Julia Child...
....is an innovator of the idea of female chefs in the kitchen and cooking at home.
Julia Carolyn (McWilliams) Child was born on August 15, 1912, in
Pasadena, California. Although she passed away from kidney failure in
2004, at 91 on August 13th, she left behind an amazing legacy
and influence globally.
In 1948, she moved to France with her husband, Paul when he was
assigned there as the U.S. foreign Information Service at the American
Embassy in Paris. Bored just at home and at social events Julia looked for a
hobby and her passion and appreciation of good food lead her to the Cordon Bleu
Culinary School. This led her, with the help of two fellow cordon bleu student,
Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle to form the cooking school L'Ecole de Trois
Gourmandes (The School of the Three Gourmands). Where together they taught
American women who much like Julia had were looking for something to do and to
learn how to cook like the French. Their school and the gross demand of their
skills inspired them to write a cook book. This lead to the 1961 creation of
the now world renowned 734 pages long 3-lb cookbook, 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking', which
to date has sold over 2 million copies.
In 1962, the popularity of the book and her overall enthusiasm and large
warm character, made Julia an instant hit on her TV show, Mastering the Art of
French Cooking. After that she went on to film The French
Chef which was aired to 96 stations throughout America. For
her efforts, Julia received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in 1964
followed by an Emmy Award in 1966. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Julia made
regular appearances on the ABC morning show Good Morning, America. She
also had other programs Julia Child and Company (1978), Julia
Child and More Company (1980), and Dinner at Julia's (1983). Her
most recent cookbooks included In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs (1995), Baking
with Julia (1996), Julia's Delicious Little Dinners (1998),
and Julia's Casual Dinners (1999), all had television specials
as well
Julia Child is an innovator in the category of the innovation of
the idea of French cook as well as the idea of women. She accomplished this by
not just being allowed to be put in remedial classes at the Cordon Bleu she
strived for the top and she worked with the best which included private
lessons with master chef Max Bugnar and only cooked with the best ingredients. She never let
herself be held back or discouraged. This is important because at the time
Julia was an anomaly, a rarity. She was an American woman who wanted to be a
French chef, a profession to this day is dominated by men. She once said “In France, cooking is
a serious art form and a national sport.” And yet she made things look
easy and yet showed their elegance and beauty as she cooked. This is important
because she became an inspiration she did something would assume
women didn't do.
Julia Child's innovation
of the views of women cooking affects me greatly because she is what I aspire
to be one day. I want to write cookbooks and be my own brand and to inspire
through my food. With the profession of a Chef being so male dominated it’s
nice to have a positive strong role model to have not to duplicate but to watch
and learn and form my own way of achieving greatness. In her biography 'My
Life in France' Julia is quoted,
"You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made,'
[Chef Bugnard] said. 'Even after you eat it, it stays with you - always.”
Which is something that
resonates with me allot because I struggle sometimes with feeling satisfaction
when my food is gone. I love cooking but I want it to last forever. I love Julia's extreme passion for food and its simple beauty.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ASSIGNMENT THEORY OF FOOD II - BLOG 5
Select an innovative Product, Service, Process, Idea or Technology. It can be from the past or present.
- Identify the innovation or innovator
- Describe the innovation or innovator, and provide a brief, 250 word historical or contextual background.
- Illustrate how it falls into one of the categories above.
- Discuss how it was accomplished
- Explain why it is important
Reflect on the question "How has this affected me?". Discuss this on your blog.
