Jacques Pépin on Authentic Food, Technique, and Turning 90

Article by: Janna Tamargo | Photography courtesy of Jacques Pépin Foundation | Published December 18, 2025

A conversation on technique, simplicity, and why food still matters

At 90 years old, Jacques Pépin remains one of the clearest voices in food. Not because he is loud or provocative, but because he is precise. His ideas about authenticity, technique, and simplicity feel especially resonant in a moment when food culture is often driven by spectacle rather than substance.

We spoke with Jacques about what authentic food really means, how memory shapes cooking, why technique matters more than recipes, and how he is choosing to celebrate his 90th birthday—through shared meals, community, and teaching.

Defining Authenticity & “Authentic Food”

AuthenticFood: What does the word authenticity mean to you in the context of food?

Jacques Pépin: Authenticity for me means really a respect of ingredients. The quality of an ingredient—fresh, unadorned, untouched—straight out of a garden, for example. This is what authentic food is.

AuthenticFood: When you hear the phrase authentic food, what comes to mind?

Jacques Pépin: Simple food. Straightforward food. With the freshest and best quality ingredients.

AuthenticFood: How do you translate that definition into your cooking? Is there a dish or practice that embodies “authentic food” for you?

Jacques Pépin: Anything fresh, untouched. For me, going to my pond in the back and fishing for frogs. I get them, take the skin off, sauté them. That’s authentic food.

AuthenticFood: Given your background, do you ever feel tension between preserving tradition and innovating?

Jacques Pépin: Tradition and innovation are two things that can work very well together. You can be a traditional cook with authentic food, and you can be innovative—changing the seasoning or adding a garnish. But you should always stay true to the original food.

Origins, Memory & Technique

AuthenticFood: What are some of your earliest food memories from Bourg-en-Bresse, and how do they shape what you consider “real” cooking today?

Jacques Pépin: A chicken—either sautéed or poached with a bit of white wine and finished with some cream. Those tastes, those memories, are kept in my memory, and I always relate to them in one way or another.

AuthenticFood: You’ve said that a recipe is like a “moment in time.” What do you mean by that?

Jacques Pépin: You can do the same dish ten times in one year, and depending on the day, the weather, the quality of the food, the amount of fat in the chicken, your mood—all of that—the recipe will be exactly the same and also different at the same time. A moment in time will never be duplicated, and neither will a dish.

AuthenticFood: You emphasize technique over strict recipe-following. Why is technique such a powerful carrier of tradition?

Jacques Pépin: For me, “strict recipe-following” is following technique. One doesn’t exclude the other.

Philosophy, Teaching & Culinary Values

AuthenticFood: You still cook very hands-on. What does that physical connection mean to you?

Jacques Pépin: It’s important for me to touch the food with my hands. I touch it with my eyes too, even with my ear as it’s cooking. All of those things are important to understand the food and to connect to it. I cannot cook with gloves—I need to touch the food to understand it.

AuthenticFood: Do modern food trends risk undermining more grounded forms of cooking?

Jacques Pépin: There are two different things. If you eat in a three-star restaurant and pay a fortune, you will get more stylized plating and maybe punctuation cooking. If you’re in a bistro, you might have a traditional breast of chicken. One doesn’t conflict with the other. They are two different styles of eating.

AuthenticFood: When you and Claudine cook together, how do you negotiate different perspectives?

Jacques Pépin: I don’t think we have different perspectives when we cook. We move with one dish and one direction. Whether the style is more Claudine or more me, I don’t see any problem there.

AuthenticFood: Can you share a dish you developed together that felt especially authentic?

Jacques Pépin: One time I cut up a chicken, and Claudine cut up a lot of vegetables and put them in a gratin dish. She covered it with aluminum foil, and I put the chicken on top. We put it in the oven. The chicken browned, then we mixed it together. It was very good that way. A fun experience. A bit different.

Legacy, Transmission & Impact

AuthenticFood: Through the Jacques Pépin Foundation, you focus on culinary education. How does that connect to your vision of authentic food?

Jacques Pépin: Teaching people technique gives them the freedom to cook well for themselves and their families. Whether they do it for a job or not, it helps them tremendously in life.

Turning 90: Food, Community & Reflection

AuthenticFood: Your 90th birthday is being celebrated through the 90/90 Dinner Series. Why was that important to you?

Jacques Pépin: Because this is who I am. This is very natural to me, and the best way to celebrate.

AuthenticFood: How has your relationship with food changed over the decades?

Jacques Pépin: As you get older, your tastes change. You look more for simplicity, without too much embellishment. Whether it’s a fresh tomato out of the garden with oil and salt, or a very good piece of bread with butter.

Broader Reflections

AuthenticFood: How have perceptions of authentic French cooking changed over time?

Jacques Pépin: It depends on who you’re talking to. For some people, authentic French cooking has never changed. For others, as you know more, you change. People have to make a difference between Michelin-star food and bistro food. Both are valid, but different.

AuthenticFood: What do you most hope people take away from your work and from these celebrations?

Jacques Pépin: I hope they will see food as a way to connect with their families, friends, and neighbors. The meaning of food is to nourish us, yes—but also to bring people together.

Jacques Pépin’s ideas remind us that authenticity is not something to be claimed, it is something to be practiced. Through technique, attention, and generosity, food becomes more than nourishment; it becomes a way of relating to one another.

At 90, his message is both timeless and urgent: cook simply, cook honestly, and let food bring us together.

This interview is part of AuthenticFood.com’s ongoing exploration of food as culture, memory, and social connection.