Julia Child’s birthday August 15th and French Cooking

Julia Carolyn McWilliams Child was born August 15, 1912 and numerous organizations and magazines, most recently Bon Appetite’s editor Barbara Fairchild, have called for us to honor the anniversary of her birth this year by cooking something of hers.  I think it’s a great idea. A close friend and colleague of mine, French, of course, who grew up mostly outside France, told me that his French mother learned French cuisine from watching The French Chef on WGBH, just like everyone else in America who was awake from 1963 to 1973. My wife Colette and I were among those who hung on every episode and bought every book.  Julia was special; she was endearing, honest, funny and spot-on about so much.  She was the face of French cuisine for my generation and her death in 2004 meant more to me than that of any famous French chef. I wasn’t and still am not a good cook, even though I’ve been at it since age 6 but I learned how to wield a knife, roll and stuff a boned chicken and make crepes from Julia.  Her recipes took a long time and I’ve since gone on to take shortcuts and license with her classics, bastardizing the holy writs with unspeakable substitutions and approximate measurements.  But she remains the gold standard. For over a decade I’ve been celebrating the Wall Street Journal’s “Open the Bottle Night,” that encourages you to open the treasured bottle you’ve been saving for a special occasion before it or you get too old to appreciate it.  It seems like a nifty excuse for a party. Likewise, while we’ll be sitting down in Maine with our 10 children and grandchildren on August 15th and we usually celebrate with our first lobster of the season, this year I’m encouraging my talented family to make one for Julia.  You should too. The only place in Paris I can think of that duplicates this joie de vivre is: Spring 28, rue de la Tour d’Auvergne, 9th, (Metro: St Georges or Pigalle) T: 01.45.96.05.72  ©2009 John A. Talbott   Please post your comments and let them flow. Register  HERE to do so if you need a user name and password.