Mastering The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

There’s no doubt that if you’ve ever been interested in French cuisine and cooking that you’ve probably heard of Julia Child. Born in Pasadena California, to John and Julia McWilliams, Julia had two siblings – John and Dorothy. She attended Smith College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

She moved to New York and worked as a copywriter. After returning to California she spent four years working in advertising and writing. After Pearl Harbor, she joined the Office of Strategic Services in Washington. She was a research assistant. She was posted to Sri Lanka and later to China. After the war she married Paul Cushing Child and moved to Washington. It was through Paul that Julia was introduced to fine dining – and after moving to Paris, she began to learn the wonders of French cuisine.

After getting a taste for French food she attended the illustrious ‘Le Cordon Bleu’ cooking school and later studied with many master chefs.

Julia starred in her own cooking shows from 1963 (The French Chef) and continued to produce quality and informative TV until 2000 (Julia Child's Kitchen Wisdom, (2000) two-hour special).

She died on August 13, 2004.

"Anyone can cook in the French manner anywhere," wrote Mesdames Beck, Bertholle, and Child, "with the right instruction."

Quick Review

This book is for beginners and experts alike and takes you from the very basics, including shopping for ingredients, preparation of the ingredients down to the actual preparation of the wonderful French cuisine.

Using illustrations and detailed instructions this volume takes a lot of the mystery out of French cooking, and teaches the reader many useful techniques.

Detailed Review

Long before Julia Child became a household name, she had an illustrious writing career with her friends Simone Beck and Louisette Berthollie. `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' was published in 1961 and due to the quality writing, the detailed instructions and the illustrations, became one of the most well written cook books in French Cuisine, if not all cuisine.

Julia Child met Simone and Louisette when they became instructors in ‘Lese Ecole des Trois Gourmandes’ in the early 50s. Their experiences with teaching culminated in the publication of this book, with Julia the driving force behind it.

What makes this book stand out is that it isn’t necessarily aimed at master chefs. It’s written in a way in which the average everyday cook can understand and follow, and due to this it has become very influential.

The book devotes chapters to categories, making it easier to find the type of cuisine you need. Breaking down the book into chapters such as Soups, Sauces, Entrees, Meat, Fish etc also allows the reader to concentrate on one subject and learn that subject quickly and easily without having to flip pages – while this book is not a text book, the way in which it is presented and written help the reader form a solid basis in the ‘theory’ of cooking.

The book also gives several method for cooking each type – this is a useful way for the reader to broaden their skills, while working with one set of ingredients. The idea is simple; teach the basic techniques and then become more elaborate with variations of recipes.

This book almost reads like an encyclopedia of French Cooking. It really is full of everything you need to know about French Cuisine, from the very simple through to the highly complex. It is a no nonsense cook book, that doesn’t fill your head with nonsense, but rather gives you solid technique and advice.

I learned to cook from my mother; while this may sound a little strange as I’m a British man, I always loved to watch my mother cook – she had many cooking books, but for some reason I was always intrigued when she tried recipes from this book – perhaps the aromas were special.

I am by no means a great cook, but I am able to produce some very tasty recipes from this book – this is what makes the book so good – anyone can use it – the techniques are simple, and while there are some complex recipes, the beginner cook doesn’t have to tackle these.

It really is a must have book for any budding cooks, as well as established cooks.

Julia and Julie is the adaptation of two best selling books. Julie Powell’s Julie & Julia and Julia Child’s My Life in France. The movie intertwines the lives of two women who, though living in different times, are connected by their desires to achieve something with their lives. The movie tells the story of Julie Powell, who uses Julia’s cookbooks to change her life; it also gives a glimpse into the monumental life of Julia Child, and how she became a household name.

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