My guest March 5th is Makenna Held, Host, and Co-Owner of La Pitchoune (often shortened to La Peetch) the former vacation home of Julia Child and husband Paul. Makenna and Julia share a number of things in common: They are both incredibly tall, deeply passionate about French cooking, have a ‘what the hell’ attitude in the kitchen, and call Smith College their alma mater.
Nestled just outside of Grasse, France ‘the house that Julia Child built’, La Pitchoune, adorns the hillside with it’s jewelbox charm. Home to the only working pegboard kitchen, styled after the walls of E. Dehilerin in Paris. La Pitchoune is home to the Courageous Cooking School half the year, and a short-term vacation rental the other half the year. Our food focus here is instilling solid French cooking techniques grounded in new flavors.
Courageous Cooking™ recipe-free school, runs April-June, and September-October. To book the Courageous Cooking school follow this link: www.lapeetch.com/cookingschool
Good life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2020 Chehalem INOX Unoaked Chardonnay
INOX, Chehalem’s 100% stainless steel fermented and aged Chardonnay, is a perfect example of the range of this varietal. The 2020 offering is rich and bright, with initial stone fruit aromatics jumping out of the glass. They give way to notes of lemon curd, dried mango, and honey. The mouthwatering palate is weighted by a slight viscosity that creates an alluring texture on the finish that begs for another sip.
My guest March 12th is Chef Stephanie Hersch. Follow up from last week’s show talking about the cooking school “La Peetch”, Julia Child’s former Southern France vacation cottage and now home to “The Courageous Cooking School” – why not talk to someone who spent the last 16 years with Julia Child as her Executive Personal Assistant, Chef Stephanie Hersch!
While crossing the Atlantic on Oceania’s Riviera I had the distinct pleasure of meeting an old acquaintance Chef Stephanie Hersch. I first met Stephanie while helping start the South Florida Chapter of The American Institute of Wine & Food (AIWF). I crossed paths with Stephanie and Julia a number of times throughout the years as I started the Wichita Chapter of AIWF and attending the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen for many years. Imagine my surprise when while on the cruise I discovered Chef Stephanie Hersch is now one of the talented Chefs who teaches hands-on cooking classes on Oceania.
While it was great to catchup with Stephanie, I for sure wanted to share her story with my listeners. I had the pleasure of recording a show in the magnificent cooking studio on Riviera during our cruise.
Stephanie Hersh dreamed of a job in the culinary world, but she never imagined she would have a front-row seat to the life of the biggest culinary icon around, Julia Child. Stephanie became Julia’s executive assistant in the most unlikely of ways, when a chance phone call came into the secretarial school she was attending after time at the Culinary Institute of America. The only catch? Julia wanted an office assistant, not a starry-eyed culinary school grad. Stephanie talked her way into the job and wound up becoming Julia’s right hand for almost 16 years. Today, Stephanie is a chef instructor with Oceania Cruises and is based in New Zealand.
While on the Oceania cruise and enjoying an extensive array of fine wines, one that particularly caught my attention was an inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc from Pedroncelli.
Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2019 Pedroncelli Dry Creek “East Side Vineyard” Sauvignon Blanc
Brightly aromatic and very varietally correct-true to the Sauvignon Blanc grape. The clean and fresh flavors are layered with pear, Meyer lemon and tropical fruits. Our Sauvignon Blanc is crisp with notes of citrus, green apple, grass and a touch of minerality. The finish is quite refreshing. Please enjoy upon release or within a year or two as no aging is required. ABV13,5% 100% Sauvignon Blanc – Stainless fermented, no oak.