A WOMAN TO INSPIRE


Catherine Bell (photo left) pays tribute to the far-reaching influence of Julia Child…

Once again I find myself influenced by a movie. Last issue it was the highly controversial Food Inc. This time it’s one that thankfully, made me laugh. Moreover this movie, Julie & Julia, which foodies have been queuing up to see, got me thinking about the influence its subject has had on my own life as a food professional.

I was privileged to meet Julia Child several times, although regrettably each of those meetings was fairly brief. Even then, in her early 70s, she was a striking figure of a woman and her unique voice was instantly recognisable from across a room. She was always incredibly friendly and keen to meet those of us who came from afar for the annual IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) conference in the USA. She often told me how much she regretted never having visited New Zealand and how much she hoped to one day. Sadly, she never did.

Somewhere there’s a photo of me standing in Julia’s kitchen in her house in Boston, the one that features in the movie with the peg board walls with outlines for all the pans Paul made for her. She opened it up to us during a conference in Providence one year. To see it now one must visit the Smithsonian, to which Julia gifted it before her death.

Much earlier than that though, I have happy memories of watching her television shows, which have been showing again recently as a result of Julie & Julia, and of laughing long and hard at her humorous displays and unusual pronunciation of words – for instance the way she said ‘crèpes’ always sounded like ‘craps’.

I treasure the personally autographed cookbooks I own and have read both her official and unofficial biographies. However it is the most recent book, My Life in France, that I have most enjoyed, and it’s the one on which the Julia part of the movie is based. Written by her nephew, largely while she was still living, it is her recollections of how she discovered French food and developed her passion for all things French – ‘la belle France’ as she called it. As I read I can hear Julia speaking, can taste the dishes she describes and visualise the places she visits – very satisfying for the Francophile in me.

My Life in France also confirms one is never too old to learn and become good at something new. For someone who, until her 40s, had no interest in cooking per se it is remarkable that Julia went on to become one of the world’s foremost cookery writers.

The food fraternity was enormously saddened by her death. It was not just America that revered her and celebrated her life. Her 80th birthday was marked with fundraising events all around the world. Here, at the Auckland event, I recall Jo Seagar’s wonderful impersonation of Julia. The funds raised were sent to the Julia Child Foundation, from which I had previously benefited. In 2000 I had applied for and was granted an amazing opportunity to study an aspect of French cuisine in France. With a substantial monetary grant from the Foundation I spent a total of two months over the next 12 months travelling in France looking at traditions in French home cooking and artisanal foods. It seems I have much for which to be thankful to Julia.

So, what of the movie? The Julia part was for me a delight, with Meryl Streep capturing Julia to a T. Watching it on a plane, I chuckled and laughed out loud often, much to the amusement of my fellow passengers. I loved the snapshots of her life, so realistically portrayed.

Having previously put down the book Julie & Julia without finishing it, I wasn’t surprised that the Julie part of the movie was not so evocative. I found Julie, both in the book and the movie, to be rather shallow in her approach to the task at hand: cooking. Where was the passion, so evident in Julia? But perhaps, on reflection, that was not in fact the point of her decision to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cookery and write a blog about it. She wasn’t trying to become Julia. It was simply a good idea and one which, as it happened, turned out rather well for her. Hopefully along the way some of Julia’s wisdom and passion rubbed off on her.

For me French cookery is part of everyday life.
Even the simplest dish often has its roots there: scrambled eggs, a pie or tart such as I might eat for lunch, or a hearty slow cooked stew – not to mention those inimitable crèpes! French food every day – absolutely!

Footnote:
Catherine Bell is the
Editorial Director, and genius behind the wonderful NZ foodie magazine, DISH, and the above piece was first published in the February March issue of that magazine and is reproduced here with her kind permission.
The Bookman subscribes to this magazine and warmly recommends it to all food lovers.