Julia Child's classic book is enjoying new fame.

Almost fifty years after it was first published, Julia Child's classic cook book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, will be given the #1 best seller slot in the "advice and how-to" category on the New Your Times Best Seller list. According to an article in the New York Times, this is largely due to the movie "Julie and Julia" currently in theatres. The movie itself is partially about the late Julia Child and how she came to be the master chef that she was, but the cook book (along with several others) was used as a promotional item and that garnered the attention of many new readers. For a 752 page book, filled with labor intensive recipes using ingredients that are certainly not diet friendly, achieving such recognition has been quite a surprise to many in the publishing world. A pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.

When I was looking around for a topic for my first blog report I was delighted to find this article. I have been a fan of the late Julia Child for years. I was a child of the 70’s and can remember watching “The French Chef” on PBS.


The tone of the article is, in my opinion, celebrating the fact that a movie has brought about a new interest in an almost lost art. I agree with this celebration, and I am pleasantly surprised. Most of the time we hear the word “book” used in conjunction with the word “movie” it is because someone is complaining that the movie was nothing like the book. I have made that complaint myself. But this article's author is excited that a movie has inspired record sales of several books.


We have the movie promoters to thank for at least part of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” hitting the best seller list of the New York Times. The book was ordered en masse and given away at promotional events. But what took the publishers by surprise was that even after the promotions were over, people wanted to buy the book. Almost fifty years after it was first put into print as a way to introduce American women to French cuisine; “Mastering” has a whole new audience. And what a wonderful new audience it is.


So many people today east fast food, or food that is made fast, things out of boxes, bags, cartons, cans and tubs. It is no wonder that a whole new generation wants to learn how to cook from scratch and is curious about butter, goose fat, pork fat and salt. Ok, not the most healthful things one can eat, admittedly, but my point is that in trying to find a way to avoid any fat, calories and salt we have traveled away from our cooking roots, and I think that many people want to get back to them. Seeing Julia Child’s life being represented on the big screen and witnessing her love of good food has certainly helped as well.


Several other books have become more popular as a result of both the movie and the new curiosity it has caused. “Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom” has had several printing runs this season and is second only to “Mastering the French Kitchen” on the best seller list. One of the biographies of Julia Child: “My Life in France” has enjoyed “sold out” status as has the book “Julie and Julia”, the inspiration for the movie of the same name. Adding to my delight of this article was a quote at the end, from the movie’s writer and director, Nora Ephron, stating that it was a secret hope of hers to inspire more cooking with the film. I am happy that her secret hope was realized.