🇺🇸 United States · French cuisine · b. 1912
The woman who taught America to cook French food — the original celebrity chef.
Julia Child (1912–2004) was one of the most transformative figures in the history of American food culture. She did not teach America to cook — she taught America that French cooking was accessible, forgiving, and achievable in a regular American kitchen.
Child discovered cooking relatively late: she studied at the Cordon Bleu in Paris in 1949 at the age of 36, after her husband Paul Child was posted to France as a diplomat. She was captivated by French food and cooking technique, and spent the next decade learning, cooking and collaborating with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle on what would become Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961).
The book was unlike any French cookbook that had reached American kitchens before: it was written entirely in English, it assumed no prior knowledge, it explained the why behind every technique, and it tested every recipe exhaustively for American equipment and ingredients. It became a bestseller and changed the American cookbook forever.
Her television series The French Chef, which premiered on Boston's public television station WGBH in 1963, made her a national celebrity. Her tall, enthusiastic, self-deprecating manner — she famously dropped a chicken on camera and simply picked it up, saying 'You can always pick it back up, and who's to know?' — made cooking accessible, fun and human. She went on to host multiple other television series and publish 18 books in her lifetime.
Child received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003, the year before her death at 91.
French cooking, honestly. Child's great gift was her refusal to mystify French cuisine — she believed that any motivated American cook could make boeuf bourguignon, soufflé or croissants, and she wrote and taught as if this were simply true. She also believed that eating well was one of the great pleasures of life, and that food culture was too important to be dominated by pretension.
These recipes from our database reflect the french cooking tradition that Julia works in. They are not direct reproductions of Julia's copyrighted recipes, but traditional dishes inspired by the same culinary heritage.
“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
— Julia Child
“Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
— Julia Child
“I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.”
— Julia Child
Enrols at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, aged 36
Mastering the Art of French Cooking published — transforms American cookbook writing
The French Chef premieres on WGBH Boston; Child becomes America's first celebrity chef
Wins Emmy Award for The French Chef
Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom
Dies in Santa Barbara, California, two days before her 92nd birthday
Julia Child transformed American food culture by making classical French cooking accessible, human and achievable for home cooks. Her 1961 book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television series The French Chef were unprecedented in explaining French technique to non-professional American cooks in plain English.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961), co-authored with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, is Child's most influential work. It remains in print and has sold millions of copies worldwide.
Yes — Child studied at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, beginning in 1949 when she was 36 years old. She was living in France because her husband Paul was posted there as a US diplomat.
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