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Health & Fitness

East Hampton Historical Society Exhibits "Hometown" Culinary Icons

It’s not too late to catch the Hamptons culinary exhibit of the season.  Culinary icons and partners, close friends, and - did you know - long-time East Hampton residents, Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey are warmly showcased at the historic Clinton Academy Museum in East Hampton through July 13th.

Entitled “Craig Claiborne & Pierre Franey:  Cookbook Revolutionaries in East Hampton,” the exhibit delves into their numerous cookbook collaborations, but also spans well beyond their published media success.  This was, after all, the era of “white Wonder Bread” as the curators point out.  Claiborne and Franey reframed and transformed food culture of the day when newfangled powdered and frozen convenience foods for the home were taking hold in a post-World War II period.  Think frozen dinners with the top center foil-covered “apple pie,” washed down with sugary powdered rainbow colored drinks.

The Clinton Academy will gently transport patrons back to an earlier age – a black and white panoramic succulent lust for life, a perfect yet simple joie de vivre.  You need to take this journey…

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Claiborne and Franey (locals say “FRA–nee” while others say “Fra-NEY”) came from very different geographies.  Claiborne was born in rural Mississippi while Franey’s birthplace was France’s Burgundy region.  Franey apprenticed at a restaurant in Paris while Claiborne’s culinary sojourn brought him to Switzerland where he studied at the Swiss Hotel Keepers Association.   They met in New York City when Claiborne was already the New York Times’ food editor and Franey was head chef at New York’s famed Le Pavillion restaurant.  I was surprised to learn at one time, Franey worked for the Howard Johnson’s chain as an advisor.

Claiborne and Franey wrote several highly acclaimed and timeless cookbooks separately and together (you probably have a few right now in your active collection).  They wrote newspaper columns and appeared on television introducing fresh ingredients and techniques of quicker yet sophisticated cooking with quality ingredients.  You may remember “The 60 Minute Gourmet” column in The New York Times, The New York Times Cookbook series and “Cuisine Rapide” to mention a few.

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Growing up in suburban northern New Jersey, the cooking shows were Julia Child’s “The French Chef” and Graham Kerr’s “The Galloping Gourmet.”  While entertaining, the shows were about cooking food.  They were definitely not entertainment shows based on some cooking pretext.  You can tell I’m a purist.   When the TV was hooked up next to the stovetop, the cooking shows played on – but never during dinner service!  I watched them all while apprenticing in my parent’s kitchen.  My introduction to Pierre Franey was during this time.  Our family’s The New York Time’s Cookbook- still a classic - brought me to the sensibility and freshness of Craig Claiborne.

But what about East Hampton?  Franey raised his family in The Springs while Claiborne lived in Clearwater Beach and later Hands Creek Harbor on the western side of Three Mile Harbor.  These two gentlemen didn’t just live here; they relished life and nature’s local bounty here.  Local mussels, fresh fish, farm stand produce and many, many dinner parties and al fresco picnics framed their East End food experiences with family, friends and followers.  You will find menus chronicled by Claiborne in his journals on display.  Often elaborate menus were meticulously hand drawn.  Look for the artistic calligraphy by a then much younger Jacques Pepin.  His signature carries a characteristic umbrella over the “J.”  Pepin is quoted in the exhibit, noting that Pierre Franey hired Pepin “the day after he (I) arrived in America…he became my older brother/mentor…I joined him and Craig for most of my weekends to cook “en famille.”

And that is the spirit of the exhibit – food and life “en famille.”  “En Famille” included the Gardiner family – yes, the Gardiner’s Island Gardiners.  Meet a Gardiner or two, take their motorboat and provisions to their private Gardiner’s Island, cook a classic chef-inspired meal based on local ingredients, artfully draw and post the menu, and dine al fresco. What a wonderfully rustic (except for the private island and water shuttle part) experience!  What I would give to have been invited to such an event.  You will want to partake.   Be sure not to miss the black and white photograph (there are many) of one of the Gardiner’s Island picnics.  All are comfortably clothed, old and young, sitting on a beached log, enjoying the chef prepared feast along the shore, taking in the natural landscape and each other’s company.  The dusty pick-up truck in the rear completes this Americana scene.

Is this the food experience of today?  For some perhaps; however, Franey and Claiborne’s picnic accoutrement seemed devoid of fine trendy outdoor tableware, Hamptons folks smartly dressed for dinner out, and certainly no expensive (yet delicious) salads from that expensive NY/Hamptons food purveyor.  Back then, it seemed to be more about simplicity – real high quality freshly prepared local inspired food, real people, a lust for food, life and the experience together.   

On your visit, if you are lucky,  Executive Director Richard Barons will offer enthusiastic genuine commentary and historical insights and observations.  Protected behind clear glass, Barons noted the fiery colored Le Creuset cooking vessel still entombs the aromas of Franey’s cooking.  Displayed cookware must be preserved for generations – perhaps next to Julia Child’s kitchen in The Smithsonian.  Turn the corner and find gigantic shiny stainless steel spatulas the size and weight of large heavy paddles!  Imagine the immense crowd who enjoyed their food prepared with these spatulas…They were surely smiling, laughing, undoubtedly drinking wine and enjoying delicious locally inspired fare.

Which resident East End culinary icons will be honored at the Clinton Academy in future decades?  Hopefully our very own local hero Ina Garten, Marc Murphy, Bobby Flay and others we haven’t met yet.  Let’s not forget the first class North and South Fork vintners who are producing high quality vintages, some destined for the world stage.

 

The East Hampton Historical Society

Clinton Academy Museum

151 Main Street

East Hampton, NY  11937

www.easthamptonhistory.org

631-324-6850

Open Saturdays 10-5, and Sundays Noon – 5 through July 13th 

Street parking

Admission is free – donations gratefully appreciated

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