Julia Child - Julias Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I
(with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle)

The French Chef Cookbook

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume II
(with Simone Beck)

From Julia Childs Kitchen

Julia Child & Company
(with E. S. Yntema)

Julia Child & More Company
(with E. S. Yntema)

The Way to Cook

Cooking with Master Chefs

In Julias Kitchen with Master Chefs
(with Nancy Verde Barr)

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
(with David Nussbaum)

My Life in France
(with Alex Prudhomme)

These are Borzoi Books, published in New York by Alfred A. Knopf.

This book represents some forty years of happy collaboration on cookery with colleagues and friends. The idea for it came when we decided to make a television special out of snippets from my earlier shows starting with the very rst one, Boeuf Bourguignon, that famous French beef stew, which aired February 11, 1963, on Bostons educational station, WGBH. You cant have a food show without a book to go with ithence this volume. It is with deepest appreciation that I acknowledge the following angels who made it all possible.

My continuing gratitude goes to Judith Jones, who has been my editor since the beginning of my cookbook life. Hers is the conception of this book, and it is she who carefully went over each suggestion, each chapter and paragraph, yes, and even each sentence. Her remarks and suggestions are golden, and her advice is treasured. My admiration of Judith as an editor and my affection for Judith as a person are boundless.

David Nussbaum, my collaborator, has done a magnicent job of gathering and sifting through material from all the various shows and books. He has done testings and comparisons, made outlines and suggestions, and always presented me with detailed material eminently ready to work on. The book, literally, could not have been done at all, and certainly not by the deadline, had it not been for David.

My special thanks go to Geoffrey Drummond, producer of the two-hour PBS television special Julias Kitchen Wisdom that gave rise to this book. Geof and his editor, Herb Sevush, went through miles of old tape to pick out just the right episodes to show, and then edited them all into a lively whole. Geofs company, A La Carte Communications, Inc., with Nat Katzman, also produced my last four series, Cooking with Master Chefs, In Julias Kitchen with Master Chefs, Baking with Julia, and Jacques and Julia Cooking at Home, as well as two Cooking in Concert PBS specials with Jacques Ppin. Segments from all of these shows appear in the present special. We have always had a great time working together, and my admiration and affection for Geof are innite.

Continuing and enthusiastic thanks to Public Television for making my career possible. I simply would not have existed without them, and I very much appreciate the support and the freedom that PBS offers its participants. How lucky we are that it exists!

Sincere thanks to many who have helped me through the years and whose work has meant much to the success of our TV special as well as to the recipes in this book: William A. Truslow, Esq., my family lawyer and faithful friend. Russell Morash, my rst producer, who started us out on The French Chef and kept us going through the Julia Child & Company series; and Marian Morash, The Victory Garden Cook and our rst executive chef. Ruthie Lockwood, sometime producer of The French Chef, unique personal director, and valued friend. Rosemary Manell, talented food designer for photography as well as television, and recipe developer for many of the shows and books. The wonderfully talented Sarah Moulton, sometime executive chef on our Company series. Stephanie Hersh, my longtime assistant and friend, without whom my ofce would be a mess and my life both dull and in disarray.

A project of this magnitude cannot happen without the support of generous sponsors, and this is particularly true of Public Television. I am proud that we are associated with the Robert Mondavi Winery, whose pioneering spirit and generosity have made California wines recognized throughout the world. I am delighted, too, that my favorite spread, Land O Lakes Butter, is with us againwe used an incredible 573 pounds of it on our Baking with Julia series. And much of that good butter nds its way into the pots and pans of All-Clad Metalcrafters, our nal sponsor. Heartfelt thanks to you, all three.

Toujours bon apptit!

So often you can be in the midst of cooking and you just cant remember whether that leg of lamb should roast in a 325 or a 350F oven, and for how long. Or youve forgotten just what you do to unmold a jelly-roll cake, or the system that so successfully brings back the hollandaise sauce. This book aims to give quick, snappy answers to many of those questions.

It wont by any means answer everything, and it doesnt go into such complicated subjects as French puff pastry, for which you need pages of instruction and numerous photographs. In other words, it doesnt pretend to take the place of a big, detailed, all-purpose cookbook like my Way to Cook or Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volumes I and II. It is, rather, a mini aide-mmoire for general home cookery, and is aimed at those who are tolerably familiar with culinary language; whose kitchens are normally well equipped with such staples as jelly-roll pans, a food processor, a decent rolling pin; and who know their way around the stove reasonably well.

It began as my loose-leaf kitchen reference guide gradually compiled from my own trials, remedies, and errorscorrected as Ive cooked my way through the years. Now that it has evolved into a book, information is arranged according to the large categories of soups, eggs, bread, and so forth, with the emphasis on technique. Whether a crpe is rolled with mushrooms for a main course or with strawberries for dessert, all crpe dishes are made in much the same way, so they are all together in one chapter. The same goes for souffls, tarts, meats, and the rest of the menu. In the roasting section, for instance, the master recipe, though brief, details the technique for dealing with a large piece of meat. Here the master recipe is for roast beef, and is followed by still briefer variations for other roasts such as leg of lamb, roast chicken, turkey, fresh ham, and even a big whole sh. They all cook in essentially the same way, though small details differ. The same is true for souffls and tarts; and green vegetables are grouped in two convenient charts according to method. Once you have mastered a technique you hardly need look at a recipe again, and can take off on your own.

If you have watched the PBS television special that was the inspiration for this book, you will note that the recipes demonstrated there are included here but that the method or ingredients are often not quite like those on the screen. Many of those recipes were conceived years ago. Take the garlic sauce for mashed potatoes as an example. That was a good system for its time, but an involved one. Here it is much simpler and equally good, if not even better.

A thorough professional index is essential for this kind of book. When you have a question, for instance, just look it up by subject, such as Chocolate, about melting, or Mayonnaise, about troubleshooting, or Sole Meunire, or frying pans, and so forth. My own little loose-leaf served me well, and I am hoping this book version will give you, too, as well as me, many of the essentials needed for brief instruction and problem solving.