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Amuse: Nathalie Dupree | Listen

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Portrait of Nathalie Dupree — Image courtesy of Leslie McKeller

Multiple James Beard Foundation Award winner, founding chairperson of Charleston’s Wine + Food Festival, founder of Southern Foodways Alliance, prolific cookbook author, and television personality, Nathalie Dupree has more impressive titles on her résumé than most of us have condiments in the fridge. Her cookbook New Southern Cooking is credited with starting an entire culinary movement. That said, when asked about the modern food culture of the South, Dupree simply reports that it’s exemplary of what she’s been doing since the 1970s—applying techniques from other cuisines, growing her own food, and faithfully purchasing local. “Food is power,” says Dupree. “Whoever has the food is in charge. The South is unique in the fact that we have always had longer growing seasons, and we started with a bigger variety of food, from rice crops to blueberries and strawberries—all of that has its roots here.” Nathalie Dupree should know, as she has devoted her whole life to food and cooking. She laughs when she says, “I was never any good at anything else.” That’s probably for the best; award shelves can only be so big.

What is something you always have in your fridge?

Nathalie Dupree: Eggs, milk, and heavy cream [her Southern classics essentials]. Oh, and some Dijon mustard. I always keep a stock of condiments I’ve made like pepper jelly and orange marmalade as well. I’ve got pickled okra, pickles, lots of fresh vegetables, and a packed cheese drawer too.

What is the one culinary item you could not do without?

Nathalie Dupree: We all need a good wooden spoon, a good, sharp knife, and a good, heavy pan.

Who is your culinary hero/heroine?

Nathalie Dupree: Well, it has to be Julia [Child]. I met her the day I got my advanced certificate in London [from Le Cordon Bleu cooking school]. I knew her my entire cooking career.

What is the worst thing you have ever eaten?

Nathalie Dupree: The worst meals I’ve ever had were with Julia Child. We’d always end up at places where people would think they could impress her and they would try too hard to create an elaborate dish they weren’t used to making. The worst food is always ambitious food.

What three people would you invite to your fantasy dinner?

Nathalie Dupree: I would love to have the President and the First Lady if that can count as one, and then I would have Mark Shields [political columnist and commentator], and Doris Lessing [British writer]. I love entertaining in my own home here in Charleston, so that’s where it would be.

What would you serve at that fantasy dinner?

Nathalie Dupree: Most likely a soup—a seasonal soup. Or, in Charleston, I would do a local fish wrapped in banana leaves and served with roasted vegetables, like pan-roasted okra or roasted asparagus. You can’t go wrong with shrimp and grits either. I always like to have a salad with ingredients from my garden too—maybe arugula, pecans, and fresh fruit. And for dessert a puff-pastry peach cobbler.

What is a particularly memorable meal you’ve had?

Nathalie Dupree: It was at a three-star restaurant at L’Espérance in France. I was with my friend Virginia and my husband. The first course was foie gras injected with truffle juice and then fried.

What is your favorite family meal?

Nathalie Dupree: I’d have to say sausage and apples. It’s an old family recipe—easy to make, easy to serve, and uses up all the apples we have lying around. We might have that every couple of weeks.