Helen Corbitt

Helen Corbitt
Born January 25, 1906(1906-01-25)[1]
Benson, New York
Died January 17, 1978(1978-01-17) (aged 71)[2]
Dallas, Texas
Alma mater Skidmore College
Occupation Author, Cook
Years active 1925 – 1976
Employer Neiman Marcus (1955-1975)

Helen Corbitt (1906 – 1978) was an American chef and cookbook author. Corbitt was born in New York but spent nearly 40 years in Texas promoting gourmet cuisine with new and unusual flavor combinations and serving temperatures. She traveled widely searching for new culinary inspiration. She was an early advocate of using the finest, freshest ingredients.

She moved to Austin in 1931 from her job as dietitian at Cornell Medical Center in New York City to manage the tearoom at the University of Texas. She was lured to the Houston Country Club[3] before operating the tearoom at Joske's department store in Houston and had started her own catering business when the Driskill Hotel called her back to Austin. In 1955, after being courted by Stanley Marcus for eight years, she joined Neiman-Marcus as Director of Food Services.[4] Several of her recipes are still on the department store's menu, including her famous Poppy Seed Dressing. Corbitt authored numerous cookbooks and was the first woman to receive the Golden Plate Award, the highest honor in the food business.[5] In 1969, she was presented the Outstanding Service Award by the Texas Restaurant Association for "her inestimable contributions" to the food service industry.[4] A 1975 profile by the Chicago Tribune described Corbitt as "the Balenciaga of food and the best cook in Texas".[6] In 2009, the Los Angeles Times described her as "the Julia Child-esque cooking celebrity with a Texas twang".[7]

References

  1. ^ "Social Security Death Index". RootsWeb. http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?sn=Corbitt&fn=Helen&dyr=1978. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
  2. ^ "Helen Corbitt". The New York Times (New York, NY). January 18, 1978. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F10FE3A5A13728DDDA10994D9405B888BF1D3. Retrieved March 8, 1978. 
  3. ^ Wilson, Karl (August 21, 1953). "It Happened Last Night". St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, FL). http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g6taAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Uk8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3277,2244204&dq=helen+corbitt&hl=en. Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
  4. ^ a b "Helen Corbitt presented 'Outstanding Service Award'". Mid-Cities Daily News (Hurst, TX). June 30, 1969. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=c5FVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5T8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=5676,3925073&dq=helen+corbitt&hl=en. Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
  5. ^ Abram, Lynwood (November 5, 2000). "The Tallest Texans: From Politics, science, the arts, sports and business, here are 100 Tall Texans who left their mark on Texas and the rest of the world in the 20th century". Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX). http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2000_3255943. Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
  6. ^ Will, Joanne (May 15, 1975). "VIP Cook". Chicago Tribune: p. S30. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/640131792.html?dids=640131792:640131792&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
  7. ^ Garbee, Jenn (October 21, 2009). "PLAY DOUGH; Monkey bread, a pull-apart loaf, can be sweet, savory or just plain buttery". Los Angeles Times: p. E1. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/1882933631.html?dids=1882933631:1882933631&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 

External links