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Haunted by Julia... Oh Julia, Julia, Julia...


chefzadi

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I'm not actually that familiar with her. I've only seen a few of her very early shows on PBS. Maybe I will get in trouble for saying this but I watched them with a sort of morbid curiosity. How could I not? I was born just a few short years before so called nouvelle cuisine "shocked" the old guard in France. By the time I started training and attending culinary school in France nouvelle cuisine was not so nouvelle anymore. I was taught lighter sauces, simpler presentations, the importance of pure flavors, etc... I have a very tattered copy of Escoffier's book, but I don't recall ever following one of his recipes. I use it more as a reference like a dictionary or encyclopaedia. Anway, I often hear from American cooks that this is the way Julia did it! Or this is Julia's recipe! I'm sometimes even asked what I think of Julia's recipes and methods? (Always struck me as a silly question, I mean why would I be studying her recipes or methods. Not that she didn't have anything to offer. But obviously her recipes and methods would be of no interest to me). I understand that she is an American icon. And as I mentioned I only saw a few of her VERY early shows which seemed archaic, if not positively ancient.

Did she "lighten" up her recipes and simplify her methods later in her teaching career?

This question is more directed to the home cook or food enthusiast. Does Julia Child's take on French cookery still inform your ideas about what contemporary French cusine is? If so what do you think it is?

I thank you in advance for your input.

I can be reached via email chefzadi AT gmail DOT com

Dean of Culinary Arts

Ecole de Cuisine: Culinary School Los Angeles

http://ecolecuisine.com

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Julia introduced America, or rather "ordinary" Americans to the idea that French foods could be prepared in the home and were not some exotic idea available only to the traveller and the very rich.

It was a concept that was very new to most home cooks who prior to that had been intimidated by the idea of French cookery.

She was an interesting lady, worked for the OSS during WWII and traveled extensively.

She is an icon and is revered by a great many professional chefs because without her foundation in the genre, they would not have enjoyed the popularity they achieved.

The biggest names in the business owe a great deal to Julia.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Julia Child went to France after the war (her new husband was with the Foreign Service) and promptly fell in love with French cuisine. She went to Le Cordon Bleu and then met two French women and started a cooking school geared toward the Americans (GIs and others) who flocked to France after the war. She was particularly interested in the classic food and techniques used in French cooking.

She got the idea of writing a cookbook directed at Americans with the ingredients they could find in the states. The outcome was the first volume of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." It got noticed immediately and became a best-seller. In a case of the "stars coming into alignment" this was also around the time Public Television got started. Her cooking show "The French Chef" was one of the first televised cooking shows and certainly the most famous.

She gave rise to all the others who came after her and taught Americans how to cook. It's that simple. She took the fear and mystery out of cooking good food.

She was never as dogmatic as Madeleine Kamman and the only thing she insisted on was proper technique where it mattered (whisking egg whites, browning and braising, etc.).

Those of us who grew up watching her and who frequently refer to her cookbooks know just how much she contributed to our being foodies and also know how much we owe her everytime we go into our kitchens to prepare food for people we love.

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Did she "lighten" up her recipes and simplify her methods later in her teaching career?

This question is more directed to the home cook or food enthusiast. Does Julia Child's take on French cookery still inform your ideas about what contemporary French cusine is? If so what do you think it is?

I thank you in advance for your input.

She wrote "heavy" recipes for French cooking because that's what it takes to create the French classics...butter, cream, foie gras, etc. To do so otherwise would be not be authentic and authenticity is what her early books were about.

She may have, in her later cookbooks, "lightened" up some of her recipes, but overall, she wasn't a fan of "light" fare. She did believe in the saying "everything in moderation (including moderation)".

But does Julia's original books have anything to do with contemporary French cooking? I'm not sure I could even tell you what contemporary French cooking is. How different is it from 50 years ago when Julia first wrote her books about cooking French food? Enlighten us. Perhaps Lucy (bleudauvergne) can weigh in on this as well.

What I do know is that her early books greatly influenced many American home cooks and food enthusiasts and her teaching (through the TV shows) and writing still have an influence today.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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I recently purchased Julia's Kitchen Wisdom, and she does seem to lighten things up a bit. There is a section on using cooked rice to thicken soups instead of cream. I haven't read the entire book yet, so I don't know if she makes similar efforts with other dishes.

What also made her an icon, was her casual attitude in the kitchen. Although she was obviously knowledgeable, her attitude toward food and cooking put people at ease and made French cooking accessible to people who would not otherwise have considered themselves capable of it. She brought sophisticated dishes into the lives of people who would not otherwise have had an opportunity to enjoy them, and for that, and many other things, she is deeply beloved.

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I have never read her books or watched her shows. Sure I have caught a few moments over the years, but I am too young to have seen most of her work. However, you say Julia(as you did in the title of your topic) and I know whom you are talking about. She is an icon. It is easy now to say that what she did was not deserving of a nobel prize. You have to put it in context. For half a century she turned the mainstream on to decent food, and she made it look easy.

Go look at a used bookstore. You see all the garbage that has been published over the last fifty years. Her books are still relavent even though they are dated. I don't use Escoffier as a cookbook, nor would I use Julias books. She was no Escoffier, but she was a good ambasador for french food.

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While PBS TV was sporadic at best in the Quad Cities when I was young, what I remember most about her shows was she really enjoyed drinking wine.

Sometimes she was downright tipsy by the end of the show.

What she did for me was show me that food could be fun, and that the fun was enhanced by wine.

Life actually could be enjoyable, was what I learned from her shows.

Julia and Father Knows Best made me realize that my abusive childhood home was not how life really was.

I survived because of those two shows.

doc

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Julia Child had a profound influence on many of us here at eG. If you would like to read more, I found some links to threads dedicated to her.

Julia Child -- In Memoriam

Julia Child's Kitchen

Honoring Julia - What We Cooked

Edited by spaghetttti (log)

Yetty CintaS

I am spaghetttti

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Julia Child did not shy away from being carniverous, nor did she see any reason to skimp on 'richness' (to generalize-specifically butter, cream, good wine, good cheese, earthy, real things.. put together to satiate).

Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook..under further reading

"AND LET US NEVER FORGET JULIA CHILD. Everything started - everything changed - with her.

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This whole thread is turning into an interesting cultural lesson for me. I'm also understanding why Americans still have certain impressions of French food. As someone mentioned I do care to enlighten about what contemporary French food is. But it's just not a can of worms I want to open casually here. I'm apprehensive about starting a laborious argument, when it is not my style to even argue casually. :wink:

I can be reached via email chefzadi AT gmail DOT com

Dean of Culinary Arts

Ecole de Cuisine: Culinary School Los Angeles

http://ecolecuisine.com

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This whole thread is turning into an interesting cultural lesson for me. I'm also understanding why Americans still have certain impressions of French food. As someone mentioned I do care to enlighten about what contemporary French food is. But it's just not a can of worms I want to open casually here.  I'm apprehensive about starting a laborious argument, when it is not my style to even argue casually.  :wink:

Actually, that would be a very interesting thread (as this one was)...

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Just as it's been said that all Russian literature has been taken from Gogol's overcoat, so most modern American cooking has been derived from Julia's apron.

“C’est dans les vieux pots, qu’on fait la bonne soupe!”, or ‘it is in old pots that good soup is made’.

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This whole thread is turning into an interesting cultural lesson for me. I'm also understanding why Americans still have certain impressions of French food. As someone mentioned I do care to enlighten about what contemporary French food is. But it's just not a can of worms I want to open casually here.  I'm apprehensive about starting a laborious argument, when it is not my style to even argue casually.  :wink:

I would love to be enlightened about contemporary French food. We Americans are still fairly educable. :smile: I'm all ears. Er, eyes. Whatever.

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We still like the fat, butter, cream and wine. I have to say that the use of roux as a thickener is considered very homely though. The interpretations and presentations are different now. It also depends on the level of French cuisine one is discussing. Cuisine Gastronomique is hotly debated. Cuisine du terroir is a simpler topic. There is also French home cooking We can do this in steps over a period of time. I'm not much of a theorist though. I describe my experiences and what I see.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some photos of "contemporary" versions of French Classics.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...cmd=si&img=8622

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...cmd=si&img=8619

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...cmd=si&img=8623

Note: the sauce underneath the pan seared fish is a mustard cream sauce, but the fish isn't swimming in it. And the Veal Chop was grilled, the sauce is a veal stock reduction. No pat of butter to finish it. Not revolutioanry changes, but lighter and simpler.

We can do this in steps over time. I can't imagine sitting down to explain contemporary French cuisine in one fell swoop.

EDIT: To add link to roasted tomato soup. The tomatoes are slow roasted in an oven to concentrate the flavors. The result is a sort of tomato "demi-glace," intensly flavorful. There is a swirl of creme fraiche, but it's a garnish and not a thickening agent.

Edited by chefzadi (log)

I can be reached via email chefzadi AT gmail DOT com

Dean of Culinary Arts

Ecole de Cuisine: Culinary School Los Angeles

http://ecolecuisine.com

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This whole thread is turning into an interesting cultural lesson for me. I'm also understanding why Americans still have certain impressions of French food. As someone mentioned I do care to enlighten about what contemporary French food is. But it's just not a can of worms I want to open casually here.  I'm apprehensive about starting a laborious argument, when it is not my style to even argue casually.  :wink:

I would love to be enlightened about contemporary French food. We Americans are still fairly educable. :smile: I'm all ears. Er, eyes. Whatever.

Add me to that list. I can easily point out books that cover traditional French cuisine but I can't exactly put my finger on what people are eating there today. I know the best solution is a plane ticket to France but that'll have to wait for me. I've snooped around in the France forum but it's still not clear.

Is there a contemporary equivalent to Mastering the Art of French Cooking? Where do French home cooks look for guidance?

Edited by esvoboda (log)
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I learned to cook in the 70's and 80's, and watched Julia on Saturday Mornings instead of cartoons. While, at that time, she did teach classical french cooking (How many dinner parties did we throw with Coq qu Vin?), more importantly, she helped to give me (and millions of others) an excellent grounding in techniques that I use to this day.

And while Julia is famous for enjoying her butter, meat, and gin, many of us have found that our constitutions cannot take that any more. So... what's up with the new French cuisine?

Edited by lala (log)

“"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

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I learned to cook in the 70's and 80's, and watched Julia on Saturday Mornings instead of cartoons. While, at that time, she did teach classical french cooking (How many dinner parties did we throw with Coq qu Vin?), more importantly, she helped to give me (and millions of others) an excellent grounding in techniques that I use to this day.

And while Julia is famous for enjoying her butter, meat, and gin, many of us have found that our constitutions cannot take that any more. So... what's up with the new French cuisine?

What's up with it? It's lighter and simpler in both preparation and presentation. But it's not "new" to me. Julia Childs learned how to prepare French food a generation or two before me. Also, now I realize that even though alot of American chefs mention her, she was really targeting the American home cook.

I can be reached via email chefzadi AT gmail DOT com

Dean of Culinary Arts

Ecole de Cuisine: Culinary School Los Angeles

http://ecolecuisine.com

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I learned to cook in the 70's and 80's, and watched Julia on Saturday Mornings instead of cartoons. While, at that time, she did teach classical french cooking (How many dinner parties did we throw with Coq qu Vin?), more importantly, she helped to give me (and millions of others) an excellent grounding in techniques that I use to this day.

And while Julia is famous for enjoying her butter, meat, and gin, many of us have found that our constitutions cannot take that any more. So... what's up with the new French cuisine?

Yeah, and look how long she lived while some of those who adhered strictly to the low cholesterol, low fat, low sugar and no fun diets, died 20 or 30 years younger!

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I learned to cook in the 70's and 80's, and watched Julia on Saturday Mornings instead of cartoons. While, at that time, she did teach classical french cooking (How many dinner parties did we throw with Coq qu Vin?), more importantly, she helped to give me (and millions of others) an excellent grounding in techniques that I use to this day.

And while Julia is famous for enjoying her butter, meat, and gin, many of us have found that our constitutions cannot take that any more. So... what's up with the new French cuisine?

Yeah, and look how long she lived while some of those who adhered strictly to the low cholesterol, low fat, low sugar and no fun diets, died 20 or 30 years younger!

I'm a good example of the French paradox. I eat a big piece of usually fatty beef everyday, smoke, drink wine, too much coffee... But I don't eat processed/packaged foods (which have alot of preservatives, additives, hidden fats and sugars) . I never get stressed either. Well almost never. My wife says no matter where I am I look like I'm taking a stroll in the French country.

I'm 6' tall and weigh 165 pounds. Flat stomach. And I'm not a young guy anymore :raz::biggrin:

I can be reached via email chefzadi AT gmail DOT com

Dean of Culinary Arts

Ecole de Cuisine: Culinary School Los Angeles

http://ecolecuisine.com

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esbovoda-

RE: Is there a contemporary equivalent to Mastering the Art of French Cooking? Where do French home cooks look for guidance?

I don't know. I teach French technique to professional students I do a lot demos and lab classes. I did it for so long professionally it's in my blood. It's like walking. When I teach recreational cooking classes (to non-professionals) I write my own (my wife helps alot with this) own teaching materials. I don't know if there are any modern versions of what Julia did. Also cookbooks aren't so popular in France. French homecooking is usually passed down from generation to generation. And French housewives get new recipes from women's magazines.

I can be reached via email chefzadi AT gmail DOT com

Dean of Culinary Arts

Ecole de Cuisine: Culinary School Los Angeles

http://ecolecuisine.com

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I learned to cook in the 70's and 80's, and watched Julia on Saturday Mornings instead of cartoons. While, at that time, she did teach classical french cooking (How many dinner parties did we throw with Coq qu Vin?), more importantly, she helped to give me (and millions of others) an excellent grounding in techniques that I use to this day.

And while Julia is famous for enjoying her butter, meat, and gin, many of us have found that our constitutions cannot take that any more. So... what's up with the new French cuisine?

Yeah, and look how long she lived while some of those who adhered strictly to the low cholesterol, low fat, low sugar and no fun diets, died 20 or 30 years younger!

I'm a good example of the French paradox. I eat a big piece of usually fatty beef everyday, smoke, drink wine, too much coffee... But I don't eat processed/packaged foods (which have alot of preservatives, additives, hidden fats and sugars) . I never get stressed either. Well almost never. My wife says no matter where I am I look like I'm taking a stroll in the French country.

I'm 6' tall and weigh 165 pounds. Flat stomach. And I'm not a young guy anymore :raz::biggrin:

Hey, please don't take my remark as my being a health freak. I love the fact that she was over 90 and still eating/drinking that way. However, for some of us, eating that way DOES put on the pounds. Blame genetics, but we can't all do it. Wish I could :wink:

“"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.”

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esbovoda-

RE: Is there a contemporary equivalent to Mastering the Art of French Cooking? Where do French home cooks look for guidance?

I don't know. I teach French technique to professional students I do a lot demos and lab classes. I did it for so long professionally it's in my blood. It's like walking. When I teach recreational cooking classes (to non-professionals) I write my own (my wife helps alot with this) own teaching materials. I don't know if there are any modern versions of what Julia did. Also cookbooks aren't so popular in France. French homecooking is usually passed down from generation to generation. And French housewives get new recipes from women's magazines.

Thank you, chefzadi. I think finding myself a French girlfriend would be a step towards solving this problem. :biggrin:

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