Jacques Pépin Reflects on the Deep Connection Between Food and History

This essay forms part of a series titled The Big Ideas, where contributors reflect on the question: What is history?

In the 1950s, as a young chef, I struggled with feelings of inadequacy due to my lack of formal education. I had left school at 13 to pursue culinary training in kitchens. In 1959, while traveling to New York City to broaden my experience, I heard that Columbia University was the city’s premier institution. Within a week of arriving, I ventured uptown to visit the campus.

I enrolled at Columbia University from 1959 through 1972. During this time, I proposed a doctoral thesis examining the history of French cuisine through the lens of history and literature. I was fascinated by the numerous references to food and dining rituals in classic French literature — such as the detailed wedding feast in Gustave Flaubert’s "Madame Bovary" and the breakfast scene with sensual undertones in Colette’s "Chéri." However, my proposal was rejected as the topic was deemed too trivial for serious academic study, leading me to leave the program.

For many years, cooking was considered a lowly craft, with chefs viewed merely as laborers working in hot, dirty kitchens to prepare basic sustenance. Yet food deserves respect and intellectual consideration. It not only reflects history but also actively shapes it. My life and identity have been deeply shaped by this understanding.

Born in 1935 on the cusp of World War II, I witnessed simpler times. The Michelin Guide, which today symbolizes culinary excellence worldwide, had only begun awarding stars in 1926 and was then limited to France. It would take decades before restaurants outside France received Michelin stars. Our history and the food we ate were confined by our immediate environment and era.