CELEBRATING A LEGEND
Local chefs to honor Julia Child with communal style feast
Few chefs had an impact on popular culture like Julia Child. Before “celebrity chef” became its own occupational offshoot of cooking, and before entire cable channels were devoted to kitchen demos and dramatic toque face-offs, Child harnessed modern media to educate and enlighten audiences about the culinary arts. She helped shape entire generations of future chefs.
On Aug. 15, six local chefs inspired by Child's career will celebrate the icon's birthday with a tribute dinner at Puritan & Company, a modern American restaurant in Cambridge. Child lived in Cambridge for decades, and Puritan chef-owner Will Gilson credits her for whetting his appetite for a culinary career.
“Cooking for many people can be intimidating,” Gilson said. “But watching Julia Child on TV when I was a child — she would drop something on the floor, pick it up and keep cooking. That's why people loved her, because she humanized cooking. Her cooking was pure and fun and we need more of that these days more than ever.”
For the communal-style tribute dinner, each participating chef will prepare a dish that reinterprets one of Child's recipes in a way that reflects their own style and personality. Gilson, nodding to his deep New England roots (he is a Mayflower descendant), will serve lobster thermidor augmented with lobster mushrooms; Puritan pastry chef Rebekah Cote will bake a “Queen of Sheba” chocolate and almond cake spruced with locally foraged sumac and other original components; Colonnade Hotel and Brasserie Jo chef Nick Calias will deconstruct coq au vin; and Douglass Williams, whose restaurant MIDA brings modern Italian dining to the South End, spikes mashed potatoes with fried cloves
of garlic, tarragon and a meaty jus. Chefs Cassie Piuma (Somerville's vibrant Eastern Mediterranean eatery Sarma) and Tony Messina (Back Bay's sleek izakaya Uni) will round out the experience.
Tickets for the unique dinner ($105) can be reserved by phone or via eventbrite.com. But several of the chefs also shared their Child-inspired recipes so fans can honor the legend at home, too. Bon appetit!
LOBSTER AND LOBSTER MUSHROOM THERMIDOR
By Will Gilson, chef-owner at Puritan & Company 2 (1 A-lb.) live lobsters A stick (D c.) unsalted butter D lb. lobster mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced (if lobster mushrooms are unavailable, use any fresh mushroom you like)
1 t. Dijon mustard A t. paprika J t. salt D t. black pepper
2 T. medium-dry Sherry
1 c. heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Place lobsters headfirst into an 8-quart pot of boiling water. Cover pot and boil lobsters over high heat for 8 minutes from time they enter the water, then transfer with tongs to sink to cool.
Once lobsters are cool enough to handle, twist off claws and crack them. Remove meat. Halve lobsters lengthwise with a large knife or kitchen shears, beginning from tail end, then remove tail meat, reserving the shells. Cut all lobster meat into D-inch pieces. Discard remaining lobster innards, then rinse and dry shells.
Heat butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook mushrooms, stirring, until any liquid given off is evaporated and they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add lobster meat, paprika, salt, mustard and pepper and reduce heat to low. Cook, shaking pan gently, 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon sherry and A cup cream and simmer 5 minutes.
Whisk together yolks and remaining tablespoon sherry in a small bowl. Slowly pour remaining
cup cream into yolks, whisking constantly, and transfer to a small heavy saucepan. Cook custard over very low heat, whisking constantly, until it is slightly thickened. Add custard to lobster mixture, stirring gently.
Preheat broiler. Arrange lobster shells, cut sides up, in a shallow baking pan and spoon lobster with some of sauce into shells. Broil lobsters a few inches from heat until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes.