Monday, Aug. 15, is Julia Child’s 110th birthday. She is credited with the distinction of bringing the love of French cooking to America. Her husband Paul’s work took them to Paris, where Julia enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu cooking school at the age of 37. In 1952, she worked with various chefs and established a cooking school in Paris with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck. In 1961, her cookbook, ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ was published. This has become the bible for French cooking.
With popularity from her book, Julia had a cooking show on WGBH, the educational television station in Boston, called “The French Chef,” which was on the air for ten years. Her bubbly, humorous personality helped to make it so popular. You could tell she was enjoying what she was doing and when she made a mistake or a mess, she was so calm about it and it made her so human.
She often was the target of parody on “Saturday Night Live” because of her cheery personality and distinct voice on her show.
In 1968, she wrote ‘The French Chef Cookbook’ and ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume Two’ in 1970. While she had her cooking show, Julia wrote ‘Julia Child’s Kitchen’ and in 1989 she wrote ‘The Way to Cook.‘
Some interesting side notes about Julia Child:
In 1925, Julia and her family went to Tijuana, Mexico, where she met Caesar Cardini and ate a Caesar’s Salad, where it was first created.
In 1934, Julia graduated from Smith College with a dream, as she wrote in ‘My Life in France,’ “My plan after college was to become a famous woman novelist.”
In 1941, Julia, who at 6 feet, 2 inches, was too tall for the Women’s Army Corps, so instead she joined the Office of Strategic Services. While in the OSS, Julia Child developed a shark repellent.
In 1944, The OSS sent her to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), where Julia met and married fellow OSS employee Paul Cushing Child.
While living and working on wartime assignments, Julia was sent to China and loved their food. “The Chinese food was wonderful, and we ate out as often as we could. That is when I became interested in food. I just loved Chinese food” said Julia in the Wall Street Journal.
In 1968 Julia discovered a lump on her breast and at the age of 55 was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was very private about it but in her own journal wrote, “Left breast off.”
Julia Child was an advocate for abortion rights and was a passionate supporter of Planned Parenthood. In 1982 she wrote to donors, “ Few politicians will take the risk of publicly supporting either contraception or abortion — and who is “for abortion anyway,” according to the New Yorker, “we are concerned with freedom of choice.” This support drew backlash with some picketing at her events. This, however, did not deter her. She already was famous and did not let opposition to her beliefs bother her..
When her lawyer, Bob Johnson died of AIDS in 1987, she hosted benefits and raised money to fight the disease.
In 2000, Julia won the French Legion of Honor.
In 2003, she won the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• • •
Here is her recipe for French crepes.
Just remember that, as with flipping pancakes, it simply takes a little patience to learn the technique.
With American pancakes, you pour the batter out onto a hot griddle, and wait for one side to finish cooking, and then flip. With French crepes, you’ll hold the hot pan off the heat with one hand, add the batter with the other hand, and swirl, swirl, swirl.
Coat the entire pan and then set it back on the beat and let it cook.
Then flip, finish cooking and set the crepe aside to cool.
Repeat.
And then repeat again.
And again.
Keep in mind, if you have trouble getting the crepe “just right,” remember that, just like with flipping pancakes, it gets easier with practice.
French Crepes
Yields 8 10-inch, 10 8-inch, or 20 5-inch crepes.
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cold milk
2/3 cup cold water
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons melted butter, plus more butter or oil for brushing hot pan
Optional add-ins for savory crepes:
Diced fresh herbs
Optional add-ins for sweet crepes:
Dash sweet liqueur
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl.
Let batter sit in the refrigerator at least one hour or overnight.
Preheat a non-stick pan on high heat, and brush or spray with oil or butter. Oil should shimmer on the pan.
Holding the pan just off heat, add 2-3 tablespoons batter and swirl to coat pan. Place back on heat and cook for about 90 seconds, until the bottom of the crepe is golden and slides off the pan easily.
Flip and cook the other sides for 5 to 10 seconds. Move crepe to a wire rack or plate to cool, and repeat with remaining batter.
Happy Birthday on Monday, Aug. 15, to Julia Child, and also my niece, Jade!
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.