Oooh La La!

Ever since I saw Julie and Julia I have been wanting to read more about Julia Child's life.  I happened across her autobiography, My Life in France, at the library last week and devoured it in three days.  (It would have been a one sitting, all day affair, but then one might have been accused of child neglect!)  The prose was so readable, and Child's exuberant voice just bounced off the page.  I enjoyed it immensely.

Source: www.alexprudhomme.com

(Meryl Streep made a fabulous Julia Child, by the way, but after seeing the movie, I didn't really have a hankering to read the book it is based on.)

My favourite quote from Child's book is:

     I don't believe in twisting yourself into knots of excuses and explanations over the food you make. When one's hostess starts in with self-deprecations such as "Oh, I don't know how to cook...," or "Poor little me...," or "This may taste awful...," it is so dreadful to have to reassure her that everything is delicious and fine, whether it is or not. Besides, such admissions only draw attention to one's shortcomings (or self-perceived shortcomings), and make the other person think, "Yes, you're right, this really is an awful meal!" Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed -- eh bien, tant pis! Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, as my ersatz eggs Florentine surely were, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile -- and learn from her mistakes.

Some would say there's more than a little self-admonishment in my choice!

It was fascinating to read of Child's scientific approach to recipe testing.  I appreciate the work that went into that - particularly when ingredients (flour, butter,...) on different continents have slightly different properties, and therefore modified proportions and substitutes are necessary.  (Man, I miss NZ dairy products!)  Her exhaustive efforts to replicate French bread in the American home kitchen have borne fruit!

Although I have been using a different recipe, not specifically French, and certainly not authentic in technique, I have been making some artisanal bread lately.  The basic recipe comes from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  It is basically a flour, water, yeast and salt mixture.  Rather than kneading and rising, the bulk ingredients are simply mixed until uniformly damp, then left to rise for 2 hours, and refrigerated until needed.  Then the required portion of dough is scooped out, shaped, allowed to return to room temperature and baked (with a pan of water to produce steam and the resultant crisp crust).  It requires minimal hands-on effort for a chewy, tasty loaf or rolls.  (I find the dough takes on a sourdough taste after refrigeration, but the saltiness also increases, so I tend to use less salt than the recipe calls for.)  Here's a link to the illustrated version.

Bon appetit!