The French Chef and The First Lady
Jacqueline Kennedy, Julia Child and Championing French Cuisine in America 1961-1963
When Julia Child died in 2004 at the age of 91, her obituary in The New York Times said the following:
While Mrs. Child has been credited with inspiring a boom in French restaurants, an explosion of fancy food markets and even the arrival of the Food Network, she insisted her original book and program benefited from “a concatenation of factors” in the early 1960’s. It was an era when Jacqueline Kennedy was raising awareness of all things French, and travel to France, which used to take a week by boat was shortened to mere hours by plane.
— Regina Schrambling, The New York Times, August 14, 2004
After I looked up what ‘concatenation’ meant, I could hear Julia Child saying it and chuckled. Mrs. Kennedy, who was of French ancestry and spoke the language fluently, was indeed a factor in championing the cuisine of France in America. Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published in 1961 and Julia Child graciously and gratefully acknowledged the boost she received from the First Lady’s focus on France.
On Valentine’s Day, 1962, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, the poised 32-year-old First Lady, commanded the national television stage and took 56 million American viewers on a tour of The White House and the restorations she’d initiated and overseen.
Jackie also made changes in The White House kitchen. She engaged the French-born American chef Réne Verdon and state dinners became haute cuisine, dazzling evenings.
For his part, Jack Kennedy was mainly a New England Fish Chowder and “soup, sandwich and fruit” man. (Read more: Here). But he loved Ian Fleming’s 007 book series so much that when he read that the character James Bond drank Dom Pérignon, the President requested Dom Pérignon be served at The White House.
I’ve attached a section of The White House Tour below. More than anything I could write, this will give you a feel for the time, some history of the White House State Dining Room and of Jackie herself. I was eight years old when I watched the tour with my mother and grandmother and it made an impression.
The same month as The White House tour, February of 1962, Gourmet magazine featured a quiche on its cover. More and more of the covers and content of the magazine highlighted French cooking, chefs, restaurants and food.
Interest in the cuisine was definitely in fashion and the pilot of The French Chef with Julia Child first aired in June 1962.
If Jackie was the swanlike hostess, Julia was going to grab a raw chicken and teach you how to make Coq au Vin. And if you flip a potato pancake on TV and it lands on the counter, that’s ok, just put it back in the pan.
Remember, you are alone in the kitchen and no one can see you.
— Julia Child after returning a potato pancake to the pan on The French Chef
Julia Child changed the way people in America thought about food. She believed that home cooks could — with some practice and by following instructions—successfully make more complicated dishes. She also showed that mistakes were ok and part of the fun.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking has been in print for over 60 years and the 60th Anniversary Edition of The French Chef was just released in November.
This month, award-winning chef Grant Achatz of the Michelin starred Alinea and Next restaurants here in Chicago is featuring a “Julia Child Tribute Menu” at Next.
Six decades later, Julia is still wowing us. Click the post below for more information and the tribute menu, as well as some tidbits about Julia. I didn’t know she loved yellow roses.
I’ve attached an episode from Season One of The French Chef where Julia makes crêpes.
As I watched it I actually felt a little anxious, realizing just how ‘flying without a net’ that set was. She is your endearing, quirky, knowledgeable and fun friend in the kitchen trenches. No frills as it was, it was great TV and it was Julia who made it so.
On Friday, I made the crêpes for lunch. In the episode she tells us that the secret is that the batter must be made of milk AND water so it’s not too thick.
Ingredients:
I cup cold water
1 cup cold milk
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups sifted All Purpose Flour
4 tablespoons melted butter
Put everything in a blender and blend, it takes about 30 seconds. Scrape down any flour clinging to the side and pulse again if needed.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
The batter was the perfect consistency. When the sides start to brown and the batter begins to bubble, it’s almost time to flip them over. It took about 45 seconds per side over medium heat. I use a 10-inch Cuisinart Crêpe pan and my yield was 12 crêpes. Julia used a 5-inch pan, yield: 24. Crêpes may be frozen.
I filled them with Ham and Gruyère, the classic Paris street food combo. I folded them (rather than rolling) and heated them back in the crêpe pan to melt the thinly sliced Gruyère for about a minute.
Julia recommends serving with Chardonnay. So I poured a glass, took this picture, wrapped up two of the crêpes for later and enjoyed one standing at my cutting board with a glass of wine on a Friday afternoon. Thank you, Jackie and Julia, for making life more delicious. Bon Appétit!
Have a good week, everyone.
Jolene
Source Links:
InternationalFoodandWineSociety
I think of Julia Child every time I drop a piece of food on the kitchen floor and pick it back up again 😂 (not for guests! just my children! but still)
What a great story - thank you Jolene!