My Last Supper

One of the books I recently checked out from the library is My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals. I had gotten it as a Christmas gift for my brother-in-law the chef (one of the few times I had gotten him something he didn't already have! Last year, I picked out A Day at elBulli and The Big Fat Duck Cookbook and by the time we shipped them to Spain, Dan already had both). But unlike those two tomes of molecular gastronomy, this one is more personal, more engaging. It includes portraits of the chefs (my favorite was Jacques Pepin sitting by a still life of eggs, figs, olives, potatoes, peaches, etc.; my least favorite was Fergus Henderson sitting with a pig's head in his lap), and the anwers to six questions:


What would be your last meal on earth?
What would be the setting for the meal?
What would you drink with your meal?
Would there be music?
Who would be your dining companions?
Who would prepare the meal?

Most chefs chose rustic meals, fine wines, and to be surrounded by family and friends. Some would stuff themselves with too many courses to count, and others wanted just a few things. Some wanted to prepare the meals themselves, some wanted those who work in their restaurants to do it and some wanted it done by other great chefs. A few wanted their mothers and grandmothers to prepare special dishes.

Based on those included in the book, some of the chefs I hope to have cook for ME one day (preferably not because I'm about to die) are:

Dan Barber (Blue Hill sounds like my kind of place, and ti's a bit closer than Chez Panisse!)
April Bloomfield (I wish Dan would open a gastropub here in Baltimore!)
Helene Darroze (I'll eat there every year on my anniversary when we move to Paris. *sigh*)
Gabrielle Hamilton
Thomas Keller (At The French Laundry, Per Se, or Ad Hoc)
Guy Savoy (We'll eat there every year on our birthday when we move to Paris. *double sigh*)

And what would be MY last supper? I'd probably start with fresh-picked arugula with just a bit of the best sea salt and olive oil money could buy and maybe a few curls of parmesean cheese and a medium-boiled farm egg smashed and running on top, crusty fresh-baked bread, lightly sauteed scallops, either truffle oil fries or risotto, and some sort of fruit-based dessert, with a special glass of wine selected for each course. Easy, simple, delicious.