Q: You write that you discovered cooking for yourself offers the freedom to explore because you have to please only yourself. Has it changed how you cook or enjoy cooking in other ways?
A: Yes, when you’re alone you’re more contemplative and mindful of what you’re doing. I think that the most important thing is taking that extra care—focusing. It’s very good for people as they get old—and I’m 85. It keeps you focused, it keeps you alert. So try to keep it relaxing and contemplative and taste, taste, taste. That’s what I’ve learned mostly.
Q: Julia Child was famous for eating everything, with the proviso that it be enjoyed in moderation. Your cookbook doesn’t shirk on desserts, which makes me wonder if this is your philosophy as well.
A: Yes, exactly. I have never had weight problems. I eat butter. I love cheese. I just don’t eat huge amounts.
Q: One of the pleasures of the book is the tips you’ve learned from the famous chefs you’ve worked with, like Edna Lewis’s trick of keeping sugar cubes with a vanilla bean in a tight jar to use for a crunchy sugar topping. Is your boeuf bourguignon borrowed from Julia Child? Certainly it’s a lot easier than her version.
A: It is modified from Julia Child. It’s just a little simpler but it doesn’t sacrifice anything. I steal a lot from my authors. Well, I really don’t steal, I adapt because I’ve learned so much from everyone. I’ve worked with Madhur Jaffrey on Indian cooking. And Irene Kuo on a Chinese cooking book, and Claudia Roden on Middle Eastern cooking. I really have a store of people to draw on; and they’re all there in the kitchen with me so I’m never lonely.
Q: What are you doing next? Another cookbook?
A: I am doing a blog, The Pleasures of Cooking for One [found at judithjonescooks.com], to get a conversation going. Because that is a stumbling block; people feel so alone and they have a fear of failure. I’m just starting to get my feet wet. It’s all new to me. I didn’t grow up with blogs, you know.
