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Nathalie Dupree

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Nathalie Dupree
Born
Nathalie Evelyn Meyer

(1939-12-23)December 23, 1939
Hamilton, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedJanuary 13, 2025(2025-01-13) (aged 85)
Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Education
Spouse(s)David Dupree (divorced), Jack Bass
Culinary career
Cooking styleCuisine of the Southern United States
Television show(s)
    • New Southern Cooking With Nathalie Dupree

Nathalie Evelyn Dupree (née Meyer; December 23, 1939 – January 13, 2025) was an American author, chef, and cooking show host whose work focused on American Southern cuisine. She was the first woman since Julia Child to host more than one hundred cooking episodes on public television. Her first show, New Southern Cooking with Nathalie Dupree was followed by eight more series.

Early life

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Nathalie Evelyn Meyer was born in Hamilton, New Jersey on December 23, 1939, the daughter of Evelyn Cook and army officer Walter G. Meyer. Following her parents' divorce, she and two siblings grew up with her mother in Virginia and Texas. She attended college, but did not graduate. She had her first experience of cooking in 1958 in a communal kitchen at Harvard University, which went badly.[1] While in college she became politically active for the first time, as a 20-year-old precinct captain for John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign. In the late 1960s Nathalie and her husband David Dupree moved to London, where she took a class at the London Le Cordon Bleu school. She stayed for more classes, earning a certificate from the school.[2][3][4] During her time at the school she met Julia Child, who encouraged her to pursue a teaching career.[5]

Culinary career

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Following her culinary studies, Dupree operated a kitchen at a restaurant in Majorca. After a review of the restaurant described her as a "kitchen manager" rather than as a chef, she quit.[6] Settling in Georgia in the early 1970s, she opened a restaurant. "Nathalie's" was located in the back of an antique shop owned by her husband in Social Circle, Georgia. At Nathalie's, Dupree applied French cooking techniques to traditional Southern American cooking. From 1975 Dupree became the director of a cooking school at Rich's department store in Atlanta, instructing over 10,000 students over a decade of teaching.[3][4][5] Guests and teachers at the school included Shirley Corriher, Paula Wolfert, Julia Child, Paul Prudhomme and Jacques Pepin.[2]

Dupree first appeared in her PBS television show New Southern Cooking with Nathalie Dupree, after she was contacted by the White Lily flour company, which offered to sponsor the show. The show and a companion cookbook brought Dupree to regional and national prominence, establishing her as an influential culinary figure.[5] Dupree attributed her interest in a television show to Graham Kerr's show The Galloping Gourmet. Dupree's show was noted for its embrace of mistakes and mishaps, with Dupree offering encouragement to viewers to be unafraid of their own errors through her example.[2]

Dupree was the author of 15 cookbooks, selling nearly a million copies, and the host of more than 300 national and international cooking shows, which have aired since 1986 on PBS, The Food Network, and The Learning Channel. She appeared many times on Today and Good Morning America. She won wide recognition for her work, including four James Beard Awards including "Who's who in American Cuisine", Grande Dame of Les Dames d' Escoffier and numerous other awards. She was best known for bringing culinary techniques to traditional Southern cooking, popularizing Southern foods as a relevant and serious cuisine.[3][4]

She was a founder and two-time president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, founder and co-president of both the Atlanta and Charleston, South Chapters of Les Dames d' Escoffier, founding chairman of the Charleston Food and Wine Festival, and past president of the Atlanta Chapter of the International Woman's Forum.[citation needed]

Personal life and political activism

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In the late 1990s Dupree moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where she authored a newspaper column and became an advocate for dining and cooking in Charleston. In 1994 she married her third husband, Jack Bass, an author and historian.[7] [8][9][10]

Dupree mounted a write-in campaign against incumbent Senator Jim DeMint in the 2010 Senate election in South Carolina. She sought DeMint's seat as a long shot, seeking to "cook his goose." She expressed a willingness to work alongside fellow South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham to "bring home the bacon" for the state.[11][12]

In 2020 she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to be closer to Bass's family. She was in an assisted living facility in Raleigh after suffering a broken hip, where she died on January 13, 2025, at the age of 85.[1][4][8][9]

Books

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  • Nathalie Dupree Cooks for Family and Friends ISBN 0688097677, William Morrow & Co (January 1, 1991)
  • Nathalie Dupree’s Matters of Taste ISBN 0394578511, Alfred A. Knopf (March 3, 1992)
  • Nathalie Dupree Cooks Great Meals For Busy Days ISBN 0517597349, Clarkson Potter (May 31, 1994)
  • Nathalie Dupree Cooks Everyday Meals From A Well-Stocked Pantry: Strategies for Shopping Less and Eating Better ISBN 0517597357, Clarkson Potter (January 24, 1995)
  • Nathalie Dupree Cooks Quick Meals For Busy Days: 180 Delicious Timesaving Recipes ISBN 0517597365, Clarkson Potter (February 20, 1996)
  • New Southern Cooking ISBN 9-780-8203-2630-6, University of Georgia Press (April 5, 2004)
  • Nathalie Dupree's Southern Memories Recipes and Reminiscences ISBN 9-780-8203-2601-6, University of Georgia Press (April 5, 2004)
  • Mastering the Art of Southern Vegetables ISBN 978-1423637387, Gibbs-Smith 2013
  • Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, ISBN 9781423602750, Gibbs-Smith 2012
  • Nathalie Dupree's Comfortable Entertaining At Home with Ease and Grace ISBN 9-780-8203-4513-0, University of Georgia Press (April 1, 2013)
  • Nathalie Dupree's Shrimp and Grits*, revised ISBN 1423636651, Gibbs Smith; Revised ed. edition (May 1, 2014) co-author Marion Sullivan

References

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  1. ^ a b Severson, Kim (January 16, 2025). "Nathalie Dupree, 'Queen of Southern Cooking,' Dies at 85". New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Trap, Diane. "Nathalie Dupree". New Georgia Encyclopedia.
  3. ^ a b c Heil, Emily; Carman, Tim (January 15, 2025). "Nathalie Dupree, Southern cooking queen who mentored women, dies at 85". Washington Post. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Graubert, Cynthia (January 13, 2025). "Nathalie Dupree, champion of Southern cooking, dies at 85". Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  5. ^ a b c Fornes, Karl. "Dupree, Nathalie". South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  6. ^ Kinsman, Kat (January 14, 2025). "Nathalie Dupree Left a Legacy of Education, Wit, and Really Juicy Pork Chops". Food & Wine. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  7. ^ Hagedorn, David (March 26, 2008). "Nathalie Dupree, Keeping It Juicy". Washington Post. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  8. ^ a b Milner, Parker (January 14, 2025). "Celebrated Southern cooking icon Nathalie Dupree dies at 85". The Post and Courier. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Brack, Andy (January 13, 2025). "Nathalie Dupree, the South's cooking queen, passes away at 85". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  10. ^ Spence, Sam (November 22, 2020). "Nathalie Dupree is relocating to Raleigh: Charleston colleagues react". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
  11. ^ Elliott, Philip (October 14, 2010). "Political Insider: Warnings of voter suppression". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  12. ^ Mascaro, Lisa (October 8, 2010). "Chef hopes to heat up Senate race in South Carolina". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
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