Legendary book editor Judith Jones is renowned for discovering and editing Julia Child’s first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, published in 1961. But she was also the literary muse behind many gastronomical luminaries, among them Jacques Pépin, James Beard, Madhur Jaffrey and Edna Lewis. Jones also co-authored three cookbooks with her husband, the food writer and editor Evan Jones. Now widowed, the 85-year-old is about to publish another, The Pleasures of Cooking for One.
Q: You write in the book that after your husband died in 1996 you didn’t think you’d ever enjoy preparing and eating a meal alone. How did you come to rediscover the pleasure in cooking for yourself?
A: I just did it and found that it was so—and at the little table that we always ate at with the candles and nice napkins. He was always a great one for respecting the things that make something pleasing for the eye. He’d never let us put a ketchup bottle on the table, for instance. So I just found it was respecting and honouring something that had been a part of my life. And there was this sense of the past and the present melding.
Q: It seems the stereotypes of people eating alone are someone gulping down something over the sink or eating in front of the television. What is your ritual?
A: I almost always listen to music, either a classical station or something I put on myself. I don’t like the distraction of talking voices. I do often read, though, either a newspaper or The New Yorker. And I always have a glass of wine.
Q: You begin the book with the statistic that 51 per cent of New Yorkers live alone. And studies show that more people now are single than are married. Yet still there’s resistance to cooking well for yourself.
A: Yes, it’s true. I get people whose eyes glaze over when I mention this cookbook. And I know I’m never going to win them. What I hear most of all is “Why should I cook when it’s just for me?” But really, it’s a lack of respect for yourself. Do you just want to grab a bite? I feel it’s not healthy eating if you just grab a bite. If you prepare a nice well-balanced meal and you’re satisfied, you’re not going to be eating in another hour or two, nibbling on something. Also, as I say, sometimes you will push away those two extra hunks of meat, and say “Hmm, that will taste really good with a few beans if I make a little casserole tomorrow night.” You don’t eat more than you need so that you’re satisfied with the pleasure.
Q: Even though we increasingly live alone it seems that we cleave to the idea that cooking is something that’s only worthwhile if it’s done for others.
A: It is engrained. I wrote about cooking for one in Gourmet magazine and one man wrote in to say “What’s wrong with this woman? Why doesn’t she invite the neighbours in?”
Q: What did you say to that?
A: Oh, I didn’t answer [laughs].
Q: What do you say to the common excuse “I don’t have the time.”
A: I always answer: what are you saving your time for? Is it to watch more television? Or to Twitter? It seems to me this is an important part of living and an almost sacred time of day when you get away from your desk and having to talk to people. And you’re able to concentrate on something that’s very sensuous and very pleasing. It’s half an hour of your time. Some people spend that much time on their makeup.
Q: Yet obviously there is an appetite for this information. You write that you received a huge amount of feedback when you included a few recipes for one in your memoir The Tenth Muse.
A: Yes, that’s why I wrote this book. I did get so many responses from people saying: “Tell us more. Tell us about it. What should you have on hand?” They wanted details. So I kept a record of what I did and what I enjoy and I hope I can capture a few minds. For it will change their lives because I believe that people who miss that pleasure miss out on one of the fundamental pleasures of life.
Q: There are a number of cookbooks targeted at cooking for one but they all seem to focus on quick and simple recipes.
A: They focus on one dish, on making only one dish. I focus on one dish leading to another, how you cook through the week. That’s what’s really needed.
