5th February 2013
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| My Life in France by Julia Child |
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| My Life in France by Julia Child |
Bought this book from Amazon after watching Julie&Julia. However, when I was browsing through the book list, the cover includes the photos from the movie, first I hesitated because I wanted Julia Child's biography, not the story of Julie&Julia. I have seen the movie and I knew the storyline. Then, after making sure that the story is not about the Julie's project. I bought this book.
Although I don't really cook, I love all kinds of cook books, stories and movies about food. Hahaha!
Everytime I read about the food described in this book, I felt hungry. It really changes my perception about western food. To me, western food was steak, marshmallow, burger and huge chunk of meat! Now, I know that there are many kinds of western food!
The book is about the life of Julia Child after she followed her husband to France on a diplomatic posting. She fall in love with the food there and proceeded to learn how to cook. Then, she became a really good cook and befriended with two like-minded friends (Simone Beck a.k.a Simca and Louisette Bertholle). They taught cooking, discussed recipe, have fun together. Later they wrote a very successful cookbook (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) together.
The book emphasised on Julia Child's struggle to write the book. Her warming tales with her husband. Her relationship with her co-authors. Her life in different countries following her husband posting. One part about the relationship with her co-authors, I think that no matter how good the relationship is, after some partnership, especially if it involves money, it will turn to worse if both party are not tolerant to each other. I have heard a lot of partnership gone south, so being open-minded is very important.
Initially, the book she wrote was 700 plus pages and the first publisher that engaged them decided not to publish the book. Then, the draft was sent to Knoph and an editor convinced her boss to publish it. The book sold well after it was published. Then, Julia made a TV show about French cooking. During that time, television was still a novelty. She became a well known personality. After that, Julia and her husband built a house on the land belonged to Simca's family. They loved the countryside, the view and the food. Then, Julia and Simca started on the second volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Here, some friction happened between two of them. However, they remained friends until ripe old age.
One of the funny moment from the book is this excerpt,
Just to keep things interesting, we were all ailing - Simca had a leg swell up, Paul suffured a major toothache, and I had a touch of Cystitis. "One thing that separates us Senior Citizens from the Juniors is learning how to suffer," Paul noted. "It's a skill, just like learning how to write."
I actually laughed in the train when I read this paragraph. Luckily no one stared at me. (The atmosphere in the train is very quite and calm in Japan)
The book ended with a sad tone though. As she grew older, many good friends, relatives and loved ones succumbed to illness and death. She then decided to give up her house in French and handed back the house to Simca's family as they had promised years before.
The last few paragraphs are very nice too,
In Paris in the 1950s, I had the supreme good fortune to study with a remarkably able group of chefs. from them I learnt why good French food is an art and why it makes such sublime eating: nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should. Good results require that one take time and care. If one doesn't use the freshest ingredients or read the whole recipe before starting, and if one rushes through the cooking, the result will be an inferior taste and texture - a gummy beef Wellington, say. But a careful approach will result in a magnificent burst of flavour, a thoroughly satisfying meal, perhaps even a life changing experience.
Such was the case with the Sole meunière I ate at La Couronne on my first day in France, in November 1948. It was an epiphany.
In all the years since that succulent meal, I have yet to lose the feeling of wonder and excitement that it inspired in me. I can still almost taste it. And thinking back on it now reminds me that the pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite - toujours bon appétit!
Isn't life like this? I like this book!
Initially, the book she wrote was 700 plus pages and the first publisher that engaged them decided not to publish the book. Then, the draft was sent to Knoph and an editor convinced her boss to publish it. The book sold well after it was published. Then, Julia made a TV show about French cooking. During that time, television was still a novelty. She became a well known personality. After that, Julia and her husband built a house on the land belonged to Simca's family. They loved the countryside, the view and the food. Then, Julia and Simca started on the second volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Here, some friction happened between two of them. However, they remained friends until ripe old age.
One of the funny moment from the book is this excerpt,
Just to keep things interesting, we were all ailing - Simca had a leg swell up, Paul suffured a major toothache, and I had a touch of Cystitis. "One thing that separates us Senior Citizens from the Juniors is learning how to suffer," Paul noted. "It's a skill, just like learning how to write."
I actually laughed in the train when I read this paragraph. Luckily no one stared at me. (The atmosphere in the train is very quite and calm in Japan)
The book ended with a sad tone though. As she grew older, many good friends, relatives and loved ones succumbed to illness and death. She then decided to give up her house in French and handed back the house to Simca's family as they had promised years before.
The last few paragraphs are very nice too,
In Paris in the 1950s, I had the supreme good fortune to study with a remarkably able group of chefs. from them I learnt why good French food is an art and why it makes such sublime eating: nothing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should. Good results require that one take time and care. If one doesn't use the freshest ingredients or read the whole recipe before starting, and if one rushes through the cooking, the result will be an inferior taste and texture - a gummy beef Wellington, say. But a careful approach will result in a magnificent burst of flavour, a thoroughly satisfying meal, perhaps even a life changing experience.
Such was the case with the Sole meunière I ate at La Couronne on my first day in France, in November 1948. It was an epiphany.
In all the years since that succulent meal, I have yet to lose the feeling of wonder and excitement that it inspired in me. I can still almost taste it. And thinking back on it now reminds me that the pleasures of the table, and of life, are infinite - toujours bon appétit!
Isn't life like this? I like this book!
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