40 Celebrities We Need To Keep Safe From 2016

ASPEN, CO – JUNE 16: Jacques Pepin attends the Opening Reception of the 34th Annual Food

25. Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pépin is the legendary French chef from numerous PBS shows and author of 25 cookbooks. He gained his love for food and cooking chops in his parents’ restaurant in east-central France. After additional classic training, Pépin went on to serve as personal chef to three French presidents before coming to the US in 1959.

Pépin is a believer in proper technique as the foundation for successful cooking. Watching his food wizardry on screen is a real treat. His knife skills are supreme and in his hands the sharpened blade dances. At the end of the whirlwind of movement, there’s a pile of completely uniform cuts of vegetables or meats. It’s magical, I could watch that sort of thing for hours.

He even has two series covering his version of fast food, beautiful lessons in simple and quick cooking. He’s said that following a recipe can lead to disaster. Because a recipe describes a process that can’t be duplicated, it’s more important to understand the idea behind it.

He often collaborated with the late Julia Child, including co-starring in Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. His friendly, smiling demeanor reflects his good nature. I will never forget watching Julia rattling off French dish names like a native and then turning to him to say “Jack…”

Though he has said that Heart & Soul is his last series, his love of teaching, unaffected style, and French accented English is forever part of the American cooking landscape. He is a low-budget public TV ambassador of accessible, real cooking technique, a refreshing reminder in a publicity machine fame over food world. Jacques Pépin needs to be spared by 2016.

-Kalistyra

Next: Chris Pine