There’s no question Julia Child changed the way America thinks about cooking. The first television food celebrity made food look like fun. At her urging, home cooks began to expand their horizons, baking their own baguettes and serving coq au vin at dinner parties.
Over the years, she became known more as a beloved celebrity than a cook as she hosted television series in which other people prepared the food. I was one of dozens of people lined up outside the Sur La Table in Los Gatos some years ago to get her scrawled signature in “Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom,” the last book published before her death in 2004. She was in her late 80s at the time and just as charming in person as on the small screen.
What is often overlooked, is how good Julia’s recipes are. Although early editions of both volumes of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” will once again share an honored place on my new kitchen bookshelf (as soon as it arrives), I rarely cook out of them anymore. Like everyone else, I’m always looking for new ideas. Continue reading Julia’s legacy
