Queen Of All Cuisine - Julia Child - Brief Article - Interview

Still saucy at 89, the chef who taught America there was life after meat loaf marks the 40th anniversary rerelease of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

TALK: What's your idea of a perfect meal?

JULIA CHILD: Oh, heavens! Something that's beautifully cooked. For a really fancy meal I'd start with a little caviar and a little foie gras and some oysters. And then I'd have a duck dish with some lovely fresh vegetables, and then a beautiful chocolate dessert. That would be very nice, wouldn't it? Probably have a Sancerre with the oysters. Then a beautiful red pinot noir with the duck. And a Sauternes with the dessert.

What would you recommend for a simple meal at home?

I think baked potatoes are awfully good--with lots of butter! And how about some lamb chops and some fresh asparagus, if it's still around. That would be perfectly nice, wouldn't it? For dessert you could just have vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, There's nothing wrong with that.

Settle this for us, Julia: If French food is so rich, why are the French still so much leaner than Americans?

Because they don't eat such large portions! You go out to a restaurant here--it's really horrifying. There's enough to feed three people! The French don't pile it on the way we do, and they're not snacking all the time. It's careful cooking by people who know what they're doing.

Do you think Americans have an unhealthy relationship with food?

If you go to Disneyland you see these great big fat people lumbering around always eating something. That's very bad, I think, And all these silly protein diets! You should have a little bit of everything--you don't know what you might be missing.

Is there such a thing as American cuisine?

I think Jim Beard said it best: food cooked by Americans in America.

Do you ever want to clock Emeril?

No! He's a good friend of mine. I just love him. He's terribly nice. I think when the camera goes on it sort of turns him on. But if you meet him he's just like anyone else.

When was the last time you had a really great meal in a restaurant?

Last night. It's a new restaurant in Boston called Mantra. The chef was brought up in Bombay, so it's a kind of fusion cuisine.

What's the worst meal you've ever eaten?

I remember a perfectly awful meal over in England when we stopped in at a beautiful country inn. It was by a stream and looked just lovely, but we were served one of the worst meals I've ever had. I decided I would have the boiled fowl, and it was indeed sort of a big piece of boiled fowl with a white sauce on top of it. Into the sauce was sticking a hair. The sauce had no taste--it was terrible! That's what I expected of English cooking, but I didn't think it would be quite as bad as that.

Does it say something about a person's character if he or she doesn't enjoy food?

I think so. It shows either they're not healthy or they're dyspeptic.

What's the origin of the rumor that you once dropped a leg of lamb on the floor, brushed it off and said, "Remember, you're alone in the kitchen"?

I don't know. The only thing I did was, I was flipping a mashed potato pancake and it went into the stove, and I said, Well, you're all alone in the kitchen, so just pick it up and put it back in the pan." Also, they said that I swigged wine out of the bottle and things like that. People always say, "Well, I saw you do that!" Which, of course, they didn't, because I didn't do it. It's funny, isn't it?

Have you ever eaten at McDonald's?

Oh, I eat there all the time, particularly if I'm on a trip. Burger King's fries are better, though--they're crisper.

What do you hope your legacy will he?

An interest in food and the pleasure of cooking.

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