Good Morning.
Julia Child revolutionized American cooking. Until she came into the nation's living rooms, everyone from Maine to Montana
dined on standard meat and potato fare; there were regional favorites, particularly in the south, but apple pie and good gravy turned up on most American tables. We rarely drank wine except on Thanksgiving and Christmas when we had Cold
Duck that looked and tasted like fizzy red Kool-Aid. The other choice was Chianti that came in a bottle wrapped in a basket, but it was mainly consumed by artists so they could use it in a still life painting. The quaint cafe in cities like New York put candles in empty wine bottles that dripped down the side in a colorful mess; a bistro with checkered tablecloths was the only place to get something with any sort of European heritage.
All that changed with Julia. Fried chicken became Coq au Vin, beef stew became Boeuf Bourguignon, and chocolate pudding was now Mousse au Chocolat. Suddenly we were supposed to mince garlic and use herbs like rosemary and basil. We were told not only to drink wine like Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon but to pronounce them correctly. Madame Child's French had a certain edge to it like a souffle that had gotten a bit too brown on top but we got the point. We were told to throw wine in the sauce, no longer a gravy, and that it was better to dine on inexpensive French dishes than costly anything else. One of my go-to cheapies was a hamburger with chopped shallots and thyme in a red wine sauce. It wasn't as good as a big slab of prime rib, but I felt like a well-traveled type who went to Paris for say, a nice birthday lunch.
Julia may have specialized in French cuisine but she opened the door to every kind of ethnic cooking. We started preparing and eating Italian, Chinese, and Mexican. We bought a colander to drain the pasta that now was available in dozens of shapes and a wok to stir fry the shrimp. Tacos became the school lunch favorite that had once been peanut butter and jelly. We grew herbs like cumin and cilantro. We made our own pesto and had olive oil always at the ready on the counter.
We also got into the wine big time. We learned how to breathe in the bouquet, make an unattractive sucking sound to appreciate the undertones, and comment about the legs on the glass that had to be a certain shape for the best experience. We had wine tastings with cheeses like Brie and Havarti. The wealthier among us built temperature-controlled wine cellars.
Julia was criticized for encouraging the use of butter and cream but blew off the commentary with a wave of her whisk and the shrug of a shoulder on her 6'2" frame. Here is a sample of her attitude toward La Vie:
I enjoy cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken.
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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