When Leading Like a Woman Changes a Country: Julia Child
Today was the 106th birthday of one of America’s favorite female icons: Julia Child. Whether or not you’re a foodie (and I am, for sure!), Julia –- a single-name celebrity who predated Madonna, Cher and Rihanna by generations — continues to represent all that is good about great cooking for Americans of all ages.
How did Julia become the leading light in the cuisine of an entire country? Well, by leading like a woman, actually.
Julia, who was born in Pasadena and apparently had an entire career as a spy with the OSS (precursor to the CIA) during World War II, didn’t even discover her passion until she was nearly 40. Her husband Paul accepted a Foreign Service posting to Paris, and took her to dinner in Rouen when they arrived in France. Julia is widely quoted saying that their meal of oysters, sole meunière and wine was “an opening up of the soul and spirit.”
She enrolled in a cooking class at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu, the only woman in a program designed for veterans returning from the war. She owned the room. She then partnered with future BFF Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle to start a cooking school and begin writing the cookbook that would change American cooking.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking was a labor of love, born of 10 years of collaboration and…
