Entry #4: "Bon Appetit!"

Part I of Julia Child’s My Life in France focuses on her development of a cooking philosophy while studying at the Cordon Bleu, the end result of which is to respect the food and serve it with pride. The art of preparing food, especially food to be served to others, is a direct reflection of the chef in more ways than his or her ability to measure, mix, and cook. Child recalls watching her teacher, Chef Bugnard, prepare scrambled eggs:

It was a remarkable lesson. No dish, not even the humble scrambled egg, was too much trouble for him. “You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made,” he said. “Even after you eat it, it stays with you—always.”

Barthes’ theory that “…food sums up and transmits a situation…it signifies” falls right in line with Bugnard’s words. The same recipe given to a hundred different chefs will come out a hundred different ways, and Julia Child’s success (as any successful chef’s) depends on identifying what their individuality brings to the table, if you’ll excuse the pun.

A healthy amount of pride is a key aspect shared by all great chefs, as we’ve seen in Reichl’s Tender at the Bone. Both her and Child have proven that the recipes and cooking skills native to your mother’s kitchen is just the start; allowing the world to influence your sense of taste and broaden your perspectives is what will make you great. You might start with scrambled eggs or potato salad, but if you open yourself to trying poularde toulousaine or boeuf a la bouruignonne, anything is possible.

Barthes’ theory mentions that buying and consuming food is a way of transmitting information as well. For Julia Child, food became her way of sharing her love of France to the world. Not just French food, but France itself. As she puts it, French food encompasses “the tastes, the processes, the history, the endless variations, the rigorous discipline, the creativity, the wonderful people, the equipment, the rituals.” This resonates with Barthes’ theory that food transmits a situation as well as Reichl’s tendency to equate a recipe to a place (and vice versa).

And now, watch Julia Child make an omelette. :-D