Julia Child, RIP



from the BBC :

The doyenne of US television cookery shows, Julia Child, has died in her sleep at her California home, aged 91.

Ms Child is credited with introducing French cuisine to the American public with a series of TV shows and books dating back to the early 1960s.

"America has lost a true national treasure," a spokesman for her publisher, Alfred A Knopf, said.

Ms Child's passion for French cooking was sparked by a spell spent in Paris with her husband, a US diplomat.

In 1961, she published her seminal cookbook, Mastering the art of French Cooking, which in turn gave rise to a television series, The French Chef.

Soon, she was a household name in the US, exhorting her audiences to experiment with French recipes and share the results with friends and family.

"Dining with one's friends and beloved family is certainly one of life's primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal," she wrote in an introduction to one of her books.

Her warbling voice and encouraging demeanour are credited with demystifying French cuisine for a whole generation of Americans.

She was born in Pasadena, California, in 1913, and worked during World War II for a US intelligence agency that served as a precursor to the CIA.

Posted: Fri - August 13, 2004 at 03:11 PM      

©