“Julia Child: A Recipe for Life,” a touring museum exhibit honoring the life and legacy of the late chef, opens with a quote from Child: “Find something you are passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
It’s a fitting summary of the spirit of this beloved trailblazer for female entrepreneurs and the culinary arts in America.
KJZZ had the opportunity to tag along as two renowned metro Phoenix chefs who were close with Child toured the exhibit, which is on display for a limited time at the Arizona Science Center.
A trailblazer from the start
Child was born in Pasadena, California, in 1912 to a wealthy and very traditional East Coast family.
“Her father wanted her to grow up and marry a banker, and be a housewife and do the traditional route. And Julia decided she didn't want to do that,” said Barbara Fenzl.
Fenzl is a cookbook author, founder of Phoenix’s Les Gourmettes Cooking School and host of the “Savor the Southwest” PBS series. She is now retired. Child, who passed away in 2004 at age 91, was Fenzl’s friend and mentor for over 30 years.
Fenzl says Child was undeterred by any expectations or limits placed upon her. After the Navy turned her away for being too tall — she was 6 feet, 2 inches tall — Child joined the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the CIA, and worked as a spy during World War II.
“And that’s where she met Paul,” said Fenzl.
Paul Cushing Child, Julia’s husband, was the one who awakened her love of cooking during a visit to France. A replicated set of their date at the restaurant, La Couronne, located in the city of Rouen, is on display at the exhibit.
“They went to a fancy French restaurant, and the first meal Julia had just gave her a whole new life. She had sole meuniere,” said Fenzl. “She was just blown away. And she still talked about it when she was 90, about this first meal she ever had.”
From then on, Child’s passion was made.
Determined to connect American diners to the experience she’d had, Child spent 12 years writing and testing recipes for the cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” with cooking school partner Simone Beck.
The book was rejected by its first publisher because it was considered too complicated for Americans. It was revived by Judith Jones, an editorial assistant at Double Day Publishing, because she believed the information it contained was equivalent to receiving training at a prominent French cooking school.
“Mastering” became a bestseller immediately. But Child gained cult status — and made history as the first woman to have a television show — once “The French Chef” premiered on GBH Boston public television in 1963.
The show would go even further than the book at demystifying French cooking for American audiences, permanently changing the way we cook and eat in the U.S.
A U.S. ambassador of fine dining
When “The French Chef” premiered, America was in a post-war period of culinary convenience. Canned ingredients and frozen dinners were heavily marketed as ways to save time for homemakers.
“We didn’t have anything like farmers markets back in the ’50s or ’60s. Nothing. The only lettuce I could find in the grocery store was iceberg lettuce, a head of lettuce. They had never heard of shallots. They’d never heard of hazelnuts. I mean, I really had to scrounge for some of the recipes I did,” Fenzl said.
Fenzl says recipes at that time tended to focus on a few familiar ingredients that could be thrown into one pot. It was all a bit uninspired.
Then came Child, who cooked dishes most people couldn’t pronounce while using exotic ingredients like artichokes or foie gras. But somehow, she found a way to make it relatable.
“No one had ever heard of coq a vin or bouillabais,” said Fenzl. “I mean, we might have had some rubbery French bread, so I think that really got people excited about it.”
Christopher Gross is head chef of Christopher’s at Wrigley Mansion, a modern French restaurant in Phoenix with an elite ranking on Gayot Guide. Last year, Gross received the Antonin Careme Medal, which is given to chefs advancing French cuisine. Child was another recipient of the award.
Without Child, Gross says, he might have never been exposed to this kind of cooking.
“She brought a lot of opportunities to French chefs that were here in the country. She opened the door for them. So, you know, sometimes people talk about cultural appropriation, you know, like someone doing a different culture’s food and they’re successful at it.”
“Well, she certainly did that, but she opened the door for that cooking. She brought it to the United States,” said Gross.
Child, a classically trained chef, was obviously technically gifted, but Fenzl says it was ultimately her candid and affable style that sold so many people on the joys of French cooking.
“There were a few other people before her, but they were real serious, and Julia just made it fun. It was more like watching a comedy sometimes,” said Fenzl.
A friend and mentor to all
What Fenzl and Gross made evident was that Child was exactly the same onscreen as she was off-screen. She loved teaching more than anything, and she loved people.
Fenzl says it was Child who encouraged her to become a trained chef and entrepreneur, and would answer all of Fenzl’s letters seeking help.
“I spent a whole week with her in 1982 for this art museum project. And when she left, she said, ‘Dearie.’ She called everyone Dearie, so she didn't have to remember your name. She said, ‘Dearie, I want you to do two things. I want you to join the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and I want you to start your own cooking school.’”
Fenzl listened. She, her husband and three children uprooted themselves from Arizona to London so Fenzl could study at Le Cordon Bleu. When she was ready to write her first cookbook on Southwest cuisine, Child helped with that, too.
Fenzl went on to host a public television cooking program called “Savor the Southwest,” which ran for 13 weeks on PBS in 1999. And she ran her cooking school, Les Gourmettes in Phoenix, for 36 years, where Child would occasionally guest-teach.
Throughout their busy careers, Child and Fenzl found many ways to connect over the simpler pleasures.
“My most fond memory was when I did a road trip with her, and a friend and I were invited to spend the weekend with her in Cambridge,” said Fenzl.
Fenzl says she and her friend had made reservations for celebrity chef Ming Tsai’s new restaurant their first night, hoping to impress, but Child had other plans. “We had this lovely cocktail hour together. And all of a sudden Julia says, ‘We’re having so much fun here. Let’s just stay here and cook.’ Well, my friend Nancy just turned white because she wasn’t really a cook,” said Fenzl.
Child volunteered the two to cook the side entrees, while she took care of the chicken, Fenzl says. But when Fenzl opened up the refrigerator, all she could find were some wilted vegetables and Child’s takeout leftovers.
“So I roasted the pepper. I peeled the asparagus like Jacques (Pepin) had taught me, and she’s watching all this and she’s approving. I make a vinaigrette to the right proportions,” said Fenzl. “I did a trick that Patricia Wells, another famous cook, taught me — you put the lettuce in some vinegar and some sugar and it brings it back to life.”
Before even realizing it, Fenzl had passed her test — set by one of the most formidable chefs in America — with flying colors.
“Nancy made corn on the cob,” she laughed.
Although other chefs were intimidated by her skills, Child was unpretentious in every way, says Gross.
“I just love people that are like her, that they're unbelievably happy where they are, and doing what they want to do,” he said.
She also had a habit of saying whatever was on her mind, which is what made her so enthralling to watch.
Before Gross was slated to appear on Child’s show “Cooking with Master Chefs,” in 1993, his colleague Pepin warned him of the time he made lobster in a bamboo steamer for Child, and live on air, she said, “‘Oh my god, it's terrible! It tastes just like bamboo!’” said Gross. “[Pepin] was mortified.”
Gross says it was smooth sailing for him in the episode, until it got to the dessert.
“There’s like six of them in this log tube and you’re filling them with chocolate mousse, and then suddenly, ‘pop, pop, pop, pop!’” said Gross. “They’d used wax paper and the Scotch tape didn’t hold the tube holding the mousse, and I just put my hand in it and went ‘Cut!’ so it was unusable.”
While Child spared him any unflattering comments on camera, he says off to the side, she recommended a different way for preparing the egg whites in the mousse.
A timeless legacy, on display for a limited time
It’s hard to overstate the admiration people still hold for Child, who hasn’t been on air in decades.
Sari Custer, chief of science and curiosity at the Arizona Science Center, talked about the immediate fervor the exhibit brought about.
“People came with photos saying — OK, there's one, and I don't want to give away their stories — but at the same time, you know, [one of the visitors said], ‘My father was so excited, he brought Julie Child roses at this event when he saw her because she helped him learn how to cook.’”
“Like, that was amazing, just to hear the passion and excitement people had, and there’s this love for Julia Child because she was so fearless and so groundbreaking,” said Custer.
Even the center’s president and CEO, Tammy Stewart, could not hide her excitement when the opportunity came to display the exhibit.
“I, as a little girl, watched Julia Child episodes and dreamed of being a chef,” she said.
It’s rare for someone to be as respected for their talents and career as for how they made others feel. Fenzl says that was one of the best parts of knowing Julia.
“If (she) met you for the first time, she would say, ‘What do you do? And tell me about your life. It’s not about me,’ and she has always done that,” said Fenzl.
More than just cooking, Child taught others to embrace their mistakes, to stay bold in their passions, and to treat everyone as a friend. And those are lessons that will never age.
“Julia Child: A Recipe for Life” is on display at the Arizona Science Center through Sept. 20.
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