Biographer Noël Riley Fitch speaks of Julia Child's legacy
“How wonderful a friendship that can survive a biography,” said chef Julia Child of her biographer, Noël Riley Fitch, the only writer authorized to write Child’s biography. On Tuesday, Fitch spoke to Dartmouth students, faculty and community members about her her personal memories of Child and the chef’s revolutionary contributions to American culture.
Child emerged on to the American culinary scene in 1961 with the publication of her cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” She hoped to bring the “excellence of French cooking” to “the servantless American cook.” A year later, Child began appearing on television and eventually led her own cooking show, The French Chef. With her characteristic warble and hearty laughs, Child endeared herself to viewers nationwide and became a household name.
On Tuesday, Fitch discussed Child’s influence on a paradigm shift among the American public. Although Americans once considered food as a puritan form of dining, they soon embraced Child’s own “joie de vivre” regarding cooking. According to Fitch, Child emerged as a public figure during the “Golden Age of American chemistry,” when processed foods, Jiffy Mixes and the original TV Dinner began gracing the shelves of American grocery shelves. During this surge of American commercialism, Child was in post-war France, discovering a zeal for cooking that she would later bring to the United States.
As she spoke of Julia Child’s humble culinary beginnings, Fitch emphasized the burgeoning chef’s love for the “sumptuous but simple food” that would characterize her cookbooks and shows. Child made French food accessible to the public by dispelling its mystique. Her casual treatment of food on television (mistakes and all) made her relatable to viewers. Child’s “force of personality,” Fitch argued, allowed her to convince Americans that cooking was an entertaining and worthwhile commitment, thereby pulling them away from processed food and inviting them all into the kitchen.
Julia Child often said, “No one’s more important than people!” Although Child contributed tremendously to the culinary world, she is ultimately remembered for the effect she had on people. Many attendees listening to Fitch’s lecture divided the world as pre- and post-Julia, proving that her legacy extends into today.
We can attribute the growth of modern cookbooks and television chefs to Child. But as our food culture today continues to shift towards haute cuisine and molecular gastronomy – both gross affronts to Child’s vision – it may be worth remembering her for the simple message she embodied.
Child believed food was a communal affair. Her methods were scientific, her teaching was panache, but in the end, her food was human. She reminds us how food should be – prepared simply with a lot of heart.