I’ve never cooked from Julia Child‘s cook books, but I do know that she’s been a revolutionary force – from her books to her television demonstrations – and I do like to cook, so I picked up her autobiography recently, and started reading it today.

When I read the introduction I became a little wary – the book is ghost-written by her husband’s nephew, and was finished after her death. I’m only in the beginning stages of the book, but I’m enjoying it immensely. I just love Julia’s passion for food and for France, and her husband’s photographs, which are scattered throughout the book, are an excellent addition. At the moment, it seems like it’s a book for anyone who is interested in a passion for a place or a vocation.

Cross-posted on What Katie Did.

Now as much as I love food, I don’t know that much about Julia Child. I guess growing up mostly off the North American continent sort of limited my early TV exposure – and then French cooking never grabbed my attention the way some other cuisines did.

All the same, this story of Julia Child’s travels to France, her learning to cook, and the geneisis of both her groundbreaking French cookbooks and her TV show, is a pleasure to read. It’s conversational and full of exquisite anecdotes about food and cooking discoveries, personal relationships, squabbles, great loves, and amazing dinner parties.

Julia Child died before the publication of this book, but Prud’homme, grandson of Paul Child’s brother Charlie, dedicated himself to the task of completing it in her honour. The writing is eccentric in parts, but how better than to capture what I understand to be Julia’s unique style? It’s also scattered with Paul Child’s excellent photographs of people places and things from throughout their travels.

Pleasant reading for any food afficionado.