Anyone who loves cooking also loves Julia Child. Period.
One of the most loved, popular, and renowned chefs and TV show hosts, Julia Child revolutionized cooking, making it fun and an absolute pleasure. She inspired millions of people across the world to take to the kitchen and enjoy the simple pleasures of cooking and eating.
Her T.V show, ‘The French Chef’ was the first of its kind in bringing cooking to the regular American household. The audience instantly fell in love with her wavering voice, her liking for butter, her style and presentation, and of course, her inimitable manner of saying her closing phrase ‘Bon appetit’ on the show. For all the brilliant work that she did, Julia is widely credited with pioneering the concept of TV chefs.
Also, she published many groundbreaking and best-selling cookbooks through which her famous recipes have reached millions across the world.
Life of Julia Child
Born on 15th August 1912 in Pasadena, California, Julia Child was the eldest of three children. She majored in History from Smith College and then moved to Manhattan to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and novelist. In 1944, she met Paul Child, who she later married in September 1946.
In 1948, Paul was posted to Paris as part of his work with the U.S Foreign Services and Julia accompanied him. In 1949, Julia enrolled with the famous Parisian cooking school Le Cordon Bleu and was under the tutelage of Max Bugnard. Interestingly, Julia failed at her first attempt to pass the cooking exam in 1950, retook the exam the next year and passed.
It was the next year in 1952 that Julia met with two other French women Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle and collaborated with them to work on a cookbook about French cooking for Americans. In 1961, Paul and Julia decide to return to America after Paul retires from public service. It was the same year that, after nine years of work, ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One’ was published. The book has gone down in history as one of the best and most-loved cooking booking ever. An e-book was also released on October 2011.
In 1963, Julia was on the T.V show ‘I’ve Been Reading’ to promote her book and the audience loved her. Dozens wrote to the channel asking for more of Julia Child. This is when the station decided to launch into the production of ‘The French Chef,’ a cooking show hosted and created by Julia herself. The show debuted on February 1963 and went on to revolutionize the concept of cooking, bringing French cooking to Americans. Subsequently, in 1970, a new series of the show ‘The French Chef’ was launched in colour.
For the show, Julia was awarded an Emmy in 1966 for ‘Achievement in Educational Television,’ becoming the first educational television personality to ever receive an Emmy in the open competition.
In 1968, her second book ‘The French Chef Cookbook’ was launched. However, she was a prolific writer and published dozens of books that include ‘From Julia Child’s Kitchen’, ‘Baking with Julia’, and ‘Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom.’ She also appeared on numerous cooking shows that were also made into DVDs.
In 1995, she established the ‘Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and Culinary Arts’ to further her passion for gastronomy.
She passed away in 2004 just two days before her 92nd birthday. However, her legacy, love for food, and passion for cooking have left an indelible impact on the world.
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