Happy Birthday Julia Child

[Ultramatic]

Such fond memories

<span style="font-size: medium;">I remember watching her as a child of 6 or so on WNET 13, our local PBS channel. I can recall being shocked in seeing here toss trash over her shoulder and onto the floor.  She taught me how to make omelets! I never forgot to add a little water to make them extra fluffy. 

Thank you Julia! </span>

 

[firedome]

not sure but

I believe those wall ovens were GEs. Supposedly the Smithsonian has recreated one of her kitchens, would love to know what all the ovens/cooktops that she used over time were, certainly they must have changed over time. I do recall her saying that one doesn't need fancy professional appliances to cook well, as all the entitled seem to feel they "must have" these days.

 

[circlew]

Yes, the double wall oven is a GE, and must be "Shaded Coppertone". I see that the lower oven has no window.

As for large professional appliances, the only one I might like is a steam table with two wells.

 

[maytagbear]

Not a re-creation,

as much as the real thing! When Julia left Cambridge Massachusetts for good and for Montecito, California, the entire kitchen was photographed, diagrammed, and sent to the Smithsonian.

To me, "re-creation" implies some fakery.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[lordkenmore]

"I do recall her saying that one doesn't need fancy professional appliances to cook well, as all the entitled seem to feel they 'must have' these days."

The other irony that gets me about today's world of kitchens with fancy appliances: how many people have expensive stuff (appliances, cookware, etc) that basically never gets used for anything more demanding than a frozen pizza.

Meanwhile, Julia Child was doing lots of cooking, and demonstrating using GE wall ovens. Or, closer to home, one of my grandmothers cooked a fair amount, and went past "meat and potatoes." I recall her cookware was older copper bottom Revere.

 

[twintubdexter]

The Los Angeles PBS station was running early B&W Julia this past weekend and was it ever nice! What a contrast to "some" of the many popular cooking shows on today's cable. Although there are many entertaining and talented chefs, it seems that none of them can approach Miss Child's level of professionalism. People like Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay have a personal army that scour gourmet markets for the finest ingredients that money can buy and then another army prepares the food for the television camera so that it looks picture-perfect. And I wonder what Julia would say about all those silly chef competition shows where the loser often behaves like they were just told they have a terminal disease.

When I worked for Macy's California they had Julia Child as a guest for "Cookware Week" in San Francisco. It was a mob scene. Fortunately she was tall so some people were able to see the top of her head but that was about it.

 

[chuffle]

As far as I know...

...she never emdorsed a product or had her name stamped on things (other than her books and television shows).  I did read an interview, somewhere, much, much later, where she did speak glowingly of her KitchenAid K5.

 

After studying her "The French Chef" DVDs, I have been able to pick up a few pieces of Descoware at thrift shops.

 

Her Cambridge kitchen, at the Smithsonian, can be seen at the following link.  There is a ton of fun things found at that site.

 

Joe

http://americanhistory.si.edu/juliachild/

 

[maytagbear]

Miss?

Miss Julia McWilliams.

Mrs. (Paul Cushing) Julia Child.

L/Mb

 

[supersuds]

From the Smithsonian link it appears she did have a large stainless steel oven, maybe a professional model? I don't know much about them.

 

[firedome]

I expect that the donated kitchen

being the last iteration had upgraded appliances, but I recall her mentioning on one of the earlier B&W shows that she used more or less ordinary domestic appliances in her home... I can't believe she liked instant coffee!! It says on the Smithsonian site that she had it in the cupboard with spices etc! She was such a card and down to earth, on reaching her 90th Birthday I recall one interviewer asking her what her secret for longevity was, to which she replied..."lots of Gin! and it doesn't matter what kind!". She also confessed a weakness for McDonald's Double Cheeseburgers... no food snob, she!

 

[maytagbear]

Instant coffee

is excellent for baking....I usually add a teaspoon or two of crystals when I am baking with chocolate. Brewed cooled coffee is generally not strong enough for baking, if a coffee or coffee accented flavor is wanted.

I doubt if Mrs. Child actually drank the stuff on a regular basis.

I like Medaglio D'Oro instant "espresso" for baking, and need to get a fresh jar, because baking season is coming up!

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[firedome]

Oh...

that makes sense, can't believe she'd drink the stuff!

 

[davey7]

Lawrence - I can only imagine what James Beard taught in person...

Did Julia ever do laundry demonstrations or was she sharing a set with Sue Ann Nivens?

LordKenmore is right about the lack of use of good appliances. Saw a billboard yesterday for new condos which had "gourmet kitchens" (I'm guessing that means granite, 42" maple cabinets and stainless steel). But you know, frozen pizza is demanding, a friend of mine had a roommate come crying (literally) asking him what "pre-heat" meant... Sheesh, he should have stayed with mom!

 

[hunter]

JC

There was nobody like Mrs. Child. She really did 'humanize' fancy cooking, and always seemed to be as non-snob as you could get.

Indeed, I do remember seeing her on television somewhere saying things like "Bullshit! Salt is Salt!" when someone was saying that they just HAD to get some special salt from a particular ocean somewhere in the world.

Not that different salts don't have different flavors, but I saw her point.

I also thought it was neat that she taught TECHNIQUES, and what you chose to cook was up to you.

I agree with what others have said, too: she always seemed to use more or less 'ordinary' home appliances. Oh they might be at the nice end of ordinary, but realistically, who among us have genuine restaurant equipment? (I'm not talking about 'Pro Style' which always has sounded to me like it is cosmetic styling, but not having any pro style appliances I could be wrong). Elizabeth David also believed in using home-style equipment, because she wrote for ordinary people.

Gosh I miss chefs like her -- the existing set of tv chefs are totally unappealing.

 

[angus]

That;s because most of today's TV "chefs" are not really chefs - not sure exactly what they are, perhaps "personalities"? Either way, I have no use for them either. Give me Julia, Jacques, Nathalie Dupree, etc...

 

[lordkenmore]

I posted something like this a couple of years ago.

But as a reminder, Folgers instant coffee is good enough to be served in the finest restaurants:

 

[lordkenmore]

(No, I don't actually think Folgers instant is particularly good. Maybe better than some choices...but not capable of a truly fine cup of coffee.)

 

[lordkenmore]

"I also thought it was neat that she taught TECHNIQUES"

I agree.

I recall MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING making a point of this--once you learned basics with one recipe, you could apply them to other recipes that had points of similarity.

 

[kenb]

Julia had in her home kitchen a Garland commercial gas stove which se bought in the 1950s

http://americanhistory.si.edu/kitchen/tools01_01_l.htm

 

[firedome]

A Garland for sure...

in that kitchen ca. 2001 as donated, but don't belive that is a 1950s model.