My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme
While this book is not a cookbook, I feel it is a worthy addition to the chef’s repertoire.
Julia Child is singularly the reason that 95% of chefs today are cooking something other than pot roast with potatoes.
Her story is fascinating, commencing after the events of WWII, when she first met the love of her life, Paul Child. Fittingly, the book really starts at that point, as if that is when her life truly began.
From there, she chronicles the trials and tribulations she went through to learn how to cook like the French, how to develop and publish a cookbook, and finally how she came to be a pioneer for an entertainment medium in cooking.
There are a couple things I take away from reading this autobiography: be fearless in learning my craft, never apologize for screwing up something I have tried – learn from it, and finally, test, test and retest everything.
While this book carries only three “top secret” recipes, you should have this book if ony to get inside the mind of a genius, and her thought process. I never had a chance to meet Julia, but with this book, I feel like she is there telling me her story. I could not put it down!
Into the Well Done Store! this one goes.
