Julia Child - a little bit of culture died with her

[KurtNYC]

The news of her death touched me as I expected it would. Perhaps a little more. In contrast to her elevation of the nation's tastes, we have people re-naming French Fries.

In her own way she pushed for Americans to enjoy their lives more. She believed in us and knew Americans were capable of great things. Cuisine is a benchmark of cultures and at the same time, a straightforward way to understand them.

What made Mrs. Child such an influential teacher was her good-humored insistence that competent home cooks, if they followed instructions, would find even complicated French dishes within their grasp. ...To the end, Mrs. Child maintained her image as the ultimate bonne vivante, a California girl with easy French tastes. Whenever she was asked what her guilty pleasures were, she responded, "I don't have any guilt."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/13/dining/13CND-CHILD.html?pagewanted=1

Adieu Julia. You enlightened our lives. Thanks for many great meals.

[Rowdyboy]

1. What a delight!

A wonderful, gem of a human and a citizen of the world. I fell no mourning because she lived life well and to the fullest. Rest in peace. If there is a heaven, she's with her beloved Paul now.

[flamingyouth]

2. Indeed

I was just looking through my parents' photo albums this morning to find the pictures of her when she came to Seattle to tape an episode of her show at my dad's seafood business. There she is in her waders, back in the smokehouse, talking to all the employees. :D She was a completely down-to-earth and wonderful person and will be greatly missed.

[mondo joe]

3. Julia's Wish for a Last Meal

This weekend Seattle chef Tom Douglas's radio show was dedicated to memories of Julia.

Tom put together a dinner party to honor Julia by serving her wished for last meal: Oysters and crab; asparagus; duck any way; chocolate. And a different wine course with each.

Tom noted that at one dinner with Julia, her husband Paul fell asleep at the table and began to snore. Everyone turned to Julia, to see what she'd do. "Let's let him get his sleep," she said, and then pulled his plate over and snacked on his dinner in addition to her own.

What a lady!

[flamingyouth]

4. LOL - my parents were at that dinner!

She and Paul were the perfect couple. They were both so intelligent, fascinating and amazing. Sadly, he was very ill and I think that was his last trip to Seattle. He died in '94 and had been in a nursing home for several years. They loved each other so much.

And Tom Douglas is an awesome guy too.:thumbsup:

[mondo joe]

6. Well now you have to tell....

Well now you have to tell which is your parents' seafood business!

[TreasonousBastard]

5. A life well lived...

brought joy to many, and hurt no one.

We do well to remember Julia, who taught me how to cook through her books and TV shows.

I'd like to see a DVD collection of all the shows she did, but some are available: http://www.alacartetv.com/store/

The way she worked with Pepin and the other great chefs she worked with was marvelous. "Oh, why not just do this?"

I vaguely remember a Scientific American article years ago where she took a couple of chefs to some university's chemistry lab and spent a few days trying to find the real reason Bernaise curdles.

iirc, it was amount of lecithin in the ingrediants, and cooking technique wasn't the problem.

But, who else would do that?

(and I bet the chem profs ate very well that week)