Locally Carei: Remembering Julia Child
Hard to believe its been nearly a decade and a half since Julia Child passed away. Her cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her TV show The French Chef, had a big impact on the home cook in the 60s and 70s.
Despite having not cooked up until her marriage to Paul Child, at age 32, she became the culinary face of the household gourmand. She worked for the United States secret intelligence division, during World War II and the only cooking she did was creating a shark repellant to keep them away from underwater mines. After the war, she and Paul stayed in France and fell in love with food. While there, she met Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle who were working on a French cookbook for Americans. For 10 years, the women held cooking classes, took notes, translated cookbooks and eventually came up with the Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
The book was published in 1961. It was introduced during a perfect storm. Americans were at that time obsessed with French culture, TV was exploding in the homes and the home cook was ready for challenges. When promoting the book on a TV news show, Julia had done a cooking demonstration and the viewers loved it. That led to a cooking show on public television. And because television technology was not sophisticated, the show was shot live to tape. Therefore, mistakes were made, and it made the home cook not as intimidated to try these recipes. Julia Child, the famous cookbook author, was just like them in the kitchen. She would say, 鈥淒on鈥檛 be afraid to make a mistake 鈥� no one sees us alone in the kitchen, anyway.鈥� Her warbly voice and approachable demeanor soothed the television audience, much like Mr. Rogers did for children later in the decade. She would tell the cook, 鈥榯he dough should feel like a baby蘑菇视频 bottom鈥� or 鈥淭he Italian meringue is the sleeping beauty of this story, take her into your culinary embrace.鈥�
In the cookbook, Child and her fellow authors, were able to 鈥榯alk鈥� the home cook through the recipe. The first time the cookbook was submitted, it was rejected for being too wordy. They did not make changes, they insisted that the home cooked needed all of the information. It set the tone for the way cookbooks were written for years since.
Child would spend the rest of her life in the culinary world, writing nearly two dozen cookbooks, having many TV shows and influencing the American cook until her death at 91. Her spirit lives on in the American cook and through her many quotes and inspirations.
EGGPLANT AND ZUCCHINI GRATIN
Serves: 6 / Preparation time: 30 minutes / Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes
1/2 cup or so olive oil, excellent quality, divided
1 large or 2 medium eggplants, about 1 1/4 pounds
1 tablespoon herbes de Provence, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
2 medium zucchini, about 1 pound total
3 or 4 ripe tomatoes, about 1 pound total
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/2 cup or so fresh bread crumbs (not too finely ground)
1/3 cup or so freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Put the rack on the lower-middle level of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Smear a large, shallow-rimmed jelly roll pan generously with 1/3 cup of the olive oil. Trim off the ends of the eggplant and slice it on the diagonal into ovals 1/2-inch thick. One at a time, place the slices on the sheet; press to coat lightly with oil and turn them over. Arrange the slices, oiled side up, in a single layer and sprinkle on 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and herbes de Provence. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the eggplant slices are soft and somewhat shriveled; allow them to cool briefly. Leave the oven on if you will be baking the gratin right away.
Meanwhile, trim the ends of the zucchini and cut them lengthwise into slices no more than 1/4-inch thick. Core the tomatoes and cut into slices 1/4-inch thick. Spread out the slices and sprinkle them lightly with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
To assemble the gratin: Coat a gratin or shallow baking dish with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle a teaspoon of the herbes de Provence all over the bottom. Place one or two eggplant slices, lengthwise, against a narrow side of the dish. Arrange a long slice or two of zucchini in front of the eggplant, then place two or three tomato slices in front of the zucchini. Repeat the procedure to fill the pan with alternating rows of eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. Arrange each new row of slices so the colorful top edges of the previous row are still visible.
In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and remaining herbes de Provence. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, then toss and rub it in with your fingers to coat the crumbs but keep them loose. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the vegetables and drizzle the rest of the oil over all.
Place the dish in the center of the oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft, the juices are bubbling and the top is a deep golden brown. If the crumbs need more browning, you can put them under the broiler for a few moments. Serve hot, directly from the baking dish.
COOK鈥橲 NOTE: After the vegetables are assembled and topped with the crumbs, the gratin can be covered lightly and stored in the refrigerator for several hours. Preheat the oven and drizzle on the last olive oil just before baking.
鈥淪ome people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music.鈥� 鈥揓ulia Child
Chef Joe Carei has been an award-winning chef in Fayette County nearly half of his life. The former PA Restaurateur of the Year now operates Ellie Mae蘑菇视频 Catering and Food Clubs. He can be reached at joe@elliemaescatering.com.