Julia Child and Pete Rose...
And wasting a perfectly beautiful afternoon watching television.
It was an absolutely perfect June afternoon, and I was within minutes of having the most incredible culinary revelation that a person could have. I just was too young and blinded to notice.
It was a perfect summer day in June of 1979.
By all means, I should have grabbed my baseball glove, gone outside and to see if the neighborhood kids wanted to play a game of baseball, work up, or just play a game of catch, but I had zero intentions of being outside. All that I cared about was watching the Saturday afternoon Major League Baseball game broadcast on NBC.
Growing up during the 70’s and 80’s, I spent a criminal amount of time watching baseball. Even though our television only was able to receive the signal from four television stations, I was able to watch three Major League Baseball games every week during the season. And I watched every one of them. During the playoffs and World Series games I literally watched every game every night of the week.
On this particular Saturday in June of 1979, I was extremely excited to watch Saturday afternoon Major League Baseball broadcast on our local NBC station. My all time favorite baseball team, The Cincinnati Reds were playing the Philadelphia Phillies who had had just acquired Pete Rose, my all time favorite major league baseball player.
Now I know that Pete Rose at this moment, the name is Pete Rose is lower than scum and that he has been pretty much been forever banned from baseball, but in 1979 Pete Rose was the most fiercely competitive and dearly beloved player that ever set foot to play on a baseball diamond. In 1975 and 1976, Pete Rose and his team the Cincinnati Reds, won back to back World Series Championships. According to baseball legend, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford coined the nickname “Charlie Hustle” when Rose was desperately trying to climb the outfield fence to catch a fly ball that was 100 feet over his head. Pete Rose was the guy on your team that would do whatever it would take to find a way to win. I and the rest of America loved watching Pete Rose for so many incredible reasons.
At the beg
The start of the 1979 baseball season was a bit disappointing when I learned that the Reds had traded Rose to the Philadelphia Phillies, but was extremely excited on this particular Saturday to see that Rose, my all time favorite baseball player was going to be playing my all time favorite baseball team the Reds. So all in all, I found the matchup between the Phillies and the Reds was exceptionally intriguing and was extremely interested to see how this game would turn out.
But this post is not about Pete Rose, the Cincinnati Reds, or anything related to baseball, for my sister Coralie walked into our living room asking me to change to channel.
Strung out on our living room couch, I was totally invested in watching this game. Nothing in the world could get in the way of me indulging in pure baseball bliss.
But this post is not about Pete Rose, the Cincinnati Reds, or anything related to baseball, for my sister Coralie walked into our living room asking me to change to channel.
So my sister Coralie who was making chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen, walked into the living room looking at the current edition of TV Guide, (which she seemingly was always reading) walked into room and asked, “Is it if alright if I turn the channel to the PBS station in about 5 minutes?”, she asked.
I really didn’t see that one coming. Responding with an the utmost lack of enthusiasm, “ Uh, I don’t know. What do want to watch?
“Julia Child is on PBS!!.
Having no clue, idea of who Julia Child was I asked, “Who is she?”
“Julia Child has a cooking show called “The French Chef”. I love watching her show. She can be really funny. Her show is only 30 minutes. You will love it.”
While every bone in my body was in protest of my sister’s request to interrupt my viewing of the Red vs. the Phillies, I grudgingly granted her request, stood up from my pancake position on the couch, and walked across the living room to turn the television channel to our local PBS channel. A few moments after turning the channel Julia’s show “The French Chef” was just beginning. On June 16, 1979, at the request of my sister, I was introduced me to Julia Child.
To be honest I don’t exactly remember what dish Julia was preparing for that show, but I do remember that she was standing over a piece of beef, demonstrating how to cut it up. So I like to like to think that I was watching her episode on how to make beef bourguignon.
My very first impression of Julia was that she was tall. Standing at a height of 6’2”, she showed an immediate dominating and commanding presence on the screen. My second impression of Julia was her totally unique voice. To this day, I have never heard anyone remotely with a voice like that of Julia Child. In fact I found her voice so unique that I honestly thought that she from some other European country that I had never heard of before (Fun fact -Julia Child was born an raised in California).
As the show progressed, I watched her as she worked her way through her recipes with her assortment of copper clad pots and pans, I could see that Julia did have a definite charisma and charm about her, none of her charisma rubbed off on me that day. I am sad to say that after watching “The French Chef” for the first time, it provided no culinary magic or culinary inspiration for this 14 year old boy. How I wish that I could say that while watching Julia Child for those 30 minutes provided me some sort of revelation that I like Julia would one day pursue culinary career. My sister had just introduced me to perhaps the most iconic culinary personalies of our era and I in my 14 year old “whatever'“ attitude got back up from the couch and turned the television channel back to the baseball game with the hopes that there was I might get to see Pete Rose get a base hit, or maybe attempt one of his infamous head first slides.
While I might not have been all that mesmerized by Julia on that Saturday, I am so, so, that grateful that my sister encouraged me to watch “The French Chef” that day, for 6 months later, on December 9th, 1979. I was staying up late watching “Saturday Night Live”, and before my eyes the intro to “The French Chef” comes onto my screen.
“That’s weird?”I thought.
Murmuring to myself, “How did “The French Chef” end up on NBC in the middle of Saturday Night Live?"
Then Dan Akroyd dressed as Julia Child appeared on television screen. At first sight, I was really taken back for Akroyd was tall like Julia. Dressed in drag pretty much like Julia on dressed on “The French Chef”, Akroyd really looked like Julia. When he started doing his impression of Julia, and talking about saving the chicken liver. I almost fell out of my chair because I was laughing so hysterically. And then when Akroyd parodied Julia accidentally cutting her finger, and bleeding to the point of losing consciousness while trying to continue on with her cooking show as if nothing nothing was ever wrong while blood was spurting everywhere made me laugh that much harder.
I might have only watched one episode one episode of “The French Chef”, but that was more than enough for me to understand the humor of Dan Akroyd poking fun at Julia and her culinary antics. After watching Akroyd’s skit, I came to the realization that not only was my sister watching Julia Child on PBS, but based on the laughter and response of the Saturday Night Live audience, I realized that the rest of the nation was watching aware who Julia Child was as well. If Dan Akroyd was making fun of Julia Child, then there definitely had to be something about Julia Child and her cooking that people found been extremely likeable and entertaining.
It was at that moment that I realized that perhaps I was watching too much baseball.
In light of my introduction to Julia Child in June of 1978, it would be ten years before I would watch another episode of Julia Child on PBS. As I explained in previous posts, my cooking career started at the Coast Guard Station in Rockland, Maine. I hadn’t been there more than a month when I had made some gravy that was extremely lumpy, and while I was able to strain out the lumps, I realized that there was so much that about cooking that I had to learn. I was definitely considered myself a genuine culinary novice. One Saturday at the station, I walked into the station’s TV lounge to find that the guys happened to be watching Julia. Even salty sailors enjoyed watching Julia Child. I just happened to come in at the moment that Julia was demonstrating how to make a flavorful sauce by deglazing a pan with some red wine.
“WOW!!, I said to myself. “That’s so cool. She makes that look so easy”
Julia Child just taught me a great technique to make a wonderful sauce.
My heart leaped for joy and my soul was jublilantly rejoicing, “YES!! That’s it!! Julia Child has the answers that I need!! YES!! I need to be watching Julia Child.”
Lightning bolts were flashing all throughout my brain for I realized that if I commited to watching Julia Child, I could really level up on my culinary skills in a short amount of time. So from that moment on, if I had some time to turn Saturday afternoon, I would go to the television, and watch Julia Child. I have been watching Julia Child every chance that I get.
While I had to give up watching a few innings watchng Pete Rose, I am very grateful that my sister came in an asked me to turn the channel that Saturday afternoon. I think back at that day, and realize that my television was much like a crystal ball, showing me at least in part, that I would one day take the first steps of a wonderful edible journey. Even though Julia Child passed away 19 years ago yesterday, through her books and rebroadcasts of her shows, I feel her walking right beside me leading on an incredible culinary journey. And always ending each days episode by wishing me a heartfelt “Bon Appetite!!”
Julia Child (August 15, 1912 - August 13, 2004)