Xxxxxx
WhileStreephasplayedremarkablystrongwomen,
fromKarenBlixen in
OutofAfrica
(1985) toMiranda
Priestley in
TheDevilWearsPrada
(2006), preparation for
thisrolewasdifferent. “There isa lotofarchival footageof
her [Child], andpeopleare familiarwithher. I thinkmy
out is that I’mnot reallydoingJuliaChild— I’mdoingJu-
liePowell’s
idea
ofwhoshewas, andso that’sdifferent
than therealwoman,” the two-timeOscarwinnerstates.
For thosenot familiarwith thebackgroundof the leg-
endarychef,Childwas the forerunnerof theconceptof
starchefs, “how to”cookingshows, and theFoodNetwork
weknow today.AfterherstintatLeCordonBleu, sheand
twoFrenchcolleaguesopenedacookingschool,L’Ecole
desTroisGourmandes,whichresulted in their jointbook,
Mastering theArtofFrenchCooking,
in1961.Sheandhus-
bandPaul returned to theUnitedStatesand
askeda localBoston televisionstation topre-
viewaseriesof cookingshows.
TheFrench
Chef
wasborn in1963, and theenigmaticstar
chef followedwith three other series. Her
instructionalvideocassettes in1984 literally
paved theway for“how to”booksand tapes to
follow.Shepassedaway in2004.Streep fondly
recalls theshow. “I rememberwhen Iwasakid
watching it, and itwas theveryfirstshowof
thatkindwherepeoplewereentertained, but
also inspired, todowell in thekitchenbecause
ofher. JuliaChildwasa larger-than-lifechar-
acter, andshebroughtasimplemessage that
was there foranybody todiscoveratany time,
butsometimesweneed theseoutsizedmes-
sengers todeliver thegoods tous, andshewas
oneof thosepeoplewhosecharacterwasas
hugeaswhatshewas trying tosay.”
Thepreparationof food in
Julie&Julia
shares thescreenbeautifullywithStreepand
Adams (whoalso shared screen time and
Oscarnominations for thefilm
Doubt
in2008).
SusanSpungen, former founding foodeditor
and12-year-veteran foodstylist for
Martha
StewartLiving
magazine,wasoneof themov-
ie’sculinaryconsultants.Shewas involved in
thestylingandpreparationof complicated
dishessuchasboeufbourguignon, spring
stew, stuffedduckencroute, andpotatoPar-
mentier.Since theFrenchbeef stewbraised in
burgundywineplaysapredominant role in
thebook, italsohad to in themovie, and the
dish literallyhad tobemadeoverandover
again. “This is adishpeople associatewith
Julia,”Spungensays. “Thiswas the iconic
housewifedinner-partydishof the ’60s.”
Attention todetailwasparamountasreci-
peswere followedverbatimandre-created to
the letter.Spungennotes that thebook’s illus-
trationswerecopiedand“weevenused therightsize
crimper” for the lamb (springstew).Since themajorityof
foodpreparationscenes involvedAmyAdams,Spungen
spent several days atNewYork’s Institute of Culinary
Education (ICE)with theyoungactress teachingher
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COVER STORY
Mastering the Art of Food in Film
SOUL FOOD
TORTILLA SOUP
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