Julie & Julia: Cooking up A Tribute
October 12, 2005 - The Indianapolis Star
A little more than a year ago, Julia Child died and the world lost the person who taught millions how to cook and have a good time doing it. Instead of TV chefs effortlessly blazing through recipes so complex we never bother trying at home, or cookbooks that are little more than eye candy, Julia taught us how to have fun, mess up, and then recover and enjoy ourselves while we mastered the art of French cooking.
She left an enormous void.
Enter Julie Powell, her beautiful, yet off-the-wall idea and a Web log (an online diary) that launched her into Internet fame. Powell is not necessarily Julia reincarnated, but something like her long-lost gimlet-sucking goddaughter. Stuck in a pre-midlife crisis, Powell thought of a way out by cooking all 524 recipes in Julia’s Volume I of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in the space of a year. She cooked everything from the simplest of potato soups to sweetbreads, liver and brains, and then wrote about it all on her Web site.
The idea caught on, so much so that she quickly became a media darling and scored a big book deal. New York Times food editor Amanda Hesser even came to dinner one night during the blog’s heyday, and Powell had the guts to serve up veal kidneys.
Powell’s forte is her Julia-esque ability to throw herself into a dish and transmit a no-fear attitude. Powell also is pretty darn funny. There’s something chuckle-worthy every few pages. It’s easy to imagine her tossing chickens around the kitchen or hefting knives and hammers over her head with a big smile, in classic Julia form.
It’s also quite comforting to know that Julie, like Julia, makes plenty of mistakes in the kitchen. A good percentage of her meals are flops, and it’s easy to understand why there are no photographs in the book. Ladyfingers and crepes become long-term problems. Malakoff, mayonnaise, marrow and even rice become the banes of her existence.
“Julie & Julia” is not for everyone. There is a huge Bridget Jones vibe that has little to do with Julia (or food, for that matter) that will leave readers who aren’t into that sort of thing wondering why there are whisks on the book’s cover. Julie’s love life, family life, quirky group of friends and problems with her ovaries will leave foodies feeling like they’ve gotten more than they ordered.
At the end of the book, however, something interesting happens. You realize that your interest in Julia has been rekindled, and that along with checking out the author’s original blog, you’ve also scoured the PBS Web site for online episodes of Julia’s old series (http://www.pbs.org/juliachild/video.html is the key link), you’re thinking about buying the set of The French Chef DVDs and are even considering a trip to the Smithsonian to see Child’s kitchen. Best of all, you’ve dusted off your own copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and have thrown yourself at one of Julia’s classic recipes.
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JULIA CHILD: 1912-2004
Aug. 15, 1912: Born Julia McWilliams in Pasadena, Calif.
1934: Graduates from Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
1949: Ente rs Cordon Bleu cooking school, begins lifelong love affair with French food and cooking.
1961: Publishes “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”
1962: Makes omelet for public TV in Boston, then launches “The French Chef;” series goes nationwide and airs 206 episodes over 10 years.
1981: Co-founds American Institute of Wine and Food.
1989: Publishes “The Way to Cook”; 400,000 copies quickly in print.
1990s: In her 80s, appears in three PBS TV series and publishes nine books.
1993: Inducted into Culinary Institute Hall of Fame.
2000: Awarded the French Legion of Honor.
2003: Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Aug. 13, 2004: Dies at her home in Santa Barbara, Calif., a couple of days short of her 92nd birthday.
—New York Times News Service
‘Julie and Julia’
Full title: “Julie and Julia—365 days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living.”
Author: Julie Powell.
Publisher: Little, Brown and Co.
Cost : $23.95.
FIND OUT MORE
Julie Powell
Original weblog: Visit www.frenchfood.about.com and search for “Julie Julia Project” for a link to Julie Powell’s original weblog.
Julia Child Web sites:
A biography, interview and recipes from Star Chefs.com: www.starchefs.com/JChild/html/index.shtml
Julia Child’s Kitchen at the Smithsonian: http://americanhistory.si.edu/kitchen/
PBS’s Lessons With Master Chef Julia Child: www.pbs.org/juliachild/
