Faces of our history: Jehane Benoît, an encyclopedia of cooking

BUSINESS ACUMEN BY JEHANE BENOIT (1904-1987)

In many Quebec homes, an old cookbook smacks of nostalgia. Its sympathetic author brings a smile to the faces of those who have had the pleasure of knowing her. Jehane Benoît is a name as well known in the 1970s as that of Ricardo or Di Stasio today. Born and raised in Westmount in a family of the French bourgeoisie, Jehane Patenaude, avant-garde in her own way, refuses the codes of her time. Instead, she succeeded in gaining acceptance at Le Cordon Bleu, a Parisian cooking school whose model of pedagogy through demonstration would no doubt inspire Jehane’s career. Strongly marked by European culture, on her return to Montreal in the 1930s and 1940s, she founded her own secular and bilingual school, Le fumet de la vieille France. She also opened her own restaurant, vegetarian in addition, the Salad Bar. The popularization of culinary science will be his lifelong mission.

PASSION AND INNOVATION

Jehane Benoît resisted the conservative mentalities of her time and became a seasoned businesswoman, thanks to the sale of cookbooks, then appearances on TV and radio in both French and English. Jehane’s heart life is spicy! First married to Otto Zimmermann, she then married a love of youth, Bernard Benoît. Thirteen years her junior, he has long been her business partner and will remain so until the end. In the 1970s, Jehane Benoît may be old, but she has lost none of her passion for the culinary arts. She discovers a technological novelty that still scares the general public a little: the microwave oven. Jehane Benoît then took up his knives again and worked on adapting all his recipes for this new method of cooking: vegetables, marinades, and even roasted meats! With the food and wine pairings, of course…

THE HERITAGE OF A QUEBEC CULINARY TASTE

Jehane Benoît wanted to highlight culinary culture in Quebec. Her sustained action thanks to numerous publications and public appearances in person or on TV made her, for more than thirty years, a popular reference. His credibility was beyond doubt, both in Quebec and in English Canada where his works were translated. The new cooking encyclopedia, first published in 1963, was much more than a cookbook. While wanting to modernize the traditional culinary heritage, she brought several technical notes on the equivalences of measures, the cutting of meats, the styles of cooking or the cultural particularities of the dishes. Reputed to be discreet, it was in front of the public that she revealed a dynamic, endearing personality, with a natural talent for communication. One might think that his culinary style is outdated today, but his encyclopedia is filled with classics just waiting to be revisited!

^{Research and writing, Éliane Bélec, historian; with the very kind collaboration of Ken Hill (Succession Jehane Benoît) and Richard Leclerc (Musée de Sutton).}