Many of us older gourmands grew up watching Julia Child teach us about how to cook and enjoy French cuisine. She was a class act: wise and so knowledgeable, cheerful and full of quirky energy that made her such an endearing personality. This is her memoir dictated through a series of interviews with her nephew Alex Prud’homme.
Her personality comes through so distinctly that I can really picture her vividly as she recalls her life from the time she first arrived in France in 1948. For Julia it was “love at first sight” when this sheltered, young woman with a WASP background first set her eyes (and her taste buds) on Paris. She loved the people, the culture, and particularly the food and the wine. This is her story, told in her voice and written by Paul after her death August 13th, 2004 two days before her 92nd birthday.
I truly feasted on this book. It is a “must read” for anyone who grew up with Julia or who has used her many cookbooks; or even people who never heard of her, but love good food. It was she that introduced us to the first successful television cooking program. Julia Child was the pioneer and inspiration for all those chef TV personalities who followed. Her passion for great food and cooking inspired many of the amateur and professional chefs of today.