Even French chefs can play cowboy, Jacques Pépin learns in Aspen at a family lunch of pan-fried trout and griddled corn cakes.

This June, I'll travel once again to the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen, Colorado. For many years, my dear friend Julia Child and I have teamed up to teach classes together at the event; for the past seven years, my daughter, Claudine, has been my cooking partner on stage. Nowadays the Classic has become a family affair (minus my wife, Gloria, who can't take the altitude). I usually bring along my best friend, Jean-Claude Szurdak (a chef), my son-in-law, Rollie Wesen (also a chef), and—for the past two years—my little granddaughter, Shorey. This year, Rollie and Claudine's friend Glenn Smith (yet another chef) invited us back to his house in Aspen to cook a late-spring meal with trout he'd just pulled from the river. Those trout were superb—one of the highlights of a weekend full of wonderful moments.

Published April 2006