What We Eat


	Exact Match

Desert Island Dinners

What We Eat welcomes Anne Willan to our desert island.

Anne Willan is established as one of the world’s preeminent authorities on French cooking. She is director of La Varenne at the Greenbrier and founded Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris in 1975, the school which is now centered in Burgundy at Chateau du Fey.

Anne has over 30 years experience as a teacher, cookbook author, culinary historian and food columnist. She has written over a dozen books including La Varenne Pratique and the photo illustrated Look & Cook series, showcased in her 26 part PBS programs. Her most recent books are Cook it Right (Readers Digest,1998) (or see UK Amazon) & From my Chateau Kitchen (Clarkson Potter, 2000) (or see UK Amazon) which introduces readers to life in Burgundy & her home cooking at Chateau du Fey.

Anne has served as associate editor of Gourmet, food editor for the Washington Star & currently contributes a monthly column to the Los Angeles Times.

Now read about Anne’s Desert Island Dinners experience:

WWE: Anne Willan, thank you for joining us for Desert Island Dinners at What We Eat
Anne Willan: Hi, good to be with you

WWE: OK, a quick breakfast question, how do you like your eggs cooked?
Anne Willan: Simply scrambled and soft, crisp bacon and no toast. Strong coffee on the side.

WWE: Imagine that we whisk you off to a desert island. You are allowed one meal and one drink, but it has to be the same one every day. What would you choose?
Anne Willan: Bread, cheese, salad and a glass of red wine. Notice that is a crafty answer -- I can play almost infinite variations all four of those elements. Bread: well, country, French, ethnic flatbreads, brioche, crispbreads, that's just a start. There are said to be 365 French cheeses, but in fact the count is much larger; then I could move on to Italy, Spain, and some of those interesting domestic cheeses that are just beginning in the USA. For salad there are hundreds of greens, dozens of roots and vegetable vines like tomatoes. As for wines, read Robert Parker! Wine Buyer’s guide (or see UK Amazon).

WWE: We are pleased to tell you that we have decided to build a restaurant on your desert island. So to you, our only customer, what type of food would you like us to serve?
Anne Willan: Home cooking, produce fresh from the garden varying from day to day, year to year. Tough old farmyard chickens simmered in wine to be lusciously tender. Peaches warm from the tree.

WWE: Is there any restaurant that you'd like us to model ours after? Remember, you have to eat here every single day!
Anne Willan: Chez Panisse (Berkeley, California)--She sums up the best of home cooking in a restaurant context.

WWE: As a special thanks to you for visiting our island, we will bring you a bag of goodies - what 5 food items would you like us to pack?
Anne Willan: A perfectly ripe melon; a butter-roast chicken flavored with rosemary; an outsize bag of freshly fried potato chips; a small bowl of herb-flavored green olives, including pits; and a stiff gin martini on the rocks with a twist.

WWE: And we can't let you leave the island without making something extra special, so what Desert Island Dessert would you like us to make you?
Anne Willan: Crème brulee, made the traditional way: the cream scarcely cooked so it stays soft and liquid under a thick, crisp layer of dark caramel made by thoroughly cooking white granulated. When cracked with the back of the spoon, the caramel sinks below the surface of the cream. This can only be achieved with a hot salamander iron; a blowtorch is the wimp's way out.

WWE: Thank you very much Anne Willan for supporting What We Eat and for sharing some food fun with all the foodies out there!
Anne Willan: Any time, it was good to be with you!

Click for a listing of previous Desert Island Dinners interviews :
What I Eat - Professor Howe.