Julia Child always kind of bothered me. I know this is sinful to say. Though I wanted to love the legend, it was the voice. I do fully appreciate the excited and honor she brought back to the kitchen. And we all know how hard a Julia Child meal can be, and as she makes it look so easy, we think that we can do it too. I thought so too.
On a recent trip back to my parents home, I decided I wanted duck, not only that, I wanted to try a Julia Child duck recipe from her book that my sister had bought as a Christmas gift. So, as a I decided that one recipe wouldn’t be enough, I made it a Julia Child day—my Mom and I made hollandaise sauce to go on our salmon eggs Benedict for Brunch, for the evening meal, we made Duck a l’Orange and even a chocolate mousse for desert.
I think the hollandaise sauce may have been the easiest. (Admittedly, we did kind of cheat by using the blender, but Julia said we could!) The duck was more of challenge — although I let my Dad take the lead on that one —and the chocolate mousse was the most challenging. We had to beat the mixture first on it’s own, then over simmering water, and then over cold water. Really, Julia? Besides the fact we had to get an extension cord out so the beaters would reach the stove-top, we made quite the disaster after getting simmering water (and cold water) all over ourselves, and that’s not to mention the eggs we were beating. I couldn’t help thinking, that my Mom’s chocolate mouse recipe was so much easier and actually better. (It could also be because it does not call for a stick and half of butter.)
It was not that I didn’t enjoy spending the day cooking at home, because I certainly did, but I think it was the frustration of cooking something that was, in my mind, unnecessarily complicated, and in the end not worth the complications. The duck was good, though I have had better duck. The mouse was actually too rich for my taste, as was the hollandaise sauce from the morning. Perhaps my palette is simply not accustomed to the French cuisine, though I recall enjoying it immensely when I have had it. Or perhaps I am not used to eating that much butter on a daily basis. Or maybe, I just am not a great French chef yet. (I have a feeling it is the latter.)
I will say, after attempting a Julia Child recipe; I do appreciate her even more now, despite the voice. (Perhaps it was because I couldn’t hear her voice while reading the book?) It is a joy to read her book aloud while cooking, because if you are the slightest bit crazy as I am, you will begin conversations with her, i.e. “Julia, why are you telling me to add another stick of butter?”
Overall, I think the best thing about cooking with Julia Child, is that you are pushed out of your comfort zone with attempting to cook something extraordinary. Now, in my little experience, this will probably fail and you will get something decent. But the point is that Julia was pushed out of comfort zone, and she did fail at first, though she eventually achieved the extraordinary though the sharing of her success through chance, risk and even failure. And that, annoying voice and all, is why Julia Child continues to gain admiration from generations.
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