30 Aug Gastronomica and the All-Nighter
I’m a bit bleary-eyed today, as I started reading Gastronomica’stribute to Julia Child just before bed, and the next time I looked it was 6 A.M. No sense going to bed at that point.
I recently finished Julia’s biography, and was left with a fantastic impression of her joie de vivre and sass, so this supplemental reading was like a delicious aperitif to round out the picture I had created in my mind of La Grande Dame. Every time I read about her passion for life, I am overcome with gladness, and even get a bit misty. She wanted people to enjoy — no, to love — the act of cooking itself; not to see it as a chore or a duty, but as a way to create with one’s hands, to celebrate life on earth, and share a table with people who enriched that life. In her last days, she stopped taking her medicine because it ruined her sense of taste; reading that brought a tear to my eye — such dedication to her passion! What I would have given to share a table with her.
Her natural curiosity was symbolic of the lifelong learning required of someone in the food profession, as there is always more to know. There were constant questions and investigation — she had to know “why.” Her appetite for existence is an inspiration to me, and I happily salute it each time I pick up a knife, smell an herb, or just revel in being alive. Merci, Julia.
(I recommend that you run, not walk, to the Gastronomica site and get this commemorative issue before they run out of copies. If you have a passion for food, it is worth every cent.)