Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Happy Birthday Julia Child! If You Were Alive, You'd Be 100!

Julia Child had a kind of magic, which anyone who has met her knows.  In college, I met lots of people who had worked on her TV show after they returned to California.  It was quite the pedigree for anyone living in Napa, my favorite cheap trip with all the free wine disguised as "tastings" and friends from South Lake Tahoe High School to stay with.  (These days it's a delightful surprise to find a tasting room that doesn't charge a fortune for wine you might not like.  I'd rather spend my $10 on a movie and small popcorn.)  But my point, and I do have one, is that when I eventually met Julia Child at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle, I could see what they meant.  She was so quick and interesting.  We spoke about Salsify, a favorite of my Grandmother (which she pronounced Salsifee, with that lilt at the end that was typical of her) (her, being Julia Child, not Grandmother) also called the Oyster Plant, which I tried to grow (unsuccessfully).  She wasn't worried about getting things to grow, she was just interested in cooking them.  And if I ever get my hands on some Salsify, I know how Julia Child would prepare it.  (Spoiler alert: It involves Butter!)  
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4 comments:

  1. sandaAugust 15, 2012 at 1:24 PM

    I just loved watching Julia Child's cooking show, way back when it first started. It was a regular Saturday afternoon feature on PBS, and although only a teenager, I still loved watching her. Have loved her cookbooks, and particularly loved Meryl Streep playing her in "Julie and Julia" and thought she should have won the Academy Award for her portrayal. I have heard of Salsify but don't remember offhand what it is. A type of green?

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  2. PatriciaAugust 15, 2012 at 3:15 PM

    Wow, you met Julia Child? I'm impressed!

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  3. BerylAugust 15, 2012 at 9:46 PM

    Hi Sanda - I also loved her cookbooks. That's how I first learned to make Chocolate Souffle with Creme Anglais and French Onion Soup, life-long staples. She put proportions and common ingredients on paper to come up with French food that could be reproduced in any American kitchen.
    Salsify is like a grey-beige carrot, with a decidedly oysterish flavor. I like it, even though I don't really like oysters.

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  4. BerylAugust 15, 2012 at 9:48 PM

    Hi Patricia - Thanks to my mother-in-law's connections, I met a lot of neat people. But she was my favorite.

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