Corkey Trivia: The Inspirational Julia Child
I just saw the movie Julie & Julia. A foodie from birth, I relished every minute of watching Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) transform herself into an American culinary icon from scratch.
She was born in 1912, in the same decade as John F. Kennedy. Hers is oft referred to in America as “The Great Generation” She had once said, “We truly believed we could change the world.” She was not only a little older than JFK, but also an inch taller. Like him, she was born with a big personality, globs of charisma, and an elegantly nuanced sense of humor. She was larger than life in more ways than one.
Her TV show on WGBH (Boston’s public broadcasting station) is credited with being the forerunner of the Food Channel and the prototype of almost all the modern cooking shows today. It was the first and longest running show ever on PBS. Her often replicated formula was cooking dishes with pre-prepped ingredients, teaching cooking techniques, having a mirror above the stove to provide the TV audience with an aerial view of the cooking process, having pre-made finished products to show the end result within a much condensed time frame, then serving herself the finished product with a glass of wine (which was actually beef broth; it looked like wine on black and white TV). She was the first person on a PBS show to win an Emmy. She also won a Peabody and a National Book Award. She wrote or co-wrote 18 books and starred in more than 10 TV shows. In short, she changed the way Americans thought about food and cooking.
Her recipes were long and detailed because she felt obligated to ensure their success. She said, “A cookbook is only as good as its worst recipe.” Her recipes were proven and replicable and she intended for them to be followed precisely. She said, “Cooking is not like free form jazz.” Her respect for the credibility of her work betrays her Ivy League education. She graduated from Smith College with a degree in English at a time when she said, “Women could be either nurses or teachers.” After World War II broke out, she joined the Office of Strategic Services, hoping to become a spy, but instead was sent off to be a file clerk in China. While in China, she found her husband and through accompanying him on assignment in France, she discovered her calling, teaching people to cook. She had never really cooked before in her life until she arrived in France.
In the movie, when Julia’s publisher disappointed Julie with Julia’s comment that her blog was disrespectful, it was not explained in the movie why Julia felt that way. It was the use of profanity to describe food which was, at least partially, why Julia felt the blog was disrespectful.
Julia felt that cooking was an art that could be learned. “She advised viewers to “plunge right in” to boning a chicken and to “have the courage of your convictions” in flipping a potato pancake. Her fearlessness made great television: she roasted ducks, sautéed sweetbreads and stuffed sausages into casings with grunts of effort.” (NYT) In their “Golden Age” 2,500 years ago, the Greeks felt that teachers taught children and that playwrights (artists) taught men through inspiration. It seems they were right.
This movie has inspired droves of us to go out and buy her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Now after 48 years, it is finally at the top of the NYT Best Sellers List. She has inspired the Michelin starred Chef Mavro to do the three course dinner seen in the movie through the month of August and for a limited time in September for only $59. As Julia would say, “Bon appetite”. I just ordered Julia’s book, and now I’m heading over to Mavro’s; see you there. Cheers!
Tags: corkey trivia, julia child, meryl streep, wgbh
