Child's Play

Several years ago, when I was cleaning up and clearing out my kitchen bookshelves, I realized that the biggest space-wasters were Julia Child's two volumes of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." So, despite the fact that they were personally inscribed and autographed copies, and had the added sentimental value of being a gift from my dear mother-in-law, I decided they were headed for the discard box in the attic.

Sitting there on the kitchen floor that particular June day, I faced the fact that I didn't really use the books to cook from. To tell the truth, I think I had really only made three recipes out of them over the two decades I had had them. I had kept them primarily for their sentimental worth, and their iconic value.

In the last two days, the newspapers have been full of testimonials to Julia Child. Just today our local paper printed fond reminiscences of people at the farmer's market and local restaurants. I have always found her rather irascible, and some of her pronouncements about food were downright annoying. And French cooking is not particularly appealing, if you ask me.

But we can thank Julia Child for fostering a revolution in food and eating that has taken place in the last thirty years. When Julia came into American homes over the airwaves of PBS, she was the first to make cooking a fine art. It wasn't another tuna casserole, she was making. She was empowering American women in what had heretofore been the domain of European men. Her show and books signaled the start of a revolution in dining and entertaining at home . . . and in American restaurants, too. She taught us to be eclectic and undaunted in the kitchen. And it is the legions of accomplished home chefs who are Julia's children, happily at play in our kitchens.

Many of us have realized that mastering the art of French cooking isn't the highest aim. Personally I like a recipe with ingredients that you can count on the fingers of one hand. I don't generally like a multipage recipe with twenty ingredients, but that is an informed preference. I prefer the simplicity of Italian cuicina. Julia's books left my bookshelf to make way for Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, and Jamie Oliver.

Julia's real power play was opening the door to possibilities.

Jan