This June, I’ll travel once again to the Food and Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen, Colorado. For many years, my dear friend Julia Child and I have teamed up to teach classes together at the event for the past seven years, my daughter, Claudine, has been my cooking partner on stage.

Pépin frames cooking not as solitary expertise but as a lived, communal practice shaped by friendship, family, and public teaching. The mention of the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen situates him within a major American culinary institution, while recalling Julia Child underscores a lineage of French-influenced culinary education that helped popularize technique-driven home cooking in the U.S. The shift from partnering with Child to appearing with his daughter Claudine highlights continuity across generations: the stage becomes a place where professional craft, personal relationships, and mentorship converge. Implicitly, the quote celebrates collaboration and adaptability—honoring the past while embracing new partners and audiences.