GLOBE EDITORIAL
Julia ChildSHE WAS a great chef, and she was funny. Julia Child's death early yesterday at age 91 leaves a hole in America's cultural heart. But her legacy should keep the country well fed for decades to come. Child's signature mix of wit, culinary skill, and telegenic appeal made her a welcome ambassador of French cooking, using television to share the secrets of sauces and souffles.
Her show "The French Chef" first appeared locally on WGBH in 1963. She was a quirky original who appealed to viewers who wanted to expand themselves by bringing a bit of sophisticated Old World cooking into their kitchens. On her shows, food might not turn out quite as expected -- a hot apple Charlotte dessert might sink a bit, needing to be propped up by lemons -- but no matter. Child's goal never seemed to be perfection, only pleasure. She seems like a radical in obesity-prone 21st-century America because of her unapologetic, liberal use of fattening ingredients. On her shows, Child casually mocked low-calorie dishes and diets, inspiring laughs from studio audiences. "The more butter the better," she would assert. Or she might suggest that those who don't want to use butter could substitute heavy cream. She praised the use of rum in desserts and declared that the marbled fat in beef was beautiful. She stood fearlessly before calories and rich food armed with her wise strategy of moderation: eating a little bit of everything to avoid missing anything. She was a public television staple for decades and generously shared the television spotlight with dozens of other chefs, from Jacques Pepin making braised sweetbreads in puff pastry with black truffle sauce to Martha Stewart making an almond cake. Her cookbooks are praised for their usability. She was wickedly parodied by Dan Aykroyd on "Saturday Night Live." Her cooking career was sparked in 1948 when the State Department assigned her husband, Paul Child, to a position in France. Eager to please her husband and their social set with her cooking, she took classes at the Cordon Bleu, the famous French cooking school. She lived in Cambridge for four decades, leaving in 2001 to retire in California. She donated her home and office to her alma mater, Smith College, and her kitchen to the Smithsonian.
Thanks to the magic of archives, television doesn't die. Child's cooking shows are still broadcast by public stations, including WGBH. And her shows can be watched on the Internet. So Child's energy, enthusiasm, and humor will live on. Her shows will still playfully push viewers toward cooking and eating great food. And Julia Child will continue to be what she has always been -- a perfect example of the joy that comes from doing what you love. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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