Women who wear toques

Stephanie Curtis
Posted: May 31, 2006

Paris—The chauvinistic chef who once proclaimed that women were made for cooking and men for gastronomy and haute cuisine can swallow his toque. Or, more appetizing, he should follow in the footsteps of French food critic Gilles Pudlowski, whose recent book, Elles Sont Chefs (published by Flammarion and available in English under the title: Great Women Chefs of Europe), is a delectable, full color tribute to some of the Old World's brightest culinary virtuosos—all ladies. Among the 33 females profiled here are, of course, already famous names, including Hélène Darroze (Paris), Reine Sammut (Provence), and Léa Linster (Luxembourg)—the first and only woman to win the prestigious Bocuse d'Or culinary competition. But there are also lesser known talents well worth discovering, such as Judith Baumann, self-taught chef/owner of an auberge in her native Switzerland, and Nathalie Beauvais, one of Breton cuisine's most outstanding defenders. Pudlowski's enthusiasm for these trailblazing chefs and their recipes is contagious, inciting us to hop the nearest plane or train and embark on his deliciously feminine pilgrimage.