French cooking for American home cooks
Pierre Franey
1921–1996 · United States
Pierre Franey was born in Tonnerre, in Burgundy, in 1921 and trained in Paris before coming to New York in 1939 to cook at the French pavilion of the World's Fair. He stayed, became a central figure at Le Pavillon, and later ran his own restaurants.
From 1975 he and Craig Claiborne wrote the 60-Minute Gourmet column for The New York Times, which showed readers how to make refined French dishes quickly and without fear. The column and the books that followed reached an enormous audience and quietly changed American home cooking.
He died in 1996. His gift was to make professional technique look simple without pretending it was nothing.
Iamalawjunkie · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dishes
Scallops poached in white wine and baked in their shells under a mushroom and cream sauce.
Sautéed chicken breasts finished with a pan sauce of white wine, cream, and Dijon mustard.
Fillets of sole floured and sautéed in butter, finished with lemon and parsley.
Hosted
A summer supper at East Hampton · 1980 · East Hampton, New York
Attended
Olney's table in Provence · 1978 · Provence, France
A new American dinner in Washington · 1990 · Washington, D.C.