the Kitchen

Jacques Pépin has long found beauty in simplicity—a glass of warm milk, a freshly sliced lemon, a garden-ripe tomato—and in transmitting knowledge from one hand to the next. Now 90, the French chef, author, artist, and educator has spent nearly a century immersed in the world of food, beginning as an apprentice in France at age 13 and rising through Parisian kitchens before moving to the United States in 1959. Over the decades, Pépin has become one of the most influential culinary figures in the world, authoring more than 30 cookbooks and appearing in hundreds of cooking programs. This year marks the 50th anniversary of his landmark 1976 book, La Technique, recently reimagined as an expanded edition combining 600-plus foundational skills and 160 recipes.

For this “site-specific” episode of Time Sensitive, we joined Pépin at his home in Madison, Connecticut, where he has lived for more than 50 years, to discuss the relationship between technique and speed, how he’s developed what he calls his “taste memory,” and the extraordinary role of chance throughout his life.

Special thanks to our Season 14 presenting partner, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Show Notes:

Jacques Pépin

[09:19] La Technique (1976)

[09:27] Jacques Pépin Complete Techniques 50th Anniversary Edition (2026)

[14:28] The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen (2003)

[11:16] Craig Claiborne

[15:49] Le Répertoire de la Cuisine (1914)

[15:14] Société des Cuisiniers de Paris

[24:39] Charles de Gaulle

[25:03] Algerian War

[47:26] Julia Child

[39:20] Howard Johnson

[39:35] Le Pavillon

[42:37] Albert Camus

[42:37] Samuel Beckett

[42:37] Simone de Beauvoir

[43:09] Michel Foucault

[46:30] Voltaire

[55:30] Helen McCully

[57:47] James Beard

[1:09:40] A Grandfather’s Lessons (2017)

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