This post is written by Aki Snyder, Processing Archivist in Archival Collections Management.

John Ferrone (1924 – 2016) was an American book editor working for Dell Publishing and Harcourt, Brace, & World (later Harcourt Brace Jovanovich). Ferrone retired from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1990, but over the course of his career, he had numerous clients including C.S. Lewis, Helen McCully, Anaïs Nin, Eudora Welty, and Alice Walker. James Beard was one of Ferrone’s most notable clients and his close friendship with the chef, food writer, cookbook author, and television personality led to much collaboration in the publication world, as well as in the kitchen. After James Beard’s death in 1985, Ferrone served as Beard’s literary executor.

The John Ferrone Papers (MSS.411) documents Ferrone’s career as a book editor and contains correspondence between James Beard and Helen Evans Brown.[i] Brown, like Beard, was a chef, cookbook author, and frequent contributor to various food columns. The correspondence, which spans from 1952-1964, documents the everyday lives of Beard and Brown. In their letters, they exchanged pleasantries; discussed recent activities and new business ventures; and shared observations about the world around them. Beard and Brown also exchanged recipes, menus, and cooking tips; discussed their travel plans and notable memories from recent trips – most of which are food centric; gossiped about friends and colleagues; and occasionally discussed plans to spend time together. These letters later served as the basis for a 1994 manuscript titled Beard to Brown: A Mostly Culinary Correspondence.[ii]

The correspondence between Beard and Brown is voluminous and there are several letters that reference John Ferrone. Amongst the letters that mention Ferrone, there are a few that describe meals Beard and Ferrone shared together. As one might expect from a chef and food writer, Beard took great care in describing not only the types of meals he and Ferrone shared, but also the types of ingredients used and occasionally, the cooking methods employed.

As a lover of all things food, my interest was piqued when reading these letters and I began to wonder: rather than simply read about these dishes, what would happen if I cooked these meals myself and made the words come to life? In other words, rather than rely on written description alone, why not experience the archival record for myself? Would cooking these dishes, smelling them, and tasting them increase my appreciation for these archival documents? Would it enhance my experience with the letters? I was curious to answer these questions and set out on a quest to bring James Beard and John Ferrone’s menus to life.

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In a letter dated May 7, 1955, Beard described a birthday party he attended in his honor hosted by a friend named Isabel. The party was a steak tasting and featured several types of steaks, prepared differently, by various people, including Ferrone. Beard wrote:

John Ferrone did a steak pizzaiola – sautéed in olive oil with a sauce of tomato, garlic, and oregano… John had used one tin of plum tomatoes, three cloves of garlic and a good seasoning of salt, pepper and oregano. This cooked down in olive oil and was poured over the steak on a platter. Delicious.[iii]

In the next paragraph, Beard described how the meal was accompanied by a salad bar and for dessert, the guests were served “peaches with bourbon and two birthday cakes.”[iv] He concluded his description of the birthday party with, “it was a fabulously good dinner.”[v]

In the above photographs, you can see my interpretation of this meal. I made my steak pizzaiola the way described by Beard, using the same ingredients as Ferrone. While I stayed true to the steak, I opted for a simpler arugula salad with marinated tomatoes as an homage to the elaborate salad bar described by Beard. For dessert, I took some creative license in my interpretation of peaches in bourbon and two birthday cakes. I opted to make peaches poached in bourbon and purchased two small La Charlotte cakes that I felt looked like mini birthday cakes. Like Beard, I also enjoyed a “fabulously good dinner.”

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About one week later, on May 14, 1955, Beard described another evening spent with Ferrone and the meal he cooked for his friend. Beard wrote:

This is my duck weekend…John Ferrone is coming tonight; and I am spitting one and serving it with a version of Béarnaise – the first time I have ever done that with duck. With it I am doing some turnips, naturally, and mushrooms. And for dessert, strawberries which have soaked in fresh pineapple juice and are blessed with rum at the last minute.[vi]

In the above photographs, you can see my interpretation of this meal. I am no stranger to cooking duck breast or roasting vegetables, so for me, the challenge of this menu was the Béarnaise sauce, which I had never made before. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the Béarnaise sauce came together, but personally, I found its pairing with the duck mismatched — the flavor of the sauce overpowered the duck. For my interpretation of strawberries in pineapple juice, I remained relatively faithful, literally soaking fresh strawberries in fresh pineapple juice with a dash of rum. I also decided to add a bit of homemade rum whipped cream. Dessert was refreshing, but a little bit boring. 

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A little over one month later, in a letter dated June 27, 1955, Beard described another meal he cooked for his friend, John Ferrone. Beard wrote:

John was here for dinner on Saturday night – I gave him some spareribs done with soy and ginger and sherry and poured off the liquid as they cooked so that they come through with a wonderful glaze and almost dry. Also some sautéed string beans with bits of my Virginia ham in it…Then just fresh raspberries for dessert with sugar and Grand Marnier if he wanted them.”[vii] 

In the above photographs, you can see my interpretation of this meal. For my spare ribs, I thought using the slow cooker would be the perfect way to ensure tender meat — and I was right! The tender and flavorful spare ribs served with the sautéed string beans with diced up ham was absolutely delectable! In all honestly, I plan to add this meal to my regular dinner rotation. For dessert, I added my twist on Beard’s raspberries with sugar and Grand Marnier, opting to serve my raspberries on top of vanilla Greek yogurt drizzled with a Grand Marnier simple syrup on top. The perfect end to the meal. 

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Overall, recreating these menus and attempting to gain insight into the meals Ferrone and Beard shared together was a fun and delicious experience. Although at times, Beard was scant in detailing how he prepared these dishes, he provided enough detail about the meal as a whole, so recreating them was not impossible – it just required a bit of recipe research. In terms of the menus themselves, I thought the main courses were very tasty, but was somewhat underwhelmed by Beard’s described desserts, which often just consisted of fruit soaked in alcohol. I had a hard time imagining how that would be served on its own and thus decided to take some artistic and culinary license, frequently opting to use the original dessert as a foundation, while adding my own touch.

By making Beard’s words come to life, I quickly realized that the meals he and Ferrone prepared for each other demonstrate not only a shared passion for food and strong knowledge of cooking, but also their fondness for each other. None of these meals came together quickly – they required time, planning, and care. Although Ferrone was Beard’s editor, it is clear their relationship with food and cooking transcended business – it was something they both found enjoyable. In fact, in a letter to Brown dated August 26, 1955, Beard stated, “John is one of the most thoroughly sweet guys I have ever known. Loves food and is a very good Italian cook himself.”[viii]

I used these letters as a way to better understand Beard and Ferrone, specifically what they ate together, and imagined the kinds of conversations they may have had while sharing these meals. Cooking these menus and having a sensory experience enhanced my appreciation of the archival record and allowed me to experience history outside of a reading room. Menus are unique historic records because they allow users the possibility to experience the past, if one is willing to do a little work to bring them to life. As James Beard famously said, “food is our common ground, a universal experience,” and my quest to bring Beard’s words to life by recreating the meals he shared with his friend, John Ferrone, demonstrates this belief. 

[i] Correspondence between James Beard and Helen Evans Brown, 1952-1964; John Ferrone Papers; MSS 411; Boxes 5-7; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

[ii] Beard to Brown: A Mostly Culinary Correspondence, 1994; John Ferrone Papers; MSS 411; Boxes 5; Folders 1-6; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

[iii] Letter from James Beard to Helen Evans Brown, May 7, 1955; John Ferrone Papers; MSS 411; Box 5; Folder 1; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

[iv] Letter from James Beard to Helen Evans Brown, May 7, 1955; John Ferrone Papers; MSS 411; Box 5; Folder 1; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

[v] Letter from James Beard to Helen Evans Brown, May 7, 1955; John Ferrone Papers; MSS 411; Box 5; Folder 1; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

[vi] Letter from James Beard to Helen Evans Brown, May 14, 1955; John Ferrone Papers; MSS 411; Box 5; Folder 3; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

[vii] Letter from James Beard to Helen Evans Brown, June 27, 1955; John Ferrone Papers; MSS 411; Box 5; Folder 1; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

[viii] Letter from James Beard to Helen Evans Brown, August 26, 1955; John Ferrone Papers; MSS 411; Box 5; Folder 3; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.