Friends Author Series: A Conversation with Jacques Pépin

Legendary chef Jacques Pépin returns to the Ferguson Library to discuss his new book Cooking My Way: Recipes and Techniques for Economical Cooking, where he offers insights on cooking economically at home and techniques that save money, time and cleanup effort without sacrificing flavor. Chef Michel Nischan, four-time James Beard Award winner and co-founder and chairman of Wholesome Wave, will moderate the conversation.

Among Pépin's suggestions are shopping for ingredients seasonally when they’re the most affordable and flavorful; not overlooking inexpensive cuts of meat and poultry; saving meat and vegetable trimmings for a stock, soup or a sauce; and transforming leftovers into entirely new meals.

With more than 150 recipes, along with an illustrated menu for each season, Jacques Pépin Cooking My Way equips the reader with everything needed to cook the way Jacques Pépin does.

Reception at 6 p.m.; program from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $50 general admission, $40 for Friends members. General admission ticket includes a Friends membership through December 2023.

All guests will receive a copy of Cooking My Way: Recipes and Techniques for Economical Cooking.

Registration required here.

Jacques Pépin is the winner of 16 James Beard Awards and the author of more than 30 cookbooks, including Jacques Pépin Art of the Chicken, Essential Pépin and Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple. The Connecticut resident is a chef, author, television personality, educator and artist, and has starred in 12
acclaimed PBS cooking series. His dedication to culinary education led to the creation of the Jacques Pépin Foundation in 2016.

Michel Nischan is a four-time James Beard Award-winning chef with more than 35 years of experience advocating for a more healthful, sustainable food system. Along with the late actor Paul Newman, he is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Wholesome Wave and the former Dressing Room restaurant in Westport. He is also the co-founder of the James Beard Foundation's Chef Boot Camp for Policy and Change. In 2018 he founded Wholesome Crave, which makes plant-based soups for large dining facilities. He's the author of three cookbooks and many articles focused on sustainable food systems and social equity through food. In 2015, the James Beard Foundation honored him with its Humanitarian of the Year Award.