"julia child" news and stories

The Oscars may be made out of edible gold this year.

Meryl Streep is a "Best Actress" nominee by the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her portrayal of the late, vivacious Julia Child in "Julie and Julia." This is Streep's unprecedented 16th Oscar nomination.

"Julia, that spirit was very like my mother's spirit," Streep recently told ABC World News. "Joie de vivre. She had it. And a great sense of fun and [an] infectious ability to bring people along in whatever adventure she cared to take charge of."

"Food, Inc.," an eye-opening account about our nation's food industry also received a nod in the "Best Documentary" category.

For this palatable awards' season, we salute the Academy with Child's signature -- a jovial "Bon Appétit!"

Happy National Croissant Day!

No one doubts the supremacy of the French when it comes to all things patisserie -- and the croissant is the roi of this realm. But a lesser known fact is the origins of the buttery delight. While the Larousse Gastronomique pits the pastry as originating in 1686 Budapest, other historians refute this as a colorful tale, arguing that the French croissant as we know it is a more recent invention, recorded in France as early as the mid-1850s as a crescent-shaped bread or cake. The Oxford Companion to Food argues that it wasn't until 1906, in Colombie's Nouvelle Encyclopedie culinaire, that "a true croissant, and its development into a national symbol of France, [emerge as] a 20th-century history."

And while today the croissant indeed is a culinary emblem for France, they can be relatively easily baked in one's own kitchen. Pictured here, photographer Djwtwo's perfectly golden, egg-shone rendition was his first successful attempt, but turned out as magnificent as those we've seen in any Paris bakery. For the recipe, he relied on America's premiere culinary ambassador to France, the beloved Julia Child. But for such a small batch of ingredients, the steps are infinitely more convoluted - he recommends this PBS video as an aide to sculpting your own buttery batch of croissants.

As Julia would say, "Bon appétit!"

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured on the site.

Julie Powell, the writer who blogged her way through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1," is back with her second book, a sequel memoir about the world of butchery.

"Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession" follows Powell as she has an affair, tries to rebuild her marriage and learns about butchery. As Slashfood alum Rebecca Marx puts it in the Village Voice, "the act of trying to choose between one's bottomlessly loving husband and one's snakey-sounding lover, all while having the financial freedom to hang out with butchers just for the hell of it, is accompanied by the sound of the world's most minuscule violin."

Powell admitted this week that fans of "Julie & Julia" might find it a bit much: "People coming from the movie 'Julie & Julia' and picking up 'Cleaving' are going to be in for some emotional whiplash," she tells the Associated Press. "I don't believe it's going to be a Nora Ephron movie."

Do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below.

Julia Child certainly could make a mean boeuf bourguignon, but did you know she could also whip up the building blocks of life?

It's kind of scary watching her describe scientific diagrams using her chef's knife as a pointer. But it's helpful for all us home cooks that she converts grams into teaspoons. Bon appetit!

[Neatorama via Buzzfeed]

Bowl of tabbouleh. Photo: Jakub_hla, Flickr.

• Potlucks can be reinvigorated with a jolt of Tabbouleh with Feta.
• Gourmet may have closed, but Ruth Reichl still hit Kansas City to promote her new book, "Gourmet Today," at a special dinner.
• A chat with local cook Carol LaBruzzo and a recipe for Italian Wedding Soup.
• The PBS show "The Winemakers" includes a KC contestant: Ryan Sciara of Cellar Rat.
• After "Julie & Julia," what should you read next? The Star says "My Life in France," "Alice Waters and Chez Panisse" and "Under the Table: Saucy Tales from Culinary School."
• Westside Local offers everything from a classic roast-beef sandwich to a soup made of watermelon, cucumber and beets.