Courtesy of Nicholas DeMarco
★★★★★
Writing a review on Julia Child’s autobiography is quite challenging and stressful, not only because she is the greatest chef of all time, but also because of her rich and intricate history with food. By 2006, a biography on her life was long overdue, and in fact, she had already passed away. “My Life in France,” her biography which covers much of Child’s adult life from her time in France onward, was finally released in early 2006 by her original publisher, Alfred A. Knopf. It is truly unknown how much of the book Julia had input on and how much her grandnephew, Alex Prud’homme had to finish, but one fact is certain—she completed the introduction a mere days before her passing in August 2004 at her final home in Montecito California.
The book is divided into two parts: the first part, La Belle France, focuses on Julia’s life living permanently in Europe while her husband, Paul Child, while working for the government in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The book doesn’t get terribly in-depth into Child’s upbringing. Child, born Julia McWilliams, grew up in Pasadena, California in a wealthy family with a prominent land manager father and paper heiress mother. Despite becoming a champion of innovation, LGBTQ rights, and women’s representation in the media, Julia grew up in an extremely Conservative household, consistently sparking arguments with her father John “Big John” McWilliams. For college, Julia moved to the opposite coast, attending the prestigious women’s Smith College, where she put her 6-foot-2 frame to use on the basketball team. After graduating, Child became a copywriter for a few years until joining the OSS during the onset of World War II. Enter Paul Child.
One story mentioned multiple times throughout the book is Paul and Julia’s first encounter while working in the OSS in Ceylon, present-day Sri Lanka. Paul, a native Bostonian, was quite an eclectic fellow, well-versed in arts and culture, a Judo master, as well as an esteemed wine connoisseur. As the true gourmand in the relationship, Paul introduced Julia to her heart and soul, food. Child and Prud’homme were able to convey her trademark gaiety and curiosity during their first meal in France, Sole Meunière, sparking her lifelong career in gastronomy. From this point on, much of the book is written as a food journal, often highlighting Julia’s meals while abroad.
After enrolling in courses under the auspices of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Julia became acquainted with her two famous co-writers, Simon “Simca” Beckett, and Louisette Bertholle. Child and Prud’homme painted a vivid picture of the relentless travail in writing the cookbook, featuring wild experimentation, publishing debacles, and even relationship fallouts. After nearly 20 years of hard work and dedication, the trio—known as Le Trois Gourmandes—released “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” which would later become one of the most influential and top-selling books of all time.
Readers of today’s day and age may wonder: what exactly makes “Mastering the Art” the greatest piece of cooking literature of all time? Well, the answer is that Julia, Simca, and Louisette’s writing and testing tactic was foolproof. During the 1950s and ’60s, the American housewife made simple dishes, which could be easily learned, and prepared, preferably to be cooked while performing other tasks. Dining room staples were tuna noodle casseroles, gelatin salads, and creamed dishes. Cookbooks released before Child’s pièce de résistance failed to create a foolproof recipe that any American could cook.
Within the Le Trois assembly line, Simca would create the authentic recettes Françaises, while Julia would Americanize the recipes into North American terms, and most importantly experiment. Not only would Julia experiment within her small kitchen in Paris, but she would send top secret recipes, such as the beurre blanc sauce, to family and friends in the United States to test out with American ingredients, as well as the recipes’ readability. Sometimes Child and Simca would need to take constructive criticism from their American counterparts nine or ten times, sending correspondence back and forth across the Atlantic, over numerous years before a recipe was publisher-ready. This slow and deliberate process ensured the recipes resonated with American audiences. Throughout this process, we meet Julia’s bonne amie, Mrs. Avis Devoto, the wife of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bernard Devoto. Together they perfected many of these recipes in a correspondence of over 200 letters, which has recently been compiled in another book “As Always Julia: The Letters of Julia Child & Avis Devoto,” a book for only true “eggheads” of cooking.
Surprisingly, the biography does become quite political at times, focusing on the raging period of McCarthyism, Eisenhower’s cowardice, and even the investigation and possible purging of Paul Child from the U.S. Government. Even with her cheerful, larger-than-life personality, Julia possessed a fiery spirit and wasn’t afraid to stand up for her political beliefs. Often, the book’s rhetoric expects the reader to have some prior knowledge about the Red Scare, and purging of “Pinkos,” so if you aren’t well-versed, be prepared to look up some terms.
We all know what occurred after Child went on to publishing fame at Alfred K. Knopf: her show deal with WGBH Boston broke barriers for chefs on television, as well as women in the media. The second section of the biography, which accounts for about one-quarter of the book, covers this period of her life, while she makes intermittent trips back to Simca’s house “La Peetch.” Alexander Prud’homme later detailed more about “life after fame” with Julia in the biography’s follow-up, “The French Chef in America: Julia’s Second Act.”
Today, Child’s legacy continues to live on, such as in 2009’s blockbuster film Julie & Julia (with Child portrayed by Meryl Streep) as well as 2022’s hit HBO series, Julia. For anyone eager to gain a firsthand glimpse into the life of a culinary icon—and perhaps find yourself so inspired that you grab an omelette pan—this is the book for you. Bon Appétit!
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