Francois & Antoinette Pope's Cooking Schools

Cathy2 wrote:
I have several signed copies of his books found at house and rummage sales. Whenever I find his books or the Popes, I pick them up.

Regards,

Slight threadjack...I have been collecting the Popes cookbooks for years, buying them on ebay and finding them in used book stores and antique shops. I got my first Pope cookbook as a bridal shower present in 1977, but my mother and grandmother cooked from their books for years. They both watched their show on local TV and I believe they lived in Golf. I now have enough copies for my kids when they get married as well as for any friends kids...it's an obsession.
I now need to find Chef Louis' books!
I have a recipe for Chicken Wellington with port-currant sauce from the Gatherings Cookbook (The Junior League of Milwaukee, 1987) which is quite good.

Diane,

Do you have the Pope's candy cookbooks? I don't see these as often.

I've talked to their son Frank a few times. He told me his father did a BBQ-grilling show where Dad and sons wore tuxedos while cooking.

Later this year, I will have a speaker on early television cooking shows. Alma Lach, who once was a Sun Times food editor, was teaching on television in the 1950's, too. She is presently working on an Asian cookery book.

I have also talked to the Broadcast museum who have almost nothing of the early food shows. A friend at Culinary Historians is retired from WLS television. She goes to broadcast retiree meetings. I asked her to inquire on these shows, too. They were all recycled or tossed, because their combined weight could cause structural issues in buildings.

Watching some of the early Julia Child French Chef programs, I am pretty certain one might have been a kinescope. The picture was rounded at the corners instead of squared off.

I'd love to have seen a Pope or Alma Lach program or any other early food television up to FoodTv. If anyone knows of any, let me know.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Diane,

Do you have the Pope's candy cookbooks? I don't see these as often.

I've talked to their son Frank a few times. He told me his father did a BBQ-grilling show where Dad and sons wore tuxedos while cooking.

Later this year, I will have a speaker on early television cooking shows. Alma Lach, who once was a Sun Times food editor, was teaching on television in the 1950's, too. She is presently working on an Asian cookery book.

I have also talked to the Broadcast museum who have almost nothing of the early food shows. A friend at Culinary Historians is retired from WLS television. She goes to broadcast retiree meetings. I asked her to inquire on these shows, too. They were all recycled or tossed, because their combined weight could cause structural issues in buildings.

Watching some of the early Julia Child French Chef programs, I am pretty certain one might have been a [img=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC-g-eB6Rjs]kinescope[/img]. The picture was rounded at the corners instead of squared off.

I'd love to have seen a Pope or Alma Lach program or any other early food television up to FoodTv. If anyone knows of any, let me know.

Regards,

I had to go look through my extra cookbook collection in the basement-my husband made me move it out of the cabinets in his
office because they were taking up all the space.
I have way too much Pope memorabilia -
Antoinette Pope's School of Fancy Cookery- 1936 Choice Recipes for the Discriminating Hostess (It says that Antoinette Pope Palabykian is the directress)
A Cooks Quiz by Antoinette and Francois Pope 1952 A small book (188 pages) of questions and answers by the two of them
200 Recipes by Antoinette and Francois Pope 1954 from the Antoinette Pope School of Fancy Cookery at 316 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 1, Illinois
Antoinette Pope School Revised Candy Book-1956 Second Edition first was in 1949
Francois Pope's Gourmet Dining Guide to Chicagoland's Top Restaurants -no year, but it contains restaurants like Binyon's, Boston Oyster House, Cafe de Paris as well as selections from Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.
I also have an Antoinette Pope School of Fancy Cookery Professional Cake Decorating Set which contains 3 pastry bags, lots of piping tips, flower nails, instructions and recipes. It's in the original box!

Since I was pretty young when the TV show was on, I really don't remember it at all. I would love to see any of the shows if they exist. Let me know when you're having the speaker on early television cooking shows, my Mom and I would love to attend.

Diane wrote:Since I was pretty young when the TV show was on, I really don't remember it at all. I would love to see any of the shows if they exist. Let me know when you're having the speaker on early television cooking shows, my Mom and I would love to attend.

I"d love to see some of those shows as well. The only thing I remember is that the show was on at noon, opposite Two-ton Baker, the precursor to Bozo's Circus. Every other kid my age would come home for lunch and watch old Two-ton and his silent movies and cartoons. Not me. I watched Francois Pope. That was the very early start of my food obsession.

Hi- I just had to respond when I saw this post. I have a degree in recreation therapy from Michigan State, and from 1984-86, I worked in the activities department at Bethany Terrace Nursing Home in Morton Grove, and the whole time I was there, Antoinette Pope was a resident there. For about a year, I was in charge of this cooking class, which met once a week, and we prepared cakes for social hour. I would usually buy box cake mixes, and we would doctor them up. It was practically an all day project for me, because we normally had 10 residents cooking, and everybody had to have their own utensils, bowls, measuring cups, etc. and I had to set all of this up, and then I had to clean up, and wash by hand all the dishes that were dirtied making the ten cakes.

I was not living here when she and her husband were on TV in the 50's, and I don't know if I would have watched her shows anyway. I was into Howdy Dowdy anyway. When I started working at the nursing home, I approached Mrs. Pope about joining us in our cooking class. She made it very clear that she had cooked enough, and she had no desire to join us. She did not participate in a lot in activities as I remember.

I was told that she went on a bus trip to Old Orchard before I got there, and when she went into the cooking section of Field's, and people found out who she was, they asked for her autograph.

I did not realize that she and her husband wrote so many cookbooks. I have only seen her Antoinette Pope Cookbook. When I got to know her, I assume that her husband was no longer living, since I never met him. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- I just googled Antoinette Pope's name, and I found out that she did not die until 1993, when she was 97. She must have lived at the nursing home for at least 9 years then. Hope this helps, Nancy

Cathy2 wrote:Alma Lach, who once was a Sun Times food editor, was teaching on television in the 1950's, too. She is presently working on an Asian cookery book.

This show was before my time, but it would be great to see an old episode.

An odd (and old) tidbit about Alma Lach's 1974 book, Hows and Whys of French Cooking, is that it was the first cookbook published by the University of Chicago Press, which published (and publishes) academic and scholarly books. There was something of a tempest in a teapot about the Press publishing such a thing, as I recall from my undergrad days. Her husband Donald (now dead) was a prominent Asian historian at the U of C, and the gossip was that his position helped get her the book contract. The hows and whys of its publication (sorry) were the sort of nonsense the tight academic community relished. I stress that I have no idea if this gossip was true and suspect it was mere rumor. I met Professor Lach once and found him a rather august personage. Needless to say, I didn't ask him if his influence got his wife's book published by the Press. I have the book at home; I gave it to my mother when it came out, but I think she preferred Julia Child as a teacher of French cooking. I'll have to look at Lach's book because I haven't opened it in years.

The Printer's Row Book Fair coming up in a couple of months is an excellent source of Pope cookbooks. I purchased one last year that had the eggroll and chicken Tetrazzini recipes I craved. Evil Ronnie had members of a certain age at the club requesting recipes from these books. The people I bought the book from had several editions and specialize in a lot of vintage cookbooks. (and no, I can't remember their name but they are local)

I remember as a young kid watching the cooking show as my grandmother was addicted to them. I fondly think of both my grandmother who taught me to cook and these informative shows.

stevez wrote:

I"d love to see some of those shows as well. The only thing I remember is that the show was on at noon, opposite Two-ton Baker, the precursor to Bozo's Circus. Every other kid my age would come home for lunch and watch old Two-ton and his silent movies and cartoons. Not me. I watched Francois Pope. That was the very early start of my food obsession.

I do have recollections of watching Two-ton Baker, but I also recall watching Francois Pope and being intrigued. What I do remember is limited: the shows were, or course, black and white, the recipes looked fascinating though I had little understanding of what was going on, and I loved the intro music - I think it was a Chopin Polonaise. Can anyone verify or correct that?

Thanks.

George R wrote:I think it was a Chopin Polonaise. Can anyone verify or correct that?

I can hear the music in my head. It was a waltz, but I don't know the name. Definitely not Chopin Polonaise (Thanks, youtube).

Hi- While I was at the LTH picnic last week, I mentioned to Cathy2's mother that I used to know Antoinette Pope. As she was leaving the picnic, Cathy2 told me that I had mentioned knowing Antoinette Pope to her mother. Cathy2 told me that MikeG is doing a segment on the Pope's, and that one of the sons lives in the North Shore. When I got home, I googled Antooinette Pope, and I ran across this link on epicurious http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2008/06/have-you-seen-a.html and thought people might be interested in it. In particular, her son Robert made a few posts concerning the history of the cooking school. One of the posts is particularly interesting. Robert apparently died 6 months after he posted here. BTW- Robert said the theme song for their program was Chopin's Les Sylphides. Hope this helps, Nancy

HI,

Two suggestions for the music was Chopin's Polonaise and Chopin's Les Sylphides. There are several sections to Les Sylphides with one referred to as Polonaise. Could this be it?



I am unfortunately just ever slightly too young to have heard their theme music myself.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Could this be it?

Nope. That's not it.

Les Sylphides Waltz?

No. Not that one, either. It was more upbeat of a waltz. I can hum the tune, but I have no idea what it's called.

Steve,

I look forward to hearing you hum it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, this variation seems rather lively:



I remember the Frugal Gourmet's theme song was maybe 30 seconds from Suite No. 1 in F major, Bourree - by George Frideric Handel (Watermusick).



It makes finding the Pope's theme music just a bit more challenging.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:It makes finding the Pope's theme music just a bit more challenging.

If I know more about classical music, it would be a snap. It's a well known (I think) song that I have heard 1,000 times. I just don't know the name of it.

stevez wrote:I can hum the tune, but I have no idea what it's called.

You could hum or whistle it to your computer and see if Musipedia can identify it. There are other similar music ID websites but I think this one is geared more toward classical music.

Hi,

Do you like irony? I have been reading the Epicurious.com article on the Popes. What is especially interesting is the responses. The Pope's younger son Bob was quite active with lots and lots of details before he died.

The irony part: The Pope's son Frank was at one point President of Barnaby's restaurants. Tomorrow's North Shore LTH monthly lunch is at Barnaby's.

Regards,

Recognizable melody in a famous upbeat Chopin waltz has to be the Opus 18 Grand Valse Brilliante (though Steve would have a better shot whistling the Minute Waltz than most, I'd bet).

http://www.chopinproject.com/2008/05/10 ... lat-op-18/



Les Sylphides is a ballet collection of Chopin works, versions of which utilize several waltzes including this one.

Hi,

As NFriday pointed out above, Bob Pope (RIP) did advise the cooking show's theme music was from Les Sylphides. Is Grand Valse Brilliante part of Les Sylphides?

I'm hoping Steve might create an mp3 file to check if the website ReneG linked to really works. I never knew there was a music identification website. Never really though about it.

Regards,

Santander wrote:Recognizable melody in a famous upbeat Chopin waltz has to be the Opus 18 Grand Valse Brilliante (though Steve would have a better shot whistling the Minute Waltz than most, I'd bet).

http://www.chopinproject.com/2008/05/10 ... lat-op-18/



Les Sylphides is a ballet collection of Chopin works, versions of which utilize several waltzes including this one.

Bingo. We have a winner.

Steve, I agree this is the one. Mystery solved!!

Cathy 2 asked whether the Grande Valse Brilliante might be part of Les Sylphides. I recall hearing this Chopin waltz on WFMT within the last few months and thought they said it was from Les Sylphides.

According to Wikipedia, Les Sylphides is a "ballet blanc" with music by Chopin, and the Grande Valse Brilliante is part of the standard version of the ballet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Sylphides

Of course this is Wiki-information. Perhaps some music maven out there can confirm or correct.

Thanks to all for your efforts in solving this puzzle. And I must add, a Brilliante choice of music by the Popes.

George R wrote:According to Wikipedia, Les Sylphides is a "ballet blanc" with music by Chopin

Chopin always gets the shaft. When I play the Fantasie-Impromptu, my aunts say, "ooh, I'm Always Chasing Rainbows!"

(compare jukebox musical for a modern analog to Les Sylphides, and then tell the kids to get of your lawn when they think "that one Billy Joel song" is "from Jersey Boys!")

Diane wrote:I have way too much Pope memorabilia -
Antoinette Pope's School of Fancy Cookery- 1936 Choice Recipes for the Discriminating Hostess (It says that Antoinette Pope Palabykian is the directress)
A Cooks Quiz by Antoinette and Francois Pope 1952 A small book (188 pages) of questions and answers by the two of them
200 Recipes by Antoinette and Francois Pope 1954 from the Antoinette Pope School of Fancy Cookery at 316 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago 1, Illinois
Antoinette Pope School Revised Candy Book-1956 Second Edition first was in 1949
Francois Pope's Gourmet Dining Guide to Chicagoland's Top Restaurants -no year, but it contains restaurants like Binyon's, Boston Oyster House, Cafe de Paris as well as selections from Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.
I also have an Antoinette Pope School of Fancy Cookery Professional Cake Decorating Set which contains 3 pastry bags, lots of piping tips, flower nails, instructions and recipes. It's in the original box!

Francois Pope's Gourmet Dining Guide is one you don't see very often. Although it's not dated, I believe it was published in 1955.



How about Francois Pope's ABC-TV Gourmet Recipes from 1961? It has recipes matched with WBKB's shows. One has to wonder about the basis for some of the pairings. How did Ben Casey end up with a jello mold made with marshmallows and green cherries?



Then there's Francois Pope's Taste America First, a booklet put out by Brooks Catsup in the late 1960s or early '70s (he died in 1971), containing recipes such as Deviled Soul Burgers. That Francois was one hip dude.

somewhere in my house there is a sheaf of the handout recipes used in A. Popes cooking classes. they are all typed and reproduced on legal size paper. They are fragile but I could probably copy them. I estimate they are from the fifties or sixties. If I can find them among my many things I will try to copy them some day. I wonder if they are copywrited. they are not a book but class handouts. they were passed on to me by some family members who acquired them from someone who passed.