Memories from the Past

Adventures in Food

Cooking in America and culinary consciousness changed in 1970. Among the notables and celebrities of the food world, there was a sea change. Veneration of and obeisance to French cooking as the gold standard was replaced by respect for a more liberated, less formal way of dining. Americans were stepping away from the casseroles and canned and frozen foods of the 1950’s and 60’s and celebrating fresh produce and local ingredients.

Leading this charge were Julia Child, cookbook author and TV personality (The French Chef), James Beard, teacher, consultant and author, and M.F.K. Fisher, food writer whose past had been all about France. Playing lesser, but equally important roles were Judith Jones, editor extraordinaire responsible for bringing Julia Child’s books to the public, but also those of Diane Kennedy (Mexican cuisine) and Madhur Jaffrey (Indian); and Richard Olney, a purist whose first book, Paris Menu Cookbook, was a mix of good ingredients with a bohemian twist. He was the only one in this group who lived fulltime in France. The others all visited, some for weeks or months; in 1970, they all, plus Simca Beck, Child’s co-author, overlapped in Provence and shared cooking and conversation.

Luke Barr’s sort-of-memoir, Provence, 1970: M. F.K Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard and the Reinvention of American Taste, is a wonderfully engaging account of this shift with all of the underlying tensions between strong-willed, opinionated individuals. The grandnephew of Fisher, Barr draws on published biographies and memoirs as well as the letters and journals of his great aunt and the others. I knew quite a bit about most of these people from my own earlier reading so his premise was not new to me.

While in graduate schooI, I bought both volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking when volume 2 was published (a special deal). Then my grandmother, a plain, but good cook, gave us another copy of volume 2. I think she got it for supporting her local PBS station and she probably watched The French Chef. Over the years, I’ve made onion soup, beef bourguignon, and a lovely tomato rice saffron soup (Potage Magli) from these tomes too many times to count.

In 1970, Beard was finishing up writing American Cookery. Apparently, many critics thought it tried to cover too much material and didn’t support American cuisine as a distinct one. I, however, have found it a useful compendium, and my paperback copy is yellowed and stained. I still consult it for his recipes for chicken fricassee and veal Marengo. Later the C.P. and I acquired Beard on Bread and Beard on Food, each containing several favorite recipes.

One of Julia’s co-authors on the Mastering series was Simone Beck. By the end of their collaboration, Julia and Simca’s friendship was frayed and almost at the breaking point. Simca was French and a zealot in her adherence to the French way of cooking. She preferred to guess at measurements, for example, while Julia wanted to be precise to ensure that their readers got good results. After those two parted professional company, Judith Jones persuaded Simca to do her own cookbook. The result, Simca’s Cuisine, which I also own, includes a set of suggested menus by season or occasion. None is for the kitchen novice. I enjoyed reading Simca’s commentary about the recipes, but there is only one I consistently made for guests. It’s Paupiettes de Veau, a fussy, but tasty, preparation of thin veal cutlets spread with sautéed onions and then a slice of gruyere, rolled up, tied, and then pan fried. There was some sort of saucing as a final step.

For each one in its own way, the time in Provence in 1970 allowed Child, Beard, Fisher, and Olney, to move beyond seeing French cooking as the “sacred way.” Julia Child felt liberated to explore American cuisine, but also the ethnic influences on it from the wider world. She wrote several more cookbooks that espoused her more free-flowing approach.  

I added these volumes to our growing cookbook collection and was delighted in 1990 when Philadelphia’s annual celebration of chefs, The Book and the Cook, invited Julia Child to be the featured guest at the Fountain Restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel. It was a lunchtime affair and we went with good friends Ellen and Bob. General practice was that you brought that chef’s featured book to your table and, at some point in the meal, the chef made the rounds and autographed everyone’s copy. Ever the gracious host, Julia stood at the entrance to this elegant dining room and greeted and shook hands with each one of us. While lunch was in progress, she then went from table to table conversing briefly and signing our books. She was one classy lady and this the most memorable meal of The Book and the Cook we ever attended! Reading Barr’s book brought to mind memories and meals.

On a final note, I also read Judith Jones’ memoir, The Tenth Muse:  My Life in Food, when it came out in 2007. (Essay by JW Farrington)

Gardens

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the lovely time we had on our return visit to the Coastal Maine Botanic Gardens with Margaret and Fred. This time, the magnificent lemony lilies were in full bloom as seen in the header photo and I admired red and wavy grasses.

Photos (except J. Child) ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved)