Catherine Gastelum

07/15/14
Becoming Julia Child
Julia Child, born as Julia McWilliams, lived a wealthy life in Pasadena, California as a
child. She was born on August 15, 1912, and was known as a lively prankster growing up. She
attended an all-girls school in San Francisco growing up, and attended college in Massachusetts
where she swore to one day become a famous writer. None of her work a the time was publishes,
so she decided to volunteer for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Washington D.C. as a
research assistance. Eventually she transferred to Sri Lanka in Asia where she met Paul Child
who was a fellow employee at the time. In Asia, she first fell in love with food, and loved the
creativity in Asian cuisine. After the war, they were soon married, and a few years later Paul and
Julia Child were transferred to France where Paul would work at the American Embassy in Paris.
Julias first experience with the French cuisine was at La Couronne, and was immedietly loved
the food. She said that it opened up her soul. Both of them loved French cuisine, so Julia wanted
to learn how to make the same dishes they enjoyed for dinner each night at home, like they did at
the various restaurants they ate at. She took lessons at the world-famous Cordon Bleu and then
decided to create a French cook book designed for Americans with fellow female students
Simone Simca Beck and Louisette Bertholle. They wrote together the world famous
Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The book itself was rejected several times, as being too
long, and they were asked many times to cut things out. Eventually a new publisher picked up
the book after 10 years of hard work and dedication. All her hard work had paid off.

Julia Childs book was a major success and became a best seller in the U.S. for five years
straight. On her promo for her book in Boston, she made an omelet live on television and was
called back to start her own cooking channel on that same network. She was initially paid $50
dollars a show, but soon she started making $200 per show. Soon after, her tv show was linked to
96 different TV stations where people could tune into. One of the things that was amazing about
Julia Child, was her cry for fresh, organic ingredients. She also made cooking for the first time
fun, and showed people on television how they could make the best of cooking.
Despite all of her fame and glory there were a few that criticized her safety and sanitation
skills, as well as kitchen etiquette when cooking on the show. Many would state that she
wouldnt wash her hands enough after all the raw meat she was using, and would commonly
mess around with the raw meat as well. However, despite the negative comments, Julia was
obviously well loved, because in 1993 she was rewarded the honor of being the first woman in
the Culinary Institute Hall of Fame, which includes such names as Robert Irvine and Emeril
Lagasse today. In November of 2000, Julia Child was also awarded Frances highest honor,
Legion d'Honneur. She died in 2004, just 2 days before her 92nd birthday from Kidney Failure.
Julia accomplished something that people found difficult to comprehend about cooking
before her time. No one can see to grasp that cooking was not just about getting the job done, it
was about enjoying what you do, having the passion and love for cooking and making a great
dish, or trying to, even if it failed.