Alma Lach (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Satorius, June 8, 1914 – October 21, 2013) was an American chef, cookbook author, and food consultant.

Biography

Alma Lach was born Alma Elizabeth Satorius on June 8, 1914 in Petersburg,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. She began studying

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1939, where she met her husband, historian

Donald F. Lach Donald Frederick Lach (pronounced "Lach, as in Bach") (24 September 1917 – 26 October 2000) was an American historian based as a professor in the Department of History at the University of Chicago. He was an authority on Asian influence in th ...

. After her husband received a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Scholarship to study in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1949, Lach began attending

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu (French for " The Blue Ribbon") is an international network of hospitality and culinary schools teaching French ''haute cuisine''. Its educational focuses are hospitality management, culinary arts, and gastronomy. The instituti ...

cooking school. She received the Grand Diplôme from there in 1956. In the interim she published children's cook books, including ''A Child’s First Cook Book'' in 1950 and two that featured the

Campbell's Kids The Campbell Kids are the advertising cartoon mascot of the Campbell Soup Company. Drawn by Grace Drayton in 1904, the characters became popular almost immediately, leading to the production of dolls, cookbooks, cards, plates, T-shirts, and many oth ...

. Lach's first foray into mass media occurred in 1955, when she created and hosted the children's cooking show ''Let's Cook'', which aired on

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). The ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and later on WGN. From 1957 to 1964 she served as the food editor of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', where she published a column entitled ''Good Food''. Further endeavors included television appearances on Over Easy with

Hugh Downs Hugh Malcolm Downs (February 14, 1921July 1, 2020) was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer; television host; news anchor; TV producer; author; game show host; talk show sidekick; and music composer. A regular t ...

, the Lee Phillip Show on

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Stre ...

, and various iterations of the

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

show. Through her company, Alma Lach Kitchens, Inc., Lach worked as a consultant to various Chicago restaurants, including the Berghoff, and for Flying Food Fare, which provided meals to Midway Airlines. In the 1970s she opened the Alma Lach Cooking School on Rush Street in Chicago. In 1975 she was hired by Lettuce Entertain You founder Rich Melman as a consultant. Lach died in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

on October 21, 2013 at age 99.

Honors and awards

As a result of receiving the Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu, Lach received membership in the

Légion d’Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

by the French government. She received a mink stole for first prize in the Pillsbury Creative Recipe Content for Newspaper and Magazine Food Editors for her work as food editor at the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' in 1958. In 1962 she was granted full membership in the

Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (English: ''Fraternity of Knights of the Wine-Tasters' Cup'') is an exclusive bacchanalian fraternity of Burgundy wine connoisseurs. Originally formed under the Ancien Régime and re-established in 193 ...

, and in 1964 she became a member of the

Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs La Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs () is an international gastronomic society founded in Paris in 1950. The Chaîne is based on the traditions and practices of the old French Royal Guild of Goose Roasters, whose authority gradually expa ...

Works

Books

* ''A Child’s First Cook Book'' (1950). . * ''The Campbell Kids at Home'' (1954). . * ''The Campbell Kids Have a Party'' (1954). . * ''Let’s Cook'' (1956). * ''Cooking à la Cordon Bleu'' (1970). . * ''Hows and Whys of French Cooking'' (1974). .

Television series

* ''Let’s Cook'' (1955).

References

External links

Alma Lach's Kitchen: Transforming Taste
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lach, Alma Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu American food writers American television chefs American women chefs American cookbook writers 1914 births 2013 deaths University of Chicago alumni American gastronomes