Summer Reading: Julia Child's My Life in France


lifeinfrance
Originally uploaded by plentyo'moxie.

a really wonderful, really sweet read. For hard-core Julia fans, there will not be a lot of new material here, though hearing some of the classic stories about her from her perspective is fun. And although the title is "My Life in France" the text really covers after France, too - what happened after the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and the birth and popularity of The French Chef. I love her personality, which really shines through here.

For me, the overarching highlight running through this book is the detailed descriptions of how Mastering the Art came to be. Extraordinary detail about the lengths she went to to thoroughly test each recipe, and the challenge of collaborating, and the trials of finding the right publisher. Utterly fascinating stuff, and a really good read for anyone who thinks to someday maybe publish a cookbook. Not really a primer on the topic, but the effect is somewhat the same - if you would do it right, you would follow Julia's exacting technique.

Buy this book from Powell's

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