Earlier this week, I watched the movie Julie & Julia – in which Meryl Streep brilliantly plays the larger-than-life character and American National Treasure, Julia Child. Being the food-lover that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie – not least because I grew up seeing the Joy of Cooking (mentioned several times in the movie as the cookbook Bible of that time) and Julia’s Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking (which the movie revolves around) in prime position in my mother’s kitchen.

It was, indeed, my mother who urged me to watch teh movie – saying ‘it is SO you’ – and she was right. There is a scene in which Julia Child tries to find the right words to describe the essence of a particular sauce – her tongue moistening her lips, her thumb and forefinger rubbing together as though physically trying to conjure up the taste and texture of that sauce. Well, that is me in a nutshell.

In fact, not only did it prompt me to cook a butter-rich omelette for dinner last night, it also reminded me that, some years ago, my mother gave me a copy of Julia Child’s memoir My Life in France. I’d completely forgotten about it, but it’s now been pulled from my bookshelf and (once I finish The Beekeeper’s Apprentice) is the next on my reading list.

On a side note, I was disappointed not to find real footage of Julia Child in the Special Features on the DVD – curious as I was to see the real woman in action and wishing to fully appreciate the role Meryl Streep was playing. So I leave you with this clip I found on YouTube…

Chiara Priorelli, Publicity & Online Marketing Manager