For some reason Julia Child came up this evening. Her TV shows (on Channel
13?) were among the highlights of my childhood. I still remember the one in
which she did a roast succulent pig and kept referring to it as "him"
("cover his ears so they don't burn", etc.)

A while ago I came up with this little tidbit from Wiki:

"The three would-be authors initially signed a contract with publisher
Houghton Mifflin, which later rejected the manuscript for being too much
like an encyclopedia. Finally, when it was first published in 1961 by Alfred
A. Knopf, the 734-page Mastering the Art of French Cooking was a best-seller
and received critical acclaim that derived in part from the American
interest in French culture in the early 1960s."

A magnificent book. And I bet Houghton Mifflin are still kicking themselves
for turning it down...

--
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com

In article >, Opinicus
> wrote:

.. Finally, when it was first published in 1961 by Alfred
> A. Knopf, the 734-page Mastering the Art of French Cooking was a best-seller
> and received critical acclaim that derived in part from the American
> interest in French culture in the early 1960s."
>
> A magnificent book. And I bet Houghton Mifflin are still kicking themselves
> for turning it down...

It's on my shelf, battered, probably the third or fourth copy I've
owned. As far as I'm concerned, it's the bible (along with Larousse
Gastronomique). I consult it at least every week (this week, on onion
soup, and fish soup). What she's particularly good at is something that
those of us who are keen on food may have lost, viz. the ability to
take someone who knows nothing about cooking and steer them through
every detail of the correct method, taking nothing for granted. Once
you've read her, and understood what she's about, you can take on the
most complex dishes and succeed with them.

A desert island book

Lazarus