French Cuisine through “Julie & Julia”

Julia, the woman passionate about French cuisine

Julia's life's turning point was exactly in 1947, when her husband Paul was transferred to work in Paris. Julia followed her husband abroad. The first thing Julia and Paul did when they arrived in France was to find a restaurant that sold delicious specialties. The first dish Julia enjoyed here was turbot with lemon butter sauce. Julia was completely conquered by French cuisine from the moment she smelled the rich butter, and the way the waiter skillfully used a spoon and fork to remove the bones and put the perfect fish fillet on the plate.

With her lively and energetic personality, she quickly became bored with daily housework. Cooking came to Julia as a form of entertainment and gradually developed into a lifelong passion. When recalling her first meal at the Rounen restaurant in Paris, Julia affirmed that it was “an opening for my soul and spirit”.

Inspired by the passion for fine food in Paris that she and her husband enjoyed, Julia Child decided to become a professional chef and was fully supported by her husband. She boldly attended the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking class as a "rookie" and devoted herself to improving her cooking skills. Not long after, she had the opportunity to study privately with famous chefs such as Mac Bugnard, gradually approaching the level of a fine culinary chef according to French standards.

Poultry processing is Julia's forte, with her skillful skinning and boning of the meat, resulting in perfectly plump, shiny breasts. She is famous for her variation of Coq au Vin, a unique and spectacular fusion of French cuisine and American cooking, where Julia uses bacon fat to roast the duck, creating a deliciously crispy skin and a very attractive golden brown color.

Salads also contribute significantly to the unique culinary style with the characteristic multinational blending of Julia. Salad Niçoise is a strange but successful experiment when Julia combines dozens of ingredients together, and it is the "massive" ingredients that make Salad Niçoise sometimes considered as the main course instead of an appetizer. In a plate of Niçoise, we can find from tomatoes, asparagus, cabbage, potatoes to seafood, eggs and meat of all kinds. However, this dish is loved by many people because of its health benefits and nutritional balance.

For dessert, the Bavarian raspberry ice cream has become Julia’s signature. What could be better than combining creamy, berry-flavored ice cream with sweet and sour fresh raspberries? A taste explosion!

Julia gradually realized her passion and researched and created special recipes, which were later published in a book. She also had a cooking show and inspired people with similar interests all over the world.

However, Julia's culinary career did not stop at being a famous chef, but it developed further when she published a humorous, simple and approachable cookbook.Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and then came the cooking instruction programs on television. The image of Julia, tall with long, seemingly clumsy arms, chattering happily while cooking, created a deep love and sympathy with amateur chefs and housewives around the world, turning Julia into the most lovable and "popular" teacher of high-class French cuisine, the person who "brought French cuisine to the table of every American family".

Julie, a New York girl who loves cooking

Julia's life inspired a young girl named Julie, who lived in New York four decades later. In 2002, Julie and her husband moved to a new place. She was a customer service employee, having to deal with dozens of complaint calls every day. Not to mention the meetings with successful friends made her tired and stressed. Cooking every night was her "liberation", helping her quickly get rid of the hustle and bustle of life. She loved French food and loved Julia very much. She watched Julia's videos over and over again and enjoyed her cookbook. Until one day, she suddenly had the idea of ​​writing a blog with the challenge title: 365 days, complete 524 of Julia's recipes. 524 recipes include savory main dishes and sweet desserts.

Julie started her challenge with simple recipes like poached eggs. Although it seemed like an easy dish to make, even a skillful chef like Julie failed many times. It can be seen that in French cuisine, seemingly simple dishes must be made meticulously and with strict requirements. The perfect poached egg has the yolk completely inside the egg white, sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. When using a knife and fork to gently separate the egg white, the yolk will flow out like melted cheese.

Julie also recognizes the importance of butter in French cooking. She writes in a lovely blog post: “Every time you taste something that is so delicious, you wonder what’s in it? The answer is always butter. If a meteorite were to hit the earth and we had 30 days to live, I would spend those days eating butter.” This is evidenced by the presence of this ingredient in most of her dishes, such as her delicious bruchesta, made from bread and tomato salad. The salad is made from chopped cherry tomatoes mixed with spices, basil, and olive oil. The bread slices are brushed with garlic oil on both sides and fried or grilled in butter.

A typical French dish associated with Julia's name is beef bourguignon. Julia once described this dish as "one of the best beef dishes one can cook". This beef bourguignon is a treasure trove of flavors with a piece of meat stewed in garlic, onions, carrots, mushrooms and fragrant red wine, making it dizzyingly delicious. This is also the dish that Julie considered the most difficult and laborious, so she saved it for last. She burned it, and had to cook it a second time, this time she succeeded.

Julie had many failures during the challenge. But she still used her passion and her husband's full support as motivation to complete the challenge. Through her blog, Julie continues her journey to inspire women to love cooking like Julia did for her.

Not only is it a story about two women's journey to find happiness,Julie & JuliaThe film is also attractive because of the challenges, difficulties and beauty of the dishes in the French culinary space with romantic scenes, bright colors and humorous dialogues. The real life of the two main characters in the film has helped the audience understand more about the spirit of authentic French cuisine.

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