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I love this quote about Julia Child

3K views 30 replies 12 participants last post by  chicagoterry 
#1 · (Edited)
"Wealthy Victorians served Strawberries Romanoff in December; now we demonstrate our superiority by serving our dewy organic berries only during the two-week period when they can be picked ripe off the vine from the boutique farm down the road from our Hampton bungalow.  People speak of gleaning the green markets for the freshest this, the thinnest that, the greenest or firmest or softest whatever, as if what they're doing is a selfless act of consummate care and good taste, rather than the privileged activity of someone who doesn't have to work for a living.

But Julia Child isn't about that.  Julia wants you - that's right, you, the one living in the tract house in the sprawling suburbia with a dead-end middle management job and nothing but a Stop and Shop for miles around - to know how to make good pastry, also how to make those canned green beans taste all right.  She wants you to remember that you are human, and as such are entitled to that most basic of human rights, the right to eat well and enjoy life.

And that blows heirloom tomatoes and first-press Umbrian olive oil out of the water."

Julie Powell
 
#27 · (Edited)
Jake makes a good point by talking about both "choice" and "opportunity". They are very different and sometimes intersect in a way that folks can advance themselves. One without the other, though, may not work so well. Julia didn't will herself into the goddess she became. She recognized an opportunity and made conscious choices to exploit those opportunities. But opportunities aren't necessarily just those "freebee" handout kind of opportunities. Sometimes they are hazy long shots that we make the choice to pursue even though it may not happen without great perserverence... And sometimes we win and sometimes not.
 
#28 ·
This is a very good article. Our Local "Farmers Market" opens in May. Some of the best sales the first day are "local Watermelons." The are not in season until late July or August. We have one very honest farmer who will supplement what she grows with purchased produce but always has a sign that she did not grow it. Local beef is grown and butchered here sold to Halperns shipped 300 miles to the distribution center. The local restaurants then have to buy from Halperns. The locals had to sign non compete forms. Their are a few small farms that produce local product but because of cost it is prohibitive to most consumers. Good thread.
 
#29 ·
This conversation reminds me of a series of videos Buzzfeed or similar did where first generation middle class Mexican-American or Chinese-American kids in their early 20's taste tested things like Taco Bell or Panda Express with their parents and in some cases grandparents, most of whom struggled when they first arrived in the US

I always thought it was telling that the young people as a rule made *such* a big deal about how absolutely inedible everything was, as if their very souls were offended by the mere presence of food court orange chicken. Meanwhile, mom and dad and grandma who all grew up in the old country (and experienced actual hardship) were, with few exceptions, like "yeah, I'd eat that. It's not what we cook, but whatever. It's food. I'm eating it."
 
#31 ·
I'm not sure that anyone, anywhere can create "fantastic" food out of "subpar" ingredients. I do think much of the world does create fantastic dishes out of what are, in their particular places, simple or inexpensive ingredients.

I definitely have to watch pennies but I make very good food out of inexpensive ingredients.  I am very lucky, though. If there is something that could be described as the opposite of a food desert, I am living in it. Good, inexpensive produce, grains and legumes at a variety of ethnic markets. Virtually any herb, spice, or condiment that anyone could want within a walk or short bus ride away. I can't afford organic but I can afford fresh. I find that produce in fruit markets and ethnic markets is usually much less expensive and much higher quality than that in supermarkets. I'm lucky to live in an area with both. There are people in vast swathes of this city that do not have this kind of abundance available to them. There are many neighborhoods on the south and west sides where the most --and sometimes only--accessible food purveyors are dollar stores.
 
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