Faces of Our History: Jehan Benoit, Encyclopedia of Cooking

business intelligence By Jehan Benoit (1904-1987)

In many Quebec homes, an old cookbook radiates nostalgia. Her sympathetic writer brings a smile to the faces of those who have had the pleasure to know her. Jehane Benot is a name as well known in the 1970s as Ricardo or de Stasio today. Born and brought up in Westmount in a family of the French bourgeoisie, Jehanne Patenaud, the avant-garde in her own way, rejects the laws of her time. Instead, she succeeded in gaining admission to Le Cordon Bleu, a Parisian cooking school whose educational model through pretending undoubtedly inspired Gihan’s career. Strongly marked by European culture, upon her return to Montreal in the 1930s and 1940s, she founded her own secular and bilingual school, Le fumet de la vieille France. She also opened her own restaurant, which is vegetarian as well as Salad Bar. The popularization of culinary science will be his lifelong mission.

patience and innovation

Jehanne Benoit resisted the conservative mentalities of her day and became a seasoned businesswoman, thanks to selling cookbooks, then appearing on television and radio in both French and English. The life of Jihan’s heart is hot! She first married Otto Zimmermann, then married a young lover, Bernard Benoit. Thirteen years younger than her, he was her business partner for a long time and will remain so until the end. In the seventies, Jehanne Benoit may be quite old, but she hasn’t lost any of her passion for the culinary arts. You discover a technological novelty that still scares the general public a little: the microwave oven. Then Jehan Benoit took up his knives again and adapted all his recipes for this new way of cooking: vegetables, pickles and even grilled meat! With food and wine pairings, of course…

The legacy of Quebec culinary taste

Jehanne Benoit wanted to highlight the culinary culture of Quebec. Thanks to her constant work thanks to numerous publications and public appearances in person or on television, he has, for more than thirty years, made her a popular reference. His credibility was undoubtedly, in both Quebec and English Canada where his works were translated. The New cooking encyclopedia, first published in 1963, was much more than a cookbook. While wishing to update her traditional culinary heritage, she made many technical observations about the formulas for procedures, the cutting of meat, cooking styles or the cultural characteristics of the dishes. Known for her secrecy, she revealed to the audience a dynamic, endearing personality and a natural talent for communication. One might think that his style of cooking is outdated today, but his style encyclopedia Full of classics just waiting to be revisited!

^{research and writing, Elian Bellick, historian; A very nice collaboration between Ken Hill (successor to Jehan Benoit) and Richard Leclerc (Sutton Museum).}