Today is World Baking Day, May 21st. We will celebrate a man who was ahead of his time by learning to cook and bake when most males shunned such things. Nick Bredimus was fortunate to have a father, Robert Bredimus, whose mother taught him to cook when the kitchen was considered off-limits to his gender. Robert also traveled to Paris at age 21 and developed a deep appreciation for the finer points of dining. Twenty years later, Nick Bredimus was born in Oakland NJ, and Robert was putting the finishing touches on the home he had built for his growing family. The home had a nineteen-forties era galley kitchen which was modern for its time. Like most geniuses, his father thought more about cooking, and talked more about cooking, than actually cooking. During Nick’s wonder years, he watched more cooking than doing any cooking. His first recipes were cinnamon toast and boiled macaroni.
This would change when Robert discovered Julia Child and bought her first book on mastering French cooking. Nick (only his Mother called him Nicholas) Bredimus caught the bug along with his Dad. Nick’s first home of his own had a large kitchen where he experimented following Julia’s recipes. Soon, he was tackling the most challenging instructions for French Bread Baking. Here is Nick up early to knead dough for French Baguettes.
Soon Nick’s kitchen had the latest equipment. Note the gleaming copper pans and bowls in the photo below- the very same Julia used on her TV program. A copper bowl was essential when beating egg whites for a Soufflé. Soufflés and bread making required a lot of work, but baking Gingerbread men was a lot a fun.
And what is food without wine?
These photos are fifty years old and a reminder that an appreciation of food starts at home. Bon Appetit!
