August 14, 2004
Oh, yes: tip o' the hat to Julia Child
While I'm enthusing about food, I should point out that Julia Child would have been 92 years old today. She died yesterday, however. My maternal grandmother was born 3 months after Child's birth date; I plan to visit her in a few weeks, I'm reminded. I'm also reminded that the women in my family live a long time, though not nearly long enough, my standard being centuries, but that's of purely tangential interest here.
The modern crop of food divas and divos (the humorless Martha Stewarts and the gimicky "Bam!" Emerils) owe a debt of gratitude to Child, an eccentric of the first order (anyone else remember the Dan Ackroyd parodies?) She was a woman with a very interesting personal history (reminding me of Martha Raye, "actress and denture wearer," the only civilian buried at the U.S. Special Forces cemetary at Fort Bragg), which includes having been an OSS officer during WWII.
Child is quoted as having said in an AP interview in 1989:
"What's dangerous and discouraging about this era is that people really are afraid of their food... sitting down to dinner is a trap, not something to enjoy. People should take their food more seriously. Learn what you can eat and enjoy it thoroughly."
Sounds like someone who lived her life fully. Too bad she couldn't have stuck around a few more centuries to enjoy it even more thoroughly.
By the way, Child's original TV set kitchen is preserved at the Smithsonian.
Posted by Russell Whitaker at August 14, 2004 10:54 PM | TrackBackIt has always been my impression of Ms. Child that, if she did see those parodies (and how could she not have???) she would have been laughing along with it just like everyone else.
To paraphrase, Julia took Big Bites.
As you say, Martha Stewart is cold grease next to Julia's Duck a la orange. I think I saw one M.S. show, once, and was utterly bored with its surface but no substance. Still no good reason to trump up charges of lying to investigators.
Posted by: Curt Howland on August 15, 2004 10:30 AM