Cooking
I am still savoring my Summer edition of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture. It was an entire issue devoted to none other than Julia Child. There are interviews, remembrances, stories, poems, songs and even a picture of Julia in the bathtub with her husband Paul! Reading about her as written by so many people who knew her so well is enlightening. And inspiring.
I thought I knew a lot about Julia Child, but I learned so much more reading this issue. It's the details that add depth to understanding someone who is already such a well-known figure. I knew that Julia took to cooking later in life but it's interesting to note she and Jacques Pepin started cooking in the same year--she was 36 years old and Jacques was 13. Pepin shares his slight jealousy upon seeing her landmark book Mastering the Art of French Cooking for the first time, admitting it was the book he thought he would write someday.
In working on her first book, Julia was obsessed with replicating the "French taste". Because Americans were not great wine drinkers at the time, she substituted 1/2 to 2/3 the amount of wine with vermouth in many recipes. While ingredients were important to her, she felt the key to cooking was in technique. Not a traditionalist, she loved using new-fangled gadgets like food processors and electric mixers.
More tidbits? Italian food was her least favorite cuisine. In 1989 she wrote a song about chocolate cake that premiered at the Kennedy Center. While she did not endorse products, she did publicly support political causes including Planned Parenthood and The National Audubon Society. A democrat in politics and in taste, she loved McDonald's french fries and even served Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies to guests.
And now for the contest! Here is a Julia Child quote. Can you complete it?
"One of the secrets of cooking is to correct something if you can or...."
A. live with it if you cannot
B. else call it "today's special"
C. go out to dinner if you cannot
D. try, try again
Choose the correct answer and post your guess in the comment section, be sure to include your email so I can contact you, if you win! Only one entry per person so choose carefully. The first person to correctly answer will receive a copy of Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. Four runners up will receive a combination measuring and tasting spoon.
- On Julia Child's 100 Birthday
Today marks what would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. She's a bit like America's culinary mother, the woman who encouraged and cajoled us into the kitchen to be become better cooks, with her humor and her can do attitude. I...
- Interview With Nora Ephron
Have you gone to see Julie & Julia yet? I saw it in a preview screening, but I'm eager to see it again, especially for all the Julia Child scenes and all the food. While I missed out on an exclusive interview opportunity with the stars of the...
- September Culinary Quiz!
1. In "The Omelette Show" an episode of The French Chef with Julia Child, which of the following does Julia NOT use to demonstrate beating eggs? A. whisk B. chopsticks C. fork 2. A charming blogger who lives in Paris recently gave me a gift of Maille...
- Cross Post: Well, Which Is It?
Melissa suggested I re-post this after its arrival on OWEE, even though the post is less about Julia Child and more about odd discrepancies among her biographers. The other day, I spent some time at the library, researching a particular aspect of Julia...
- Julia
Most of you probably already know that Julia Child died yesterday just days from her 92nd birthday. Eulogies have appeared, and will continue to appear, in newspapers and blogs around the country and even the world. Alaina provides nice coverage of these...
Cooking
Julia Child Contest
I am still savoring my Summer edition of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture. It was an entire issue devoted to none other than Julia Child. There are interviews, remembrances, stories, poems, songs and even a picture of Julia in the bathtub with her husband Paul! Reading about her as written by so many people who knew her so well is enlightening. And inspiring.
I thought I knew a lot about Julia Child, but I learned so much more reading this issue. It's the details that add depth to understanding someone who is already such a well-known figure. I knew that Julia took to cooking later in life but it's interesting to note she and Jacques Pepin started cooking in the same year--she was 36 years old and Jacques was 13. Pepin shares his slight jealousy upon seeing her landmark book Mastering the Art of French Cooking for the first time, admitting it was the book he thought he would write someday.
In working on her first book, Julia was obsessed with replicating the "French taste". Because Americans were not great wine drinkers at the time, she substituted 1/2 to 2/3 the amount of wine with vermouth in many recipes. While ingredients were important to her, she felt the key to cooking was in technique. Not a traditionalist, she loved using new-fangled gadgets like food processors and electric mixers.
More tidbits? Italian food was her least favorite cuisine. In 1989 she wrote a song about chocolate cake that premiered at the Kennedy Center. While she did not endorse products, she did publicly support political causes including Planned Parenthood and The National Audubon Society. A democrat in politics and in taste, she loved McDonald's french fries and even served Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies to guests.
And now for the contest! Here is a Julia Child quote. Can you complete it?
"One of the secrets of cooking is to correct something if you can or...."
A. live with it if you cannot
B. else call it "today's special"
C. go out to dinner if you cannot
D. try, try again
Choose the correct answer and post your guess in the comment section, be sure to include your email so I can contact you, if you win! Only one entry per person so choose carefully. The first person to correctly answer will receive a copy of Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. Four runners up will receive a combination measuring and tasting spoon.
- On Julia Child's 100 Birthday
Today marks what would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. She's a bit like America's culinary mother, the woman who encouraged and cajoled us into the kitchen to be become better cooks, with her humor and her can do attitude. I...
- Interview With Nora Ephron
Have you gone to see Julie & Julia yet? I saw it in a preview screening, but I'm eager to see it again, especially for all the Julia Child scenes and all the food. While I missed out on an exclusive interview opportunity with the stars of the...
- September Culinary Quiz!
1. In "The Omelette Show" an episode of The French Chef with Julia Child, which of the following does Julia NOT use to demonstrate beating eggs? A. whisk B. chopsticks C. fork 2. A charming blogger who lives in Paris recently gave me a gift of Maille...
- Cross Post: Well, Which Is It?
Melissa suggested I re-post this after its arrival on OWEE, even though the post is less about Julia Child and more about odd discrepancies among her biographers. The other day, I spent some time at the library, researching a particular aspect of Julia...
- Julia
Most of you probably already know that Julia Child died yesterday just days from her 92nd birthday. Eulogies have appeared, and will continue to appear, in newspapers and blogs around the country and even the world. Alaina provides nice coverage of these...