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Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2) are my favorite cookbooks of all time. If you do not own them already, I highly recommend you purchase them immediately.
Below are recipes from Vol. 1 that I've photographed. This is a work in progress. I hope they inspire you to make Simca and Julia's delightful recipes!
What is this project?
- This is a work in progress.
- PHOTOS: Lots of pictures of each recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1 as I complete them. There is a finished shot of each dish. I will do my best to include photos of the ingredients and process shots as well.
- INSPIRED RECIPES: These are the same classic recipes you will find in the cookbook, but they are adapted to how we cook now. They lack Julia's voice, character, insights, humor, and wit. I highly urge you to purchase her book to enjoy her charm firsthand and use these photos as a compliment to her original work.
- 21st CENTURY: We have ingredients, tools, and appliances now that Simca and Julia did not have in 1961. If any of those apply to a recipe, I will include notes about them as well.
How is this different from Julie Powell's blog?
I fell in love with Amy Adam's portrayal of Julie Powell in the 2008 movie Julie & Julia and found Meryl Streep's version of Julia Child inspiring. It broke my heart when Julie's project was scoffed by Julia as trite and gimmicky. After reading several articles about it from Julia's point of view, it's easy to understand where she was coming from.
Flinging around four-letter words when cooking isn't attractive, to me or Julia. She didn't want to endorse [the book]. What came through on [Julie Powell's] blog was somebody who was [cooking] almost for the sake of a stunt. [Julie Powell] would never really describe the end results, how delicious it was, and what she learned.
Judith Jones, editor of Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
One of the main components of getting my culinary degree (Escoffier School of Culinary Arts) was writing out detailed descriptions of the transition of each recipe and technique we studied. As tedious as it seemed at the time, this exercise is crucial to the learning process.
In each post, you will see process shots and the finished plated recipe. You will find the French and English names, page numbers, and volume. I will share how delicious it was, what I did wrong, and what was especially wonderful. I will also note the level of expertise needed and any challenges with the recipe.
To say the least, photographing ALL the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking will take much longer than 365 days to complete.
Let's see what you're cooking!
If you love Julia Child, having fun in the kitchen, cooking French food, and beautiful photos of culinary delights, I hope you come back every week to find new pictures of Julia's recipes. You can even pop over to my VIP Facebook page and post your pictures of her recipes, hang out, see what people are making, and make new friends.
Giving Credit
At the risk of plagiarizing but for your convenience, I am including a generic recipe in each post. Recipes can not be patented but should not be plagiarized either. The recipes in these posts do not have Julia's voice, humor, or the many tidbits of her delightful wisdom. For those, you'll need to flip through Mastering the Art of French Cooking and spend time with her there.