Julia

Lately I've been watching DVD's of Julia Child's earliest cooking shows. I've been doing some cooking demos myself, and I thought it would be a good idea to learn from the master, and also get a fresh look at the TV cooking show genre in its infancy.

I never watched Julia when I was a child. Until I started watching these old shows my main experience of her came from guest appearances with celebrities like Emeril, Graham Kerr, and Martha Stewart, where she was rightfully treated like a venerable matriarch.

These shows are much different. She has presence and poise, but she doesn't seem quite confident yet. Most of the recipes are simple, and she even offers suggestions for substituting canned ingredients for homemade ones.

The production details are fascinating as well. Some of the bowls and enamel pans are chipped, giving a real sense that nobody had any idea at that point that she--and the whole phenomenon of television cooking shows--would be so popular. I was also surprised to see her cooking on an electric stove, and I don't mean one of the fancy modern flat tops.

All in all, it's refreshing to see that this woman whose work gave rise to so much culinary snobbery was so wonderfully down to earth herself.