cooking

Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso: Pioneers of Mediterranean Flavors/

Bill Thompson

Hundreds of cookbooks are published every year, thousands have been published since the early 1980s. But few had the impact that 1982’s Silver Palate Cookbook had.

It was the outgrowth of a popular New York City eatery calledTthe Silver Palate, run by Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso.

They helped introduce Americans to Mediterranean and European cuisines never before seen in this country.

Over the next 25 years their cookbook sold millions of copies and became a must have for many kitchens.

In 2007, Lukins and Rosso published a 25th anniversary edition of the cookbook, and that’s when I spoke with them. So here now, from 2007, Sheila Lukins and Julie Rosso..

Sheila Lukins died in 2009, at age 66.

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Martha Stewart

Bill Thompson
Photo by Gage Skidmore

Well many of us went to barbecues, reunions, or other big holiday events for the 4th of July.

And if you hosted such an event, you probably realized how much planning and effort goes into it.
Maybe you could have used a little professional advice…

There may literally be no one in America who is better known for her expertise in entertaining than Martha Stewart.

For more than 40 years, Stuart has been dispensing advice on cooking and decorating and entertaining guests. Best-selling books, a magazine, and a television show have helped push her to the forefront.

I’ve interviewed her several times, including this conversation we had in 1994 when she published a book called Martha Stewart’s Menus For Entertaining.

So here now, from 1994, Martha Stewart.

Martha Stewart will be 82 next month . She lives in New York.

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Jill St. John

Bill Thompson

On this Thanksgiving Eve, we’ll be talking a little turkey. And gravy, and mashed potatoes, and lots of other delicious stuff from the cookbook written by actress and cookbook author Jill St. John.

In a long and successful acting career St. John was popular in movies and on television.

She was in Diamonds Are Forever as Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl.

Later. though, she established herself as a chef and food writer in print and on TV.

I met her a few days before Thanksgiving in 1987, when we had a nice conversation about all kinds of food, and how she came to write a cookbook. And her acting career.

So here now, from 1987, Jill St. John.

Jill st. John is 81 now.

Julia Child

Bill Thompson
Photo: Kingkongphoto

Julia Child is probably the reason many people became professional chefs. She’s also the reason many many millions of us have attempted things in the kitchen we never thought we could do.

For many years Child was America’s most famous chef, thanks largely to her public television series The French Chef.

In 1993, as another of her TV series was premiering, Child collected culinary wisdom from some of her peers, for a book called “Cooking With Master Chefs.”

And tyjhat’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1993, Julia Child.

Julia Child died in 2004, two days before her 92nd birthday.

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Anthony Bourdain

Bill Thompson

Tomorrow, June 25th, would have been Anthony Bourdain’s 64th birthday.

That’s why June 25th has been designated “Bourdain Day” by friends of the late chef, author, TV personality, and world traveler.

Bourdain shot to fame some twenty years ago with his book “Kitchen Confidential,” in which he pulled back the curtain to let us see what really goes on in a restaurant kitchen.

But his book also helped elevate food preparation to an elite profession.

I first met him in the spring of 2001….

Anthony Bourdain died on June 8th, 2018, by suicide, while on location in France for his TV show “Parts Unknown.”