Learning to Cook

As far back as I have memories, I wanted to be a chef. From age three or four, I never desired anything else.

Chefs were in my family, and, growing up on a farm in rural Alsace, near the German border, I was surrounded everywhere by food and cooking. One uncle was a pastry chef. One was a butcher. Another was the chef-owner of a country inn known for its cuisine. My maternal grandfather raised ducks and geese for foie gras. My father worked for Feyel, one of the biggest producers and distributors of foie gras in the world. And my mother was, and remains, an amazing cook and baker.