International Association of culinary Professionals

The IACP Oral History Project

By Neil L. Coletta
with Barbara Haber

Copyright 2008, Neil L. Coletta

The IACP Oral History Project

by Neil L. Coletta

Contents
Acknowledgements Preface Introduction Chapter 1: Origins and History The Early Meetings First Organizational MeetingAugust 19-20, 1978, St. Louis Who Are We?: Membership and Growing Pains First Annual Membership MeetingFebruary 2-4 1979, New Orleans Certification, Philanthropy, Progress Going International Corporate Sponsorship IACS Cookbook The Culinary Trust IACP Cookbook Awards Program Becoming Professionals Association Management FSA Group From Cooking to Culinary Chapter 2: The Food World Family and Identity Teaching Cooking Classes and Schools Visiting Instructors and Celebrities Media and Technology Chapter 3: Significance and Impact Growth, Success, and Change Personal Meaning IACP Today Professional Interest Secions & Committees Afterword References Appendices Appendix 1: Setting the Scene Timeline Appendix 2: IACP History Timeline Appendix 3: Membership Letters Appendix 4: Newsletters Appendix 5: History of the Julia Child Cookbook Awards Program Appendix 6: IACP Cookbook Appendix 7: List of IACP Oral History Interviews

Acknowledgements
I have many people to thank for the opportunity to work on this project, and for their support along the way. First and foremost, thank you to the Oral Histories Project participants (see appendices for a complete list). Additionally, I must thank all those who transcribed the some 2,000 pages of recorded interviews. Barbara Haber has been the impetus for this project and without her these memories would never have materialized for others to see and hear. She has been a wonderful mentor. Thank you also to the IACP Board of Directors for their enthusiasm and belief in the project, particularly former President Blake Swihart, who personally conducted many of the interviews, and Darra Goldstein, who checked in on me faithfully. The Culinary Trust has helped to fund this research through the Harry A. Bell Grant for Food Writers. The Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, generously offered a month-long residency fellowship. Thank you to all current and former employees at IACP Headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky and to the Schlesinger Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts for storing and preserving the original recordings. Thank you to those who attended the Interactive History of IACP session at the New Orleans conference, 2008. Thank you also to Rebecca Alssid, Director of the MLA in Gastronomy program at Boston University, for her patience and support. Thank you to all culinary professionals: past, present and future.

Preface

These were disparate individuals in a world that did not understand them. The public didnt understand them and they didnt necessarily understand their own power or influence. 1 Blake Swihart

In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), the board of directors launched an oral history project designed to document the thoughts and experiences of founding and charter members, and to provide a working history of the organization. The collected interviews are a valuable addition to culinary history, as they capture the memories, and personalities, of early IACP members, so many of who have been influential to the ways that we eat, cook and think about food today. The IACP Oral Histories Project is a story spanning the past three decades, as told by the people who were there to build the association from the ground up. Through their personal recollections, against the backdrop of social and culinary developments during the organizations early years, the project attempts to present a snapshot of culinary culture at a particular juncture in our collective past. The anecdotes and interactions of members, as well as discussions of ingredients, techniques and philosophies within food culture in

Swihart, Blake. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007.

the United States from the late 1970s to the present, hope to provide an illuminating, first-hand account of this remarkable time. Without a coherent written record, organizational memory can be, at best, unreliable. Already, some memories have been lost, along with those founding and charter members no longer with us. In no small part this project seeks to honor them, as much as it strives to inform and entertain those reading it today. Oral history as a practice can give meaning back to the people who made and experienced the past, in their own words. This would, of course, be one gratifying outcome of the project, however it should also be noted that memory is a delicate source, subject to all manner of distortions. I have done my best to retain the accuracy and integrity of all historical references, people, places, and events, providing sources wherever possible. Information within the oral histories themselves is often vague, and occasionally contradictory. In some instances I have tried simply to present multiple perspectives on a given issue or event, leaving the rest to the reader. As an organization of 30 years at the time of this writing, there was a great need to capture for posterity the thoughts, hopes, fears, successes and failures of early IACP members. I hope that these have been faithfully organized throughout the following pages. Neil L. Coletta Boston, Massachusetts

A NOTE ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THIS BOOK

The following pages are organized into three distinct chapters. Chapter 1: Origins and History, attempts to present a chronological history of IACP through oral history interviews and existing documents. Chapter 2: The Food World, attempts to supplement this history by incorporating discussions of relevant personal, professional, social and cultural issues facing the founding and charter members. Chapter 3: Significance and Impact, contrasts the association of the past with IACP today, and discusses the many ways in which the organization has been influential, both to individual lives and beyond. This chapter also discusses how the organizational structure has grown to reflect the current food world. In the Afterword, we are brought up to date with recent organizational changes, followed by a list of references and appendices.

Introduction

First coming together in 1978 as a small but determined group of cooking school owners and instructors, the IACPthen known as the Association of Cooking Schools (ACS)would unknowingly lay a foundation for food culture in America, and beyond. With figures such as Julia Child, Jacques Ppin and James Beard already in the public eye, this lesser-known, though perhaps no less influential collective of professionals and self-taught cooking teachers, seized a pivotal moment in the late 1970s and found a niche for culinary instruction that the American public were clamoring for. The founding of this organization coincides with a time of sweeping social change in America, particularly the womens movement and its aftermath. In this way, and because such a large majority of the original members were women, the oral histories reflect not only American history, with a focus on culinary history, but also womens history and the changing roles and expectations associated with food, domesticity, and the professionalization of the kitchen. Today, many chefs enjoy unprecedented celebrity while Americans are becoming increasingly aware of their own gastronomic culture. In large part, this culture is the result of a long evolution of culinary education. The significance of culinary education today begins with the realization that thousands of private

and professional schools and academies now exist where once there were none. In addition, cultural transformations have raised the culinary arts from the realm of the barely acceptable to the status of a legitimate and desirable profession. Education is fundamental to the professionalization of such an industry, and the founding and charter members of IACP have been instrumental to this process. The gestation of IACP was a logical, but nevertheless unlikely phenomenon on the timeline of culinary history. Culinary education in 20th century America began as a continuation of what had transpired in the latter half of the 1800s, with home economists leading the way and turning out formally trained students nationwide. However, by the middle of the 20th century progress would become exponential, as two World Wars saw periods of scarcity followed by abundance in America. The end of World War II saw a proliferation of cooking schools, with the industry having become largely populated by men. Working in the European tradition, they catered to the culinary desires of the upwardly mobile American public. Meanwhile, mid-century America was bursting with culinary possibilities. Soldiers returned home with new tastes discovered abroad, more Americans began to travel and to enjoy ethnic restaurants at home, and cookbooks and cooking classes became increasingly popular.

This period also saw the emergence of the first domestic cooking school for professionalsThe New Haven Restaurant Institute, in New Haven, Connecticut. America could at last boast an institute of formal culinary education that would make inroads from the realm of cooking-as-vocation to that of a respectable, middle-class profession. Later known as the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the school relocated to Hyde Park, New York, in 1970. It had become the first degree-granting culinary institution. Today, the CIA boasts an enrollment of over 6,000 students, and the United States is home to at least 90 accredited culinary schools. Further developments contributed to this culinary expansion by offering instruction, not just to professionals, but to home cooks. In 1961, Julia Child published her now classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which was followed by her televised series, The French Chef, in 1963. That same year, Betty Friedans highly influential book, The Feminine Mystique, described the social and domestic dissatisfaction felt by many American women at that time, and was quick to galvanize the modern womens rights movement. Julia Childs success had a different kind of influence, as American men and women sought out local cooking classes, in homes and retail shops within their respective communities. This is far from the state of affairs even ten years prior, much less those of the previous century.

One founding IACP member, Judith Bell, was already a part of the growing trend and had begun to compile a directory of cooking schools in America. Her Guide to U.S. Cooking Schools was published in 1979, and was comprised of schools and instructors offering culinary instruction nationwide. The guide captures the diversity of what these instructors, many of them IACP members, were doing individually at that time, as both self-taught home cooks and as traveling instructors. Today, culinary culture is thriving, and students lured by the romance of the professional kitchen are pursuing culinary degrees instead of, or in addition to, more traditional college diplomas. Meanwhile, avid home cooks are bombarded with print and television media on food and cooking, inspiring them to experiment at home, or to enroll in cooking classes. The training of both professional and home cooks in America is constantly evolving and reflects changing social behaviors and attitudes. The story of culinary education is the story of interconnected occurrences, in tandem with social and cultural developments, as we shall see reflected in the oral histories of IACPs founding and charter members.

Origins and History

By 1970, there were an estimated two-hundred professional and avocational cooking schools in the United States, many run by founding members of the Association of Cooking Schools (ACS), the group that was to become IACP. Some of these early schools included: Anne Byrds Cookery (Greensboro, N.C.); Richs Cooking School (Atlanta, GA); Lee Barnes Cooking School (New Orleans, LA); Lynne Kaspers Lid & Ladle Cooking School (Denver, CO); Richard Nelsons Cooking Classes (Portland, OR); and Mary Risleys Tante Maries Cooking School (San Francisco, CA). Bill Rice, food editor of The Washington Post, recognized the cooking school trend as he was traveling across the country to promote his book, Where to Eat in America. Sensing the potential for a larger movement, but also realizing that the key individuals were largely disconnected, Rice prompted a group of teachersincluding Nathalie Dupree, Mary Nell Reck, Donald Miller, and othersto begin an association of cooking schools. Acting as a catalyst, he urged fellow culinarians to get to know one another, and began to make contact with potential association members. The task would be challenging, as there were no such formally established networks at the time. It is especially significant to realize that the nature of communication was in stark contrast to our situation

today. Networking meant writing letters, or making telephone calls, the latter being a serious expense over long distance. Francois Dionot, a founding member, recalls the earliest gestures towards becoming an association:

As I remember, in the winter of 1977 we had opened the school [LAcademie de Cuisine] for about a year and a half and we got a call from Bill Rice, who then was the food editor of The Washington Post. He called my partner at the time, Don Miller, who became the first President, and said, You know, there seems to be enough interest among cooking schools in America to start an association. Are you interested to talk about it? So, we had lunch with him downtown in Washington and we decided that it was time to start an association. So Don and I started on the second floor of the schoolhe had a phone, I had another one, and we got a list of all the cooking schools in this countryHe gave me 25 names and I took 25 names and we started calling people and said, this is who we are, were interested in starting an association, are you interested? 1 Francois Dionot

Transcript, Francois Dionot Oral History Interview, August 23, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library.
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Other founding and charter members recall this time:

Now, what happened was that Don and I talked on the phone and I had already started what Bill had suggested, calling around to see where the cooking schools were. 2Nathalie Dupree

Yeah, that was his [Donald Miller] main aim because he tried to put together an organization for all the different things needed by cooking teachers. He called me up. Donald called me and said, you know, Giuliano, I saw your book. Come teach at my school. Thats it. We did not know each other.3 Giuliano Bugialli

I was still teaching in my home when Donald Miller called and asked me to come to the first meeting. I was extremely flattered. It was a compliment that people thought I was reputable enough to be a founder. I was very excited about it. 4 Marlene Sorosky Gray

Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 3 Transcript, Giuliano Bugialli Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 4 Transcript, Marlene Sorosky Gray Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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they decided that we would have this meeting, I know it was 1978, and I think it was in the fall, maybe October, and so he [Don Miller] told me to call Anne Otterson. I called Anne and so Anne sort of filled me in on, yes, this group who wanted to get people all across the country to come together to try to form this association because, one of the things, we could use it for several different reasons, but at that point, one of the most important was that we could network together, help each other. And also, if we want to bring a chef over from France then we could work together and bring him over and start him in Silver Springs, Maryland, and then maybe have him go to San Diego and then come to Portland and all share expenses. 5 Janie Hibler

I had a school prior to that, and in fact everyone who originally met already had schools. I think almost everybody was deeply ensconced in the teaching venue, but I think most of us who had cooking schools were people frantically trying to cope with how to run a business, and Im sure none of us had degrees in business. We were all probably left-brained, or maybe its right-brained, but we were all creative people who were in the food business, were admiring food, and somehow got into this business and Transcript, Janie Hibler Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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were grappling with how to make a success of it. 6 Zona Spray

The groundwork for what would become ACS was underway, but because the concept of such an association was unprecedented, the vision for the group was somewhat unclear. While the organizers had set certain goals, those invited to join the association had little idea of what to expect. Most were sold on the idea of a meeting out of pure curiosity, but also over the exciting prospect of learning new skills from fellow cooks, and the potential for professional networking.

Why should we, since we all have cooking schools, how are we going to invent the wheel, because it was really something brand new here, so instead of trying to each do it on our own, lets try to put the brains together and see how we can do it. And it was really to get to know each other and to be able to grow as an association, and again, to put all of those brains together instead of working individually. 7 Francois Dionot

Originally it was about promoting the business end of it and finding Transcript, Zona Spray Oral History Interview, June 24, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 7 Transcript, Francois Dionot Oral History Interview, August 23, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library.
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work for teachers and also creating work for traveling teachers. If you were a traveling teacher it was invaluable, absolutely invaluable. It was wonderful for people who didnt live on either coast because they had no contact at that time. We didnt have e-mail and there was just no way of knowing who was out there.8 Miriam Brickman

We wanted to know how to make our businesses more successful and it was about enlarging the organization. None of us had any idea that it would blossom to what it is today, and the original format was entirely different than what it is today. I think it was originally how do we make our businesses profitable, how do we run our businesses and whatever were doing, how can we do it better? 9 Zona Spray

ACF [American Culinary Federation] was already working for chefs and that was much more structured, like an army with points and people winning awards and all that business. This [ACS] was a very human group and there didnt seem to be any heavy duty rivalry. It was more, lets all work together to make this thing happen, and I do believe that it was a Transcript, Miriam Brickman Oral History Interview, January 3, 2006, by Amelia Saltsman, Schlesinger Library. 9 Transcript, Zona Spray Oral History Interview, June 24, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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new idea, but it was mirroring what was happening outside of the professional side. People were just starting to catch on to the fun of cooking. Some of those new tools, like the Cuisinart, really did kick them into the kitchen and magazines were actually starting to have a certain style. So, people would look at these cooking magazines and decide, I think I can do this with my gourmet group, and gourmet groups were still relatively in an infancy stage. 10 Antonia Allegra

I think one of the things we were all so leery about in those days was that what we saw the industry doing, much of the food industry, seemed to be the antithesis of what we were attempting to do in terms of changing peoples sensibilities of what food was. And some of this is understandable, for many good reasons, like products not being available, and for some not-so-good reasons. You had people thinking that Italian lasagna could be made with cottage cheese because ricotta wasnt available. Thats what we saw in the cookbooks coming out of this corporation or that corporation and here we were saying, Make the effort. Understand the taste. Understand how it began and then if you want to improvise you Transcript, Antonia Allegra Oral History Interview, May 26, 2005, by Julie Ann Jenanyan, Schlesinger Library.
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improvise. 11 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

THE EARLY MEETINGS

The first attendees of ACS meetings were a highly charged, motivated group from diverse family and professional backgrounds. Some approached the new association and their unknown colleagues with trepidation and even secrecy when it came to recipes, techniques, or business practices. Most, however, simply brought with them their unbridled enthusiasm for food, cooking, and the dynamics of teaching, learning and sharing a subject that they all loved. Coming together was an exciting prospect. Faces were being put to names, and new connections and friendships blossomed in a fertile environment of culinary aspirations. It was a time and place for kindred spirits. Through oral history interviews, members reflect on the early meetings:

the chefs organizations, none of them appealed to me. They were all about mastering certain techniques that werent important to me at all, cooking a type of food that I wasnt interested in cooking, and I kept Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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thinking there are chefs in other places that dont have to do this kind of thing. They can focus on something that is really an expression of who they are. I remember being in a meeting with Lynn Kasper in a breakout session at that very first IACP meeting in New Orleans, where we were talking about where you find inspiration for developing menus in your teaching. You know, I was fresh out of graduate school and always thinking out of the box and I had been working on trying to think of food in the way that artists think about their work, and what kind of emotions you can evoke and that sort of thing. I remember Lynn Kasper being in that meeting and talking to herwe must have talked after the thing was over for two hoursabout the whole idea of getting outside your area and approaching your food, if you will, like someone from another profession would do it, and what that can teach you about it. There were people who were willing to have conversations like that, which for me was very exciting. 12 Rick Bayless

I was nervous about getting together, and I guess what really, honestly was on my mind was meeting all these people who were in cooking, and Transcript, Rick Bayless Oral History Interview, January 14, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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was this going to diminish us? You know, I couldnt understand if this would really be helpful for us or diminish usand what we were doing. So anyhow, we got together, it was absolutely wonderful, everything was great and I think the one thing Ill never forget is that there was one groupwe became sort of, we just bonded is the word youd use today. We just absolutely gravitated to one another and found so many things in common, questions, problems, all sorts of things, and so we, from that point on, got together at every conference, or made a point at least to have dinner together or whatever, so it was really great, and we remembered each other.13 Flo Braker

I enjoy, I have to say, all these first meetings a lot, because everything was a big discovery and we became friends with a lot of people. Dont forget, these are all cooking teachers, so we exchanged opinions, we understood the market. That was the moment that there was a really close relationship among cooking teachers, that now it does not exist anymore. 14 Giuliano Bugialli

Transcript, Flo Braker Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 14 Transcript, Giuliano Bugialli Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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Well, it gave me some guidelines. I mean, I had a small school. When I went to IACP meetings there were people with large schools and I was getting tips and help and guidance and it was exciting. The people that worked for me shivered in their boots when I went to an IACP meeting, because when I came back it was, Alright, were doing this, were changing that... 15 Mitzie Cutler

Not everybody else might say this, but there were moments when people would look at you and, you know, everybody was trying to find their placeeveryone is kind of secretive about what theyre doing. They dont want people to know too much about them. Either that or they want everyone to know everything about them, but you know there are those two different things. I wont say they werent welcoming, but they were a little nervous in the early days. 16 Barbara Heiken

I would go away from the early IACP meetings thinking that I was just flooded with information, flooded with contacts, people that I could

Transcript, Mitzie Cutler Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 16 Transcript, Barbara Heiken Oral History Interview, January 3, 2006, by Amelia Saltsman, Schlesinger Library.
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talk to that talked my language. That was pretty rare in those days. 17 Rick Bayless

I would say probably overwhelmed on one side and excited on the other. Its always nice to know that youre not alone and that there was a lot of commonality. Probably too, there was a certain edge of fear in that everyone would say, Do I measure up? and What about this one that Ive heard so much about? What will she be like? You know, walking into any group as an individual theres the same thing. Thats just a common thread that would run through everything. And then you add the professional aura, shall we say, and there you are. 18 Judith Bell

they had the conferences and some of the dinners were in peoples homes and it was a wonderful insight into how people really cook in Toronto, what they really eat in Seattle. It was splendid and it was excellent networking, and I would say the people that I met from those early conferences are friends to this dayand a much better, not a better

Transcript, Rick Bayless Oral History Interview, January 14, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 18 Transcript, Judith Bell Oral History Interview, July 17, 2008, by Neil Coletta, Schlesinger Library.
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friendship, but one thats been vetted, you know, so its been great. 19 Marlene Parrish

I mean, it was really niceyou could meet somebody at breakfast, you could meet somebody at lunch, and you could meet somebody at dinner and that went on for a week. So at the end of the week you knew almost everybody in the group, and some of them have become long-lasting friends for me. And always when youd go back to your room there would be these wonderful gift boxes and, in many cases, there were liqueurs and liquor and it was wonderful. 20 Barbara Heiken

I really loved the early days of the IACP because everybody stayed in the same hotel and at eleven at night youd just go into the hotel lobby with Jacques Ppin and Julia Child. 21 Mary Risley

What happened was that by going to IACP meetings I could find other people in my geographic locale and we would say, Were interested in Transcript, Marlene Parrish Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 20 Transcript, Barbara Heiken Oral History Interview, January 3, 2006, by Amelia Saltsman, Schlesinger Library. 21 Transcript, Mary Risley Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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sharing a chef. Because the fee was going to be the same, but if three or four could go together and share in the air travel or travel, in the case of Ohio, by car between Cincinnati and Cleveland and Dayton, we could make the expenses minimal, and so from that point of view it was very important.22 Betty Rosebottom

They were mainly educational conferences and we often had demonstrations from the better-known cooking teachers and chefs in the country. We had lots of conversations about issues that were political, issues that had to do with health, how people could promote their businesses, and how we could share the teachers that were traveling the country. They could go from one cooking school to another and, to begin with, it was mainly teaching 23 Jerrie Strom

I think that they were looking for an acceptance and credibility for the profession. Food people were just coming into their own, and we didnt have that many stars. Chefs hadnt become stars yet. I think it was also the early experience to share and be able to ask how do you do this? I Transcript, Betty Rosebottom Oral History Interview, July 11, 2005, by Barbara Haber, Schlesinger Library. 23 Transcript, Jerry Strom Oral History Interview, August 4, 2005, by Michelle Mikesell, Schlesinger Library.
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remember sitting on panels where we talked about, what are you looking for when you hire a traveling teacher to come to your school? and what do you want from them? Everybody wanted to help everybody else and they were really trying to share their experiences. 24 Nancy Kirby Harris

what I felt was, I may not be able to garner or share a great deal with people in my backyard because of competitiveness, but I desperately needed feedback and some sort of exchange with other people who were doing what I was doing. We were all starving. We were starving. I mean, who wanted to sit all night talking about the coagulation point of an egg yolk? Only people like us were interested in stuff like that. 25 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

I thought the isolation was maybe good. I dont know why I was skeptical. I just remember that it was a naive reaction on my part and I thought I had worked so hard to create my courses and was I going to give them away? You know, because there were other people in my town who were doing this, and even though I had a head start, I was protective of my Transcript, Nancy Kirby Harris Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 25 Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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propertybut I realized quickly that when youre creative you continue to create and you only do better by sharing. 26 Betty Rosebottom

at least to me, its so silly to hide ones secrets, because there really are no secrets in the food world. Even if I share the secret for making my favorite biscuits, a creative soul will put their own twist on it. Every individual does something a little different and hopefully adds their personality. 27 Sharon Tyler Herbst

FIRST ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING AUGUST 19-20, 1978ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

The grassroots organizing work by mail and telephone, prompted by Bill Rice and furthered by Nathalie Dupree, Donald Miller, Francois Dionot, and Transcript, Betty Rosebottom Oral History Interview, July 11, 2005, by Barbara Haber, Schlesinger Library. 27 Transcript, Sharon Tyler Herbst Oral History Interview, May 15, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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others, was finally realized on the weekend of August 19-20, 1978, in St. Louis, Missouri, at the first organizational meeting of the Association of Cooking Schools (ACS). Reflections on the associations early meetings show that initial contact was imbued with a peculiar blend of hope and doubt, reluctance and eagerness, but most of all an intense curiosity. There was a fear among many that they may not know enough to be in attendance, or that it may be detrimental to share trade secrets. Nonetheless, the first organizational meeting saw 51 participants representing 38 cooking schools, from all across the United States each one distinct, and of varying size, structure and mission.

The only thing that I really, really remember was thinking, this thing isnt going to work, there arent enough people. 28 Glennalie Coleman

Well, all of my insecurities came out and I thought, Oh my goodness, Im not going to know as much as all these people!I think it was a very cards-to-your-chest type of situationnobody could like the food at the table, because if they did and somebody else said something was wrong with it, then you were showing that you didnt know anything. Lunches and dinners were really stressful, I thought, because nobody could speak Transcript, Glennalie Coleman Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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pleasantly about what we were eating I wasnt sure I belonged to it, I wasnt sure what I could do for it, and I wasnt sure what it could do for me. And so I felt myself, particularly the first couple of meetings, more being there to see what was going on than to help with the process. It sounds pretty awful to say, but its true that I just kept thinking, People are not going to do this. 29 Anne Byrd

we were so excited! We talked and we shared, we talked about how we taughtNot in workshops, it was one plenary session, but we talked about, I remember Mary Nell Reck getting up and talking about how she had started out sweeping her cooking school and that the big moment came for her when she could turn over the sweeping and the mopping at night to somebody elseEverybody was struggling, you know, starting their schools. 30 Nathalie Dupree

There was so much excitement because people came from all over the United States to be there. It was all people who were magical because they all had such a great interest in food, and in sharing what they knew about Transcript, Anne Byrd Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 30 Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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food, learning more about what they didnt know and it was just very, very exciting. We all got together and ideas flowed and people talked about this and that. Everybody came with the intent of forming an organization that would be national in scope, and that would tie the cooking schoolsat that time it was mostly to tie the cooking schools together. Because there were a lot of cooking schools popping up and they were everywhere, but there wasnt any cohesion to them. 31 Helen Fletcher

WHO ARE WE?: MEMBERSHIP AND GROWING PAINS

Amidst the excitement, questions, concerns and insecurities at the St. Louis meeting, there was still the very real matter of addressing just what this new organization was, could be, and particularly what it should be. The issue of membership has been at the forefront of IACP since its inception. The organization today might give the impression that it has always been an inclusive, umbrella group, harboring the many facets of the food and cooking industries, and providing an annual, communal hub for this full spectrum to intermingle. This was not always the case. The initial invitations targeted those Transcript, Helen Fletcher Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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with cooking schools, primarily owners and directors. However, not everyone who was interested in the association fit neatly into these categories, though they may have had experience and credentials to justify their inclusion. By allowing only the owners and directors of cooking schools to join, and not independent cooking teachers, the original membership concept effectively limited its base, not to mention its potential for diversity. A significant number of highly talented and influential culinary instructors were in danger of missing out on the opportunity to network and to bolster the pioneering work of the association. Opinions ran strong on both sides of the debate, and it would be some time before a resolution was met. Despite the thrill of coming together for the associations first meeting, founding members wasted no time in initiating the fiery discussions that would, in many ways, come to characterize the group. These transitional issues are remembered and documented in the oral history interviews:

Anne Otterson sent out a letter and they wanted to have an opportunity for, and this is a quote, future education in areas such as, technique development, curriculum expansion, management skills, advertising and promotional opportunities and financial growth. They wanted to be able to promote the interests of cooking schools and cooking

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teachers. They wanted owners and directors. Thats primarily who the founding members were. This early letter, and Ive got it right hereit was dated November 21st [1978]says that they were looking for directors, which is probably why I would be getting these letters. Directors and owners of cooking schools, lets see... non-voting memberships were also available for cooking teachers, food writers, restaurant critics and food and wine enthusiasts 32 Alice Hart

I dont know that it was contentious as much as it was...I wouldnt use that strong of a word, but there was certainly a lot of debating going onA lot of passion on both sides as to who could join this organization. 33 Marlene Sorosky Gray

my memory of that first meeting, where it was hotter than hell outside, it was August, it was St. Louis, we were all in this hotel or motel meeting roomso passionate, screaming at each other across a room because the schism had already started, which stayed with the group for a Transcript, Alice Hart Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 33 Transcript, Marlene Sorosky Gray Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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very long time, which was the teachers versus the shop owners, essentially. someone had said, If youre running a cooking school in your house, then you cant be serious. Which, of course, eliminated almost everybody in New York City, because who could afford separate space? And it eliminated people like meeveryone was starting out in their homeand this just rankled so many of us, and also it was the idea of a commercial venture versus people who were passionate and in love with food and who were teachers. 34 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

It was very interesting because I went there with the idea that I was definitely going to be a vocal part of this groupthat I wasnt just going to be a bystander. For two days we debated about who would be eligible for membership into this group. Who would be qualified enough to join? Some people felt like the little woman in her house...this is basically what they said, the little lady in her house who makes apple pies, we dont want herI was one of those, so I came up with... anyone who teaches can join. I dont think it matters what they teach. If they teach and they have a

Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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following, then they should be able to join this organization. 35 Marlene Sorosky Gray

At the first meeting there was some early-on dissention about cooking schools versus individual members. There was also about whether we had annual meetings, whether we had regional meetings, where would our next meeting be, how would the meetings be organized, who would be in charge of them, all of that kind of thingI felt like we needed to have an interim board meeting. What we did was we all joined and volunteered, if we wanted to, to be on an interim board. I joined as an interim board member.there was also a territorial thing about whether we would have rotating meetings, how we would be funded, and how much membership we would charge. And, of course, the big guys wanted to have a big membership fee, and I wanted to have a small membership fee, so all of those things were problems right from the start, which were worked out. 36 Nathalie Dupree

Following the first meeting in St. Louis, 1978, the membership issue was far Transcript, Marlene Sorosky Gray Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 36 Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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from resolved and far from being forgotten. The nature of membership, as well as the groups conception of itself, would continue to change and evolve significantly in subsequent years, and throughout the next several meetings. The associations name would change three times in the course of its development, in order to more faithfully represent its loyal and growing constituency.

FIRST ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING FEBRUARY 2-4, 1979, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

ACS was an instant success, attracting 249 institutional and professional members during its first year. Over 180 of these members attended the associations first annual membership meeting and conference in New Orleans, establishing the organization as the leading voice in the cooking world. The first full-term board of directors was elected at this meeting. Those chosen to lead the organization during its first crucial year were: Donald Miller (LAcademie de Cuisine), president; Anne Otterson (The Perfect Pan), vice president; and Jon Orenstein (Creative Cookery), secretary/treasurer. Other board members included Anne Byrd (Anne Byrds Cookery); Jack Lirio (The Jack Lirio Cooking School); Richard Nelson (Richard Nelsons Cooking School); Mary Nell Reck (La Cuisine); Alan Shefter (Kitchen Bazaar); and Marlene Sorosky

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(Marlene Soroskys Cooking Center). The Association of Cooking Schools was officially incorporated as a not-for-profit professional association in Washington, DC on December 4, 1979. Not unlike the previous meeting in St. Louis, the New Orleans event captured the imaginations of its many participants, but also carried over similar conflicts. The most striking difference this time was the enormous increase in attendance, which enlivened the organization, but simultaneously magnified its issues and concerns to a wider audience.

we got to New Orleans and we were just amazed, you know, we got there and there were all these people and we didnt know it was so organizedand I was just hooked on IACP, the concept, the networking and the programs. 37 Sally Bernstein

It was really, really super exciting to meIm an avid reader, so I had read the books of most of the people that were there. Some of them I had taken cooking classes from, though they wouldnt have known me very much. The electricity in the air was unbelievable because there had just been an explosion of interest in food. Certainly it had come on over a Transcript, Sally Bernstein Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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period of time, mostly from Julia [Child] lighting the fire under people, but it pretty much took a generation of people to come up with the idea that what Julia was saying was actually something that they could do. And I was one of those people too, and even though I grew up in the restaurant business, Julia was the one who let me know that there was so much more to the world of cuisine. 38 Rick Bayless

I remember us sitting in one big room because, you know, a lot of those first meetings thats what we did the whole time. Wed have one room and youd go in there at eight oclock in the morning and you wouldnt come out until six, and maybe they even served lunch in that same room and you thought you might go stir-crazy-mad by the end of the day. But I remember that room with the round tables in New Orleans and everybody going around trying to meet each other, and everybody kind of trying to figure out what everybody else was doing. Because, I think until then we had all been pretty insular and people didnt know what was going on in other places. I remember Flo Braker had brought with her a scrapbook with Transcript, Rick Bayless Oral History Interview, January 14, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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pictures of all of her pastries. Thats a great way to see real quickly that this is what she does, you know, and I dont think thats the kind of thing that would happen anymore. And also at that time it was so much geared toward cooking teachers so everybody was kind of doing the same thing and everybodys questions and concerns and issues were quite similar. 39 Diane Wilkinson

I think that we all, at that very first meeting in New Orleans, were thinking that we were going to make a living being cooking instructors and cookbook writers, and thats a very hard living to makeplus the fact that so many talented people merged on the playing field much at the same time, and that made it harder and harder to make a living. 40Rick Bayless

I mean, everybody there was dynamic because we were running our own businesses and we were instructors, and the majority of everybody there were cooking school instructors or owners. And some of them had an accompanying shop or something, but in some way they were

Transcript, Diane Wilkinson Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 40 Transcript, Rick Bayless Oral History Interview, January 14, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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connected with instructors.41 Carmen Jones

There were all these people like me and we all had these same dumb questions that students asked us, and we thought we were the only ones on earth who got them. I remember what kind of string do you tie things with? Can you freeze it...? It really created a network of us helping each other and not being alone doing all of this. It was marvelous. 42 Hermie Kranzdorf

I thought they were a bunch of people who really didnt know what their purpose wasSo, I was kind of isolated. I found it a little bit conflictedIt was definitely problematic. There wasnt the goal everyone was working toward, the same goal. The direction wasnt there. But, again, I can remember feeling, well geez, this is a brand new organization, this is only the second meeting. I remember saying to myself, why are you being so critical? Obviously, its the beginning. 43 Roberta Dowling Transcript, Carmen Jones Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 42 Transcript, Hermie Kranzdorf Oral History Interview, October 27, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 43 Transcript, Roberta Dowling Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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As the membership debate showed no sign of diminishing, certain individuals took matters into their own hands, believing they knew the best direction for the group. The associations bylaws were imperative to establishing a lasting membership policy, and in turn to create a concrete identity for the momentous collective. Shirley Corriher and Nathalie Dupree recall the bylaws controversy:

Now meanwhile, I remember Jack Lirio was there [First Annual Meeting, New Orleans] and had gotten up several times and talked and people said, Well, who is he? Does he think hes James Beard? And Nathalie [Dupree] was incredibly upset because of the way that the bylaws were writtenthe vote went only to cooking schoolsand she said, This just can not be. We have to have individual teachers have a vote. So, at any rate, Nathalie cornered Arch [Corriher] and said, You have got to help me rewrite these bylaws. Weve got to rewrite them so that they give the individual teacher the right to vote. So, the two of them sat up half the night rewording. Nathalie said, I am so upset I cant do it right, you have got to help me. And you know Arch, hell get into

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anything and hes got to run it, too, just like Nathalie. They were a pair. I had to go to sleep, I couldnt stay with them. 44 Shirley Corriher

A few others could grasp how important it was that we have these individual members, certainly at the inception when they were so important for the diversity and the development of cooking in America. I mean, Shirley Corriher was pivotal towards developing cooking in America. Without her there it would not have gone the same way. And a number of people were the same way Archie [Corriher] and I stayed up all night. Hes brillianta PhD knows all of these things. Archie and I stayed up all night rewriting the bylaws. At the time Shirley was working for me, or had been working for me at Richs [Richs Cooking School]. We knew each other well. Archie and I rewrote the bylaws because he immediately grasped that Shirley Corriher wouldnt be a member if they had their way. Now imagine that. Imagine. It would have been quite a different organizationSo Archie and I wrote the new bylaws, which included the corporate members, Im pretty sure. I still thought that was a good idea. We got it passed through a Transcript, Shirley Corriher Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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volatile floor fight. 45 Nathalie Dupree

CERTIFICATION, PHILANTHROPY, PROGRESS

In March, 1980, 234 members gathered at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City for the second annual membership meeting. The organization had continued to grow and was attracting significant attention from the food community. By the time of the New York meeting the conference program had matured and some members were starting to think big:

New York was wonderful. New York was truly when the doors opened for a lot of peoples careers, really, and especially because it just brought a lot of people together, but still they were intimate. I remember how wonderful it was that we would be in one hotel and you could go down after the evening was over and have a drink with Jacques [Ppin] or Julia [Child]. 46 Flo Braker

Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 46 Transcript, Flo Braker Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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In New York I chaired the program. My ex-husband is a doctor and he told me that medical conventions were run with various seminars going on at the same time. So thats how I planned the convention. We had something for the retailers, something for the teachers, and we had a seminar on how to get a cookbook published. 47 Marlene Sorosky Gray

Enthusiasm over the cooking field, as well as the role and influence of the association, had already begun to spread to countries outside of the United States. In August of 1980, ACS members were asked to vote on a new name for the still young organization: International Association of Cooking Schools. The new name was overwhelmingly adopted, and by the end of the year, IACS could boast 450 members and a bank balance of $15,557. Julia Child was chosen as the keynote speaker for the third annual meeting, held in San Francisco (March 1981). She encouraged the 300 attendees to support the associations aims and goals, advocating that IACS adopt a members code of ethics and certification program for cooking teachers. The organization continued to prosper during those early years, and by 1984 membership had grown to 1,000 in 15 countries, with the annual meeting boasting a budget of over $100,000. Meanwhile, a separate foundationCooking Advancement, Transcript, Marlene Sorosky Gray Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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Research and Education Foundation (CAREF)had been established to distribute culinary scholarships and to fund research. CAREF is now known as The Culinary Trust.

GOING INTERNATIONAL

The organizations new identity as IACS recognized the great contributions of international members, as well as furthering the organizations scope, influence and drive towards expansion and diversity. The experiences, observations and actions, both of international members of the association and of those who helped lobby for and institute the international component, are invaluable to the success and character of IACP today, and are remembered below:

when we called La Varenne and Anne Willan wanted to be involved with this, thats when we decided to change the name to InternationalIACS which was International Association of Cooking Schools. 48 Francois Dionot

Transcript, Francois Dionot Oral History Interview, August 23, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library.
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We were very much interested in having a larger international base because that just makes us that much more interesting, the more you diversify. 49 Flo Braker

the Association became more outward looking, I think, more nationwide. Under my predecessor, Nathalie Dupree, we certainly had a very big push towards internationalism, and that was furthered by my successor, Sue Huffman, who saw to it by adding an international director on the boardAs far as I know IACP always had international members, of which I was one, but the focus on international members really only started with Nathalie Dupree I was living in a foreign country, which made me one of the first IACP overseas members. Yet I was typical of most other early members. That's to say I was an independent businesswoman doing a whole lot of different things, either as freelance or running a small business. I think that remains a typical portrait of most IACP members today. Every now and again we recognize other professions, such as food styling, which seemed very new at the time, or a culinary historian, which early on was considered more like

Transcript, Flo Braker Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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a vocational occupation. 50 Anne Willan

well, first I went over to London and got the London Cordon Bleu interested. Then Anne Willan and I went. The London Cordon Bleu had a big meeting for us. There were many issues with the London people who did not want to join anythingI tried to get Jacques Ppin to join for a number of years, but he did not join until Toronto. Bert Greene and I made him come up to my room. We sat him down on the other twin bed, talked to him about who all was there, and let him see that his entire constituency as a traveling cooking school teacher was there. That was a place where he could book meetings, where he could see people that he knew, be comfortable. He began to realize the importance of being there. Anne Willan was integral to the internationalism of IACP. I was President Elect, and pushed for it, as I had lived in England and Spain, but Anne was the one who understood how to make it happen. We did a good guy/bad guy thing that worked out wellthe English were very suspicious of networking. Anyway, we had a regional in Paris, I think, or a board meeting at Anne's, and we both went to London. I asked my friend at Le Cordon Bleu to organize it. I think they had joined but grumbled about Transcript, Anne Willan Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Brittany Williams, Schlesinger Library.
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cost, everything, I think...the dollar was strong (ah, those days are gone!). They didn't get that there was anything in it for them if they couldn't get to meetings in the States. They really weren't working with the other cooking schools constructivelychecking employment, et cetera. Anyway, they had a party for us at Le Cordon Bleu and invited many people. We had already had small meetings with smaller cooking schools, individual teachers, writers, et cetera. I talk too much, as you may have gathered, and although I lived there two years, I am not very English[Im] outspoken, loudish, and passionate. Passionate about the IACP, about women (okay and men, too, but at the time, mostly women), about learning to network and to share with each other. Anne was cool, gracious, and, very English. Everyone was very proud of her success, which was considerably more in England than here, I think, in terms of book sales. So I pushed and shoved, and Anne doused with cooling water, and patted on foreheads when the going was rough. It was a funny team, but it worked. I think now the English have really learned to network, or so they have told me. 51 Nathalie Dupree

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP

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Nathalie Dupree, e-mail message to author, January 14, 2008

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In addition to differing opinions over membership in IACS, there was the delicate issue of corporate sponsorship. The corporate food world was no less a part of Americas changing culinary culture than were independent shops and schools. Kitchen equipment was on a meteoric rise in order to keep up with the needs of aspiring home cooks and new culinary programs alike. As IACS grew in size, the demand for bigger and better services and events meant that money had to come from somewhere other than the prospect of raising membership fees. While corporate sponsorship was one avenue towards financial stability and success, there was dissention within the group as to the need for it, and also over how such a move might change the core of the organization and its values. Carl Sontheimer was central to the corporate sponsorship issue, and had developed the Cuisinart food processor in the early 1970s, thereby greatly impacting cooking in the 20th century. Blake Swihart was one of the earliest proponents of sponsorship, and he and others recall this pivotal issue:

I opened the first corporate sponsors meeting in my office in New York in 1979 or 1980But, there were a lot of very strongly opinionated people about that topicthey also didnt realize the mechanics about how

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you keep an organization going without having corporate support, and not everybody wanting to personally put in $1000 a year to keep it going. 52 Blake Swihart

I always thought that corporate sponsorship was integral to the organization because I felt that corporate sponsors would be people that would hire our members, and they could bring us a real understanding of the food industry. And that otherwise, there would be no broader concept, no national concept of what was going on. I called Carl [Sontheimer] because I had not met James Beard. Actually, I went to see Carl, now that I think about it. I went to Connecticut to see Carl at the old Cuisinart building to get him to join and he was adamantly opposed to corporate members. Adamantly opposed. Carl called me from James Beards and James Beard always insisted that we never called him. It was very irritating to me because I had thought that I should go through Carl, who was reputably very close to him, and we had gotten Richard Nelson, who was also very close to him in another way. I had asked Carl when he was staying at James Beards home, to ask him to join. Carl had his nose out of joint because of the idea Transcript, Helen Fletcher Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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that I wanted corporate members. Then we met for our first meeting after all of this. So, he apparently told Jim not to join, or nothing about it. Nathalie Dupree
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everyone wanted Jim [Beard] very much involved in this, and I can understand his hesitationyou know, he didnt know what this was going to be about. 54 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

A lot of people did not like that [corporate sponsorship] at all. They wanted to keep it strictlythey didnt want a corporate stamp on anything, they didnt think corporate people belonged in it. But you know what? Thats still food. It may be a different type, it may be different thinking, but its still food and we can still learn from each other, and theres still a lot of give and take and there are a lot of people in corporate food. 55 Helen Fletcher

I remember there was this fear that those of us who were cooking Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 54 Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 55 Transcript, Helen Fletcher Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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school teachers were not corporate types in general. We had our warm fuzzy niche that we loved and I think that there was probably this fear that the association would quickly get overshadowed by a more corporate type feel to it. 56 Diane Wilkinson

Well, I think also I was very active in the beginning with reference to the corporate because my first involvement with IACP was corporate. I was the one who helped start the whole corporate thing, but my concept was that you all couldnt do what you wanted to do if you didnt have some sort of corporate involvementNathalie [Dupree] was very smart about this. She understood that these corporations were ways to make money for your people and if there were ways to use them, then tap them, and I think that was the final straw for everybody. They realized that this could be a symbiotic relationship to help everybody. There just had to be boundaries and were still trying to figure out those boundaries, and IACP right now is going through this period of how to figure out how to bring in corporate sponsorship of workshops so we can bring in higher quality speakers. And it is a very tenuous, tricky path to walk to try to keep the purity, as you say, untainted purity of the Transcript, Diane Wilkinson Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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membership, but still try to educate ourselves the best way we can, and there has to be assistance somehow. 57 Blake Swihart

IACS COOKBOOK

The year 1981 saw the publication of The International Association of Cooking Schools Cookbooka 200-page volume whose aim was to provide favorite recipes from home and abroad contributed by members of the worlds largest professional organization of cooking schools and teachers. 58 The project was undertaken under then President, Richard E. Nelson, and compiled by a Cookbook Committee, chaired by Anne Byrd. The book highlights the concept of a cooking school community, which is of particular interest, for it signals that a movement was well underway, and one with certain shared values worthy of the community designation. The final product serves as a useful historical document on food and cooking among leaders in the field at the time of its publication. The extensive selection of recipes features domestic and international flavors and techniques, and displays a forward-thinking, global outlook. However, even professionals

Ibid. Scott-Harman, Helen, ed. The International Association of Cooking Schools Cookbook. Greensboro, NC: Irena Chalmers Cookbooks, Inc., 1981. Back Cover.
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can make mistakes, and the cookbook project was a learning experience for the Association in more ways than one.

Well, one of the dishes blew upthe chicken in the oven, right. It blew up and so we had a lot of conversations about that and it probably got us a little publicitymost people contributing had not written a cookbook by then, and of course it was pre-computers and most of the people would not have had word processors. I mean, we were cooks, we werent writers, and so we were all prima donnas because we all ran our own little shows, and so some of the conversations about how the recipes needed to be reworked or something got a little heatedfortunately, my wonderful, sane assistant was the one who ended up having these discussions while I was traveling, and so one Friday I came in and she said, Anne, do you have to be a little bit crazy to join that group? She said, I havent talked to a sane person yet. So, I said, Yes, its the artistic temperament, dont worry about it. 59 Anne Byrd

we called it the exploding chicken recipethe problem with that book was that the recipes werent tested. I think that the assumption was Transcript, Anne Byrd Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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that these were professionals and there was a typo in the apricot chicken recipe, which could in fact, blow the oven door open. Instead of saying a half cup of, I believe it was apricot brandy, it said two cups, and if it got hot enough there was a total state of panic that somebody would be killed by the exploding chicken. Its funny in hindsight, but at the time it was, Oh my God, now what do we do? 60 Nancy Kirby Harris

somebody called in great agitation and she said that one of the recipes in the book was wrongI inquired as to what specific aspect of the book was wrong, and it was a recipe called Chicken Flamed in Apricot. It had apricots and also a bit of apricot brandy, which in those days you remember how popular those cordials used to be. And she said that it had literally burned her house down, and I asked her where she lived, and it turns out she lived in a very, very small community somewhere or another and I said, Goodness, that must have been terrible, terrible, terrible. I bet the newspaper came along to take photographs along with the fire engine.little pauseYes, it did. And I said, Oh, well that would be good. We could put that photograph in some sort of publication. well anyway, she didnt have a photograph, and I was sort of Transcript, Nancy Kirby Harris Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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leading her along because the apricot brandy was never actually flamed, it was put in the oven and, as you know, even if you tried to flame an apricot brandy that was already in the oven, it would never work because there isnt enough oxygen inside the oven for it to flame. But anyway, she gradually withdrew the whole thing. 61 Irena Chalmers

I can tell you I was the treasurer and landed with the stock of books that we couldn't sell. That's certainly one reason why we've never gone back into publishing a cookbook. It's been, to my knowledge voted on several times, but we ended up with a garage full of unsold books. The books deteriorated physically, they got out of date, everybody knew we'd been trying to sell them at half price and so I guess they were pulpedassociation members are not a spending group. It's not a smalltime group, but I would say it's a cautious group. 62 Anne Willan

THE CULINARY TRUST

Transcript, Irena Chalmers Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 62 Transcript, Anne Willan Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Brittany Williams, Schlesinger Library.
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The Cooking Advancement Research and Education Foundation (CAREF) officially began on February 7, 1984. Established as a charitable foundation to support research and education across the many areas of culinary studies, CAREF was instrumental in furthering culinary education through scholarships and grants at a pivotal time of changing attitudes towards food-related professions in America. In 1994, CAREF became the IACP Foundation due to its affinity with the aims and membership of that group. By 2004, however, another name change to The Culinary Trust was seen as necessary to reflect the foundations expanding scope, as it had come to represent not only charitable and research-based support, but also efforts towards preserving culinary heritage. The Endangered Treasures program was one such initiative, which raised funds for libraries to help restore historically significant cookbooks in need of repair. The Culinary Trust continued to work closely with the IACP, bolstering opportunities for culinary professionals to engage with critical issues in the food world. Today, the Trust focuses its efforts on the following areas: scholarships for students and career professionals; library research and travel grants for food writers; cookbook preservation and restoration; and hunger alleviation.

IACP COOKBOOK AWARDS PROGRAM

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In 1986 the Rochester-based R.T. French Company ended its nineteen-year support of the prestigious Tastemaker Awards, which were created to encourage and promote quality and creativity in cookbook writing and publishing, and to expand awareness of culinary literature. Former IACP board member and cookbook author Bert Greene advocated for the continuation of the awards program in a new format, inviting prior awards committee members to join in the transition. IACP succeeded in allying itself with Duncan Hines as a sponsor, and announced the Cookbook Awards on December 2, 1986. Awards for subsequent years through 1990 were presented with Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. as a sponsor and were known as the IACP/Seagram Awards. In 1991, Julia Child lent her support by affiliating her name with the awards program, and in her honor the category for best first book became known as the Julia Child Award. The Bert Greene Awards for Food Journalism were also first presented in 1991 to honor the memory of the late Bert Greene, the nationally acclaimed cooking teacher, cookbook author, and syndicated food columnist. Bert was vice-president/president-elect of the IACP at the time of his death in 1988.

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BECOMING PROFESSIONALS

Membership and the relationships between cooking schools and teachers continued to be predominant topics throughout the organizations first decade. A membership survey in 1985 revealed that the average member was a selfemployed cooking teacher who augments his or her income by performing other culinary-related activities, thus reflecting the diversity and also the versatility of the group. After analyzing the results of the survey, a Long Range Planning Committee recommended that the professional membership category be broadened to include not only cooking school educators, but those who specialized in other areas, including food writers, chefs, caterers, food stylists and anyone involved in culinary activities for which they receive a salary. To reflect this diversity of culinary careers, the committee also recommended that the associations name be changed to the International Association of Cooking Professionals. Thus, in November 1987, IACS officially became IACP. Members recall the name change and what it represented at the time:

And then they dropped off the Cooking Schools because we were

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from such varied backgrounds. And that was problematic because people would look at the organization and they might be, I dont know, a press person or something, and theyd say, Oh, well Im not a cooking teacher, why should I join that? or, Thats only cooking teachers, thats a limited group. So the name change was very natural and very necessary. 63 Helen Fletcher

I think the chefs at that time didnt feel like they wanted to be a part of it because they thought we were a bunch of housewives, and they were probably right. A lot of us were housewives, but a lot of us were professional housewives and doing this as a professional business. And a lot of them at that point felt that they didnt want to belong to it because we werent a part of their world. But as things went on, and time passed, they began to find out that we belonged there and they were happy to join us and Im happy to have them with us. 64 Myrle Horn

So I remember at that time, Shirley Corriher and I drafted a little saying for when somebody asks, Well, what do you do? We said, Well, if Transcript, Helen Fletcher Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 64 Transcript, Myrle Horn Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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it has to do with food and it makes a buck, Im your girl. 65 Terry Thompson-Anderson

My mothers great line about my achievements is that I took a frying pan and a piece of paper and I forged a career. 66 Martha Rose Shulman

The year 1987 saw another defining moment in IACP history when, following the advocacy by some for a code of ethics and certification program, 29 people, including Julia Child, passed the Certified Food Professional Exam (now CCP). Certification remains an important part of IACP today. From its earliest days, IACP and its supporters had struggled with issues surrounding credibility and legitimacy. The certification process was a formal instance of self-assertion, and is remembered by those who were involved:

I remember in the beginning there was some hesitation on some peoples parts, Julia just being an example, and were we credible? Were we going to be around for the long-term? And when Id sit in on some of those board meetings and Id see the facts and figures, you know, the bottom line Transcript, Terry Thompson-Anderson Oral History Interview, June 1, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 66 Transcript, Martha Rose Shulman Oral History Interview, February 3, 2006, by Russ Parsons, Schlesinger Library.
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didnt always look so good. 67 Sally Bernstein

I think we cant forget that much of that struggle for recognition, that idea of bringing honor and credibility to what so many of all of us were doingyou, me, everybodywas very much at the heart of the real struggles in the early days of the IACP. And I think that, out of that, came a real concern about defining professions and bringing credibility to them in the food world. 68 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

I do remember, other than networking, trying to figure out why we existed, other than to educate ourselves and to get a little professionalism into the group. I think it [certification] did do that. I think it made people say, I really need more education in some areas, or, I really need to study a little more. By giving them the idea of certification, after so many hours of studying or teaching, we made them strive for something that wasnt there and I think it makes us...if we recognized ourselves with a little more respect, then the outside world would as well I remember going to New York and sitting and doing evaluations as Transcript, Sally Bernstein Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 68 Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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to who should be accepted or not accepted for certification, and I remember [a certain member] objecting to the fact that she had to fill this out and she should be grandfathered in and anybody who was in the food business should be grandfathered. Then we came across a form from a lady by the name of Julia Child, and the group looked at each other and said, If Julia can take the time to fill this out, then so can everyone else. 69 Hermie Kranzdorf

Well, I dont remember precise criteria, but what the application for certification consisted of at the time was, it was a points system where you got points for your experience as a student, your experience as a teacher, your experience in other food-related activities and association experience. The association experience was very minimal, which was probably good because nobody had been around long enough for anybody to be very active in it. The issue that came up around this was that some of the more experienced, longer-standing teachers, resented the idea that they would have to pass some sort of process in order to get a certification and wanted to be grandfathered in as certifiedWithout actually going through the Transcript, Hermie Kranzdorf Oral History Interview, October 27, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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process, you know, I anoint you certified. And that was a big discussion, which was solved in the most wonderful way. I was part of a group that went to New York to evaluate various applications for certification. There were five of us sitting around in somebodys living room and one of the women said, Look what Ive got. And it was Julia Childs application for certification. Now, pulling together all of your experience was an arduous process. At least it was for me. It took me a whole day to get all of my stuff to paper, and if it was hard for me, it must have been triply hard for Julia Child, but she sat down and did it. And, even though we would have elevated her to sainthood in a minute, she applied for certification and we certified her and nobody ever brought up the idea of grandfathering again. 70 Bernice Sission

for many people, it is very difficult to make a decent living working in food and those of us who haveI mean, I combined consulting, writing, lecturing and teaching, and had always been very lucky in terms of making a livingbut there was always the thing about, are you the dilettante or are you the professional? And I remember asking Julia Child very seriously, Julia, how do you know when youre really a professional? And she Transcript, Bernice Sisson Oral History Interview, April 1, 2005, by Minna Duchovny, Schlesinger Library.
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looked at me and said, Dear, when they pay you for it. But the thing about this was that, in reality, this business has always been one that one can dip ones toe in, or one can dive into the deep end of the pool 71 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT

If the success of an organization necessitates growth, then growth necessitates heightened organization and structure. In its early stages, ACS had employed the Washington-based management firm, Bergman Associates, to help organize the various financial and logistical needs of the organization. Over time, the needs of the organization changed and a transition was made to another management firmFSA Group (Food Service Associates). Many IACP members consider this to be a pivotal juncture in the organizations history, and the changes brought about have been the topic of much discussion. Oral history excerpts reflect the history of this transition, and reveal the inner workings of organizational structure and association management. They also describe the individuals who have helped shape both IACP and FSA Group. What stands out is that the development of IACP, the leading professional Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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organization in the food and cooking industries, reflected the broader picture of food awareness in America. Recently, another change in management has taken place with the transition to Kellen Company on November 1, 2008. Recent changes are discussed later in this book, while below are memories highlighting the early issues surrounding association management.

He [Bill Bergman] did fund us from the start. But, Bill and I also fought about this, because what I had not computedI knew Bill knew how to start these associationsbut what I had not computed was that Bill had no interest in a membership organization of individual members. He only wanted to deal with the top cooking schoolsHe wanted associations that had American Express and things like that as members, he did not want to deal with cooking school teachers like Bernice Sisson and myself who pay fifty dollars or a hundred dollars a year and bitched all day to him. 72 Nathalie Dupree

We had hired one group to manage the association in the beginning and they didnt last very long. That really was not working, and then this group FSA was brought in and theyve really done a good job of putting the Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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whole thing into perspective and taking on the management side of whats going on, letting the members spin their dreams and do what they want to do. 73 Antonia Allegra

I think what happens with them [association managers] is that they become vested in the organization, as they should, and they begin to feel like its their organization, but they are not on the front lines. Theyre not out there meeting the rent, washing the pots, so they can only know a certain amount of it. They become investedthe executive directors or whatever we call themthe management firms become vested in the organizations, they begin to feel that it is their will rather than just the boards will. Its a very natural, normal, human thing to have happen. 74 Nathalie Dupree

I think probably the biggest difficulty IACP had in the beginning was the management group. It was a group called Bergman, and they were critically unpleasant and uncooperative and secretive. And I think because I had met Daniel Maye and Phillip Cooke at their first Symposium on Transcript, Antonia Allegra Oral History Interview, May 26, 2005, by Julie Ann Jenanyan, Schlesinger Library. 74 Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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American Cuisine, and the second and the third and the fourth, and had become great friends with them, and I admired them very much, I had proposed that they become the new managers I worked with Leslie Bloom and Sharon Tyler Herbst and so we changed the management, and I think there is no possibility of saying enough thank-yous to them. Because, it was initially Phillip and Daniel, but very soon Daniel on his own, who worked unbelievable numbers of hours with great brilliance to guide the organization to where it is. And I think its also his aesthetic sense that has contributed so much, because he has introduced great graphic design for everything we publish. The awards and all the publications, and every so often somebody complains about the cost, but its those intangibles that have made our organization flourish. 75 Irena Chalmers

I would say it was a big change when we moved to FSA, but that's just a personal impression. I was the treasurer at the time and then I moved on to be President. With FSA in the saddle, IACP's management became much more proactive. I wouldn't know if the association changed enormously, but it certainly became much more member-friendly, and tried to offer Transcript, Irena Chalmers Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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more services despite being constantly strapped for money. 76 Anne Willan

That [1989-90] was a stress-inducing year, to put it mildly. At the time, I was one of the few people who got along with our management group, Bergman AssociatesSearching for a new management firm took several months. We got the RFP (Request For Proposal) out, got the proposals back and weeded through them, then the board voted by conference call on who the final three would be. By that time, Nancy Kirby Harris was back in action, so she, Anne Willan and I flew to Chicago, where I believe we met with two firms. Then we flew to Louisville and met Daniel Maye and Phillip Cooke of Foodservice Associates (now FSA Group)We changed so much that year, but I say weit really was FSA who came up with most of the creative and innovative ideas. They brought an energy to the IACP that wed never before experienced. 77 Sharon Tyler Herbst

FSA GROUP

Transcript, Anne Willan Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Brittany Williams, Schlesinger Library. 77 Transcript, Sharon Tyler Herbst Oral History Interview, May 15, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library.
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Upon meeting public relations specialist, Philip Cook, Daniel Maye contributed his financial expertise to what would become a business partnership based in Chicago in 1978. The two moved their base of operations to Louisville, Kentucky in 1979, where they quickly found opportunities, not in public relations, but in small-scale association management. They found themselves managing the Society for Food Service Management (SFM) and enjoying the shift away from public relations. Because Philip Cooks background was largely rooted in the food industry, becoming Food Service Associates (later FSA Group) was the natural direction for the pairs professional aspirations. Throughout the 1980s they continued their management expertise, as well as becoming involved with a series of symposia on American cuisine, held in locations across the United States. Through these events they connected with Irena Chalmers, a board member of IACP at that time. When IACP decided to change management firms, FSA was in strong consideration. Daniel Maye remembers:

We officially started with them [IACP] in October, 1989. At that time they had already booked a hotel in Atlanta for the conference in 1990. They had not done any planning, preparation, or anything. We had to hit the ground running to get ready for this conferenceWe were very excited

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about managing the association because we had heard such great things about it, and it was a prestigious account for us to have. There was some feeling that the management should not leave Washington D.C. and some people were wondering why it was moving to the hinterlands in Louisville, Kentucky. It took a little politicking to get over those reservationsIACP members always have very strong opinions and theyre not timid about voicing them. 78 Daniel Maye

FROM COOKING TO CULINARY

Along with the transition to FSA came another name change. In 1989, members were asked to ratify a bylaw amendment changing the C in the IACP acronym from Cooking to Culinary. The change would more accurately reflect the groups members, as many were not cooks but earned a living in various food-related professions.

Later on when we found that in IACP, which stood then for International Association of Cooking Professionals, there were a lot of people who were not cooks, who were not cooking, but wanted to be part of

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Maye, Daniel. Personal Interview. 26 June 2007.

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itmostly food writers and other people interested in cooking, but not necessarily cooks, thats why we changed. So, instead of having to change the logo, we changed to International Association of Culinary Professionals, and we kept the same logo. 79 Francois Dionot

many of the earlier IACP members were basically cooking teachers or running cooking schools. Not that they made a full living doing that, but thats what they were emphasizing and thats what they started with. But, many of them branched out into having cooking schools and cookware stores, or in department stores, or in being traveling teachers and thats when they expanded it into writing and cookbook writing. 80 Blake Swihart

Today, the IACP represents virtually every profession in the culinary arenacooking school owners, teachers, caterers, writers, chefs, editors, publishers, food stylists, food photographers, restaurateurs, vintners and leaders of major food corporations, as well as the multi-disciplined freelancer. Over 4,000

Transcript, Francois Dionot Oral History Interview, August 23, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library. 80 Transcript, Charie MacDonald Oral History Interview, September 19, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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members in at least 35 countries enjoy the benefits of continuing education, professional development and networking opportunities. IACP owes much of its success to its ability to adapt and remain relevant. Throughout its permutations, the association had adopted strategies for progress, including the evolution and expansion of membership, sponsorship, certification, and management. Founding and charter members have individually and collectively contributed to this success in their own ways, and many continue to do so. The real story of the organization begins with these individual members and the respective paths that led them to organize, in grassroots fashion, into a formidable body of serious educators and culinary professionals. The search for personal and professional identity in America, before and around the initial meetings of the organization, informs many of the oral histories. Factors such as family background, gender, and social expectations, have not only influenced individual lives, but have helped to shape the culinary world that we know today. In this environment, the founding and charter members of IACP forged their ways into careers involving cooking, teaching, writing, and traveling, in addition to other culinary ventures. Personal backgrounds, career choices and the relationships of founding and charter members to social and cultural developments are all explored in the next chapter.

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The Food World

The founding members of IACP came to the food world individually in the late 1970s, and men and women across the country were giving vent to their culinary creativity in a variety of ways. Food and the pleasure of cooking were finally subjects to be openly excited about, and not the demeaning chores of necessity, or confined to the realm of womens work as they had been. However, differing opinions and downright controversies have long surrounded food and cooking, and there was no shortage of strong feelings in this developmental period. Regardless of its increasing visibility, the food world was not yet considered a credible place to forge ones career and, for women especially, creative opportunities were few. Founding and charter members reflect on the food world, and on the social and cultural factors that surrounded them:

at that time food was really exciting. It was just coming into the fore, and in America we had not done anything like this before...it was very creative, which is what really turned me on. It was the creativity of it and

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what you could do with it and how you never had to do the same thing twice. 1 Helen Fletcher

in the sixties I was lucky enough to be living in New York City, when what we could euphemistically call the food revolution was just getting startedI didnt realize it then, but I essentially had a front seat at the revolution. These were the days of Julia Child starting on television, these were the days when James Beard was really celebrating what we had here in the United States, was teaching in New York, and was a huge presence in the field. Dione Lucas had essentially come before this time. Virginia Lee was teaching, Craig Claiborne was a food critic at The [New York] Times, and Gail Green was just getting started writing. We had all just discovered MFK Fisher, who I believe influenced more food writing in this country than any other single person I can think of. 2 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

The opportunities for people twenty-five years ago, which would have been 1978, were very few. You could work in a great big, huge factory like Transcript, Helen Fletcher Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 2 Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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Bloomers Chocolate or the bread factories. All the little guys were all going out and thats kind of how I started cooking because you couldnt find the bakeries that used real chocolate and real sugar, it wasnt around. Now weve gone back to that, but my business was kind of started as a reaction to that because you couldnt find it. Today, the sky is the limit and I also say, for women, it didnt exist. Kitchens were totally male, very arrogant, and they had an ancient mentality. 3 Charie MacDonald

The stigma of working in the food industry presented obstacles, both inside and outside of the professional realm. While food and cooking would at once take on a certain mystique, they largely remained degraded as the leisure pursuits of hobbyists, relegated to a ghetto of proverbial pastimes. Meanwhile, dining out came into vogue like never before, and both men and women were getting into the act at home, taking pride in producing meals for their families and friends to enjoy. Years before this glamorization of cooking in America had taken hold, a handful of both culinary professionals and home cooks began to assess the supply-and-demand scenario that had been surfacing. By the time the public caught up with the trend, opportunities for culinary instruction would be waiting for them. Transcript, Charie MacDonald Oral History Interview, September 19, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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With increased interest in cooking and good eating, backed by a healthy economy, there was great opportunity for experts in the field (and some enthusiastic novices) to impart their knowledge and experience upon fellow socialites, homemakers, or everyday people interested in learning more, and who were willing to pay to do so. America was hungry, not just for food, but also for edification and the secrets to good living. However, the new wave of culinary education and instruction would differ from the step-by-step formulas seen on televised cooking shows. Instead, the key to learning would be in doing, in a hands-on environment and under the watchful eye of an instructor. A Do-It-Yourself mentality manifested itself in cities, suburbs and rural environs across America, with impromptu schools and classes offering realistic alternatives to faraway and costly professional cooking academies and institutes. Culinary pioneers were suddenly dotting the landscape, independent of the larger food establishment, and largely unaware of one another. These were the founding and charter members of IACP.

FAMILY AND IDENTITY

The early members of IACP come from widely varied backgrounds. They each arrived at the food business in different ways, often as a direct result of their families influence, or, by contrast, to pursue interests in food and cooking that

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they felt had been lacking at home. Below are some recollections on growing up, and on the various influences that led certain individuals towards careers in food.

I grew up in the food business, so it wasnt something that I came to later in life, or had an epiphany and said this is what I want to choose for myself. I am the fourth generation in a family of restaurateursfood peopleand I literally grew up in a restaurant. 4 Rick Bayless

I had aunts who were into catering. Everyone cooked in my family. It was an important part of a family gathering and even as a teenager it was, you know, the demand was sort of that you needed to be able to cook.5 Mitzie Cutler

Well, my earliest memories are that of my grandmother and grandfather who had and old fashioned tavern where the whole family

Transcript, Rick Bayless Oral History Interview, January 14, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 5 Transcript, Mitzie Cutler Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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would come and they were always cooking. 6 Helen Fletcher

Ive been interested in food I guess ever since I began to eat it, having grown up on a farm in Minnesota where I learned my first food memoriesthe taste of fresh raspberries in the morning and the taste of fresh cream from the milk separator and so forth. I love to cook. Ive always loved to be around food. I baked my first loaf of bread when I was four years old and Ive always been interested in geography and that, plus other opportunities in my life, led me, eventually after my career, down a food path that really has been one of the most satisfying things. 7 Jerrie Strom

I happened early in life to grow up in a German community, in Kansas. The herbs were grown in the garden and then dried, of course, for winter use. They were used in the food, and for teas and salves. They were just a way of life. These were first generation German and Dutch people, and so the European tradition of the herbs remained with them. The herbs were not necessarily considered medicinal. They simply were a way of life. You Transcript, Helen Fletcher Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 7 Transcript, Jerry Strom Oral History Interview, August 4, 2005, by Michelle Mikesell, Schlesinger Library.
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put them in the food and you made a cup of tea if you felt, as they said, bilious. They just became part of their lives. I grew up with always using the herbs in food. We had savory in the beans, and sage in the sausage and in the dressings. 8 Madalene Hill

Yet, of course, some things were just not available. I was born in 1937. So I grew up during the war, and there were many things not available because of that. We werent able to get a wide variety of vegetables and all. We lived in the city and mother worked full time all my life, as a single mother. She didnt have time or the energy necessarily to have a big vegetable garden. So, we were limited, but the thing that I always remember is Sunday dinner, which was at one or two in the afternoon. 9 Gwen Barclay

As a child I grew up in a food family. My fathers parents were the largest, elitist Kosher catering business in New York at the turn of the century, in the early 1900s. And they had a hotel, which my father, being one of eleven children, took turns running as adults in the Catskills, and we Transcript, Madalene Hill (with Gwen Barclay) Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 9 Transcript, Madalene Hill (with Gwen Barclay) Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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spent many a summer there, my brothers and I, when we were growing up. And we had a chef and a pastry chef and as owners children we were allowed in the kitchen, and they used to send all the children out picking blueberries in the summer. 10 Sue Sutker

There were clear advantages for those who came from food families. This may have been particularly so for those whose relatives had emigrated here, along with particular culinary traditions and practices, or for those lucky enough to experience travel and tourism in other cultures with distinct foods and cuisines.

My grandmothers, two grandmothers, one had been a Swiss peasant from the Ticino section or region of Switzerland and the other was born in San Francisco, and just loved baking, so I had one making pastas and stuff on one side and the other making chocolate cakes with whipped cream. Both of them were pretty attractive. My mom loved to cook, but it was always very basic, northern Italian food and it was always the sameveal,

Transcript, Sue Sutker Oral History Interview, May 31, 2005, by Charlie Sutker, Schlesinger Library.
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prosciutto, tortelliniand to us it was kind of boring. 11 Antonia Allegra

Well, I was always interested in food. My mother was French and my father comes from an English background, and I started cooking when I was around two years old, doing cakes and pies, and was encouraged to cook and bake and experience making lots of mistakes in the kitchen, and that was how I started, very early.12 Alice Hart

Well, I started cooking in Paris. My mother is a very good cook, so there are good cooks in the family and she was also very interested in the presentation of food. But it really came about, I went to study in Europe when I was nineteen and went to the University of Madrid, and then moved up to Paris a couple of years laterNot the conventional secondary education. 13 Beverly Cox

First of all, I think I have to explain that I feel that I was very privileged in that my family was of an ethnic background, and they felt it Transcript, Antonia Allegra Oral History Interview, May 26, 2005, by Julie Ann Jenanyan, Schlesinger Library. 12 Transcript, Alice Hart Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 13 Transcript, Beverly Cox Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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was important that we be educated. At eleven I lived in Rome, and we took a transatlantic crossing. And again, being privileged, we went over on a ship, first class. 14 Roberta Dowling

While many people grew up in or around the food business, others were not so encouraged and had to find their own ways:

It all began when my mother would not let me in the kitchen, let my sister nor I in the kitchen, because she didnt want us to make a mess. I assume thats the reason. 15 Sally Bernstein

I grew up with a mother who hated to cookabsolutely hated to cook and so I knew nothing about cooking. 16 Terry ThompsonAnderson

My parents were divorced, so I had a single parent family, and occasionally I would cook. I loved making meringues and I would eat them Transcript, Roberta Dowling Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 15 Transcript, Sally Bernstein Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 16 Transcript, Terry Thompson-Anderson Oral History Interview, June 1, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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raw, but it was just a little bit of home cooking and some home shopping. I always enjoyed it. 17 Nathalie Dupree

While backgrounds varied, the women involved in the early stages of IACP were the true risk takers. The risks were not always the same, as individual lives and upbringings afforded vastly different experiences and perspectives. Certain people were more financially privileged than others, and had greater access to travel and to new foods. The struggle for a professional identity had occurred at a time in America when women were discouraged from establishing careers. Instead of confining their cooking to the home, these women sought creative outlets that would lead to professional recognition. This is not to say that the men involved in the IACP did not face their own pressures and social discrimination, or that they did not work just as diligently to establish professional careers. Professional cooking was seen as blue-collar work, and not considered appropriate for those privileged enough to have had an education. The IACP, in part, provided an outlet for people, and a networking

Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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sanctuary. The organization also signaled options beyond chefdom 18 for many women who were not specifically interested in the restaurant industry, but whose passion for food and cooking had led them to their own professional interests and business ventures. As women continued to cook, and to teach, the lines between their domestic and professional lives began to blur.

So, there were so many things that came to me, because up until that point I was a housewife cooking. And at that point I realized I wasnt just a housewife cooking, but I had really become a professional just through the things I had been doing, because I had learned so much more and this, I think, was one of the biggest things for me. 19 Myrle Horn

When I graduated from the CIA [Culinary Institute of America] in 1978 there were only five women, six women in my class, two of who had already been to college and decided they wanted to do this instead of going on to school like I was doing. And they had planned on doing something other than just cooking in restaurants. There were not many women in

Swihart, Blake. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007. Transcript, Myrle Horn Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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school back then 20Blake Swihart

Lifestyles in general have changed. The world situation has changed but thats a whole different story. In the late sixties I was a new Marine wife and very focused on my husbands career. At the same time, I was trying to fulfill the role of being a traditional military wife. During this time, besides being the perfect military wife, I was searching for my own identity. I tried very hard to do that, so I decided to follow the advice of a very popular military wifes handbook from the fifties era that told me I should become socially athletic, confident, and have at least two social skills and social graces. 21 Susan Slack

my high school graduating class was probably 1959, and so I was raised, in those days all women were raised to get married and have childrennobody ever said You like animals, you should be a Veterinarian. Or What do you want to be when you grow up? It was always assumed that you were going to get married and have kids, and I went into secretarial school and went into the investment business and Transcript, Terry Thompson-Anderson Oral History Interview, June 1, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 21 Transcript, Susan Slack Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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when I was looking at my thirtieth birthday, it didnt look like anybody was going to marry me, I thought, lets see... 22 Mary Risley

I did not have time to study food growing up. That was regarded as a waste of time for a young woman of good education. Education was academic, which actually, looking back on it, was just fine. 23 Anne Willan

I told my mother at that time that I wanted to become a cook. My mother was so upset! She said, Nathalie, ladies dont cook. Please dont do this because youd have to work at night with men and I really wanted you to be a lady. At that time, it was trueladies did not cook. And then along came Julia Child not long after that. 24 Nathalie Dupree

The female founding and charter members of IACP had to negotiate their social and familial lives in order to encompass their culinary interests. This was particularly so when one decided to work outside of the home, or, if still technically in the home (as in the case of cooking classes), outside of the domestic Transcript, Mary Risley Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 23 Transcript, Anne Willan Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Brittany Williams, Schlesinger Library. 24 Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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model of cooking-as-provision, and into the realm of cooking for pleasure, or profit. Women who were founding or charter members recall some of the issues that they faced:

I aspired to be a lawyer and in those days, of course, very few women ever did become lawyers, but thats what I wanted to do. But I was pregnant, so at the time I looked at other schools to go to and Stanford was right in my backyard. But they would not take a part-time student, and because of my pregnancy I just couldnt go all dayand so then there were a couple of schools around that I could have tried to go to, but they were quite far away as far as traveling, you know, like to San Jose. So, what happened is I said in retrospect, Im going to intellectualize somewhere in the house, and that was in the kitchen, so I started baking. 25 Flo Braker

Well, I really never thought I would get into food professionally because I studied music and I had a degree in voice performance, and I was going to be a great opera singer. But that ended when I decided to get married and have children, because I could no longer travel and leave home for unknown periods of time. I decided that I was going to stay home and Transcript, Flo Braker Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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be a mother, and being bored at times I decided that I wanted to cook. I loved cooking and for a wedding gift someone asked me, What would you like? and I said, A gourmet cookbook. and she bought me The Gourmet Cookbook. I was fascinated with the book and I guess like any other talent, if its singing, or playing the piano, or cooking, there is a certain amount of talent that goes with it, plus the desire. I had the desire and I developed the talent, I suppose. 26 Myrle Horn

I know Nathalie Dupree and I bonded because we felt that people should have cooking schools and turn a profit, or at least make a living. And many of the early teachers were women who loved to cook, but had families or husbands to support their one or two classes a month, or week. So I know that Nathalie and I really worked hard to try to say, Hey, youve gotta charge. Youve got to be a professional, youve got to work in your community, youve got to communicate, blah, blah, blah. 27 Marlene Parrish

The IACP oral histories reveal that not all of the women involved in the Transcript, Myrle Horn Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 27 Transcript, Marlene Parrish Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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organizations early years felt particularly discriminated against in their forays into the food business, while others faced major obstacles and experienced prejudice that they felt were directly related to their gender.

It was really difficult.

I would venture to say that most people

couldnt have been successful in those days, because it was so hard. Not only was it hard in terms of the discrimination that you were a woman and you werent supposed to be doing this, but the physical strength needed was another issue. I mean you needed a lot of physical strength. I would get up at two in the morning, and I would drive into the market place. I would put the crates of vegetables on the truck, drive back to the school, unload the truck, and then proceed to work a twelve-to-fourteen hour day. There werent any women out there, thats for sure! 28 Roberta Dowling

Well, you know everything was trial by fire in those days because there was no way for women to really integrate themselves into restaurant cooking, unless they had worked in a family of restaurateurs. Nobody wanted a woman working for them, by and large, as the chef, or in any other way in the kitchen. You got to be the hometown caterer, or the Transcript, Roberta Dowling Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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person who made cheese straws and sold them in the hometown. Unless it was a mom and pop restaurant or a family restaurantyou just didnt get the exposure. 29 Nathalie Dupree

Because the idea of becoming a professional in the culinary world was still mostly tied to the idea of working in a restaurant, women continued to face opposition. As interest in food and cooking grew, the same discrimination that had existed in the professional kitchen began to extend to other fields, such as teaching, or starting ones own business.

In the cooking world it was very hard for women in the old days in restaurants. Now a lot of women work in restaurants and there are a lot of women chefs, but it used to be a very chauvinistic area, and so teaching was the obvious way to go if you wanted to be in food. 30 Elizabeth Cawdry Thomas

The biggest thing I had is that the banks wouldnt lend me any money because I didnt want my husband signing for itthat was the one place I Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 30 Transcript, Elizabeth Cawdry Thomas Oral History Interview, May 23, 2005, by Suzanne Riess, Schlesinger Library.
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felt very definitely I was discriminated against, because we hada house that was worth fifteen times what I was asking, and they would still not lend me the money. They would still not lend me any money. I had to go to my father and he gave me the money. 31 Helen Fletcher

I still remember an associate of my husbands at that timewhen I was running what turned out to be the largest cooking school in the state and writing nine feature articles a year for Bon Apptit, doing a local newspaper column and, quite frankly, making, at that time, a very decent livingand an associate of my husband laughing and saying, Its so nice your wife has a hobby. And bless my husband for saying, That hobby right now, first of all, she works about twelve hours a day at it, six days a week, far more than you do at your job. Secondly, shes making a hell of a lot more money than youll ever dream of making. And, you know, God bless him, but you know, that was the attitude and I think to a certain extent, it still is. You know, its that patting on the head, oh dear, were so glad you have something to do between tennis games. 32 Lynne Rossetto Kasper Transcript, Helen Fletcher Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 32 Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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Yes, women are much more recognized [today] as good earners in the food world. Of course, women chefs lead the way in competing on level terms with men. There's been a big change with women chefs, but women have always competed as writers, they've always led as journalists. Until very recently, and I think it's just a passing trend, women were at least equals with men on television, and I think this trend for young men is going to move on. Women in food businesses have probably grown quite a lot in the States lately. In France, women are still not prominent as chefs, but they are, and have been, important out in the front of the house. 33 Anne Willan

I think the industry itself has so expanded. It has taken more women into the fold, which I think is fantastic. I think the IACP is probably eighty to ninety percent women because of that cooking school beginning, and it was something for women to do in the home. And now look at them. So many women who have started in that role now have restaurantsthe same thing with many writers who started on the smaller side, so its been a

Transcript, Anne Willan Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Brittany Williams, Schlesinger Library.
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time of transition for the industry as well as for the people in it. 34 Antonia Allegra

Prevailing attitudes were in flux, and the women who helped to build IACP paved the way for male and female culinary professionals alike. Today, the food industry enjoys a size, notoriety and celebrity profile unimaginable to most people living in the 1970s and 1980s. The IACP has grown along with this trend, and its members contributed greatly to creating and furthering the importance of food, cooking and culinary instruction at home and abroad.

TEACHING

Culinary education in 20th century America had strong roots in the Home Economics movement, but in the 1970s there was still no precedent for the emergent brand of independent instruction. Concepts, lesson plans, teaching styles, advertising, recipe development and a host of other issues had to be invented and nurtured on an ad hoc basis. Instructors threw themselves headlong into what was not yet an established field. For most, the prospect of supporting oneself through culinary ventures was daunting, if not impossible.

Transcript, Antonia Allegra Oral History Interview, May 26, 2005, by Julie Ann Jenanyan, Schlesinger Library.
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All, however, were fueled by their love of food and cooking, and their desire to share these things with others. If creativity was an asset in this environment, versatility was an absolute necessity. The oral history interviews highlight the development of culinary instruction, as told by the teachers themselves:

I taught for five semesters. You know, its pack it out, pack it in, and the eight dollars an hour I was working for, I figured I was getting about thirty-seven cents an hour because I was doing a lot of research and I would read every cookbook. At that point I was starting to buy other cookbooks because they were starting to appear. 35 Carmen Jones

I never just made a living teaching. I always had a little food styling on the side and in those days you made a hundred dollars a day and you said, Oh my God, if I work two days in the month Ill be a big deal. And so we did all kinds of things. And then Id write the occasional recipe for the newspaper or do something, you know, so the transition was not only natural, but necessaryand to keep that umbrella unfolding to various

Transcript, Carmen Jones Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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people in the profession was the absolute right thing to do. 36 Marlene Parrish

In many ways, these self-motivated and self-made instructors were making it up as they went along. The formation of once-popular gourmet clubs had provided a basic model for some, allowing for cooking demonstrations and questions in an informal setting, and also often introducing an international element to cooking. These occasionally grew to become formalized cooking schools. As the nations interest in the culinary arts increased, certain individuals found their skills suddenly in demand, with new students and new opportunities presenting themselves each day. Increased interest in travel, among instructors and students alike, also opened new doors to less familiar cuisines.

So the whole society was starting to get interested in foods and cooking. I also know, too, that the international travel became more popular for the United States citizens. The affluence was starting to build and people were

Transcript, Marlene Parrish Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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traveling and they wanted the foods that they had eaten in these foreign countries. 37 Carmen Jones

I started getting this avalanche of mail and requests to do things and I got a call from the folks at the Caf Nolat organization. It was the day after the magazine hit the newsstands in December of 83 and they wanted to know if I would come and do consulting with their restaurant corporation in Philadelphia. I recall I said, Well, of course Id be delighted to. And they said, What do you charge? and I tried to sound really knowledgeable and professional and, you know, What is the scope of exactly what youre looking for? and I got off the phone and immediately called you [Blake Swihart, Interviewer] and said, What does a consultant do? 38 Terry Thompson-Anderson

When I first started women had not gone back to work in the workforce, so they still entertained a lot and I know they came to the Chinese cooking classes because they wanted to be the first to cook a Chinese meal for their friends. So they constantly wanted new things and Transcript, Carmen Jones Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 38 Transcript, Terry Thompson-Anderson Oral History Interview, June 1, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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they didnt care about how much work it was. Its just that its new and exciting for cooking for their family and introducing something new, and I usually ran a course for five classes and then they would say, Teach us more. 39 Jean Yueh

COOKING CLASSES AND SCHOOLS

While the IACP of today is represented by a wide range of skills and professions, its foundation was made up of teachers and teaching. Whether the venue was a home kitchen, department or retail store, or a formal cooking school, the early members of the organization were passionately devoted to sharing their time, knowledge and new discoveries with eager students and friends. The field would grow exponentially once its progenitors began to network, but first each individual was responsible for accommodating his or her own community or regional audience, which was often an overwhelmingly enthusiastic one.

Back when I was teaching, and were talking about the early seventies, most of my classes were morning. When I put a night class on it was very Transcript, Jean Yueh Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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few people who came to that. And women werent working as much and particularly the age group of women, which was older than I was at the time, but their children had gottenthey were ten years older and they had gotten to an age where they were doing things like this and cooking classes kind of became like tennis classes. It was a bit of a fad there for a while. 40 Anne Byrd

it was quite a challenge, not only to fill all of those classes, but also to come up with classes that were relevant. It was the beginning of the whole cooking era and people were very interested in it. It was the first time I had heard people ask what were the ingredients in a restaurant. Things were changing and it was fun. It was a great time to be teachingbut the let-me-take-a-cooking-class days are not there anymore. When people all went to work those days sort of went by the wayside. I remember when I used to teach at home in my own kitchen at times and I had no trouble getting eight people. I had a huge kitchen I would use for participation classes and I absolutely had no trouble getting eight people,

Transcript, Anne Byrd Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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but I dont think I could do it today. 41 Nancy Kirby Harris

Teaching was an acquired skill, just like cooking or writing. Each person had to navigate these arenas for themselves, depending on their own needs and the needs their clientele. Below are further recollections of the trials of becoming a teacher:

I taught for three years and there were questions that I honestly couldnt answer with all the research I was doing. I said, You know what? I thought to myself, I need to take some professional training. And at that point I had already started writing for the local newspaper, doing a weekly column. So, I pulled my bootstraps up and decided Id go to the Culinary Institute of America. 42 Carmen Jones

You know, I think at that time we each had our own little niche in the cooking world and everyone, I think, had a slightly different focus and maybe had a slightly different market they were appealing to. And, you know, a lot of good, nice people and all of them doing what they were led Transcript, Nancy Kirby Harris Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 42 Transcript, Carmen Jones Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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to doand so I felt like each person was distinguished from one another. We werent all trying to do exactly the same thing. 43 Diane Wilkinson

One thing that is really important even today is [how] to have a business in your home. Because some communities allow it and some communities dont. And how terrible to think that you could do it in your home and not investigate, and put in this wonderful kitchen, and then your city officials come knocking at your door and say, By the way, this is not allowed if you have people parking on the street for more than three hours, or whatever. There are and were parking regulations, and I think that was one of the primary things. The others were insurance issueswhat kind of protection do we need? So, they were the basic issues of any business, but we were in a new business that had not existed before so there was no precedent. If, for example, youre an accountant, you can have a business at home because nobody ever visits youwell, that doesnt work with a cooking school. So, I think those were probably the issues facing us and probably the other thing

Transcript, Diane Wilkinson Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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was curiosity. We wanted to know who our colleagues were. We only knew each other by name. 44 Judith Bell

In addition to teaching, instructors were exploring myriad ways to meet the demands of an ever-expanding consumer base, including retail. In some cases, a retail component would be incorporated into the teaching environment. Irena Chalmers was one such entrepreneur:

I opened up another school and then I discovered something wonderful, which was that people werent really so much interested in cooking, but in the utensils. And so I opened a little cookware shop and if there were twelve ladies in the class, I would put out nine souffl dishes. That was wonderful marketing because they were less interested in how to make a souffl than how to get their hands on the dish. They would eye each other to see who could make the fastest dash out of the classroom to snag one at the gift shop. The real, real beginning of this entire enterprise was in the shop. I had to keep buying merchandise for it because that became far more profitable than the actual cooking classes. It was more a trick to get them to buy Transcript, Judith Bell Oral History Interview, July 17, 2008, by Neil Coletta, Schlesinger Library.
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cookware, and so that meant that I had to go to the New York Gift Show to buy, and then one year when I went, everybody was whispering, Fondue is in. I thought, I didnt know about that. So I bought three fondue pots for my little shop and Julias popularity was, by this time, increasing by leaps and bounds, and little kitchen boutiques were beginning to open up all over the country. And there was somebody who opened up a cookware shop in the local shopping mall, which got far more traffic than my little shop, and so he bought twelve fondue pots for his shop and the pots sat and sat and sat and gathered dust. And it never even occurred to me to demonstrate how to make fondue. So this other fellow called me and said, Well, youve got a cooking school. Why dont you come to my shop and show people how to cook fondue and maybe well be able to sell the pots. I thought, Well, thats really a good idea. But then, the next thought was, I dont know how to make fondue. So, I had a big gourmet cookbook and I looked it up and I discovered it was melted cheese and I thought, Whoa, I could do that. So, we put an ad in the paper and loads of people came and they all watched me melt cheese and they said to each other, Isnt that the best thing you ever put in your mouth? And they all agreed that it was and then they all went away and nobody bought a fondue pot.

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So, we had now the equivalent of fourteen and a half fondue pots, because one was slightly used and therefore not sellable. So we decided that probably the best thing to do would be to write a cookbook about how tocan you imaginehow to melt cheese? Well, it was a very little cookbook. It only had twenty-four pages and it was shocking, really, that one could be so bold, but then when we went to a printer, because, of course, you realize that we couldnt just print fourteen and a half books, we had to print 2,500. So, what happened then was we put our heads together. I met a lot of other people who went to the New York Gift Show who were also stuck with fondue pots that they couldnt sell because nobody knew how to make fondue. So we got a list of some of the exhibitors from the trade show and we sent them a sample of this book, and they discovered, to their surprise, that having a book beside the fondue pot and this book retailed for a dollar and it cost the shop fifty centsso for fifty cents they could sell a twenty-five dollar pot, or however much it cost. So, pretty soon, we sold out of about 2,500 copies, so then we had to make the decisionshould we reprint? Well, to our astonishment, we printed another 2,500, and then 5,000, and then that first year we sold a milliona million copiesthat was the beginning of the entire single-subject

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cookbook genre. 45Irena Chalmers

Cooking schools with gift shops, department store demonstrations, and equipment-and-cookbook packages are all examples of the ways in which food culture was appearing and delighting consumers. New appliances and products were popular, despite the fact that most department stores still did not have separate sections for cookware. This would quickly change. Stores like Marshall Fields and Crate & Barrel would come to promote cooking teachers and cookbook authors by holding public events. Some instructors would become traveling demonstrators, or product promoters, touring from store to store, while others fostered community in their home towns or regions. This combination of approaches made for a comprehensive culture of culinary instruction and education and allowed new people, ideas, techniques, foods, and equipment to flow nationwide.

I had a large following. Then somebody reported me for conducting a business in a residential area. In fact, the day that it happened, Flo Braker was teaching at my house. She had just finished her class when this man appeared at the door with a cease and desist notice. Somebody had Transcript, Irena Chalmers Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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reported me, and because I didnt know wholater I found out it was a disgruntled neighbor who didnt like the carsI had to stop teaching at home. I knew I wasnt ready to stop teaching, so I built a cooking school and a cookware shop. 46 Marlene Sorosky Gray

I had started demonstrating a little bit and Julia Child had been extremely supportive. I mean, she had said to me after three-and-a-half years, What do you want to do? and I said, I think Id like to teach and write, but I would also like to... and she said, Well, you know, start in your community. Start small. Just start teaching and demonstrating. So I had started doing that.47 Nina Simonds

I was doing all of this at once, and I was also teaching small, hands-on classes at my house during this period as well. So, if youre going to make a living at it you just gotta teach anywhere and everywhere. I started traveling all over the state and teaching in places that ranged from

Transcript, Marlene Sorosky Gray Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 47 Transcript, Nina Simonds Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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department stores to cookware shops. 48 Rick Bayless

As cooking classes continued to enjoy popularity, many schools inevitably grew in size and reputation. For some, this meant a transition from the home kitchen to a more formal setting, and often led to accreditation and to the establishment of legitimate businesses. Nonetheless, the movement remained grassroots in nature.

At that time we werent talking corporate cooking schools, at least not for most of us. So professional how-tos were described during a conference. We would have one conference per year bringing us together, and someone would say, You know, I just bake brownies and walk them around the neighborhood and everyone loves the brownies, and they have no problem with cars in the cul-de-sac. 49 Antonia Allegra

When I started teaching cooking in 1973, as I said, nobody ever asked you where you were trained and I didnt need to have restaurant experience. You could just read the book the night before and teach it the Transcript, Rick Bayless Oral History Interview, January 14, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 49 Transcript, Antonia Allegra Oral History Interview, May 26, 2005, by Julie Ann Jenanyan, Schlesinger Library.
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next day. And when I started the full-time schoolso I didnt have cooking training, and when I started the full-time school, I didnt have any business training. 50 Mary Risley

In those days, one did all demos. I had a demonstration table built. The kitchen wasnt what it is now. It was just an ordinary house. I had this demonstration table built, and I had it pushed against a wall. People would come in the evening for an evening course. You know, in those days we served wine, and these people basically just sat there as if they were in a nightclub, but it was my family room. I had a good set-up to do it, but it wasnt hands-on. I was the show. I was exhausted at the very end of the evening after performing, so to speak, for six hours, because Madeleines [Kamman] classes were five or six hours long. So, I followed basically the same type of format. I said I cant do this anymore with people trespassing in my home. I have got to find a place if Im going to continue to pursue this. Roberta Dowling

Individuals have established themselves as culinary authorities, to one degree or another, by various means. At times, many instructors were only a few Transcript, Mary Risley Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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steps ahead of their students, and had to constantly find ways to educate themselves. Those with enough time (and money) attended classes, or studied cookbooks, and were at a distinct advantage in establishing themselves as teachers.

I graduated college, didnt know how to cook, got married, and started taking every imaginable cooking class I could. 51 Sally Bernstein

So I baked from Jim Beard, I baked from Michael Field, I baked from Paula Peckand of course Juliawhenever there was anything to bake. And finally I really felt I had learned enough, and my kids now were older so that I decided, gee, maybe Ill start a baking business And at the time, everybody thought we had financial problems because I did start what was really a catering/baking business, called Occasional Baking. And I baked and I baked for that and then someone had asked me, would you teach [a class]? And I absolutely had no idea what in the world I would teach, because to me what I would teach is something that I wanted to know, not what I thought other people maybe didnt know. So, I talked to my husband and he said, Why dont you try it? Youll Transcript, Sally Bernstein Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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never know if you dont try it. And so I taught one class, but then I continued my baking business, and then I really felt I had learned so much that I did want to teach, I felt I had things to teach and of course the seed had been planted by this woman asking me originally, so I did stop Occasional Baking and I started teaching. And then after teaching for several years I said, Ive learned so much from this, I want to write a book.52 Flo Braker

The challenges brought on by the lack of traditional training also allowed people a certain freedom from constraint or standardization. After they proved to themselves that certain things could be achieved, they went about proving themselves to others.

About the third week of the cooking class the teacher called me aside and said, From the questions you ask, its clear that you know more about cooking than I do. Have you ever thought about teaching a cooking class? It was one of those ah ha moments and I thought, Wow! I wasnt exactly making thousands of dollars selling short stories to mystery magazines, so I thought Id check into the cooking thingThat was really when I got it. Transcript, Flo Braker Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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Oh my gosh, I thought, I think this is what I should be doing. I remember there was an upcoming week-long intensive to be given by Barbara Kafka, a technique guru in those days. But this class was only for professionals, which I wasntyet. So I thought, Okay, girl, visualize, actualize. So I sat up nights creating a logo, then ordered business cards and got a business license. So, before I ever taught a cooking class, I was acting like I was a cooking teacher. 53 Sharon Tyler Herbst

I went out to all the restaurant supply places, knowing full well that I needed some good professional equipment and said to them, Im going to teach these adult education classes. Ill tell these people where I got this, and would you supply me a rank of full professional knives and cookware? They didfree. I was so grateful to them and they became good friends and I think both of us benefited from each other. It was a good marriage. 54 Carmen Jones

I think basically at Christmas I would get ten telephone calls asking, Im doing thisblah blah blahwhat do I do? People would call, just Transcript, Sharon Tyler Herbst Oral History Interview, May 15, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library. 54 Transcript, Carmen Jones Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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friends and neighbors, so finally I had some friends who were taking some cooking classes, but they didnt understand that a crme sauce is a bchameltheyd get all hung up on the French words and they were like, We cant do this. and I was like, Yes you can. Id talk them through it and theyd say, Well, why dont you start teaching? So I did and I think that was maybe 1973. 55 Charie MacDonald

This early group of cooking teachers was able to branch out and gain other types of employment. Members reflect on professional diversity and the necessity of staying versatile:

I would say that every stage of what Ive done has actually linked with other parts. The cooking and teaching ended up leading me to writing, the writing led me to the wine country and writing about the wine country and doing various thingsradio and TVbut all of those things I still could do. I could just go back to those parts and make them what I do full time. I would say that the coaching is probably what I will do all of the rest of my life, and thats only because its such a human way of touching the people in our industry. And I figure thats something that I can only gain with Transcript, Charie MacDonald Oral History Interview, September 19, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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experiences working with professionals, hearing their worries and needs and what theyre going to do, and take that just to a bigger picture for them and the industry in the long run. 56 Antonia Allegra

My main concern was and is teaching. The people who really taughtyou dont get rich as a teacheryou dont get famous unless you push yourself and write a book or something..but there are people out there just like the people who teach children, and I wanted them to be somewhat distinct... 57 Miriam Brickman

I loved it because I was teaching people to enjoy cooking, teaching, and not to be afraid, teaching them to not be a slave at their own party. And trying to teach them things to make cooking easier like how to measure flour properly. People love the hints, even today. Ill spend ten minutes talking about hintsthings to make your food taste better that dont cost you any more money. And, again, these are things you would think

Transcript, Antonia Allegra Oral History Interview, May 26, 2005, by Julie Ann Jenanyan, Schlesinger Library. 57 Transcript, Miriam Brickman Oral History Interview, January 3, 2006, by Amelia Saltsman, Schlesinger Library.
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everybody would know in this day and age and they dont. 58 Sheilah Kaufman

Oh, I remember a great story. One of my friends came to the class and she said, Dont tell my family that Im coming to your class because Im going to surprise them. And I think that was the time we learned how to bone a chicken, and then we boned a turkey, and she made a boned turkey dinner for Thanksgiving with all the trimmings and they said, Momma, where did you buy this? They could not believe she had done it and she was so proud and so thankful that she had finally become the cook for their family, and that was just a great feeling. 59 Bailee Kronowitz

I believe that the cook lives on through the recipes and through the teachings. Teachers know that. Do you remember that saying, teachers touch the future? Thats how I feel that Ive had an influence, and I love to be a change agent. I want to make a difference in peoples lives. Thats one

Transcript, Sheilah Kaufman Oral History Interview, January 3, 2006, by Amelia Saltsman, Schlesinger Library. 59 Transcript, Bailee Kronowitz Oral History Interview, June 27, 2005, by Damon L. Fowler, Schlesinger Library.
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of my passions in many ways, and in the food world you have that opportunity in the most grand way. 60 Judith Bell

VISITING INSTRUCTORS AND CELEBRITIES

Visiting instructors were a popular attraction with a few of the more established cooking schools in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Julia Child and Jacques Ppin made regular tours and public appearances all over the United States, as James Beard and others had done before them. The cooking school community was becoming a network, establishing contact points across the map for traveling personalities to hold demonstrations, lectures, or cooking classes. Todays celebrity chef culture may even be indebted to such early practices.

The bigger the name the more they helped us and it was nice for us small, independent schools that were beginning to mushroom up all over the country. 61 Sue Sutker

Back in the mid-seventies when people had schools or were teaching Transcript, Judith Bell Oral History Interview, July 17, 2008, by Neil Coletta, Schlesinger Library. 61 Transcript, Sue Sutker Oral History Interview, May 31, 2005, by Charlie Sutker, Schlesinger Library.
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there were not many who did guest teachers, who brought teachers in. That really didnt start heavily until the end of the seventies and it seems, from all the interviews that Ive done, that IACP helped that whole idea of guest teachers and all that stuff significantly. 62 Blake Swihart

Eventually, as schools and their owners or instructors became aware of one another, they were able to communicate, keep current, plan and organize together, and share expenses. Oral history participants recall the sort of cooperative networking that took place:

When I had my school and shop, if a traveling teacher was difficult, we all knew it. We would all talk to each other, so we knew who was safe to hire and who would create problems. It was tremendously helpful. By networking, we also had the ability to share expenses. Six of us on the west coast would get together and plan a trip for a traveling teacher, and share the airfare and expenses. 63 Marlene Sorosky Gray

Wherever I would go I would make friends with other people who Transcript, Anne Byrd Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 63 Transcript, Marlene Sorosky Gray Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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were teaching cooking classes, and the reputation of good solid cooking classes certainly travels fast. I tried to give students way more than they anticipated in a class. Before too long, within a year, I was being asked to travel around the country and teach in different places. 64 Rick Bayless

In those days, when you traveled and taught you would teach a class in the morning, a class in the evening for three solid daysit was exhausting. Anyway, by summer we had sold out, so we then booked him [Jacques Ppin] on five consecutive occasions, spaced out over a period of time. And at the end of that time I counted up the number of hours in my own mind that I had spent with Jacques Ppin150 hoursbecause I had done all of his shopping, prep, and worked with him, assisted him, and it was like, again, thank you, God. This was better than any course I could have wished for. So I just sort of went from there and began to teach, and in the final analysis Ive sort of run the gamut in the food world just as everyone else in the food world has done. You know, we wear many hats. 65 Doris Koplin

Transcript, Rick Bayless Oral History Interview, January 14, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 65 Transcript, Doris Koplin Oral History Interview, November 17, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

Changes in food and cooking have been dramatic since the first ACS meeting in 1978. The evolution of food culture in the United States has taken on a greater scope and significance than anyone of that era could have foreseen. One reason for this has to do with unprecedented access to information, but also access to new foods, ingredients, cultural influences, and particularly to education through the proliferation and legitimization of culinary schools nationwide. The stigma once attached to working in the food industry has largely been left behind, replaced by celebrity culture and public adoration of culinary idols. Opportunities for culinary education abound, and new students may be more informed than ever before, having grown up on an abundance of food and cooking television shows, and with unprecedented access to books, magazines and online resources. Founding and charter members reflect on the many changes that have taken place throughout their time in the association:

its been incredible what has happened through the mediaNow you look and there is a food section in every single newspaper in every town. Thats something that did not happen twenty years ago. It didnt exist. The number of cookbooks out there now, what TV has donethe

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number of shows that are on the air, I mean, the interest in cooking is now certainly at its peak. 66 Francois Dionot

It [the food industry] was big before, because everybody eats, but no one dreamed of doing things like food styling or being a writer for a very specific purpose, or being a research and development recipe person. 67 Antonia Allegra

but it was funny because we didnt have TV in the sense of the Food Network. We only had PBS, you know, and we didnt have e-mail. It was a longer time. You had to pick up the phone and we didnt have the same rate[now] in two minutes you can know everything. 68 Betty Rosebottom

I think there are many more opportunities. We have private chefs now, which always stands out in my mind. Its not always terribly lucrative, but it is, I think, very worthwhile and very gratifying. Teaching, Transcript, Francois Dionot Oral History Interview, August 23, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library. 67 Transcript, Antonia Allegra Oral History Interview, May 26, 2005, by Julie Ann Jenanyan, Schlesinger Library. 68 Transcript, Betty Rosebottom Oral History Interview, July 11, 2005, by Barbara Haber, Schlesinger Library.
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of course, is very gratifying. Again, it is not a lucrative business. If you can produce a cookbook thats going to sell over a million copies, that certainly is lucrative and worthwhile. And, of course now we have all these commercial businesses, these huge mega-businesses, that have nutritionists, dietitians, recipe developers, all of these kinds of peoplewriters, food stylists, photographers. Perhaps the occupations existed thirty years ago, but they were not as prevalent as now. 69 Zona Spray

It was very necessary to sort of justify our existence, because in those days people in the food world were not as respected as they are today. I think thats why it [IACP] was startedto give people some sort of validity. In the seventies or early eighties I remember saying something about my professionteaching cookingto a supposed friend who was a physician and he said, Well, if you can call it a profession. Putdowns like that were fairly common. 70 Elizabeth Cawdry Thomas

Theres awareness that culinary professions are now respected and people make more money today. In the beginning, you needed serious Transcript, Zona Spray Oral History Interview, June 24, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 70 Transcript, Elizabeth Cawdry Thomas Oral History Interview, May 23, 2005, by Suzanne Reiss, Schlesinger Library.
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capital to start or run a cooking school, such as a rich spouse. James Beard showed a lot of people how to make a living with food by coming from many different angles, and how to secure corporate work by promoting yourself to companies through creative consulting. Suddenly these new ways to make a living came about. 71 Bill Wallace

The perspectives of early IACP members are invaluable when considering the evolution of the food world. As individuals, they were among the first in America to take the personal and professional risks necessary to forge careers in food. Collectively, they have been a significant force in the food industry, and in gastronomic culture and home and abroad. Emerging from disparate familial and educational backgrounds, they each came to cooking, teaching and various other culinary ventures. Through networking they helped to establish an active community within the food world where nothing of the kind had existed before. Subsequent generations continue to build upon this model, with changes in media and technology facilitating new forms and strategies. The significance of IACP to individual lives, and to culinary culture, is reflected in the structure and accomplishments of the organization today. These

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things, as well as the present and potential future of IACP, are discussed in the next, and final chapter.

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Significance and Impact

For three decades IACP members have been a force in the food world. The organization, its members, events and conferences have contributed to our culinary culture, and influenced the ways that we eat, cook, write, and think about food in America and beyond. Through oral histories, IACP founding and charter members have reflected on the value of the organization to their own lives and careers, and to the food world at large.

GROWTH, SUCCESS AND CHANGE

Today, IACP boasts a worldwide membership and is one of the preeminent culinary organizations in the world, providing invaluable networking opportunities. However, there are other benefits to success that cannot be measured. The friendships made and connections established are among the most noted memories throughout the oral histories. Most early members are proud of their contributions to the overall success of IACP, and continue to be astounded by its growth and ability to encompass the enormity of what the food world has become. Still, it scarcely resembles the organization as it was at the beginning,

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though many of its core values and benefits remain intact. The changing dynamics brought on by success have left very different impressions upon the founding and charter members. Some remain more involved with IACP than others, however the days of intimate gatherings among kindred spirits who were, in many ways, working against all odds, are now only fond, and often humorous, memories.

Back in the beginning it was intimate and small. If there is any one complaint that I hear from some of the old-time members like us, it is that the intimacy of knowing every single one of those two-hundred people, or one-hundred people, who were at those first five meetings, doesnt happen any more. 1 Blake Swihart

Its wonderful that the association has grown so much. The only thing that we, the old folks in it, when we still see each other, we sort of always talk and say, you know, look how much this has changed. You know, when we went to the early meetings, everybody knew everybody. It was small, so we knew every single member. We were a bunch of very, very close friends and now when we go to meetings its in a convention hall and Transcript, Rick Bayless Oral History Interview, January 14, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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you go through a hundred people without knowing one person. So thats probably the part that I miss. However, its the price of going big, which I think is wonderful, and IACP had to do it. 2 Francois Dionot

The major complaint is that the organization is just too big. The early folks had something special, elite, almost clubby. Now its more open, inclusive. 3 Bill Wallace

The diversity of opinions surrounding IACP and its direction, growth and value, reflect the diversity of its ever-expanding membership. Those new to the organization lack the historical perspective of the early members, allowing for a very different outlook. Paying attention to the thoughts and reflections of founding and charter members is an informative way to learn about the changes that have taken place and to perhaps shed new light on the state of the organization todayincluding how to attract new members.

There seem to be three camps. One believes that IACP is useless for professional development, but is still good for networking. Another finds

Transcript, Francois Dionot Oral History Interview, August 23, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library. 3 Wallace, Bill. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007.
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the group invigorating and continues to bring a lot of enthusiasm. A third camp is an amalgamation of the previous two, however all are historically devotedBefore there was the sense of building something with fewer individuals. Now there are more opportunities, but there is a sense of where is it all going? Do members now have strong enough identities? It was an association of multitaskers. 4 Blake Swihart

There is a lack of youth and a need for new blood. There is an identity crisis due to specialization. 5 Bill Wallace

We are a youth-deprived organization. We are trying to attract a younger membership, partially by the fact that everyone here is very approachable. IACP is a mentoring group for new culinary professionals. 6 Blake Swihart

Theyre professional networkers, these youngsters in the IACP. 7 Mary Risley

Swihart, Blake. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007. Wallace, Bill. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007. 6 ibid. 7 Transcript, Mary Risley Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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PERSONAL MEANING

For many, the sense of belonging to a professional culinary association meant little more than networking potential and business prospects. However, most of the founding and charter members of IACP feel warmly towards the organization in a more personal way. It gave a sense of direction, and unity, to many people who were questioning where to go and what to do with their passions in the late 1970s. The value of the organization for these people is inextricably linked to its having turned strangers into colleagues, and colleagues into lasting friends.

IACP was a tremendous source of new things for me. It opened so much, it opened my head so much to realize what can be done as an association which can never be done on your own 8 Francois Dionot

It was certainly an influence in my life as far as molding and as far as meeting people, having references. I couldnt get along today without the membership directoryso I still lean on IACP a lot and when all of the Transcript, Francois Dionot Oral History Interview, August 23, 2005, by Patrice Dionot, Schlesinger Library.
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other food organizations go Ill still be creaking along to the conferences. 9 Marlene Parrish

You know, I think thats probably the greatest strength of IACP is knowing that theres such a core of experienced people with so many different varieties of experiences that, if you tap it correctly, you can always call an IACP member and get feedback on anythingI loved doing it all and when I go and visit in other cities, whether its to teach a cooking class or whatever, theres always somebody from IACP I can find. 10 Sally Bernstein

Yes, IACP is very important to me. I still get people to join because I still think its the best toe-in-the-door for cooking and deciding what you want to do with your training that there is. 11 Nathalie Dupree

These people are not untouchable, most of them, theyre all genuine and everybody wants to help everyone else and that, to me, was what made Transcript, Marlene Parrish Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 10 Transcript, Sally Bernstein Oral History Interview, November 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 11 Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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this organization so greatthe camaraderie. There was none of this jealousy and envy and everybody wanted to help everyone else be successful, because if each one of us in our own way is successful, were all successful. 12 Myrle Horn

I think everybody was so enthusiastic about having an organization to recognize the merits of teaching. The organization became a platform upon which we could show our professionalism to the rest of the world. 13 Carole Walter

As you know, you just cant talk to anybody about food and have them know what youre talking about, so it was a pleasure. It was like meeting my own people. 14 Myrle Horn

Well, I think the ride was wonderful. Its kind of like brothers and sisters. We fight amongst ourselves, but were against the world, you know? But, Ill tell you somethingperiodically, I look back and kind of Transcript, Myrle Horn Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 13 Transcript, Carole Walter Oral History Interview, September 9 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library. 14 Transcript, Myrle Horn Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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look at the development and I can remember our primary years, and our adolescent years, and our mature years, and I love what we are. Were so big now. 15 Carmen Jones

Yeah, it meant that youre okay, youre not crazy. Its okay to care about food and care about the history of food. It was really wonderful because it was like you werent alone in this and there were other people and even though they werent on your same block in your same town they felt the same way 16 Charie MacDonald

Well, its been my pleasure and Im just so glad we got to do it. I think the main thing is that when we started out, we fumbled, we made so many mistakes, but we kept doing it because we loved what we did. And I think that people have learned from those early beginnings, and theyve only gone on to make it better and more inclusive, and I think the one thing we can carry from that past is what I just mentioned and that is this ability to

Transcript, Carmen Jones Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 16 Transcript, Charie MacDonald Oral History Interview, September 19, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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share and to give credit and to make it joyful and not so much narcissistic. 17 Betty Rosebottom

IACP TODAY

IACP has been at the forefront of expanding opportunities for culinary professionals for over 30 years. Future leaders in the field look to IACP to help cultivate their careers, and to provide a forum for like-minded peers who are passionate about food. Both the association and the food world at large continue to undergo changes and adaptations, and must continually pay attention to and respond to one another, for so many IACP members are those same players helping to shape the food world around us everyday. By reviewing the current structure and organization of IACP alongside oral histories, we are able to not only assess the range of current interests and representations within the food community, but also to gain a sense of how and why certain changes have taken place. This affords us a unique perspective on culinary history, and allows us to better contextualize the food world today, as reflected through IACP, past and present. From its modest beginnings, IACP has come to serve many specialty fields, Transcript, Betty Rosebottom Oral History Interview, July 11, 2005, by Barbara Haber, Schlesinger Library.
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and has become a crossroads for culinary professionals to learn from one another. Membership is more diverse now than ever before, hosting chefs, restaurateurs, foodservice professionals, writers, photographers, stylists, marketers, nutritionists, academics, and specialists in hospitality, tourism, the wine industry, publishing and communications, and a variety of other industries and professions. This multi-faceted makeup is one of the associations greatest assets, for it offers an array of experiences to its members, through networking, participation in professional interest sections, continuing education, annual conferences, and by recognizing industry accomplishments through CCP certification and a prestigious annual awards program.

well, certainly there are more opportunities today with everything Im involved in. Food styling, for example, also teaching, which has changed a bit from the cookbook author and cooking teacher to now its sort of chefdriven and writing, you know, there are so many more food publications. Weve made the country aware of really good ingredients, and its easy now to get the things we want to use in our cooking. 18 Carole Kotkin

Transcript, Carole Kotkin Oral History Interview, September 9, 2005, by Nancy Zaslavsky, Schlesinger Library.
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Well, it seems that its [IACP] attracting more and more chefs because more and more chefs realize that the skills that go along with being a chef are not just in the kitchen, but there are marketing skills, public relations skills, teaching skills, writing skills, photography skills, and IACP kind of incorporates all of those. 19 Blake Swihart

most of us in those early days wore more than one hat. Not only did we teach cooking, we maybe had a shop on the side, we maybe took people on trips that were food-related, and we published. Because it was hard to make a living, and I think we all did it because we loved it. 20 Betty Rosebottom

Well, I think that its influenced every professional cooks life, whether its in retailing or in teaching, by giving us credibility. Its given us all a credible organization. I sometimes wonder if the chefs who are now such celebrities would have gained the same popularity if it werent for IACP. 21 Marlene Sorosky-Gray Transcript, Marlene Parrish Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 20 Transcript, Betty Rosebottom Oral History Interview, July 11, 2005, by Barbara Haber, Schlesinger Library. 21 Transcript, Marlene Sorosky Gray Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS SECTIONS & COMMITTEES

Professional Interest Sections exist within IACP to focus and direct the networking efforts of the organization, and also represent the diversity of its membership. By gathering into smaller, specialized groups, IACP members gain access to targeted information and resources, and are able to remain at the forefront of their fields of interest through print and online communications. Currently, the Sections include: Cooking Schools & Teachers with its Kids in the Kitchen Network, Entrepreneurs, Food Photographers & Stylists, Food Writers, Editors & Publishers, Marketing Communicators, and Nutrition and Food Science; Committees include: Chefs, Restaurateurs & Sommeliers, Culinary Tourism, Food History, International Committee, Test Kitchen Professionals, Annual Conference, Awards of Excellence, Bert Greene Awards, Certification, Cookbook Awards, Corporate Members Council, Culinary Experience, Ethics Council, Grassroots and Nominating. The above list represents the associations striving to meet the needs of an ever-widening internal constituency, and, by extension, a growing audience and public interest market outside of the organization. Through its Sections and Committees, IACP hopes to better serve the needs of its broad membership, and

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also to attract new members who may have specialized interests, or for whom more direct networking is a valuable service. The range of Sections and Committees also reflects changes and developments in the food world over the past 30 years. Their existence signals significant interest and growth in each particular area. This is impressive when we consider fields such as food history, culinary tourism, or food styling, which have, until recently, remained relatively obscure within the food world. The year 2009 will see the fourth IACP Food History Symposium, All Things Culinary Around the World in 1849, in Lodi, California, and is the most recent example of how Sections and Committees remain active within the food world. Events, conferences, and other activities sponsored by IACP and its subgroups are both shaped by, and help to shape, global interests in the worlds of food and cooking. Janie Hibler reflects on the importance of sections and committees:

I notice the science and nutrition category has been formed and the different subgroups within IACP. I think thats important, you know, that we add those and expand as we go along. So, I think that seems to me to be on track, but I also think one thing to keep in mindis how essential it is to really work at developing conference programs that appeal to members that have been in it for a long time. In other words, more advanced kind of

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programs, you know, so you can keep growing professionally. Because when we started IACP, one of the big missions has always been continuing education and professional development, so we want to always bring new people along, but we dont want to lose the people who have been in it a long time either. 22 Janie Hibler

Learning what IACP has meant to its members lives is a valuable and inspiring outcome of the oral histories interviews. We are lucky to have captured these memories and recollections, for they give us a greater sense for the character of the association over time. However, there is perhaps a greater significance to food culture and culinary history than has been recognized by individual members. Taken collectively, the oral histories represent a movement in cooking and culinary education, which can no longer be underestimated. While certain key figures have enjoyed much-deserved notoriety and celebrity for changing the ways we eat and cook, no single icon, or small contingent of influential gourmets, can match the combined efforts of these grassroots pioneers. Working regionally, nationally and internationally, these individuals built IACP, and in doing so, helped to build the food culture we enjoy today. Transcript, Janie Hibler Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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Anyone who teaches is hopeful of influencing. IACP collectively understands its importance in the short-term, but fewer understand the long-term influence. 23 Blake Swihart

What is important to me in IACP is that the voices of the little people be heard, because I think that the little people are the ones who change the food world. 24 Nathalie Dupree

Its been a subtle thing, nothing too obvious, but IACP has influenced not only cooking in restaurants, but cooking in American homes in the United States, significantly. 25 Blake Swihart

We had a major influence on home cooking because the networking that IACP afforded us allowed us to teach all over. See, some years I taught all over the countryI remember Jacques [Ppin] was bitching about having such a fierce travel schedule, and he had traveled twenty-five or

Swihart, Blake. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007. Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 25 Transcript, Shirley Corriher Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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thirty weeks, and I looked at mine and I had traveled forty-four weeks and I said, Honey... you dont know. But, IACP provided me with this marvelous networking, and these people who had cooking schools or taught cooking classes in their homes, they had me teach all over. 26 Shirley Corriher

You know, it starts with what people are doing in their homes. I think that IACP is the best way, still, to influence home cooks and to have home cooks influence the industry. Its the best conduit between the home and the whole cooking scene. Chefs have biases that individual teachers dont necessarily have. Individual teachers just want to do what their students want. 27 Nathalie Dupree

There was a world evolving and the most exciting thing about being part of the organization from the very beginning is that you really have had a front seat at the revolution. In the sense that, so much of what is the bedrock of the profession today was barely in its infancy back then, and its wonderful to see whats evolvedWhat comes to my mind initially is that Transcript, Shirley Corriher Oral History Interview, June 2, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 27 Transcript, Nathalie Dupree Oral History Interview, June 10, 2005, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library.
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perhaps Ive touched a few people, or influenced them to think about food as something thats not solely what happens on top of a stove or in an oven. That its an identity marker, its a source of fascination even if you never walk into a kitchen. Its a source of amusement, its a source of fascination, its a source of investigation, a challenge, that its something far broader than the mechanics of raising a fork to your mouth, or of putting heat to a pan. 28 Lynne Rossetto Kasper

When you have just two-hundred people there is a selectivity, which became the foundation of the food world in the United States. More and more people saw IACP as an important outlet for their careers. Writers saw opportunities to meet the opinion-making editors. There was an interconnectedness. 29 Bill Wallace

The oral histories are a collection of valuable culinary biographies, attesting to the lives and achievements of a particular group of people in a particular time and place. IACP has been the unifying factor throughout, though the interviews have a personal element that transcends the notion of mere affiliation, moving

Transcript, Lynne Rossetto Kasper Oral History Interview, December 16, 2004, by Blake Swihart, Schlesinger Library. 29 Wallace, Bill. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007.
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towards the creation of meaning within individual lives, and in the culture at large. They remain a chorus of voiceseach singularly distinct, but collectively powerful.

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Afterword
The IACP came under new management on November 1, 2008, the result of a detailed Request for Proposal (RFP). The new firm, Kellen Company, is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and seeks to help the association fulfill its mission and steer towards a secure future. Under IACP President, Cathy Cochran-Lewis, the IACP Board of Directors undertook the RFP process on behalf of the organizations membership as a matter of fiscal responsibility, given that administration and management fees constitute a major annual expense. Prior to contractual expiration on October 21, 2008, IACP had been managed for 19 years by FSA Group, who were one of five firms (out of ten solicited) to reply to the associations RFP. After an extensive review process, the board met via conference call on Sunday, October 5, 2008, and unanimously voted to award the IACP management contract to Kellen Company. Kellen Company is an employee-owned, professional services firm that was founded in 1964, and is widely regarded as a leader in the non-profit management industry. Kellen has extensive experience in the food industry, both domestic and international. This strong global perspective is one of several reasons that the IACP board selected the firm, as well as citing their professionalism and commitment to success within the existing IACP budget.

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The current President and board of IACP believe that the relationship with Kellen Company is a positive step towards future growth and success, financial stability, increased visibility and a renewed vision. They have also collectively expressed their deep gratitude to FSA Group for its integral role and valuable contributions to the association over many loyal years. Along with the change to Kellen Company comes a refined vision of IACPs strengths and mission:

A NEW VISION & MISSION STATEMENT FOR IACP

Mission statements most often reflect the organizations core business, or reason to exist. These statements drive the day-to-day activity of volunteers and staff.

Vision statements tend to be more future oriented and often are aspirational. These statements are intended to drive organizational planning, mostly strategic planning, as opposed to day-to-day activity or operations.

Mission and vision statements should be clear and readily recalled or recited. They should be a source of clarification, motivation and, ideally, inspiration for the members and other stakeholders.

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After conducting its SWOT analysis, the Board reviewed the existing vision and mission statements and determined that IACP would be best served by rewriting these statements. The Board reached consensus on the following statements.

IACP MISSION STATEMENT

IACP connects culinary professionals with the people, places and knowledge they need to succeed.

IACP VISION STATEMENT

To unite, inspire and celebrate the professional culinary community worldwide.

In discussing language for the mission statement, the Board underscored that IACPs mission must be focused on the culinary professional, as opposed to other stakeholders. IACP leverages its networking and education strengths to benefit culinary professionals.

The Boards view of IACPs vision was that it should have broader implications, and be oriented more toward the worlds culinary community as a whole. The

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Board felt it important that the vision reflect the social and emotional value that so many professionals feel about IACP. 1

Mabry, Vickie and IACP Board of Directors. International Association of Culinary Professionals Strategic Plan Summary Report. October 26, 2008. p. 11.

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References
International Association of Culinary Professionals. Oral History Interviews. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. Scott-Harman, Helen, ed. The International Association of Cooking Schools Cookbook. Greensboro, NC: Irena Chalmers Cookbooks, Inc., 1981. Mabry, Vickie and IACP Board of Directors. International Association of Culinary Professionals Strategic Plan Summary Report. October 26, 2008.

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Appendices
Appendix 1 Setting the Scene 1977 1978 1979 1980 Sony Walkman tape player starts a fad+ Iraqi troops seize part of Iran in a border dispute; war begins+ Pink Floyd's "The Wall" hits #1+ Ronald Reagan becomes 40th president of the United States+ Sony demonstrates first consumer camcorder+ The World Health Assembly declared that smallpox had been eradicated throughout the world+ New food introductions: Jell-O pudding pops* American hostages are taken in Iran+ The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan+ Mother Teresa (1910-1997) of Calcutta, India, received the Nobel Peace Prize+ In Japan - first cellular phone network+ Ugandan dictator Idi Amin overthrown+ Walt Disney World's 100-millionth guest+ New food introductions: Paul Prudhomme opens K-Paul Louisiana Kitchens, igniting Cajun/blackened food fad; Zagat restaurant guides (New York City)* The United States cancels development of the neutron bomb+ Electronic typewriters go on sale+ David Berkowitz sentenced in NY Supreme Court to 25 yrs to life+ New food introductions: McCormicks Lite Gravy; Ben & Jerrys Homemade Ice Cream; Reeses Pieces* President Jimmy Carter, 52, takes office* Apple Computers release the Apple II personal computer+ 49th Academy Awards: "Rocky", Peter Finch & Faye Dunaway win+ Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" album released+ Movie "Star Wars" debuts+ NY's famed disco Studio 54 opens+ John Badham's 'Saturday Night Fever', starring John Travolta, premiers+ New food introductions: Dean & DeLuca; Twix Cookie Bars; Dennys Grand+Slam Breakfast; recyclable soda bottles; plastic grocery bags*

+History Mole Historical Timeline. http://www.historymole.com/ *Trager, James. The Food Chronology. New York: Henry Holt, 1995.

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Appendix 2 IACP Timeline 1961 Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child published 1963 The French Chef T.V. show Mid-late 1960s Proliferation of cooking schools (200 by 1970); Bill Rice (food editor of the Washington Post) prompts cooking school Directors to form association, via Donald Miller and Francois Dionot 1978 First Organizational Meeting of Association of Cooking Schools (ACS) in St. Louis (August), featuring 51 participants from 35 schools. 1979 First Annual Meeting in New Orleans (February), featuring over 180 participants; First full term Board of Directors elected. ACS is incorporated as a not-for-profit professional association in Washington, D.C. under the management of Bergman Associates 1980 Second Annual Meeting in New York City (March); International Association of Cooking Schools (IACS) overwhelmingly adopted as new name. By the end of 1980, the organization included 450 members 1981 Third Annual Meeting in San Francisco; Julia Child is Keynote speaker. IACS Cookbook under Irena Chalmers is published 1984 1,000 members in 15 countries with a $100,000 budget for the annual conference; CAREF (Cooking Advancement Research and Education Foundation) founded. 1985 Member survey reveals diversity of professions and long range planning committee recommends inclusion of other culinary professionals 1986 First IACP Cookbook Awards 1987 International Association of Cooking Professionals (IACP) becomes new name; 29 members, including Julia Child, pass the Certified Food Professional exam 1989 Foodservice Associates (FSA Group) becomes new management company and headquarters move from D.C. to Louisville, KY; International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) becomes new name 1994 CAREF becomes IACP Foundation 2004 IACP Foundation becomes The Culinary Trust Today Membership has risen to over 4,000 and conference attendance has quadrupled. Conferences in recent years have taken place in New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland, and Providence. The association is stronger and more closely united than ever before. With implementation of a new strategic plan as its roadmap for the future, IACP is poised to become the pre-eminent professional culinary group in the world.* *International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). http://www.iacp.com

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Appendix 3 Membership Letters

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ACS Letter, November 21, 1978

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ACS Letter, October 27, 1978

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ACS Survey, October 27, 1978

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Appendix 4 - Newsletters

Miller, Donald. From the Presidents Desk. ACS Cooking School Commentary, vol. 1, no. 1. Kelley, Susan Q., ed. (November, 1978): 1.

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Kelley, Susan Q., ed. A Taste of New Orleans: ACS Celebrates Success of Its First General Membership Meeting. ACS Cooking School Commentary, vol. 1, no. 3 (March, 1979): 1.

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Hibbits, Mary, ed. 1980 Annual Meeting. ACS Cooking School Commentary, vol. 2, no. 2 (April, 1980): 1.

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Hibbits, Mary, ed. Julia Child to Keynote Annual Meeting, and IACSYES! ACS Cooking School Commentary, vol. 2, no. 4 (September/October, 1980): 1.

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Appendix 5 History of the Julia Child Cookbook Awards Program

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Maye, Daniel. International Association of Culinary Professionals: Background and History of the Julia Child Cookbook Awards Program. Board Summary, January 1996.

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Appendix 6 - The International Association of Cooking Schools Cookbook

Front Cover

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Message from the Association President

I am delighted to have this opportunity to greet the cooking school community and all those interested in the International Association of Cooking Schools; at the same time, it is my great pleasure to commend the many members who have contributed so valuably to this splendid and useful collection of recipes. As you undoubtedly know, a steadily burgeoning interest in good cookingnot only in the United States, of course, but all over the worldhas prompted phenomenal growth in the number and kinds of cooking schools that offer students instruction of the first quality. Our Association was founded in 1978 expressly to link these schools in a network designed to promote the vitality of mutual support in our highly creative field. This book, the result of an artful collaboration within the Association, is happy evidence of the success of our original hopes. In the Association, cooking teachers today enjoy a forum for the lively exchange of ideas and information, and the encouragement and mutual support that are the natural rewards of open communication. In this continuing dialogue, we are able to reinforce our commitments to the highest standards in teaching, in the pursuit of culinary knowledge and in ethical conduct. The Associations voluntary certification program for cooking teachersthe first of its kind to be introduced in the United Stateswas designed by our standards committee, was overwhelmingly accepted by our membership, and is now being implemented. While the program quite rightly and appropriately recognizes the diversity among cooking teachers in matters of style and technique, this first-level certification provides uniform basic requirements in education, in teaching experience, in the knowledge of food and cooking and all fields related, and in extent of participation in the activities of the Association. The eight standing committees of the International Association of Cooking Schools form the backbone of our organization, and each makes important contributions to our overall aims in

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communication, education and the maintenance of professional standards. Projects include a bimonthly newsletter; the study of the contents of food products; the processing and labeling of food and workshops on food and business-related topics. We meet annually in the spring, an occasion which is the culmination of committee efforts and the high point of the Association year. Cooking colleagues have the opportunity then to learn and instruct in formal seminars and informal meetings. Then, as well as in special classes, on tours and at social events, the infectious enthusiasm of the members is easy to recognize as the Associations real strength and greatest enduring stimulus. These are fine cooks and fine teachers whose creativity colors and enlivens this book, and makes itself a valuable resource for school and kitchen. We hope that it will help you at home and perhaps may inspire you to consider taking classes soon with one of our member cooking teachers (a list of their names appears at the back of this book) as you continue to expand your culinary horizons.

Richard E. Nelson President International Association of Cooking Schools 1

Scott-Harman, Helen, ed. The International Association of Cooking Schools Cookbook. Greensboro, NC: Irena Chalmers Cookbooks, Inc., 1981. Pg. 5
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Appendix 7 IACP Oral Histories Interviews Last Name Allegra Barclay Bayless Bernstein Braker Brickman Bugialli Byrd Cawdry-Thomas Chalmers Coleman Corriher Cox Cutler Dionot Dowling Dupree Elverson Fletcher Hart Heiken Hibler Hill Horn Jones Kaufman Kirby-Harris Knaeusel Koplin Kostelni Kotkin Kranzdorf Kronowitz MacDonald Nordin Parrish First Name Antonia Gwen Rick Sally Flo Miriam Giuliano Anne Elizabeth Irena Glennalie Shirley O. Beverly A. Mitzie Francois Roberta Nathalie Virginia T. Helen S. Alice M. Barbara C. Janie Madeline Myrle I. Carmen I. Sheilah Nancy Ursula Doris Dolores Carole Hermie Bailee Charie Donna Marlene Interviewed By Blake Swihart Julie Ann Jenanyan Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Nancy Zaslavsky Amelia Saltsman Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Suzanne Riess Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Patrice Dionot Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Nancy Zaslavsky Amelia Saltsman Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Nancy Zaslavsky Blake Swihart Amelia Saltsman Nancy Zaslavsky Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Jim Bresnahan Nancy Zaslavsky Blake Swihart Damon L. Fowler Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Blake Swihart

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Risley Rosebottom Rosetto-Kasper Shulman Simonds Sisson Slack Sorosky-Gray Spray Strom Sutker ThompsonAnderson Tyler-Herbst Walter Wandalowski Wilkinson Willan Yueh

Mary Betty G. Lynne Martha Rose Nina Bernice Susan Marlene Zona Jerrie Sue Terry Sharon Carole Amy Diane Anne Jean C.

Blake Swihart Barbara Haber Blake Swihart Russ Parsons Blake Swihart Minna Duchovny Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Nancy Zaslavsky Michelle Mikesell Charlie Sutker Blake Swihart Blake Swihart Nancy Zaslavsky Nancy Zaslavsky Blake Swihart Brittany Williams Blake Swihart

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