Julia Child - My Life in France

[KathyJ]

Ok - technically, this isn't a cookbook.....

has anyone read this yet? Is it worth buying? or just getting from the library?

I had read a brief synopsis on it and it sounds really interesting.. I never knew she was 6'2" - that's my height!!! and the fact she was 37 before she got serious about cooking - my age.... weird huh?

-Kathy

 

[Toots]

I am on the waiting list for this book at the library. I read Julia's biography a few years back. This new book just focuses on her time in France, her early years of marriage and her introduction to cooking. I am very anxious to get this and read it!

 

[KathyJ]

I picked it up from the library and just started it. So far, very good.....

 

[jkath]

Everytime I see anything on her life, I watch - fabulously interesting woman!!

 

[Claire]

I loved her Bio, so the next time I go to Borders, the new book is on my list. I don't buy a lot of books (mostly because I read way too much to be able to afford it), but this will be added to my shelf.

 

[Banana Brain]

Julie Child was awesome. Check out my siggy.

 

[Ishbel]

KathyJ
If you like Julia Child, you might be interested in trying to find some of the earlier Elizabeth David cookbooks. She was an Englishwoman who wrote cookery books with lots of anecdotes. Her first books were in the early 50s. My Mum bought her books when she was first married and loved them. Elizabeth David's books must have been like a breath of fresh air for British housewives after the years of rationing and war-time deprivation of anything other than basic foods. Here's a bit about her from Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_David

 

[ChefJune]

Kathy, Julia was 37 before she even learned to cook! and over 50 before she first went on TV.

There's quuite a difference between this book and the earlier bio. This book she co-wrote with her nephew. She was not very fond of the biography.....

 

[PA Baker]

I checked it out from the library earlier this summer and really, really enjoyed it. There are some great photos that her husband Paul took, too.

 

[vagriller]

This looks like a good book!

 

[BreezyCooking]

My husband bought me this book as part of my Mothers' Day present from the "furred & feathered kids". I haven't read it yet, but it's next on my list.

(Oh, & by the way, the list price of the book is $25.95, but my husband picked up my copy at our local CostCo for $14.99. If you have a CostCo near you, it might be worth checking for. Ours has a pretty good book section.)

 

[KathyJ]

I actually ended up buying it from one of my bookclubs. I had already read it from the library and ended up enjoying it so much that it went high on my wishlist.
I had picked up her "Mastering" cookbooks at a thrift store with the intention of reselling them, but have now decided to keep them, knowing the background of them now.
I now look for any of her other books (have picked up a few) and she is on my "keep" list. How many did she write? anyone know?

 

[Robo410]

it's on my list this summer

 

[chuffle]

Devoured it (no pun intended) over one weekend...couldn't put it down.

I learned so much about cooking as a kid in the 60's, watching The French Chef on TV. I never tire of watching her shows. If you enjoyed the book, you might want to invest in the DVD sets The French Chef and The French Chef 2.

Joe

 

[Chef_Jen]

I was just going to say wait for June to reply on this... but she did.. Its going to be a MUST read book.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Ishbel - my first Italian Cookbook was Elizabeth David's "Italian Food", purchased after a month long trip to Italy. I have it in front of me now. All the classic recipes are there. What a wonderful introduction to Italian cuisine! I believe Mrs. David was instrumental in modifying the dull English palate and guiding it to more exciting flavours.
However, one has to remember that her books were written in the 1950's and 1960's.
I just giggled when I read this:
La Bagna Cauda
One of the famous specialities of the province of Piedmont.
...it is a dish which essentially needs..plenty of strong coarse red wine...Barbera.It is also excessively indigestible...only for those with very resistant stomachs"

And regarding Italian wines:
...although Italian wine producers.. are on the whole, honest, they are also careless...rarely are the contents of two successive bottles the same..."

If there was one high point in my culinary life, it was sitting in a Trattoria in Venice eating exactly the same food as the 16 members of a local family next to us.! How times change.
Her "French Provincial Cooking" is a classic; as is "Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen"

 

[Ishbel]

We lived abroad from when I was a very young child. As a soldier's wife, my mum used her Elizabeth David recipes with local ingredients and added her own twists, too. I can remember when we came home to the UK that so much of the food was very, very bland.

We grew up eating quite exotically by British standards of the time. And I thank God that my Mum was interested enough in cooking to treasure her ED books, rather than, say Marguerite Patten!

 

[BreezyCooking]

Well, I'm now halfway through this book & find it difficult to put down!!!

What a wonderful narrative!!! Not only do you "feel" what it was like to actually live in France during the 50's - not only food, but the countryside, people, culture, etc. - but just reading the details of the work, inspiration, & length of time that went into producing Mastering the Art of French Cooking makes me want to run downstairs, tear the book open, & cook something from it - (if it wasn't so darn hot here right now) - lol!!!!!

Anyway, even though I haven't finished yet, I can highly recommend it as a most entertaining read, particularly if you were/are a big Julia Child fan like I am.

 

[Loprraine]

Thanks for the info, Ishbel!! Julia's book is on my list!

 

[Ishbel]

Hi Loprraine (BTW - should that be Lorraine?!)
It wasn't me that recommended the Julia Childs' book - I was recommending that if people liked her book, they might be interested in the UK's equivalent, ie Elizabeth David.