For all those who believe that ‘tangy’ and ‘sour’ have a discernible difference, with tangy carrying imagined notes of tomato mildly coating your tongue and sour directly translating into that jaw-locking reaction we humans have to sour candy- ‘Julie & Julia’ is right up your alley. Also, for all those who enjoy cooking or wish to start, this is the film to watch.
The Basic Plot
Nora Ephron (the one and only who created the likes of “Sleepless in Seattle’, “When Harry Met Sally” and “You’ve Got Mail) celebrates the legendary Julia Child, the pioneer women who brought French cooking to the world. More importantly, she celebrated the immense satisfaction and joy food, in general, can bring to an individual’s life. Julie Powell, a disgruntled government bureaucrat rediscovers herself through a blog based on Child’s iconic cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. In fact, Julie Powell takes upon the daunting task of creating all 524 recipes that make the book. Intertwined with this is the true tale of how Julia Child beat snooty French chefs and came to conquer French cuisine, with determination, vigour and pats of butter!
For The Amateur Cook
Well, yes this has been done and dusted, it isn’t a novel concept but isn’t that the best part- the fact that cooking is part of everybody’s life and that it doesn’t require a special skill set or a long list of qualifications- all it needs is patience and a bunch of ingredients.
This movie just reminded me of how accepting food is and I know attributing human qualities to food sounds a bit strange but when you come to think of it, food is probably the most human of all inanimate things. It is a part of every culture, every community, every city, every country, every individual. The art of making food is an option accessible by all and Child was right in her thinking that anyone can cook after all isn’t it Gusteau in Ratatouille who repeatedly tells us the same thing?
The only thing that beats the feeling of drinking a glass of icy, cold lemonade on a scorching summer afternoon, the icy shards soothing that parched, scraggly sensation in the throat is the satisfaction you experience when your cake comes out of the oven - all puffy and golden brown. When you realize that all that time and energy invested in making the cake and doing the dishes was worth it when you realize you have the potential to create something this perfect.
So for all those who believe that cooking is a waste of time, try it, you may just never see life the same way again.
Anyone Can Cook!
What's most important is that Child believed cooking is a skill any individual can master. For some more inspiration, here are Julia's own words from her book, Life in France, "“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”
So, what are you waiting for? Take the plunge like Remy (pictured above) and get cooking with Julia Child's super-easy "Classic French Onion Soup",