Make soup just like a French chef
With practice, I soon learned where I could simplify a little — and realized Julia had taught me how to cook.
When one of the first TV cooking shows to become a big hit was launched in Boston in 1962, I learned of it in the form of a complaint.
A friend who lived in Connecticut said Julia Child's The French Chef was attracting so many viewers, stores were selling out of the specialty foods needed for her recipes. Julia, as we all referred to the teacher of French cuisine, had just published her landmark cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her big, businesslike tome was selling briskly. It was also teaching family cooks Cordon Bleu techniques. With practice, I soon learned where I could simplify a little — and realized Julia had taught me how to cook.
She is one of the authors profiled in Women in the Kitchen: Twelve Essential Cookbook Writers Who Defined the Way We Eat, From 1661 to Today (Scribner, $37), by Anne Willan, founder of France's La Varenne Cooking School. Another important writer in the book is Irma Rombauer, author of The Joy of Cooking, a staple in kitchens from its appearance in 1931.
It competed for decades with Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, which first appeared in 1896.
Six earlier authors also merit chapters, the best-known being 18th-century writer Amelia Simmons.
The book is a good read, including the 114 recipes — 57 originals plus their modern adaptations.
This luxurious soup is the adaptation from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.