Julia!

I tend to read books in themes. Usually that occurs because something tweaks my interest; I read one book on it, which then leads to further reading on the subject until I have fully satisfied my curiosity.

One such subject that tweaked my interest recently is Julia Child. I vaguely remember seeing her on TV when I was little, and my parents had one cookbook of hers that I used to read quite often. I had even read a biography about her. What tweaked my interest this time was watching the movie Julie & Julia. Meryl Streep did an excellent portrayal of Julia. I wanted to visit Paris - not today, but the Paris of the 1940s-1950s when Julia was there. I also wanted to read Julie Powell's book on which the movie was based.

This I did shortly thereafter when lent the book by my sister-in-law. She explained that the book was quite different from the movie and I have to agree. The Julie in the movie seemed to be a very sweet girl, the Julie of the book less so. I liked the way the movie really cut between scenes of Julia and Julie, really establishing the storyline about two characters of equal strength , whereas the book focused much more on Julie as opposed to Julia.

Being more interested in Julia, I did not read Julie Powell's next book, but turned to the biography of Julia Child which I had previously read: Appetite For Life, by Noel Riley Fitch. As far as I know, it is the only biography out there on her. It is a good and interesting read because Julia Child really had an interesting life. She was born Julia McWilliams in Pasadena, California, shortly before the First World War. She followed all the usual steps for a girl of privilege, but ended up working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS - spy agency) during the Second World War as she was too tall to join the other branches of the service. Julia was at least 6 foot 1. She was posted to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) with the OSS. There she met Paul Child. Their romance blossomed when both were transferred to China. At the end of World War Two, they were married. Paul continued working for the government and was posted to Paris. There Julia's love affair with French food began, and continued despite subsequent postings to Marseilles, Germany, and Norway. The rest of the story is well known: Julia writes a cookbook or two and ends up on PBS with her own cooking show.

The biography discusses Julia's family history and sheds light on her early life that may be unknown to many readers. Julia began her career relatively late, but the biography takes a well-rounded view on her life, not shirking the earlier time for the time when she was more famous. By the end it does disintegrate a little to a list of Julia's various cooking appearances, engagements, and television shows, but is still engaging.

What comes out clearly throughout the book is the special relationship Julia and Paul had together. Despite his initial reluctance to think of her as a partner, he eventually came around and realized they were right for each other. And partners they most assuredly were. For all the fame Julia realized, Paul was right there behind her. He was at every taping of her show, assisted with all of her cookbooks and accompanied her to every cooking demonstration and book signing. He truly was her right-hand man and the Julia Child we know and love today could not have existed without Paul's constant and unwavering support. He threw all his energies and talents into promoting Julia and her cooking. The two had a perfect marriage of partnership and passion. It is heartbreaking in the biography when Paul has a heart attack and requires an operation in 1974. He suffered a number of small strokes during the operation which affected his memory. Julia's partner and right hand man can no longer provide her with the support she needs. He lived on until 1994, growing more irascible and irritated every year as he struggled to cope with the changes to his mind. The marriage of equals was no more.

I did not realize before reading the biography just how involved in his wife's career Paul Child was. Really, it was their career - their joint effort in the world of French cookery. I would like to see a biography of the two of them: Julia and Paul Child. He was a talented and interesting man is his own right, who has received short shrift by history in not acknowledging his vital role in the development of Julia Child, the brand. This biography is great, but I think the need is there for a joint biography to recognize Paul's contributions and his own role in the story.

For those of you who are more interested in what Julia has to say, you should check out a charming little book, My Life in France, by Julia Child and her nephew Alex Prud'homme. This is a lovely little book about Julia's time in France: her first time living there with Paul in both Paris and Marseilles, and her discovery of the Cordon Bleu and French cooking, and her second time in France when she and Paul built a vacation home in the south of France and lived there for part of the year. This delightful book was written by Julia and Alex shortly before she died and is written in Julia's own voice. She comes across as an earthy and humourous lady with a soul of steel. Her efforts in testing and retesting every recipe for Mastering the Art of French Cooking were nothing short of heroic! She was intense and interested and always wanted to know why. Why this flour and not that, why whisk here, why this heat, why this ingredient, why this method. A cook who is similar today is Alton Brown of Good Eats, with his scientific discussions of cooking and how ingredients interact with each other. Julia wanted to know why the ingredients behaved they way they did and how the French recipes could be translated to American ones. She was a hard worker, but she seemed like a lot of fun to get to know.

Much is made in the book Julie & Julia about the scene where it is revealed that Julia Child does not like Julie Powell's blog. If that is true, one gets the reason after reading this book. Julie Powell comes across as a little bit slap-dash in her approach to the recipes. She often doesn't read them the whole way through and doesn't take into account the time needed to cook or let the ingredients set. Julia Child thoroughly tested and honed every recipe. She expected her cooks to have the same love of food and attention to detail that she did. As she says at the end of My Life in France:

"Good results require that one take time and care. If one doesn't use the freshest ingredients or read the whole recipe before starting, and if one rushes through the cooking, the result will be an inferior taste and texture - a gummy beef Wellington, say. But a careful approach will result in a magnificent burst of flavor, a thoroughly satisfying meal, perhaps even a life-changing experience." [J. Child and A. Prud'homme, My Life in France, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009) pg.302]

Julie Powell did not always take time and care with her recipes. Nor did she seem to have the love of food which really influenced Julia Child to make the education of Americans about French cooking her life's work. If it is true that Julia Child did not respond favourably to Julie Powell's cooking efforts, this is perhaps why.

What about me? Will I try any of Julia's recipes? I am still on the hold list for Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume One (now very popular at the library) but I did manage to take out Volume Two. This is the book with the infamous French Bread recipe that took Paul and Julia many years to perfect. It takes 7 hours. The croissants, 11. While the recipes may be extensive, Julia's wit and humour come through on every page. She is there to guide you and help you through her recipes, as long as you give her the respect her work deserves. I may not try the bread (at least not during the summer anyway!) but there's a cake or two I've been eyeing, and I would like to try the famous Boeuf Bourguignon from Volume One. However, when I try her recipes, I will keep in mind Julia's words and take time and care. This is her life's work, and it deserves our respect in the kitchen.