Richard Olney (food writer)
Encyclopedia
Richard Olney was an American
painter
, cook
, food writer, editor
, and memoirist, best known for his books of French country cooking.
Olney was born in Marathon, Iowa
. He lived in a house above the village of Solliès-Toucas
in Provence
, France
, for most of his adult life, where he wrote many classic and influential cookbooks of French country cooking. He had first moved to France in 1951, to Paris, where he was close friends with (and painted many of) the American and English bohemian expatriate set, including James Baldwin
, filmmaker Kenneth Anger
, painter John Craxton
, poet John Ashbery
, and composer Ned Rorem
.
His deep knowledge of traditional classic French food and wine got him a job writing a column entitled Un Américain (gourmand) à Paris for the journal Cuisine et Vins de France beginning in 1962. After The French Menu Cookbook was published in English in 1970, his then-revolutionary approach of seasonal menus and close attention to wine pairings began to attract notice in Britain and America. By the time he wrote Simple French Food in 1974, he was one of the most important food writers of the era, with a huge impact on nouvelle cuisine
and California cuisine
.
Alice Waters
, of Chez Panisse
restaurant in Berkeley
, California, and Kermit Lynch
, the well-known Berkeley wine writer and retailer, were both disciples. He introduced Lynch to the French wine growers who were to lead him to his new career, before he even had his first wine shop, including Lucien and Lulu Peyraud of Domaine Tempier, who were then re-establishing the Bandol AOC as a vineyard area of the first rank. James Beard
was an important American mentor, and Olney, in the midst of his career, taught a series of cooking classes in Beard's West Village apartment. Despite this, Olney, in a memoir, presents a mixed picture of Beard's character.
From 1977 to 1982, Olney edited the 28-volume Time-Life
book series The Good Cook. By the time of his death, from heart failure, in addition to the Time-Life set he had written many of his own brilliant, idiosyncratic, poetic books about food and wine. His last book, Reflexions, a memoir, was published posthumously. Olney died aged 72 in Solliès-Toucas
, France.
The Observer Food Monthly panel of chefs, cooks, writers and restaurateurs elected The French Menu Cookbook as their favourite cookbook in early 2010, but were saddened that it was very difficult to find. Since then the book has been republished.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, cook
Cook (profession)
A cook is a person who prepares food for consumption. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Canada this profession requires government approval ....
, food writer, editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, and memoirist, best known for his books of French country cooking.
Olney was born in Marathon, Iowa
Marathon, Iowa
Marathon is a city in Buena Vista County, Iowa, United States. The population was 302 at the 2000 census. The food writer Richard Olney grew up in Marathon.-Geography:Marathon is located at ....
. He lived in a house above the village of Solliès-Toucas
Solliès-Toucas
Solliès-Toucas is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-References:*...
in Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, for most of his adult life, where he wrote many classic and influential cookbooks of French country cooking. He had first moved to France in 1951, to Paris, where he was close friends with (and painted many of) the American and English bohemian expatriate set, including James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
, filmmaker Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
, painter John Craxton
John Craxton
John Leith Craxton, RA, was an English painter. He was sometimes called a neo-Romantic artist but he preferred to be known as a "kind of Arcadian".-Career:...
, poet John Ashbery
John Ashbery
John Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
, and composer Ned Rorem
Ned Rorem
Ned Rorem is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist. He is best known and most praised for his song settings.-Life:...
.
His deep knowledge of traditional classic French food and wine got him a job writing a column entitled Un Américain (gourmand) à Paris for the journal Cuisine et Vins de France beginning in 1962. After The French Menu Cookbook was published in English in 1970, his then-revolutionary approach of seasonal menus and close attention to wine pairings began to attract notice in Britain and America. By the time he wrote Simple French Food in 1974, he was one of the most important food writers of the era, with a huge impact on nouvelle cuisine
Nouvelle Cuisine
Nouvelle cuisine is an approach to cooking and food presentation used in French cuisine. By contrast with cuisine classique, an older form of French haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased emphasis on presentation.-History:The term...
and California cuisine
California Cuisine
California cuisine is a style of cuisine marked by an interest in fusion cuisine and in the use of freshly prepared local ingredients.The food is typically prepared with strong attention to presentation...
.
Alice Waters
Alice Waters
Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine.Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked...
, of Chez Panisse
Chez Panisse
Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California restaurant known for using local, organic foods and credited as the inspiration for the style of cooking known as California cuisine. Well-known restauranteur, author, and food activist Alice Waters co-founded Chez Panisse in 1971 with film producer Paul...
restaurant in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, California, and Kermit Lynch
Kermit Lynch
Kermit Lynch is an American wine importer, author, and winemaker based in Berkeley, California. He is the author of Adventures on the Wine Route which won the Veuve Clicquot Wine Book of the Year award...
, the well-known Berkeley wine writer and retailer, were both disciples. He introduced Lynch to the French wine growers who were to lead him to his new career, before he even had his first wine shop, including Lucien and Lulu Peyraud of Domaine Tempier, who were then re-establishing the Bandol AOC as a vineyard area of the first rank. James Beard
James Beard
James Andrew Beard was an American chef and food writer. The central figure in the story of the establishment of a gourmet American food identity, Beard was an eccentric personality who brought French cooking to the American middle and upper classes in the 1950s...
was an important American mentor, and Olney, in the midst of his career, taught a series of cooking classes in Beard's West Village apartment. Despite this, Olney, in a memoir, presents a mixed picture of Beard's character.
From 1977 to 1982, Olney edited the 28-volume Time-Life
Time-Life
Time–Life is a creator and direct marketer of books, music, video/DVD, and multimedia products. Its products are sold throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia through television, print, retail, the Internet, telemarketing, and direct sales....
book series The Good Cook. By the time of his death, from heart failure, in addition to the Time-Life set he had written many of his own brilliant, idiosyncratic, poetic books about food and wine. His last book, Reflexions, a memoir, was published posthumously. Olney died aged 72 in Solliès-Toucas
Solliès-Toucas
Solliès-Toucas is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-References:*...
, France.
The Observer Food Monthly panel of chefs, cooks, writers and restaurateurs elected The French Menu Cookbook as their favourite cookbook in early 2010, but were saddened that it was very difficult to find. Since then the book has been republished.
English bibliography
- The French Menu Cookbook: The Food and Wine of France—Season by Delicious Season—in Beautifully Composed Menus for American Dining and Entertaining by an American Living in Paris and Provence (1970), ISBN 0-671-20365-7
- Simple French Food (1974), ISBN 0-689-10575-4
- Yquem (1986), ISBN 0-87923-644-2
- Ten Vineyard Lunches (1988), ISBN 0-940793-23-7
- Provence, the Beautiful Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the Regions of Provence (1993), ISBN 0-00-255154-3
- Lulu's Provençal Table: The Exuberant Food and Wine from Domaine Tempier Vineyard (1994), ISBN 0-06-016922-2
- Romanée Conti: The World's Most Fabled Wine (1995), ISBN 0-8478-1927-2
- Cooking for Two (1996), ISBN 0-297-83650-1
- The Good Cook's Encyclopedia (1997), ISBN 1-899988-95-5 (ed.)
- Richard Olney's French Wine and Food: A Wine Lover's Cookbook (1997), ISBN 1-56656-226-0
- Reflexions (1999), ISBN 1-883283-20-5
- (anthologized in) American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes, ed. Molly O'Neill (Library of America, 2007) ISBN 1598530054