Jacques Pépin on Julia Child, Charles de Gaulle and his love of chicken

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Jacques Pépin, pictured in his home in Connecticut in August, has a new book called Art of the Chicken. Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption

Jacques Pépin, pictured in his home in Connecticut in August, has a new book called Art of the Chicken.

"Proust had his madeleine, I have chicken," writes Jacques Pépin at the start of his new memoir. Pépin, who has been cooking since he was 13, says no ingredient brings him more joy than chicken. Except — perhaps — the egg.

"As a chef, I stand in awe of the humble bird's contributions to world cuisine. As an artist, I marvel at the iridescent colors and varied beauty of its plumage," Pépin writes.

In the kitchen, he can transform scrambled eggs into a dinner party for 50 — or a simple, delicious meal for one. With his paintbrush, the fowl become expressive and colorful — sometimes they look like majestic birds and sometimes they look like pineapples.

Now 86 years old, Jacques Pépin has a Lifetime Emmy award for his various television projects, 16 James Beard Awards, and France's Legion of Honor. He has cooked with Julia Child and for former French president Charles de Gaulle. Pépin has authored more than 30 cookbooks and spent his career showing millions of Americans how good food can both nourish and spice up our lives.

His new book is called Art of the Chicken: A Master Chef's Paintings, Stories, and Recipes of the Humble Bird.

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Jacques Pépin spoke about his long career and his art with NPR's Scott Simon. Here are excerpts from that conversation, edited in parts for clarity and length.

Being born in Bourg-en-Bresse, for me the Bresse chickens are considered one of the greatest chickens in France. They are beautiful white chickens with blue feet and a red comb, so bleu, blanc, rouge — the color of the French flag. Anyone who comes to Bourg will have chicken. From cold chicken in aspic, to chicken with cream sauce and tarragon, to pâté. It's a very democratic meat. It exists from truck stops to three-star restaurants with truffles under the skin.

I realized I was doing a fair amount of illustrations of chicken and so I decided to do a book of chicken.

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Jacques Pépin's watercolor chicken paintings are part of his new book Art of the Chicken. Jacques Pépin hide caption

Jacques Pépin's watercolor chicken paintings are part of his new book Art of the Chicken.

There are similarities [between painting and cooking]. Without any question, I am better at cooking because I am better trained. When you work at a restaurant, someone orders chicken sauteed with morels, whatever. And then 15 minutes later you have another order and you have like six, eight, 10 orders of the same dish, the same evening, it will never be the same exactly. Maybe it's a bit thicker. It looks a bit dry, you put two tablespoons of water. I react to what the food looks like. Taste, adjust, taste, adjust.

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