My local public TV station has been showing old French Chef episodes. I recorded some on my Tivo, and watched them this morning while having breakfast.
It's been a really, really long time since I've seen them (at least 25 years), so it was like watching them new again. What really struck me about the shows was their totally unpretentious nature, especially when compared to cooking shows of today.
In one episode, Julia was making omelettes. She was making them on an ordinary electric coil range -- no fancy gas cooktops. Instead of showing off the latest in fancy cookware, she used a plain old nonstick skillet. The omelettes didn't look "picture perfect", but they looked great enough to eat!
On another episode, Julia was making potato recipes. She tried to flip a potato pancake, and it broke up -- with some of it on the stove. No problem -- she just picked up the broken pieces, put it all on a plate, and covered it up with cheese (or something like that, I forget now).
She even wiped her face off with a towel a couple times during the show, because all the range burners were making the place hot. How often would you see that happen today?
I thought it was pretty cool seeing all that stuff again, because it puts today's modern attitudes in a new light. Julia didn't have to use the fanciest appliances or the fanciest cookware. Her technique didn't have to be perfect, and she didn't have to look perfect. All she needed to do was MAKE GOOD FOOD.
Seeing how things turned out in her life, I'll bet she made some pretty good food indeed.
