The Impact of Julia Child on American Cuisine Essay Sample

📌Category: Cooking, Culture, Food, United States, World
📌Words: 592
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 17 March 2022

Many chefs are talented, some even gain fame. But very few make a lasting impact on the industry as a whole. Julia Child is one of these people. Julia Child is a changemaker. She took American cooking to the next level. She pioneered the way cookbooks were written, and that is something that will forever leave a mark in the culinary world. Julia Child changed American cuisine through her many books and television shows. 

It was while living in France with her husband, Paul Child, where Julia was first introduced to the exquisite French cuisine that she would very quickly fall in love with. Paul took Julia to La Couronne, the oldest restaurant in France, where she had her first encounter with classical French cuisine. After Julia found her love for French cuisine she enrolled into Le Cordon Bleu. Throughout this time, Julia met two French women, Simca Beck and Louisette Bertholle. The two women were working at the time attempting to make a cookbook that was directed toward American audiences and wanted an American partner to join their team. Julia was the perfect partner that they needed. Julia spent her time with the other women testing and tinkering with the recipes and writing. The three spent nearly a decade working hard on the book, finally ready to submit their manuscript, only for it to be turned down. The women spent more time revising the book and faced many more rejections, but the book was finally picked up by a new publisher, Alfred Knopf, and was finally published. The book was titled “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

Her strive for co-writing “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” was that she had an enormous interest in French cuisine. In an interview with Terry Gross in 1989, she claimed “...it’s the only cuisine that has the real rules on how to cook.” She went on to say that the recipes she had found were not sufficient and that the recipes did not tell you enough. Julia changed the way that cookbooks were written. “The recipes were clear, extensively tested, and comprised of ingredients readily available in any American supermarket” (Koczela). Instead of writing a cookbook that simply told you “how”, the book told you more, it told you “why”. The book had an influential and original format, with a two column format; ingredients and equipment on the left side, and instructions on the right side. Unlike previous cookbooks, “There were head notes or introductory passages explaining the dish and offering context… And the illustrations showed the action from the cook’s point of view” (Daley). Not to mention, the book had suggestions for wine pairings and vegetable side dishes. 

Overtime, Julia Child gained a lot of popularity and her influence quickly grew. Julia had her own television show, The French Chef, and many cookbooks that helped gain her popularity. She used this popularity throughout her career to create organizations. These organizations were instrumental in helping expand the awareness of cooking while motivating people.  Julia shared her love of cooking with others, often through these organizations. Not only did Julia help grow the profession and help chefs get the recognition that they deserved, but she also “inspired many Americans to conquer their fears of the unfamiliar and to expand their ideas about ingredients and flavors, tools and techniques, and meals in general” (“Julia Child's Kitchen.”).  

Julia Child was a very influential TV personality and inspired many. She gave birth to the “how-to” genre and helped pave the way for many more TV chefs. She introduced Americans to French cuisine and helped many Americans get out of the cooking comfort zone. Overall, Julia Child helped change and expand American cuisine through her many books and television shows. Julia Child was a pioneer for the culinary and entertainment world and made a lasting impact on cooking.

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