When noted food writer Craig Claiborne celebrated his 70th birthday in Monte Carlo in 1990, many of the world’s greatest chefs attended. In lieu of gifts, Claiborne requested that each chef give him a handwritten recipe. Many of these “recettes” are now on display at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.
The recipes—part of the CIA archives—reflect each chef’s culinary traditions and preferences, and reveal the respected friendships between Claiborne and his guests that evening, according to a CIA news release.
Paul Bocuse provided a recipe for Oeufs poches a la Romanee-Conti; Michel Guérard drew a soufflé on his recipe; Georges Perrier wrote a personal note and included a drawing of the layers for his puff-pastry with tuna and caviar; Zarela Martinez’s recipe adds a splash of color to the entire exhibit; and Jasper White shared a cranberry relish recipe that reminded him of a Thanksgiving dinner he once cooked for Claiborne.
Also included in the display are menus from the restaurants at which the chefs worked, quotes about the chefs from Claiborne’s food columns in The New York Times over the years, and other items from the extravagant birthday celebration.
The Craig Claiborne Collection was a gift to the CIA in 2001 from the estate of Craig Claiborne, who died in 2000. They are on display in the Donald and Barbara Tober Exhibit Room in the Conrad N. Hilton Library through Memorial Day. The Tober Exhibit Room is open Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 5pm.
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