Last week I had the greatest pleasure of seeing Judith Jones speak about her philosophy of food and eating, and her new book “The Pleasures of Cooking for One.”
Judith Jones is the senior editor and vice president at Knopf. She was responsible for publishing “The Diary of Anne Frank” and Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. In her talk she spoke of her early years in France and the marvelous meals she would have at little corner bistros. She now lives in Vermont where she raises her own cattle, eats local and enjoys the pleasures of cooking for herself.
Reading her books and hearing her speak I feel like she is someone I could be friends with. I felt the same way when I read Julia Child’s “My Life in France”. She has this lovely humor, but also her ideas on food and the way we eat are the same as mine. I believe, as she does, that the best food is always fresh, local and organic. We also share the belief that there is always time to make a good supper instead of a prepared frozen meal. When talking of instant meals she asked the audience something like “So your instant meal saves you time you say? Well what do you need all that extra time for anyway, another tv show?” It’s so true! Her book is not so much a cookbook but more of a way of looking at the way you shop and prepare meals.
Most of her meal ideas are pretty quick. Except for some Sunday afternoon stews and such they all look to take 20 minutes or so. The book works with using leftovers-- enjoying pork tenderloin one night and then the next using the leftovers to create a ginger pork stir fry for example. She, like Jacques Pepin, also suggests putting things like the tops of leeks or scraps of veggies in the freezer for the next time you make stock, so as not to waste anything.
We all know the importance of eating local, eating organic, and we know the politics of food, but Judith Jones is there to remind us of the pleasures of food. The act of being in the kitchen, enjoying the scent of garlic sizzling in olive oil, your glass of wine and music, and enjoying the process as well as the meal.
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