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 ZZ: What is the literal meaning of "Prudhomme?"
PP: It means "wise man," or it literally means "a judge" in France. When the French king gave our family the crest and the name it was because one of my ancestors had settled a dispute between a couple of villagers. And we always think that he probably went over there and busted a lot of heads. But there's still a position in France called "Prudhomme," and they are elected just like a small claims court judge.
ZZ: Kind of like a justice of the peace?
PP: Yeah. Very much like that.
ZZ: You were raised on a farm, not too far from New Orleans?
PP: About 100 miles from New Orleans. I was raised with a very big family, I'm the 13th child. I'm not quite 60 years old, but it's sort of like I was raised 100 years ago, because we had no gas, no electricity, no telephone, and no automobiles. I grew up that way, and I'm very happy that I did, because no one will ever see that again. Where you produce all your own food, and, you know, you do the canning, the smoking, you harvest rice -- that's a great experience.
ZZ: You learned to cook in very old-fashioned ways. I guess that really gave you a feel for everything.
PP: Well my mother was a great cook, and so it made it fairly easy for me to learn. There were three girls and ten boys. My last sister got married when I was like seven years old, and so someone had to help mother. Dad appointed me. And when dad appointed you, you did it [Laughs]. There was no question about it.
She would stand me on a wood box next to the stove, where we kept the wood, because I wasn't tall enough to see inside the pots. She'd say, "If this pot starts making a lot of noise, call me." Because when you've got a bunch of vegetables in the bottom of a pan, and they're starting to burn, you know, they're going to start crackling. Or she'd say, "Tell me if the steam changes color," you know? I was probably in my 30s before I realized how much a treasure it was spending the time with her, and how much I learned from her.
ZZ: It sounds like she taught you to really to use all your senses when cooking.
PP: That's it! If I have a prime rib in the oven, I can smell when it's medium rare. I mean it's just as simple as anything.
ZZ: What is it you smell that you know it's medium rare?
PP: Well a prime rib is going to emit a lot of fragrance, but there's a certain point, if you have it in the oven at 350°, that the skin and the fat on top will have gotten a certain color. And it really emits a lot of flavors. When it's that color, and it's got that smell to it, you know it's cooked. I mean you can go in and look at the bone, but it's cooked.
ZZ: What were meals like in the Prudhomme household?
PP: Well we were very poor, very simple, and we all had to eat at the same time -- everybody that was on the property or anywhere in the area. I always knew what my father and mother thought, and who my brothers and sisters were, because three times a day we were eating together. I don't have anything that even comes close to comparing it to things that happen to me today. I mean it was emotional. It was fun. Really great memories.
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"We had no gas, no electricity, no telephone, and no automobiles..."
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Paul Prudhomme
;)
