The Last Meal - Not What, But Who

[weinoo]

Chefs (and others) are often asked what they would want to eat for their final meal.

I'm interested not in what you would want to see served at that table, but who you would like to eat with. Let's say you could have dinner with 3 other food world luminaries. Past or present.

Who would that include? And why, if you feel like delving into that subject?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Must we choose real food luminaries? Or can we also draw from fiction?

[Mjx]

Brillat-Savarin, Dumas (père), and McGee. It would make for fascinating conversation, answers to lots of my questions, and possibly a stupendous argument, which should help take my mind off the fact that this was my last meal.

[Special K]

Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and Pierre Franey. I would let them order (or cook!) and just sit back and listen to their conversation.

[Tri2Cook]

Even though it isn't a requirement of the original question, I'm going to stay among the living and current with my picks for no particular reason (and I have to confess that if I could have dinner with any three people for my final meal, none of my top picks would be food luminaries).

Heston Blumenthal's relentless pursuit of getting things the way he wants them to be gets him on my list. Yes, he goes to some extremes sometimes to make the point he's trying to make but at the heart of it is something that every person who cooks should strive for, making every dish as good as it can be (for you) no matter how unconventional getting there may seem.

I have to bring a pastry chef onboard because, in a perfect world, that's what I would do exclusively. That makes for a tough decision, a lot of names come to mind as people I think would be interesting to talk to on the subject of pastry and desserts, but for various reasons... I think I would go with Michael Laiskonis.

Because it's been a new passion of mine for the past just over a year, I think I want the final member of the dinner party to be someone from the cocktail world. Unfortunately, I don't really know who the luminaries are in that area. Actually, I know who some of them are but I don't know enough about any of them to know who to invite. So I guess I'm leaving it hanging at two for now while I give it some thought.

[Darienne]

Rick Bayless, Diana Kennedy and Fany Gerson. And they can cook.

[Special K]

Another three - I'm gonna give myself several "last meals" - Nigel Slater, MFK Fisher, and Elizabeth David.

[Country]

Chefs (and others) are often asked what they would want to eat for their final meal.

Wouldn't that be a more interesting subject than who you'd like to eat with?

[heidih]

Chefs (and others) are often asked what they would want to eat for their final meal.

Wouldn't that be a more interesting subject than who you'd like to eat with?

And has been discussed at length on eGullet here. The Chef last meals were discussed here.

[Country]

Chefs (and others) are often asked what they would want to eat for their final meal.

Wouldn't that be a more interesting subject than who you'd like to eat with?

And has been discussed at length on eGullet here. The Chef last meals were discussed here.

Thanks Heidi. For who, Scoop probably nailed it pretty well up above.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Vatel, Dorothy Drummond (a relative of mine, who taught me everything I know about Jamaican cooking), and the head chef from the kitchens of Queen Elizabeth I

[Peter the eater]

Tonight, I would say . . . Samuel de Champlain, Josephine Baker and Fergus Henderson. All foodies in their own way.

Edited October 18, 2011 by Peter the eater (log)

[heidih]

I also think it changes with my mood, so today: Madeleine Kamman, Marlena de Blasi and Barbara Tropp.

[Genkinaonna]

Dorie Greenspan, Mario Batali, and Rick Bayless, for those among the living. They all seem like they'd be nice to talk to, non-pretentious, and willing to share lots of interesting stories. I guess if it was my last meal, I wouldn't need to worry about taking recipe notes though