June 11

Jacques-Yves Cousteau's Birthday
 


Jacques-Yves Cousteau pioneered the science of oceanography. In 1933, he joined the French Navy as a gunnery officer. It was during this time that he began his underwater explorations and began working on a breathing machine for longer dives. In 1943,Jacques and French engineer Emile Gagnan perfected the aqualung, which allowed a diver to stay underwater for several hours.

Jacques fought for the French in World War II. He spent time as a spy and was awarded several medals. During the war, Cousteau still found time to continue his underwater work. Divers used the aqualung that he co-invented to located and remove enemy mines after World War II. Cousteau was named a capitaine de corvette of the French navy in 1948, and two years later he became president of the French Oceanographic Campaigns. That same year, Jacques purchased the ship Calypso to further his explorations.

After retired from the French navy. he became director of the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, founded the Underseas Research Group at Toulon, and headed the Conshelf Saturation Dive Program. The Conshelf program was an experiment in which men lived and worked underwater for extended periods of time.

Jacques produced numerous films and published many books. His films include The Silent World (1956) and World Without Sun (1966). Both won Academy Awards for best documentary. His books include The Living Sea (1963), Dolphins (1975), and Jacques Cousteau: The Ocean World (1985). In 1968, Cousteau was asked to make a TV series The Underwater Odyssey of Jacques Cousteau with the character of the commander in the red bonnet inherited from standard diving dress) intended to give the films more of a "personalized adventure" documentary style.
For the next eight  years, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau was a major TV hit introduced the public to a world of sharks, whales, dolphins, and sunken treasure, and made Jacques a TV icon and international celebrity. In 1974, Cousteau started the Cousteau Society to protect ocean life. .The 2004 film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, is regarded as both a homage to and a send-up of Cousteau's career. It includes an end credit that reads "In memory of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and with gratitude to the Cousteau Society, which was not involved in the making of this film."

Jacques'  iconic status has been referenced in pop culture in many forms John Denver wrote a song called Calypso as a tribute to Cousteau, the ship, and her crew. The song reached the number-one position on the Billboard 100 charts. Two New Age composers, Vangelis (who was heavily involved with Cousteau in the 1990s) and Jean Michel Jarre, released albums including original numbers honoring Jacques-Yves Cousteau: Cousteau's Dreams (2000) and Waiting for Cousteau (1990). The band The Flight of the Conchords   references Jacques in their song Foux du Fa Fa. And the ultimate pop culture tribute was in Star Trek, in which the captain's yacht of the USS Enterprise-E is named Cousteau.

We celebrate Jacques'  birthday with Seafood Gumbo paired with The Silent World.
 

Seafood Gumbo

 

Ingredients
 
1 cup  all-purpose flour
1/2 cup  vegetable oil
1 quart fish, vegetable, or chicken broth
3  cups finely chopped onion
1  finely chopped large green bell pepper
1  finely chopped large red bell pepper
4  celery stalks, thinly sliced
4  garlic cloves, minced
4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 10 oz bags of fresh spinach. washed and chopped
 

2 TB Cajun seasoning
2 TB hot pepper sauce
1/2  tsp salt
1/2  tsp crushed red pepper
1 lb  frozen cut okra, thawed
2 lb  peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1 lb lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
2 dozen oysters, freshly shucked, liquor reserved
3  cups hot cooked long-grain white rice

 
Instructions
 
  1. Make roux by combining oil and and flour  in a deep skillet or Dutch oven; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until roux is a medium brown (about 20 minutes)
  2. Gradually whisk broth into roux.
  3. Add the onions, celery, and bell pepper and cook until the onions begin to become transparent, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes
  4. Add Cajun seasoning, hot pepper sauce,  crushed red pepper, tomatoes, and okra; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Add shrimp and  crabmeat. Simmer for 3  more minutes . Add oysters and oyster liquid and simmer for two more minutes
  5. Remove from heat; serve gumbo over rice.
 

© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes