
Julia Child
culinary pioneer
One of the most well-known chefs in the world, Julia Child was committed to culinary instruction and promoting the enjoyment of food. Her cooking show was one of the first to take a meal all the way to the table ~ the whole reason for cooking! She and her husband Paul loved exploring food everywhere they went in the world {they lived all over due to their, and later just his, government jobs}.
Julia approached cooking with a scientific mind {her wartime job with the OSS was as a researcher}. She stayed current on nutrition, food additives + bioengineering, as well as any subject that interested her or her viewers...like the most humane way to kill lobsters. The famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking was just the start of a lifetime of classics.
warmth and generosity | her husband Paul called it "Juliafication" ~ her ability to charm a room full of people. Audiences loved her down-to-earth attitude toward cooking {particularly when making mistakes!} and the total absence of elitism ~ she appeared on Good Morning America and was PARADE magazine's food editor from 1982-1986, and is said to have adored McDonald's
learning and teaching | Julia enrolled in several cooking courses before she found her calling in Paris. Her early cooking was disastrous ~ one of her missions was to clarify instruction and teaching people to simply cook and enjoy good food. Her Julia Child Foundation sponsors grants for nonprofits for culinary and gastronomic education, and she helped create a Master of Liberal Arts degree in Gastronomy at Boston University. But her first foray into teaching was with Mastering the Art of French Cooking co-authors Simone Beck + Louisette Bertholle, with whom she opened the cooking school L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes in 1952, charging $5 a lesson.
French cooking | her famous cooking shows started with The French Chef {original episodes produced from 1963-1966 and1970-1973}. The book that started it all ~ Mastering the Art of French Cooking ~ demystified French cooking for American cooks. During her 40-year career, Julia included American recipes and kept her techniques modern, but remained true to the very French principle of bon appetit!
1949 | enrolls in Le Cordon Bleu, where she learns from chef Max Bugnard. She graduated in 1951 ~ after failing the first exam, she retook {and passed} a year later. She was living in Paris with husband Paul, whom she met in 1944 while working in Ceylon {Sri Lanka} as Chief of the OSS Registry {the OSS is now known as the CIA}. Paul was her champion and partner in every way ~ the illustrations in Mastering the Art of French Cooking were based on his photographs, and his photos appear in some of her other books. With Paul, Julia lived all over the world, always discovering and enjoying great food
1961 | Mastering the Art of French Cooking published. Manuscript was rejected by Houghton Mifflin twice before it was accepted by Judith Jones at Alfred A. Knopf. The second volume is published in 1970. A publicity interview where Julia whisked eggs inspired the television show, The French Chef
1995 | founds Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts, an organization supporting culinary education and the appreciation of great food
from | to
advertising copywriter | world-famous cookbook author, teacher and television personality
~ worked for OSS developing shark repellent during WWII ~
born on
August 15, 1912
born in
Pasadena, California
birth name
Julia Carolyn McWilliams
citizen of
United States of America
daughter of
Julia Carolyn (Caro) Weston + John McWilliams
~ while traveling in Tijuana in 1925, Julia's parents were elated to eat at Caesar's and meet the famous chef, introducing their daughter to a love of gastronomy ~
sister of
John and Dorothy
grew up in | lived in
Pasadena, California | Paris and Provence ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts ~ Montecito, California
educated at | studied with
Smith College
~ BA History, 1934 ~
École Cordon Bleu | Max Bugnard
~ graduated 1951, after failing her first exam in 1950 ~
married to
Paul Cushing Child
~ her champion and biggest supporter ~ he designed her famous kitchen, perfectly proportioned for 6'2" Julia ~
advocate for | worked alongside
education ~ demystifying French cooking | Avis DeVoto, Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle, Judith Jones
in her spare time
basketball + theater | at Smith College
~ always learning something new ~
accolades
3 Emmy awards {plus 5 nominations}
1 Peabody
10 honorary doctorates
13 James Beard Foundation awards
6 book awards
L'Ordre du Mérite Agricole ~ 1967
L'Ordre National du Mérite ~ 1976
first woman inducted into Culinary Institute of America's Hall of Fame {from one CIA to another} ~ 1993
L'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur ~ 2000
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ~ 2000
Presidential Medal of Freedom ~ 2003
died on
August 13, 2004
image credit
Meghan Miller Brawley
collapse bio bits"HELL AND DAMNATION, is all I can say. WHY DID WE EVER DECIDE TO DO THIS ANYWAY? But I can't think of doing anything else, can you?"
to Simone "Simca" Beck | summer 1958
"I could boil water for tea but my first big recipe was shark repellent that I mixed in a bathtub for the Navy, for the men who might get caught in the water."
told to her producer Margaret Sullivan | january 1965
"If you're in a good profession, it's hard to get bored, because you're never finished—there will always be work you haven't yet done."
What I've Learned | june 2001
"Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health."
What I've Learned | june 2001
"The pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite—toujours bon appétit!"
My Life in France | august 2004
"But I was a pure romantic, and only operating with half my burners on; I spent most of my time there [at Smith College] just growing up."
My Life in France | august 2004
for further reading about Julia Child:
curated with care by Pauline Weger
Julia Child's Georgetown home
Julia Child and her husband, Paul, lived in this wood-sided home in Georgetown {Washington, DC} for 3 years in the late 1950s. It was after they returned from living in France. Julia gave cooking lessons and was known to have tried out some recipes that eventually made it into "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."
Bachrach/Getty Images
Public domain
book | Mastering the Art of French Cooking, vol. 1 | 1961
Years in the making, the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking came out in 1961 {volume 2 was published in 1970}. The famous book was intended to be a textbook of French cuisine for American cooks, and features incredibly detailed instructions of every step of each recipe. The book has sold more than a million copies.
Alfred A. Knopf
Cooking demonstration at KUHT-TV in Houston in the 1960s
Julia Child whisking egg whites on television during an interview promoting the 1961 Mastering the art of French Cooking, was just the beginning of a phenomenon. Today's celebrity chefs owe an enormous debt to her dedication to bringing good cooking and great food to American audiences. Her groundbreaking show The French Chef debuted in February, 1963 on public television, and Julia would appear on or host television shows for the next 40 years. Here, she demonstrates a technique to an audience at KUHT-TV in Houston in the 1960s. KUHT was the first public television station in the nation {The French Chef was produced by Boston's WGBH}.
KUHT | public domain | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/p15195coll38/item/262
Julia Child, 1989 | book signing
Julia Child at a book signing for The Way to Cook. In the book, Julia collects her 40 years of cooking and teaching, inspiring new generations of cooks with her master recipes. Entertaining and beautiful, as she knew food should be.
MDCarchives | CC-BY-SA 3.0 | http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Julia_Child,_1989.jpg
Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts
In 1995, Julia Child started the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. The foundation has given baker's dozens of grants to schools, media + other culinary institutions ~ from cookbook conferences to high school culinary arts programs. The foundation ensures Julia's legacy of support for culinary education continues long after her death.
Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts
Smithsonian exhibit | 2002
In 2001, Julia Child donated her famous Cambridge kitchen to the Smithsonian Institute. Designed by her husband Paul in 1961, the kitchen is proportioned for her 6'2" height. In the 1990s, it served as a studio for her television programs. The Smithsonian exhibit opened in August 2002—and was wildly popular. On what would have been Julia's centennial birthday, August 15, 2012, a refreshed exhibit reopened as the centerpiece of a showcase of American food and wine.
rochelle hartman | Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian | https://www.flickr.com/photos/tinfoilraccoon/13729509593
CC BY