Exporting To An American Audience

Everyone is awaiting the new film “Julie & Julia” which portrays cookbook author and iconic TV teacher (and entrepreneur) known as much for her warbling near-falsetto voice as for her impact on American cooking:  Julie Child.

To a country infatuated with cake mixes, TV dinners and instant foods that would not mess up the kitchen, Child and co-authors Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle brought a French sense of tradition, art and quality in food. Then for a decade starting in 1963, Child’s wildly popular television program, “The French Chef,” persuaded home cooks to venture into complicated territory.

These days, Americans have entered a new era of the homemade, and the film could help bring this generation of foodies back to Child. To coincide with the opening, the publishers have released new editions of “My Life in France” and Powell’s book “Julie & Julia” with Streep and Adams on the cover. Even the latest edition of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” is being sold in a wrapper promoting the movie.

Photo:  American television chef Julia Child.

More on Julia Child:

Julie Child:  Lessons with Master Chefs

Julie Child:  The French Chef  1972:  Cheese Souflee (PBS Video)

Julie Child:  Biography

Bon Appetit!

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney