The French cook

As I watched that mouth watering roasted chicken recipe I had no clue that would introduce me to a cooking legend. One who discovered her love for cooking late in life. She replied in her interview though her mother never cooked she was always hungry and that probably helped (LOL). In 2002 a women called Julie Powell found a purpose in life by deciding to cook 524 recipes in Julia Child’s cook book in 365 days and blogged about it. The blog was called Julia/ Julie project. I found the still existing last few posts of the blog. I guess I should begin with the last of her post. It was about Julia Child’s demise in 2004 . She died at 91 in her sleep. Julie writes about the mails and messages that poured in to her expressing their grief . She had never met Julia Child and writes that even if she did she had no reason to believe that Julia Child would have liked her. What touched me was her statement( I don’t know I am authorized to quote it) that she had no claim on Julia Child except if a drowning person can have a claim on the person who saved them. Julie Powell’s blog turned her life around . She wrote the book ‘Julie and Julia my year of cooking dangerously’ and the two true stories Julia and julie’s became a major motion picture with Meryl Streep playing Julia Child.


Julia Child was too tall an American woman to join the army or navy .So became a mere file clerk in OSS. Her journey to cooking started with her love for eating food and the desire to cook French cuisine for her husband. She started learning to cook at thirty seven! The last post in Julie’s blog dated 13 august 2004 reveals the bond between two women who never met . This reveals the amazing ways one can save and redeem and give purpose to a stranger’s life by the simple acts of love and courage in their own lives. Julia Child never believed she ‘can’t do it’ . At thirty seven she had the courage to compete with French men in learning ‘their cuisine’. Her cook books made history. The kitchen that her husband designed where she did her show is part of American national museum. She is a part of American history . When asked about her success she humbly but proudly said “ I like it and I know my business’ .To the question whether it’s about her personality that made her shows so popular she smiled and said “Yes, because when people saw me cooking they said if she can do it .I can certainly do it ‘. She was a great teacher who taught to be bold and free to experiment. In one of her shows she dropped food from the pan while flipping it and putting it back in the pan she said” it didn’t go too well . See! When I flipped it I didn’t have the courage the way I should have .But you can always put it back in the pan if you are alone in the kitchen who is to see!’

So hats off to the lady who said “ Go ahead ... what could happen?”

Bon appetite!

P.S. Love the way she cooked omelette! Looking forward to more cooking and life in the coming year.