Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef (1912-2004)

Subject: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 01:13 PM

Julia Child, 91, Dies; She Entertained as She Taught Cooking

In The New York Times

Julia Child, who mastered the art of French cooking well enough to turn it into prime-time entertainment and who by introducing cassoulet to a casserole culture elevated both American food and television, died today at her home in Santa Barbara, Calif. She would have been 92 on Sunday.

She had been suffering from kidney failure, said a niece, Philadelphia Cousins.

As a cookbook author first and public television star second, Mrs. Child was a towering figure on the culinary front for more than 40 years. Most Americans knew her as the unflappable "French Chef," a tall and twinkly character who in demonstrating classic dishes could make lobster bisque look as easy as toast. But she was also a rarity in a profession characterized by savage backbiting: she was respected as much by her most judgmental peers as by amateurs who would not know a soufflé from a cupcake.

Mrs. Child was not the first dedicated cook to turn cooking into a spectator sport — James Beard preceded her on television in 1945, Dione Lucas in 1948 — but she was the first to understand the seductiveness of a breezy approach to daunting material. Her up-the-scales signature signoff, "bon appetit!" was the first French phrase many Americans ever learned to utter with confidence, much as they came to glorify stew as boeuf bourguignon. She admitted she was "a natural ham," and it was clear that she not only loved the camera but was almost intimate with it.

see the rest online.

She was one of my favorites, and I'll repost a sonnet written for Julia by her husband many years ago:

O Julia, Julia, cook and nifty wench,
Whose unsurpassed quenelles and hot souffles,
Whose English, Norse, and German, and whose French,
Are all beyond my piteous powers to praise-
Whose sweetly rounded bottom and whose legs
Whose gracious face, whose nature temperate,
Are only equalled by her scrambled eggs:
Accept from me, your ever-loving mate,
This acclamation shaped in fourteen lines
Whose inner truth belies its outer sight;
For never were there foods, nor were there wines
Whose flavor equals yours for sheer delight.
O luscious dish! O gustatory pleasure!
You satisfy my taste buds beyond measure.

(Birthday 1961 by Paul Child)

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 01:17 PM

What I liked about her was that she allowed mistakes to stay in the footage - even when she wasn't working "live" -

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 01:18 PM

She'll be sadly missed. I could rarily follow her recipes, but that was my fault not hers.

My favorite image is of her swigging on the cooking wine while adding it to her dish. Ya gotta love that gal!

Hope she's preparing goodies in that Big Kitchen in the Sky

..xx..e

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 01:24 PM

How tall was she, anyway? Over 6 feet? And who can forget that great Sat Nite Live thing with the spouting blood... Save the liver! I'll miss her too...

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: DonMeixner
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 01:24 PM

What a life, French Chef, Author, TV Star, International Spy for the Allies in WWII, an amazing person.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 01:41 PM

I think she was right at 6 feet tall.

There's a part of an interview with Child on Terry Gross' Fresh Air today.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Peace
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 02:12 PM

It is a gentle reminder to us that lives are meant to be lived, and that's the parting gift we receive when wonderful people pass on.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: GUEST,Nancy King at work
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 04:31 PM

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: GUEST,Nancy King at work
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 04:35 PM

Sorry -- I seem to have pushed the wrong button. Or maybe the right button at the wrong time. Anyhow --

The story on the Washington Post website says Julia Child was 6' 2"!

Whatever her height, she was a remarkable woman -- a true free spirit who really enjoyed what she did and made it enjoyable to everyone else in the bargain.

Nancy

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 04:40 PM

Not many people know that she was a spy during the Second World War.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 04:45 PM

Nancy, I was just now coming back to make the correction--they did a nice piece about her. BPL--They said that she wanted to be a spy, but ended up as a file clerk in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: KateG
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 04:45 PM

The exuberance! The wit! The dropped chicken! Not only did she introduce French cooking to millions of Americans, she made it fun and human. If life hands you lemons, don't just settle for lemonade, make a lemon souffle.

She will be missed. Truely a great lady.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 04:47 PM

Sure. Tha's what they said ... ;o)

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 05:17 PM

About goddamn time.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 05:18 PM

"They" in my last post are the folks on National Public Radio's All Things Considered.

In the Terry Gross interview Child said she never dropped a chicken. She dropped a potato pancake on the stovetop then picked it up and put it on the pan again, saying that if no one is in the kitchen they'll never know. The chicken story will go down as an Urban Legend. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Little Robyn
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 06:03 PM

That's where I learnt to cook spaghetti squash and guess what we had for dinner last night? Spaghetti squash in a very nice chees sauce.
Bon Appetit Julia!
Robyn

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: RangerSteve
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 06:14 PM

another accomplishment: Sharks were bumping into allied underwater mines, thereby warning German ships of the mines' positions. Julia was asked by the US to come up with a shark repellent, which she did, and it was successful.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 13 Aug 04 - 07:36 PM

... one of her failed cooking experiments, no doubt ....

"if life hands you lemons..."

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 01:50 PM

Ranger Steve, where did you read that?

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Peace
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 03:38 PM

SRS:

www.beefpile.com/cherz_beef/archives/2004_03.php

That will take you to a chat site, and about seven posts down is a link to the story at an NPR site.

I don't know what any of this means, but there you go.

Bruce M

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 01:57 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Cluin
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 08:41 PM

She was also a hit man for the CIA.

No, wait! That was Chuck Barris.

Or maybe the story was that she was sniper for the Marines during WWII.

No, wait! That was Mister Rogers... Or was it John Denver?   Or Captain Kangaroo?   ;P

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: bbc
Date: 17 Aug 04 - 04:47 PM

What would I do without Mudcat to keep me informed! So sorry to hear; I always enjoyed seeing her.

bbc

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Aug 04 - 06:01 PM

Steve,

Here's the link to the NPR program: http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/apr/spies/index.html.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Julia Child, the French Chef
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Sep 04 - 11:17 PM

So, what was the name the theme songfor her show? The show was "The French Chef," but I think the theme song was "An English Country Garden." Could this be?
And I swear I heard Niamh Parsons sing an Irish emigrant song, "North Amerikay," to the tune of "English Country Garden" Friday.
-Joe Offer-