Michael Pollan On "Julie & Julia," The Kitchen Stadium, And Cooking For Yourself

nytimes.com:

But here's what I don't get: How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves? For the rise of Julia Child as a figure of cultural consequence -- along with Alice Waters and Mario Batali and Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse and whoever is crowned the next Food Network star -- has, paradoxically, coincided with the rise of fast food, home-meal replacements and the decline and fall of everyday home cooking.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[Dawn Brooks-Rapp]

08:43 AM on 08/06/2009

I started out cooking as a young adult because my mother worked, and this blossomed into
a passion. JUlia Child was my inspiration! I eventually landed at the Culinary Institute of America
and my passion became my career. Julia on PBS even in re-runs was amazing, this is before the invention of the food Network..She brought life to the grainy black and white show (the tiny TV my family owned in the 70's), she mixed and stirred and made food exciting.
I had a chance to meet her later in her career and have a cherished picture of us together.
She was our rock star, and it is about time!!!
I am going to be first in line to see this movie!!

[MsIrisMG]

11:52 PM on 08/02/2009

Michael Pollan should have been our Agriculture Secretary.

[kapalabhati]

09:39 PM on 08/09/2009

No doubt about that!

[Patrick McCarthy]

07:39 PM on 08/12/2009

amen! and still should be...Obama is obviously listening to him in terms of a White House garden rather than a lawn. At least we have that.

[lwaxanatroi]

11:18 AM on 08/02/2009

I watch the food network. Can't wait to see tonight which chef wins the Next Food Network Star. But cook at home, by myself, for myself? It feels too complicated. I have to have a lot of ingredients on hand that I will discover halfway through the recipe that I don't have. Or I'll have to buy spices I may never use again. And then I realize I've made enough for six people and I don't like it well enough to eat it five more times.

Why do all this when Trader Joe has food I already know I want to eat?

[Vickster]

12:14 AM on 08/03/2009

If you would like to learn how to cook, I suggest you start with baking, especially bread. The only ingredients you need are flour, sugar or honey, salt, yeast, milk or water, plus eggs and butter if you prefer a rich bread. Homemade bread is one of the easiest and most satisfying foods we can make in my opinion. (Just be sure to use a bread flour instead of a cake flour.) And one person should be able to eat a loaf before it's stale.

[kareemachan]

04:51 PM on 08/01/2009

Great article, and spot on, IMO. I'm a cooking fanatic (and eating fanatic as well), and am constantly amazed that people are amazed when I make my own bread, preserves, soup, tortillas, whatever. It's not that hard to do, you can freeze many things for when you don't have time or energy to cook, and you know exactly what went into the finished dish. Anyway, both books are well worth reading ("Julie & Julia" and Child's own "My Life in France"), and I'm excited about seeing the movie.

[DavidMG]

01:16 PM on 08/01/2009

In the 1970's and '80’s we had great success teaching America to cook from our books particularly from “American Wholefoods Cuisine." We taught millions on four full hours on “Donahue” and hundreds of other local and national TV shows. We were eventually replaced by celebrity chefs. We are proud to say that 26 years later our cookbooks are still in demand.
- Nikki & David Goldbeck

[anisaerah]

09:51 AM on 08/01/2009

We "real" cooks are a dying breed. I find it fun to make complicated recipes- and I am an accomplished eater, as well as an accomplished cook.

What amazes me are all the people I know that not only think it is nifty that I can make boeuf bourguignon, but who are impressed with simple things like pan-fried fish with steamed vegetables. Or even chicken soup- which only requires dumping chicken and vegetables into a pot with some water, and straining it after it's cooked for a few hours.

Or maybe even more significantly, that when my niece was over for dinner once, she remarked "I didn't know pizza could be made from scratch!"

[lilpeg]

09:14 AM on 08/01/2009

I "cook" dinner ever ynight. Nice to feel validated. With the eonomy and food industry in shambles cooking is more of a necessity. If most people would at least cook dinner a few times a week, they would discover so much about health, nutrition and the environment.

[JScott]

03:01 AM on 08/01/2009

Of course Michael would never have an investigative food show (like 60 min.) on Food Network.
I would watch it. Potential sponsors (processed food companies) would absolutely despise it.

[AngieMom57]

12:05 AM on 08/01/2009

Just cooked a birthday meal, wow, there is NOTHING like the Art of Cooking, except for the Art of Eating ;-)

[inkongirl]

06:36 PM on 07/31/2009

The movie is a lot of fun.

[Weirdwriter]

06:32 PM on 07/31/2009

Excellent article. Although you need some time read it and, yes, digest it!

I still remember my mother's first entry into the Book of the Month Club, when I was a child. New members could get a batch of books for something like $1, and for some reason one of her choices was the 2-volume "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I don't think she ever cracked it open, unfortunately.

Today, I view cooking with mixed feelings .Love to do it when I have leisure, all the right, lovely ingredients, and a handy glass of vino. Hate to do it when I feel rushed or tired, when I lack something essential and when I've already had a full day of chores.

But I, too, remember Julia Child with great affection and I even saw a bit of Julie's cooking blog, which I much enjoyed. So, kudos to them both, and to Michael Pollan, for enhancing our lives. Can't wait to see the movie.