James Beard

James Beard was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1903 to a mother who ran a hotel and a father who imported foods, so his earliest memories were of markets and kitchens. He studied briefly at Reed College, drifted through opera and theater in Europe, and returned to the United States to cook, teach, and write.

He published his first cookbook, Hors d'Oeuvre and Canapés, in 1940, then built a career on the belief that American cooking was worth taking seriously. James Beard's American Cookery (1972) gathered the country's regional dishes into a single authoritative volume, and his New York townhouse became a meeting place for writers, editors, and cooks.

Through decades of teaching and television he mentored a generation of chefs, and the foundation that bears his name continues to recognize American cooking. He died in New York in 1985.

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