European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 4, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Couscous in Casablanca by Mary Macvean a associated press p perhaps no one has eaten so Well for so Long As Craig Claiborne. For three decades As food editor of the new York times Claiborne Hac Access to the Best meals being served. Anywhere. In Mississippi during a childhood of Girts beaten biscuits and Black eyed peas in the Kitchen if his Mother s Boardinghouse in Switzerland As a student at the. Professional school of the Swiss hotel keepers. Association a a in China Hong Kong and countless top restaurants in Europe. Even in his own Kitchen on Long Island where Many great chefs came to him. A turning Point was a meal of couscous in Casablanca during world War ii. A a i flipped i went crazy about couscous Quot he said in an interview at his mid Manhattan apartment As he peered characteristically Over Reading meal he said in his Quot i swear to this Day gave me my initial unquenchable interest in food and food Claiborne �,9, published his first Book the new York times Cookbook in 1961. Four years after he became the newspapers first male food editor. He expected to sell around 15,000 books. He slept Little always expecting a Call in the Middle of the night from an irate Cook trying to make Quot the Macaroni and cheese on Page 152 and it does t eventual 3 million copies were sold. And the Book has become a dog eared authoritative companion to Fannie Farmer or Joy of cooking in Many kitchens. This time 20 books later he has become one of the nation s most influential food writers and is sleeping nights despite publication of an extensively revised edition of the new York times Cookbook Harper amp Row $25. Quot when i first joined the times the ultimate thing in food was French cooking Quot and the ultimate dish was Pike quenelle in lobster sauce he said. There was just we Lek Cookbook author Craig Claiborne a career began with enthusiasm for a traditional moroccan dish. One japanese restaurant in Manhattan. The new Book was the result of a revolution in food Quot Back in those Days no one Ever heard of a pesto sauce or Sun dried tomatoes and the Only Mustard was Ballpark Mustard Quot he said. Quot americans thought tuna came out of a can and that was it Quot Balsamic vinegar Quot one of the greatest additions to american culture where food is concerned Quot arrived from sorts of salad greens. Regional american thai vietnamese food. And California cuisine Quot if you could Tell me what that is thank you Quot he said with a Smirk. There have been other changes such As the food processor. It was a Gadget Claiborne in 1972 predicted never would go Over with american Consumers. One takes up some of the tiny amp to of counter space in Claiborne s Manhattan Kitchen which has just a two Burner Gas stove and a Small convection oven. One Wall is covered with Copper pots and Iron pans and two telephones. A head of cabbage a few red potatoes two tomatoes and some onions sat on the counter but Claiborne said he rarely Cooks there preferring his 5,000-Square-foot new York Homo in East Hampton on Long Island. It was in that professional Quality Kitchen where he tested recipes for his new Book., Claiborne and his editor Joan Whitman attacked the first Book weeding out the likes of Frankfurter goulash cutting some fats and Salt and adding More pasta and asian dishes fresh tuna and a Black Olive Puree for pasta. Forty percent of the recipes Are new. Many old standards even some with beef or butter or both a remain. At a recent Book signing he said a rather frantic woman ran up to ask if herbal meatloaf had made the Cut. It had. He was relieved. Claiborne himself however has for 10 years after a diagnosis of High blood pressure restricted his fat and Salt. Quot i Basic guidelines but i give myself a breakfast is nearly always juice and Yogurt lunch Quot almost always Quot is fresh Tomato soup recipe Page 72 of the new boo Toast Gorgonzola cheese and pan Forte arid dinner is pasta a hamburger or a dish such As Wiener schnitzel. His next project he said is a Book on table manners and settings for use professionally and in the Home. Admittedly opinionated on the matter he cites All manner of violations he has witnessed. Quot on an airline it drives me crazy when they say would you care for wine or Champagne. They should say still wine or Champagne. Quot or table candles with the flame at Eye level. Waiters who touch the rim of a Glass. Table settings that Are not strictly uniform Quot i have seen educated adults pick their Teeth at the table Quot he said. A master chef Simone Beck by Suzy Patterson associated press Quot a a diets and retirement Are anathema to. A Simone Beck master Cook and teacher author with Julia child of mastering the Art of. French cooking. A r. With her 86th birthday just past she a looking Forward to publication of her fifth Book next Spring. It will be an. Intimate autobiography As Well As a Cookbook. _ Quot cooking can t keep you Young but it can surely help keep you fit said Beck sitting on the sunny Terrace of her Provencal farmhouse at Pla Cassier Between Cannes. And Grasse. Quot crash diets can do you Little but a it has been 32 years since Beck child and Louisette a Bertholle published what became the first volume of _ mastering the Art Quot the Bible of French cuisine for. Americans yearn g to learn the secrets of sauces ,.bordetaise or Hollan Daise. A. A second to by Beck followed with equal Success while bed Halle branched Otto write her _ own cookbooks eventually All three were doing their own thing. A. A a after mastering the Art Beck wrote Simca s cuisine m. A q72 her friends Call her is me a and new recipes in-1979., a although a in american culinary circles and Mentor to a couple of generations of american Cope s. _ Beck is unknown in France. Quot i Hope my main statement in life a my memoirs and. New recipes a will take off when published by Viking next Spring Quot said Beck. Y. Quot it does t have a title yet but it tells All Quot she said with a Wink Quot including a bit about my love life. Also my tricks in cooking Well known to my pupils. But i have new ones up. The old sleeve Quot a. A a her new Book was inspired by child is encouragement Beck said. _ a when Beck s husband Jean Fischbacher died in 1986, child and her husband Paul who have owned a House on Beck s property since the 1960s, came Over to give moral support. _ child was fascinated by Becky a life particular some _ hair raising adventures during world War ii and a persuaded bar to write it Down. A a. Quot it s All in the Book including How i met Julia at a a cocktail party when i was looking for a american food Collaborator for a Book of French recipes Quot Bock said Quot mastering was a labor of love 10. Years in a Lucli Bock. By Tholle and child hashed Over. French techniques for a trans Atlantic audience writing her life Story was another Challenge. It recalls her privileged childhood in Normandy two marriages and her professional life weaving traditional and new menus and recipes into the Naua Tive y. Quot i d Learned food basics in Normandy with the family Cook Zulma Quot Beck a d Quot but ution i was a Young Bude in Paris i took up bookbinding Quot. She won a prize and looked around Tor something More interesting alter she stumbled onto the cordon Bleu school while driving around pans in the 1930s,she _ lured the top teacher. Henri Pella pm Home to help her a prepare fancy dinner parties jotting Down his tips but she did no to Start teaching Fie self until Well after world War ii Quot during the War i d spent much of the time bicycling around Normandy bargaining with Farmers to got food to. Send to my second husband who was in a German peso Camp Quot she said _ _. _ alter the War Bosk became involved in cooking and a teaching of i a Cree do trois Ccu Mandes founded by Theca Auto Dorsol m Quot. A. Later Beck Tauff t Cook Rig on her own giving lessons m her pans Flat at her guest House m Southern a and on world riot if Tours -. _ Quot Don t talk to n e at ont Noue a e cuisine Quot she sad it made food lock r g for Adonyss. Pm of at s about All and i new co d stand eang raw fish i abomination Friday january 4, 1990 _ the stars and stripes Page 1
