Victor Sack wrote:
> A 'French Chef' Whose Appeal Doesn't Translate
>
> By MAÏA de la BAUME
>
> International Herald Tribune
>
> PARIS - Julia Child may have been America's best-known "French chef,"
> but here in Paris few know her fabled cookbooks, let alone her name.
>

>
> Ms. Child's book - beloved by American cooks for almost 50 years and now
> a best-seller because of the film - has never been translated into
> French, said Anne Perrier, a manager at Galignani, an English-language
> bookshop here. "It's the vision of a revisited France, adapted to the
> American taste, at a time when tastes were lifeless," she said.

>
> French food experts are divided about Ms. Child and her cooking. Some
> say she caricatured French cuisine in her book and cooking show, making
> it seem too heavy and formal. Others believe she demystified it and see
> her as a role model in France, where cooking shows are rare and cuisine
> is not necessarily viewed as something anyone can interpret.


Julia Child's cooking needs to be viewed in context of the time when she
entered the scene. Women were going to work and convenience foods were
more and more popular. She took cooking back to fresh ingredients and
from-scratch preparation.

People who criticize her don 't seem to have much of a sense of the history.

gloria p