PHOTO: Lin and Bob in the Kitchen
Some people are hedonists and adventurers, driven by a lust for pleasure and discovery. Hemingway was such a one, and so is my father.
He grew up as a self-described country club brat, but traded his golf clubs for traveling bags at an early age. He took his first “Cook’s Tour” voyage to Europe in 1959 as a 17 year old, returned there in 1962 for a junior year in Paris, and then went to Panama in 1964 as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Over the years he got to know good food, mastered French cooking, learned several languages, and never stopped traveling. He lived in Paris, in Madrid, in Mexico, in Argentina, in Chile, and landed at least once in over 60 other countries.
Now he’s going on 80 and is self-described as old, alive, well-traveled, accomplished, knowing, discerning, not a bad writer, often very funny, and full of stories about food, bread, wine and places. My parents created a family culture that revolved around food, creativity, and travel. It has shaped who I am and has formed one of the strongest ties between my siblings, our partners, and family friends. Quite directly, it is because of them that Sharon and I first started Fourneau as a project.
And so, I introduce to you the blog my father writes. He claims to have an inventory of more than 20 installments already on the shelf, and more on the way. We will push these out to our readers once a month, and they will reside in serial form on the Fourneau website.
Bonne lecture, or as Dad would say: “C’est bon, n’est-ce pas?”
–Ted Burdett