My Life In France by Julia Child & Alex Prud’Homme
My Life in France is an autobiographical snapshot of Julia Childs formative culinary years in France.
Julia Child was a WASP born in an affluent family, grew up to a towering 6′ 2″ stature, and armed herself with a Smith college education. She chose to work with the OSS (precursor to today’s CIA) and was stationed in a region (Ceylon–now Sri Lanka in South East Asia) outside of her comfort zone. She suffered a “spiritual divorce” from her father over divergent political and world views (an interesting undercurrent in the book.) Her marriage to the liberal Paul Child did not endear her to her father either. She moved to Paris with Paul in the late 1940′s where her post-marriage culinary ventures led her to train at the (world-famous) Cordon Bleu school. In her spare time, Julia puttered around with different kinds of tools, produce, and techniques to extract the best taste possible. She also took initiative in documenting recipes to enhance reproducibility. These adventures set her apart as a true culinary nerd.
In addition to her formidable repertoire in the kitchen, Julia also proved to be a sharp, pragmatic and socially savvy creature with tremendous commercial senses, and over course of the next decade she tried various ways to monetize her knowledge and skills. The book is written in such a manner that I found myself rooting for Julia all the way.
Every good story has shades of the dark so that the bright shines even more brightly. In this book, we encounter simmering tensions between Julia, and her co-authors (Simone and Louisette) — together they authored “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. The clash of personalities and divergent working methods are well documented as is a general sense of discomfort when Julia ended up with most of the limelight. It appears that Simone and Louisette provided the core of the recipes and Julia put in the effort to make these recipes accessible to the everyday American (in America). For example, Julia labored over every recipe ensuring that it could be recreated with ingredients available at local US grocery stores, and provided precise steps to accomplish the final result. This is no mean contribution. This historic book was abandoned several times by various publishing houses but after a decade it managed light of day. Julia’s persistence in getting the book published (and popularized) should also not be underestimated.
I myself am ignorant about French cuisine and I cannot pronounce, recognize or relate to the creations described in Julia’s seminal cook-book. As a lacto-vegetarian, I don’t even see myself trying out most of her recipes. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed reading “My Life in France”. Julia Child’s beautiful portrayal of France, her feelings for Paul, and her sheer culinary nerdiness left me feeling positive, inspired, and uplifted. Definitely recommend it.
