Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America [Hardcover]

Thomas J. Craughwell (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 18, 2012

This culinary biography recounts the 1784 deal that Thomas Jefferson struck with his slaves, James Hemings. The founding father was traveling to Paris and wanted to bring James along “for a particular purpose”— to master the art of French cooking. In exchange for James’s cooperation, Jefferson would grant his freedom. 
 

 
Thus began one of the strangest partnerships in United States history. As Hemings apprenticed under master French chefs, Jefferson studied the cultivation of French crops (especially grapes for winemaking) so the might be replicated in American agriculture. The two men returned home with such marvels as pasta, French fries, Champagne, macaroni and cheese, crème brûlée, and a host of other treats. This narrative history tells the story of their remarkable adventure—and even includes a few of their favorite recipes!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Like an enticing buffet, Thomas Jefferson's Crème Brulee brims with anecdotes ranging from a short history of French cooking to dining preferences of French kings, to the respective heat distribution properties of cast iron and copper.”—American Spirit

“…meticulously researched…”—Associated Press

“[a] well-researched look at the impact Jefferson and Hemings had on our eating habits.”—Chicago Tribune

“In Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brûlée: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America, author Thomas J. Craughwell serves up a lively story with a generous helping of culinary history....Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brûlée is a charming book that will appeal to both foodies and lay readers.”—ForeWord Review

“Craughwell provides a delightful tour of 18th-century vineyards still in production, a look at French aristocrats just before the Revolution and the France that paid little attention to the color of a man’s skin...A slim but tasty addition to the long list of Jefferson’s accomplishments.”—Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Thomas J. Craughwell is the author of several nonfiction books, including Stealing Lincoln’s Body, which was adapted into a documentary by the History Channel. He lives in Bethel, Connecticut.  

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books; First Edition edition (September 18, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594745781
• ISBN-13: 978-1594745782
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( J ) > Jefferson, Thomas
  • #96 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > French

More About the Author

After four years in a doctoral program studying medieval English literature, three years as a copywriter for Book-of-the-Month Club, and one year as a marketing director for a pricey, upscale travel company, I went into business for myself as a full-time writer in 1992. (Yeah. I can't believe the business has stayed afloat this long either).
As a writer, I really don't specialize; my resume is all over the map. I developed the concept and wrote the script for History Book Club's first television commercial. I've written direct mail for Time-Life Books, TV Guide, The Reader's Digest, Hilton Hotels, and the American Banking Association. I wrote the original Barnes & Noble web site; a series of online e-learning business, finance, and banking courses for the New York Institute of Finance; and a special "History of the Paperback" web site to celebrate Quality Paperback Book Club's 25th anniversary. My 50 States Fandex cards (Workman Publishing, 1998) have sold 700,000 copies (!). And I've published articles in a variety of newspapers and magazines--from The Wall Street Journal to Emmy magazine to the national Catholic news weekly Our Sunday Visitor.
My first book, Every Eye Beholds You: A World Treasury of Prayer (Harcourt Brace, 1999), was a Main Selection of both Book-of-the-Month Club and Quality Paperback Book Club. My book on patron saints, Saints for Every Occasion (Stampley Enterprises, 2001) has been translated into Spanish, Italian, and Polish.
I'm not a professional talking head, but I've been invited to discuss saints, the canonization process, and Catholic history on CNN, EWTN, Ave Maria Radio; and urban legends on the BBC, The Discovery Channel, Inside Edition, and approximately 75 radio stations.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent October 7, 2012

By Wine Teacher VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

There has been recent interest in Thomas Jefferson's food and wine interest and his influence on American viticulture and the culinary art. These topics are highly related to his time in Europe during the late 1780's, especially France where he served as a diplomat for the young nation. James Gabler's "Passoins: The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson" was the first. It is a small book doing a very concise job of covering Jefferson's European travels in the and his experiences and comments about wines and wine countries. More detailed and with more original material excerpted is John Hailman's "Thomas Jefferson on Wine". This volume is more scholarly in its goal but it is more restricted to Jefferson's wine interest. More of a coffee table book is Damon Lee Fowler's "Dining at Monticello: In Good Taste and Abundance". This one has a lot of very good pictures in glossy paper and some recipes. It is more concentrated in the food interest of Jefferson. Now, I need to get back to the new Thomas Craughwell book, "Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee". This book despite covering the same area that the other three books I have mentioned, it has much to offer. First, there is a very good story-telling narrative that is the back bone of this book. It covers well the ambiance of Parisian society just before the French Revolution, and from the point of view of a new visitor from America. It does a better job of the "time and place" aspect that any of the books I have mentioned here. The background stories about Jefferson's slaves, friends and family are well presented as part of the back drop of his time in Paris. They are robust stories and very interesting too. It ends up being a more holistic approach to the subject. The book spends a lot of pages on James Hemings as it should. Rather than just keeping count of the facts, the story telling approach should add to its popular appeal. The last part of the book shows facsimile of some of Thomas Jefferson's recipes and those with connection to him. They are so obscure and so hard to see that the effort is a waste. Some annotation would be very helpful. I think many reading this book would have interest in making food with connection to Thomas Jefferson, albeit recipes may need to be updated for the modern chefs. Some attempts in this area would have been nice.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Jefferson at the dinner table September 28, 2012

By Bruce Trinque TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

"Thomas Jeffer's Creme Brulee" is subtitle "How a Founding Father and his Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America". It is unfortunate that James Heming's part in the story is known principally from what can be inferred from Jefferson's papers; the social realities of the era left little room for a slave, even a privileged one like James Hemings, to record his own experiences. James Jemings' youger sister Sally later became Jefferson's mistress, and various syblings and relatives held favored positions of responsibility in Jefferson's household establishment. When in 1784 Jefferson was sent to France as an official representative, he brought along young James with a promise that he would be eventually given his freedom if he learned the art of French cooking, then something almost unknown in America. We are able to follow Jefferson's experiences with French food (and wine) during this period in considerable detail, but of necessity we catch only glimpses of Hemings' role in all this. Part of the bargain was that James would be emancipated after his return to America and after he trained someone else in the Jefferson kitchen in what he had learned. Although Jefferson's appointment as Secretary of State delayed this proceedings, eventually James trained his younger brother Peter as a French cook and achieved his freedom. Some of the recipes that James studied in France, such as macaroni and cheese and French fries, became standard fare on American tables.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Light and fluffy... November 6, 2012

By stuart1776

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

While I enjoyed reading this rather brief book, I was also rather disappointed with it. Craughwell writes clearly and engagingly, but all he has done here is compile information and ideas from other sources - there's no new research included here. As a result, the book is a bit flimsy, and often strays from the story into little digressions, that often give the impression of simply trying to add another page or two to the book, to bulk it out into something publishable as a book rather than a magazine article. I was particularly disappointed in the lack of material on James Hemings and Craughwell's failure to add anything new to his story over and above Annette Gordon-Reed's "The Hemingses of Monticello" from 2008.

As such, it's a nice and pleasingly-readable compilation of other people's research, but rather insubstantial too. And, as one other reviewer notes, the inclusion of some of Heming's recipes was one of the reasons I bought this, but they're reproduced from the originals in not overly clear scans - couldn't transcripts have been provided at the very least?