100 years of Julia

   

    Julia Child was born 100 years ago today, and to mark that anniversary here's my 2010 post on her lovely, joyful memoir, the delicious My Life in France:

A few tasty morsels from Julia Child and her enormously enjoyable book, one which exudes joie de vivre, enthusiasm, and a sunny outlook on most things. I loved it and would recommend it as a general read, but also as a lesson in sheer hard work and impeccable attention to detail, for as it shows, that is what went into her most famous work, the collaborative Mastering the Art of French Cooking

    Julia discovered French food on her arrival in France in 1948, and her appetite quickly grew to include reading about it and then learning to cook it. She was given a copy of a book by the chef Ali-Bab, "It was written in old French, and was out of print, but was full of the most succulent recipes* I'd ever seen. And it was also amusingly written, with little asides about cooking in foreign lands and an appendix on why gourmets are fat. Even on sunny days I'd retreat to my bed and read Ali-Bab ..."

     Eating out was always a particular pleasure, whether at modest places or famous establishments, and it was not just the food Julia noted."[Colette] lived in an apartment in the Palais Royal, and Le Grand Véfour kept a special seat reserved in her name in a banquette at the end of the dining room. She was a short woman with a striking, almost fierce visage, and a wild tangle of gray hair. As she paraded regally through the dining room, she avoided our eyes but observed what was on everyone's plate and twitched her mouth."

     Throughout the book it's clear that attitude is everything: "The sweetness and generosity and politeness and gentleness and humanity of the French had shown me how lovely life can be if one takes time to be friendly."

"... our challenge was to bridge the cultural divide between France and America. The best way to do that would be to emphasize the basic rules of cooking, and impart the things I'd learned ...- not least of which was the importance of including fun and love in the preparation of a meal!"

"...[the first dish I ate in France] was an epiphany. In all the years since that succulent meal, I have yet to lose the feelings of wonder and excitement that it inspired in me. I can still almost taste it. And thinking back on it now reminds me that the pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite - toujours bon appétit!"

                                          ~~~

    *(Mr. C tells me that as a student in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, whenever he got bored with the heavy political reading he had to do for his thesis he would order up Ali-Bab's book and imagine eating all the grand dishes described which he could not then afford).

 

    Edited to add: since writing all the above I learned from an American friend that Julia Child once gave him dinner at her home in Massachusetts. "What did she serve you?" I asked him. "Gin and oysters," was his reply, "and a very good time was had by all."

    The picture up above relates to Siting Julia: the Julia Child Centenary Symposium taking place in late September at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, and if you are unable to be there on the day you can view the live webcast of the event.

Comments

[Dark Puss]

Near Harvard recently therefore not likely to be there again until I'm 80! Bah.

Colette writes most excellently about food (and cats, and indeed dogs). Very sensuous indeed.

[Mr Cornflower]

That was in the old BN in the rue Vivienne, in the wonderful Salle Labrouste reading room, whose green shaded lights created the impression of an underwater grotto. At lunchtime I would sometimes visit a very ordinary cafe in the square outside the main entrance where for 12 francs (just over £1, cheap even in 1982) I could get a simple but tasty potato omelette. Later I had the chance to eat in some of the best restaurants in Paris, but it was I think that omelette that first showed me how even the plainest food can be delicious if there is a culture of taking food seriously and doing things right.

[Cornflower]

1982 - are you that old?

[Mr Cornflower]

Child prodigy.

[Audrey]

I'm on the waiting list for the symposium (Discovered it too late!) but thank you for telling me about the webcast just in case.