Kerry Diamond:
My name is Kerry Diamond. I'm the founder of Cherry Bombe and the host of Radio Cherry Bombe. I'd like to welcome all of you to the finale of the Julia Jubilee, our virtual celebration of the life and legacy of Julia Child. I can't believe this is our last event. I have had such a good time all week long and we're so grateful that so many of you have tuned in from all over the US and literally all over the world. Welcome to our panel on Julia's Legacy. Before we get started, I would like to thank our sponsors who have made all this programming possible all week long.
Kerry Diamond:
Kerrygold, Crate & Barrel, Le Creuset, Whole Foods Market, San Pellegrino, and Kobrand Fine Wine and Spirits. There's also someone else I would like to thank, and that is, the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. If it weren't for the foundation, we wouldn't have been able to do any of this programming all week long. We thank them so much for their support and their help. I would like to welcome Todd Schulkin, the Executive Director of the Julia Child Foundation to the screen. Todd is going to say a few words. Hi, Todd. How are you?
Todd Schulkin:
Hi, Kerry. It's great to be here. I'm good. How are you?
Kerry Diamond:
Good. I'm going to miss ... We're going to miss working with you, by the way.
Todd Schulkin:
Yeah, we're all happy and a bit sad, right?
Kerry Diamond:
I know. Happy and a bit sad. Well, Todd, I'm going to disappear for a minute, because I know you have a few words to say, go on.
Todd Schulkin:
It'll be all me. Well, hello, Bombe squad. It is great to be here for this final event in the Julia Jubilee, which I think we can all agree it's been just terrific as has been the magazine of the issue devoted solely to Julia, which I have right here. If you don't have it yet, you should get it because it really turned out amazing, as you'll hear some flavor from many people on this panel who are included. I wanted to tell you a little bit about the foundation. I thought the best way to do that was to give you an example. Julia actually set up the foundation while she was still alive, but for it to operate after she was gone.
Todd Schulkin:
In a nutshell, the foundation is designed to continue to advance the causes that mattered to Julia during her career. One of the ways the foundation does that is by making grants to other nonprofits in the food world. One of the organizations that we've been supporting is the Oxford American. The Oxford American is a quarterly literary magazine that celebrates Southern culture, including Southern food culture. We've been supporting food writing, as well as some short form documentary videos about Southern food for several years now. This year, the Oxford American decided to do an entire issue devoted to food.
Todd Schulkin:
That issue is out now. It was guest curated by writer, songwriter and professor at Vanderbilt in Nashville, named Alice Randall. Alice has done just a fantastic job of representing what has been a really tumultuous, traumatic, significant year between the pandemic, the racial reckoning in America and around the world, and the racial reckoning in the food world. The magazine, this issue of Oxford America, has this terrific collection of essays, articles, poems, art, that talk about and celebrate Southern food culture as it relates to this really tremendous time that we've all been through, and also how it relates to American food and American history.
Todd Schulkin:
I really encourage you to check it out. You can get excerpts on oxfordamerican.org. If you want to go behind the story, you want to check out the foundation's podcast, which is called Inside Julia's Kitchen. It's on Heritage Radio Network, heritageradionetwork.org, which is where Radio Cherry Bombe got it start, and go to Episode 121 and that's where my conversation with Alice Randall about how she put this food issue together, and the stories behind it. Alice has the most amazing Julia moment to where we end every episode and actually, many of the panelists that you'll be hearing from in just a few minutes, have been on the podcast and given their Julia moment and I've got we'll have some Julia moments today.
Todd Schulkin:
I hope that's given you a flavor. It's Episode 121 of the podcast, one of the most recent ones with Alice Randall. I hope that's given you a flavor of the things that we're doing at the foundation to extend Julia's Legacy. You can follow the foundation on Instagram. It's @juliachildfoundation and you don't want to miss the upcoming announcement of the 2021 Julia Child Award in just a few weeks. We hope you'll stay tuned for that and we hope that the jubilee has given you an opportunity to learn more about Julia and particularly her legacy, which Cherry Bombe has just been done an amazing job of capturing. We thank everyone for participating in the Julia Jubilee. Most of all, we thank Cherry Bombe for their support of the foundation. It's great to be here. I'm looking forward. Thanks, Kerry.
Kerry Diamond:
Thank you so much, Todd. We can't wait to see who you'll announce in a few weeks. I know we couldn't get you to tell us in advance, so we have to wait along with everyone else.
Todd Schulkin:
Top secret.
Kerry Diamond:
You and the foundation have done such a beautiful job with Julia's Legacy. We're so excited to end with a conversation about Julia's Legacy. Todd, I'll hope I get to see you soon.
Todd Schulkin:
Yeah, in real life, maybe.
Kerry Diamond:
In real life. Take care.
Todd Schulkin:
Thanks again.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. Speaking of Julia's Legacy, the next person I would like to welcome to the screen is Jaíne Mackievicz. Jaíne is a young pastry chef and writer from Massachusetts. Speaking of the magazine, Jaíne contributed an article for the very first time to the Julia issue. She has been incredibly inspired by Julia Child, and she is here to tell us a little bit more about her life, her story, and she will be introducing all the panelists. Janie, are you out there?
Jaíne Mackievicz:
Hi, Kerry.
Kerry Diamond:
Hi.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
Hi.
Kerry Diamond:
Look at those earrings.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
I'm part of the Bombesquad now. Thank you very much.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, Jaíne, I'm going to let you take over and we'll see you in a few minutes. Okay?
Jaíne Mackievicz:
Okay. Thank you very much.
Kerry Diamond:
Bye.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
Hi, everybody. I'm so honored, happy, excited, all those good feelings, to be here today. Back in Brazil, four years ago, I never imagined I'll have a chance to do something like that. I'm really, really happy. I wanted to say hi to my friends in Brazil I did contribute to the Julia issue, which was something so unique and special because Julia has influenced my life in so many ways. It's amazing. I'm from the Amazon. It's a very remote place in Northern Brazil. I watched Julia Child on TV on a clip from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and I was in love with her right away, because she was so passionate and vivid.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
She was so full of joy, and so tall, and I'm a tall person myself, so I felt represented. From that moment, I decided I wanted to be a cook. Then I did. I moved to Boston to go to Boston University, to attend to the program that Julia and Jacques Pepin created and here I am. I'm still learning so much from her and from her legacy. I'm honored to be presenting this panel today. I'll begin with Alex Prud'homme, who is a writer and the grandnephew of Paul Child and he co-authored the book, My Life in France with Julia.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
He also consulted on the production of the movie, Julie and Julia. He has published other books. By the way, The Ripple Effect is a remarkable book, you should all read it. Then we have Dorie Greenspan who we adore. We the Bombesquad adore Dorie. She is a food writer and she has published 13 books and one more that is coming soon. We can't wait Dorie. My favorite book actually, Baking: From My Home to Yours, it's my baking Bible. Dorie worked closely with Julia. I think she will have many Julia moments to share with us today.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
Then we have Grace Young, who is a cookbook author, culinary historian, and filmmaker. She was also inspired by Julia's cooking and Julia's French cooking techniques at the beginning of her career, and I think she can share so much with us today. Grace is also a fierce advocate for Chinatown. Grace, we thank you for that. We also have Sara Moulton who is a writer and the chef, who many of us know from television. She published four books and worked many years as Julia as assistant and protege. Sara, we are so curious to know everything you have to tell us today.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
We have Tanya Holland, who is the chef and owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, and who's also a TV personality. Plenty of frequent advocates for inclusion and equity in hospitality in this industry. It feels so great to have a voice like you're still doing this for us. Thank you very much. Without any further ado, I would like to introduce this panel on Julia Child's legacy. I am so sad that this is the last event on the jubilee, but I know you will enjoy it very much. I'll enjoy it very much. Thank you very much for being here today.
Kerry Diamond:
Jaíne, thank you so much. You are amazing. I love looking at your bookshelves behind you and seeing the familiar names on those bookshops. Dorie, Julia, and I hope everyone saw your Julia photo behind you. That's one of my favorite photos of Julia.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
Yes, it's my favorite too. Julia is all over the place here. It's a little bit of Julia's magic here, right? Do they, right?
Kerry Diamond:
No, you know what Jaíne? I can feel the Julia magic so much that I almost feel like you should moderate this panel. I am sorry to say goodbye to you. But I hope we get to see you soon as well. I loved every minute of working with you and I hope we get to work together on another story for our future.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
Thank you so much. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I feel so happy to be here today.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, you're welcome. Bye, Jaíne. Have a great day.
Jaíne Mackievicz:
Bye.
Kerry Diamond:
All righty. Okay, I don't know how I'm going to match Jaíne's energy, but I am going to try my darndest. I don't get too nervous anymore moderating panels, but I have to say I'm a little nervous moderating this panel because you are all people I am such a big fan of and I respect so much and I'm so thrilled that you could all join us today. We are going to jump right into things because I know you have a lot of questions. The folks in the audience have a lot of questions for all of you and we have so much to hear from all of you.
Kerry Diamond:
Speaking of questions from the audience, if you have any questions, there's a little Q&A box right down there. Put your questions in there. Feel free to talk in the chat and talk with each other, but if you have a specific question for the panelists, put them in the Q&A box. All right. We are going to get started. My first question for each of you. Jaíne mentioned a little bit of this, but I would love to know what your connection to Julia is. Alex, I think you have a unique connection compared to everyone. Why don't we start with you? What is your Julia connection?
Alex Prud'homme:
Julia was my grand-aunt. I'm related to Julia by marriage. Her husband, Paul Child was the twin brother of my grandfather, Charles Child. I grew up with Paul and Julia in the family. I knew them both on television like the rest of you, but also as a flesh and blood person. Paul and Julia never had kids of their own, but they were close with my grandparents. My sisters and my cousins and I like to think of ourselves as surrogate grandchildren for Paul and Julia. We grew up cooking and spending Thanksgivings, and summers with them in Cambridge, or in California, or in France, or in Maine, and we were just very lucky. She was always an inspiration.
Kerry Diamond:
I understand that we have you to thank for My Life in France, a wonderful book that so many, I'm sure, and any audience have read. Julia, people always wanted her to write a memoir, but she was reluctant over the years. Wasn't she?
Alex Prud'homme:
Well, the true story is this was Paul's idea. This was a group effort.
Kerry Diamond:
Paul, wow.
Alex Prud'homme:
It started in 1969. When Paul and Julia lived in Paris, they would write to my grandparents every week and vice versa. Back and forth from Pennsylvania to Paris, and they kept all the letters. They're just remarkable diaries of what's happening. The weather in Paris on a Wednesday, what's happening during the Cold War because Paul worked at the US Embassy, while Julia was cooking. The price of wine, all these details that are in there. Paul said, "Well, these letters are wonderful. We got to publish them." There wasn't really any interest back then.
Alex Prud'homme:
But it was to plant the seed in Julia's mind that she should do a memoir of what she thought as of the favorite years of her life, where she experienced a flowering of the soul, as she used to say, which she discovered France and its food and learn how to cook and then began to teach. I grew up hearing about all this stuff and hearing their wonderful stories around the dinner table. Every once in a while, we would all say, "How's that memoir coming, Julia?" She is, "I'm working on it," and yet it never appeared. I became a professional writer on my own. In the week between Christmas and New Year's of 2003, I went out and visited Julia in Santa Barbara where she had retired.
Alex Prud'homme:
She was 90 years old at that point, and her health wasn't great. For the umpteenth time, I said, "Well, how is that memoir, Julia?" She said, "Well, theory, it's not so good." I said, "Well, I'm here to help." She said, "Okay, let's do it." We dove in and I had to talk her through it. It turned out that she had this whole memoir in her mind, but she hadn't actually committed anything to paper. My job was to gather the stories, interview her quickly and get it done and she died halfway through the process and so I had to finish it without her. But I know she would have loved the way it turned out and the fact that we're all talking about her now.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, Alex, thank you. I mean, that book, again, is such a treasure. Alex was related and worked with Julia and we have two non relatives on the panel who worked with Julia. When we were working on the special issue about Julia Child we came up with ... We were like, "We have to do a story just so we can title it, Julia Child was My Boss." We made that happen and of course, we have Dorie and Sara in there. Sara, you're the first one in my line of sight here. I would love to hear how you wound up working for Julia and what did you do for her exactly?
Sara Moulton:
Well, I was the chef manager of a catering operation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I hated it. But one day, I was peeling a million hard-boiled eggs with a woman named Barrett Pratt. We were talking about how Julia hard boils her eggs, which is to not boil them. She said, "All you know I'm a volunteer on Julia's public television show." I was like, "What?" She said, "Well, let me go, talk to Julia. We're just about to tape another season called Julia Child More Company. Let me see if she's interested in having you come join us."
Sara Moulton:
The next day Barrett came in and said, "I talked to Julia and she wants to hire you." I was like, "What pay me? She hasn't even met me." Barrett said, "Yeah, I told her all about you. Go call her." This is payphone days." I go to the corner payphone and picked up because she was listed. I'm sure a lot of you know that. On Thanksgiving, all those nutcases would call her up and she'd have to talk them off a ledge about their turkey being left in the garage for three days, et cetera.
Sara Moulton:
Her opening line was, "Oh, dear, I've heard all about you. Do you food style?" Well, this is 1978 way before food styling was codified the way it is now and I had to do some quick thinking. I was like, "Well, I landed the parsley on the plate nicely that last restaurant I worked at. I just did cold poached decorated salmon for 700. 700 look pretty good. Yeah, I did watercolor high school." I lied. I said, "Yeah, really good." She hired me. I got to work on Julia Child and More Company, the cookbook that went with it and it was a three-month gig.
Sara Moulton:
Julia, as Alex said, had no children. She was besides having adopted children like him, she adopted a lot of us. She was a mentor and friend, but she felt like another mom. It was a relationship that I had for the rest of my life or her life. I got to work with her at Good Morning America for about 10 years. I did all the prep for her behind the scenes. We used to hang out as she did with all the young people that she got, or all the people she got to know. I was really lucky the last year, 2004 when she passed away in August, two days before her birthday.
Sara Moulton:
I forced the Food Network, I was still working there to do, a special on her. Although they initially told me, "Who cares about her." I talked them into it and I managed to do ... I think the last in-person interview or for camera in May of that year. I have to say it was the first and only time that she forgot a few things. She was getting forgetful. That's how I knew Julia, but she was always in my life and she loved my husband. Well, he was cute. What's not to love, but she loved man. I mean, she loved women.
Kerry Diamond:
She loved everybody, mostly. Sara, thank you. Dorie, you are the second person who can say Julia Child was my boss on this panel?
Dorie Greenspan:
I can but I can also ... Sara, just listening to you. The first time I went to Julia's house in Cambridge, she was boiling eggs. She had three or four pots on the garland and there were timers and notebooks and they ... She and Stephanie, were saying, "Okay, if you boil them for three minutes, if you ..." And also, the last time we had lunch together, I did notice that Julia sat next to my husband, Michael and kept patting his knee. Yeah, yeah. I met Julia ...
Dorie Greenspan:
I really came to Julia as an adult. I didn't grow up with Julia on television. While I had all of her books, I wasn't into Julia cook. I met Julia when my first book came out in 1991. We kept in touch. When she was doing, Baking With Julia, they were going to shoot the series, she called and asked if I would write the book. She had the publisher and I actually said, no, because I had just gotten a job at the Food Network. I was in show business, this was going to be a new life for me.
Dorie Greenspan:
Six months later, I thought, "What have I done? I don't love show business, but I do love Julia and I do love writing." I called and I said to her, "Who did you get to write the book?" She said, "No, one yet." I said," Sign me up." I got to work with Julia planning who would be on the series, writing the book. Like Sara being in touch with Julia, forever after. I don't think Julia has ever lost a friend, has she? I think she just held on to people.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, Grace and Tanya, I want to talk to you next because you too are chefs. Tanya, we can tell you are actually in a working restaurant, because I've seen a few people go behind you. Tanya, let's start with you. How did you meet Julia? What part of your journey were you one?
Tanya Holland:
Yeah, I had the privilege of attending La Varenna Ecole de Cuisine in Burgundy, France, and which was founded by Ann Willan and Julia was involved as well. We were just in our usual routine where we had people coming for guests on vacations. We were the stagiaires and we assisted. Then all of a sudden, the word was that Julia Child was coming to visit and it was incredible. I mean, who would have thought ... I was 25 or 26 years old, just embarking on my culinary part of my hospitality journey. I grew up a PBS kid watching electric companies Zoom, Julia Child, whatever was on PBS.
Tanya Holland:
I knew about her, but never did I think I would have access to meet her. We were getting ready, getting our uniforms all pressed and getting organized and ready to greet her. She showed up and we had champagne with her. She was just so gracious. I mean, the biggest impression that I got from her was just how gracious she was to us. She was really kind, she was interested in us. She was asking us questions. She wasn't off-putting or stuck up or someone you might think like not accessible. That was the very first time that I met her and then when I was cooking later in Boston, at Hamersley's Bistro.
Tanya Holland:
She came in as a guest with and I went up to her and I said, "Oh, I met you in France a couple years ago." She said, "Oh, I remember." I'm pretty certain she didn't really remember. But again, she was being very gracious. Then I had a third opportunity that I had to miss. I was in Boston on my way to New York and my friend who was working at, Michael Green said, "We're doing a party for Julia. You should come early." I ran to the airport, basically with my knives and of course, I couldn't get on the airplane. I missed it by like an hour. Anyways, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to meet her.
Kerry Diamond:
That's amazing. Speaking of La Varenne, I just interviewed Ann Willan this week, and we will have her on the podcast next week.
Tanya Holland:
Oh, great. Great, excellent.
Kerry Diamond:
Another incredible life and we talked about you a little bit, Tanya.
Tanya Holland:
Okay what she said.
Kerry Diamond:
All good things, all good things. Okay, great. Last but not least, you are another chef who has been influenced by Julia. I'm trying not to look at the chat too much so I can focus on what everyone's saying. But I did see the word walk come up several times, Grace. You are known as the queen of the walk. I'm sure some folks are directing some questions to already. But grace, can you tell us your Julia connection.
Grace Young:
First of all, I'm not a chef. I've never worked in a restaurant. But I am a huge Julia fan. When I was eight years old, I discovered Julia on television and I immediately just fell in love with her. I'd only had Cantonese food. My family had basically maintain the traditions of classic Chinese culinary cuisine, and I was just mesmerized. I remember that I sent away for her recipes that WGBH, a self-addressed envelope, and I would get it. I convinced my parents that they should let me cook from Julia's book and her recipes. It was the first time my family ever had classic French cooking in our home, and it was fantastic.
Grace Young:
I had this love and interests of French cooking. My parents let me study with a legendary French chef in San Francisco. Then when I was 15 years old, I heard that Julia was coming for a book signing and I didn't really know what that meant. But I convinced my dad to bring me to the White House department store, and I had my little copy of the French chef. It was the ladies who lunch. Everybody was ... There was not one Asian person in the room. It was women with low Dior suits and gold jewelry and they were all clutching a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and I had my little paperback.
Grace Young:
Paul was with Julia, and they both signed my book. That was a huge moment for me. Then later when I was writing my first cookbook, Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, I kept on thinking about Julia. In the French Chef, she starts the book by saying that she wants to take the bugaboo out of French cooking. I thought to myself that's what I want to do for Chinese cooking, is to take the bugaboo and demystify it for people. After Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen was published, the American Institute of Wine and Food had a Chinese New Year celebration, and they invited me to be the keynote speaker and Julia was there.
Grace Young:
It was actually one of these amazing experiences that my life came full circle, and that I could thank Julia in public for being such an inspiration for me. It was one of those, yeah, very, very special moments in my life. At the end of the dinner, she said, "Well, we must stay in touch." She reached into her bag, and I thought, "Oh, Julia is going to give me her business card." She pulled out her checkbook. She pulled out a deposit slip, and wrote her phone number on the deposit slip for me. The phone number was actually already printed there, but she said, "Do give me a call. We must stay in touch." That was a very, very special night for me.
Kerry Diamond:
Grace, it's so funny. I wasn't sure where you were going with the checkbook. I was like, did she you write you a check?
Grace Young:
I was wondering.
Kerry Diamond:
Grace so interesting. Also, that you said you don't call yourself a chef. I know you are an author and a teacher, but similarly Julia didn't call herself a chef, even though the world got to know her as the French chef. For those who have joined on the Jubilee journey that we've been on for the past week, we learned that it came about, and maybe Alex you can correct me if this is wrong, they needed a title that would fit on one line of TV Guide.
Alex Prud'homme:
Yeah, that's true. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Is that true?
Alex Prud'homme:
Yeah. Yeah. Julia always called herself a cook as opposed to a chef. She really thought of herself as a teacher and also as a student. She called herself an eternal pupil. One of the things, I think, that people love about her was that she felt you could always keep learning. As all of you have been talking about, I think we all experienced that with her. I mean, I was with her two days before she died and she was still talking about how she wanted to go lobster fishing in Maine, and she wanted to go to a Chicago slaughterhouse, and she wanted to teach children how to make chocolate cake. This was two days before her death. This sort of humbleness and openness that she had, I think were real trademarks of her.
Dorie Greenspan:
When I was working with Julia, we had one afternoon away from the house and the work. She had asked to play hooky and her idea of fun was going to the supermarket, which we did. But in the parking lot, she said two things to me. Why the parking lot? I don't know. But she said two things. One was, "We make such a good team, because we're a pair of home bakers." To speak to the point of her never saying that she was a chef. She also said to me, "We're so lucky." I looked at her. I felt like the luckiest person in the world. She said, "We're so lucky because we work in food and we'll never stop learning. There'll always be something for us to learn." So yeah.
Alex Prud'homme:
That's actually why she used the title Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But she loved the title because it was an ongoing process. She felt that she could never master the art of French cooking.
Kerry Diamond:
Dorie, I wanted to ask you, you've written a few essays about cooking with Julia and making lunch with Julia. I was hoping you could share a memory of Julia that maybe is connected to food in some way.
Dorie Greenspan:
A food memory. We had dinner everywhere we had ... We had lunch every afternoon, outside with the whole crew and whoever the visiting person was, the visiting chef because somebody would be prepping downstairs in the basement while we would be shooting upstairs in Julia's Kitchen. I think we went through three of ... Sara, you should have been the caterer. I think we went through three or four caterers during those eight weeks. Because Julia would say, "I want this, I want this and I don't want pasta salad." As soon as pasta salad turned up, as it always did within the first 10 days, off with their heads and on with another.
Dorie Greenspan:
We would be in the kitchen at night cooking. There would be so many of us. She loved having everybody there doing something. Everybody had a job. Everyone was part of it. That was a feeling ... There was a feeling of being together. She had a way ... Tanya, the way you said that she was so gracious and she always ... She had a way a feel for making groups come together. Every night, every group, every lunch, we would be a ... We would be the crew and different people. At the end of the day, she had a way of making us all feel together. It's not so much food, but it's around the table. She did that so well.
Kerry Diamond:
Sara, how about you?
Sara Moulton:
Well, back to working on the actual show. Julia was very spontaneous, as we all know. Back in the old days of public television, we would make three backups for every part of every recipe. We get to the onion soup show, which involved eight cups of sliced onions for every single part. Raw, times three, cooked to stage one times three, cooked to stage two, times three and for the final dish. What we would do is we lay it all out behind her on our lower counter. She'd be in front of us, me and Marian and Maura. She was the executive chef. We all had executive titles. I was the associate chef.
Sara Moulton:
Anyway, Marian and I, would stand back there waiting in case she made a mistake, which she usually didn't, although she was fine with making mistakes. That particular show, she starts with the French bread. She holds up two loaves of French bread. One is a proper French baguette and the other one is like a Wonder Bread version. She holds them and she's like, "First let's talk about the bread." She holds them up and of course the Wonder Bread one, flopped over like a bunny ear and she said, "You do not want this kind of bread. It's disgusting." She took it and she threw it behind her back.
Sara Moulton:
Marian and I inhaled as we watched this bread go across three days worth of prep of onion sliced every which way and cooked every which way. It sailed right over the top and landed on the ... wrapped itself around a beautiful bottle of wine at which point Marian and I exhaled and the show continued but nobody knew that happened. But that was Julia. I mean she'd never planned to do that. She could have wiped out everything with that one move.
Kerry Diamond:
That is so funny. I'm trying to Keep track of who has done a Julia Child impersonation so far because my goal is to have all of you to Julia Child Impersonation. Grace, you're laughing. I'll try to get one out of you at some point. Grace, I see your cat. Julia was a cat person which I do love about Julia. Tanya, you mentioned that you were a PBS kid and I smiled when you said that because my mom and I actually watched the Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary that was on television the other night, and it was so beautiful.
Kerry Diamond:
I was thinking about PBS and how much PBS shaped me as a human being between Sesame Street, like you said, electric company, Julia free to be you and me, all these wonderful things that came out of that representation is so important and I'm just wondering about you growing up watching PBS, and now women, men, everyone gets to see you on television. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Tanya Holland:
Yeah it's interesting. I was thinking during the course of everybody else talking. I think also meeting Julia, thinking about Julia, she gave me hope as being a woman in this business and even though there weren't a lot still in restaurants, but then also knowing that I can do this work until I die. Like Alex said, two days before I die, I expect to be doing something with food or whatever. But yeah, as far as the representation of being a black woman, again, meeting her, it's impossible because there was nothing in her way of talking to me that said, "Well, this is not something that you can do."
Tanya Holland:
That was someone that I looked up to so much for myself being on TV and being one of the first on the Food Network. In 2000 it was ... Yeah, it's always hard being the only one and being the only one in the room and particularly, in the early days of the Food Network. I wasn't really allowed to be myself. I wasn't expected to. The producers wanted me to act a certain way that they had expected a black woman to act. It wasn't until I did the show on my own where I really had the freedom to just fully be myself. It's good to see that there is more representation now, but we still have a long way to go.
Tanya Holland:
As we all know, a lot of the same faces keep showing up and getting multiple shows and multiple deals. I for not no lack of trying have not gotten back on television, but I've loved it. I love the process and certainly the way Julia did it, because she was just so down to earth and authentic and that's the way I like to approach television. Like I want to be the anti-screaming chef. There's nothing to scream about. That this is food. This is something that we all need, we all love, we all want to share. I don't know if that exactly answered your question, Kerry, but that's what I was thinking.
Kerry Diamond:
Thank you, Tanya. Tanya, give us a plug for your restaurants.
Tanya Holland:
Give you what?
Kerry Diamond:
Give us a plug for your restaurants since you are right there.
Tanya Holland:
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, first of all, I was going to do my impression. You didn't ask me? I don't know. When she came to visit too, we were wearing ... Our uniform was chef's pants, check pants. Julia said to me, "Where did you get those pants?" I was like, "These are just pants." I know, she thought they were really nice. I don't know. Maybe she hadn't seen them before. But that's what we used to wear the check pants.
Tanya Holland:
Yeah, this is my second ... This is kitchen 2.0. I moved two years ago to this spot in Downtown Oakland. It's a lovely room. I love it. It's like sizes of a brasserie and I can't wait to have people back in it. I hope all of you will come visit me in Oakland. Sometime soon we'll be going back into in-person dining right now. We're doing takeout and outdoor which is why you see people behind me.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, thank you, Tanya.
Tanya Holland:
Thank you to you.
Kerry Diamond:
Thank you for your impersonation. Grace, pressures on for you to do a Julia Child impersonation for us.
Grace Young:
So at this AIWF dinner, I was seated next to Julia and on the other side of Julia was my mother and father. My father is a very, very shy, quiet person. Was a very shy, quiet person. But all of a sudden he turn to Julia and he said, "Miss Child, since you lived in China, do you speak Chinese?" I looked and Julia said, "No, no." Then a few seconds later, she says, "Well, I don't know how to say in Chinese, will you please launder my handkerchiefs." That was a very sweet moment. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Grace, turn to a serious topic for a moment. Not everyone knew that Julia supported some causes that were not popular. Some of us know about her support of Planned Parenthood and some other organizations. I've been thinking a lot in my team has talked a lot about the work that you've been doing on behalf of Chinatown for over a year now. I was hoping for those in the audience who don't know what you've been doing, could you share with us a little bit about the work you've been doing on behalf of the API community and the Chinatown's across the country?
Grace Young:
Oh, thank you so much for asking me. Well, since the start of the pandemic I saw ... I live in New York City and Manhattan's Chinatown was immediately impacted by COVID on January, before there were any cases of COVID, there was immediate shunning of not only Manhattan's Chinatown, but San Francisco, Boston, Chicago. My heart just really went out to the community. In March by chance, I ended up working with poster House Museum. I went into Chinatown with a videographer Dan on and we interviewed restaurant owners and a shop owner on March 15, which actually turned out to be the last day Chinatown was as we think of it.
Grace Young:
It's a video series we call, Coronavirus Chinatown's Stories and we were recording living history. A few hours after the interviews, Mayor de Blasio locked down New York City and many of the businesses in Chinatown never reopened. From that point on, I continued to monitor what was going on in Chinatown in March, April, May, June. June, New York officially reopened but mid-March, April, May, New York Chinatown was a ghost town. It was like a Hollywood movie set of Chinatown. There was not one car driving down mark. There was maybe one individual walking on the sidewalks, almost no park cars.
Grace Young:
I saw photos of San Francisco's Chinatown and Grant Avenue was the same way. I've tried very, very hard to do everything in my power to get actual foot traffic back into Chinatown. I started a study of Chinese restaurants Instagram campaign with the Beard Foundation. I started a fundraiser to help those who are dealing with food insecurity in Chinatown and to support legacy restaurants to prepare the food because so many of the legacy businesses have closed. I feel like they're the heart and soul of Chinatown and if we continue to lose them, then Chinatown will not be Chinatown. We used to have 50 Chinatowns in this country and we're just down to a handful now.
Grace Young:
San Francisco and New York Chinatown's are not just places to eat and to shop, but they are historic Chinatown's which represent what it means to be American. Anyway, I have a fundraiser right now to raise money for ... What do they call them? Personal security alarms. It's gotten that for Asian Americans just to be out and about, we need personal security alarms to try and protect ourselves. So many of the Chinatown workers don't live in Chinatown, so they have these terrifying rides back home, by subway, or I see elderly people in Chinatown who are ... They're all vulnerable, because these attackers are going after the elderly and women and it's just horrible. I'm just trying to do everything that I can to try and bring up the community
Kerry Diamond:
Grace, on behalf of all of us we can't thank you enough for the work that you're doing. If people would like to contribute to the fundraiser or the other work you're doing, how can they take part in that?
Grace Young:
For this personal security alarms, you just go to the Asian Americans For Equality, AAFE I believe it's dot org and that would.
Kerry Diamond:
The team will share that in the chat.
Grace Young:
Yes, thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, all right. Team out there, if you can find that and please share the links to that. Grace, my next question is about Julia's Legacy and so many ways, you are the living legacy of Julia. All of you here are Julia's living legacy. I'd like to go around and ask each of you, Alex, we'll start with you, what do you think Julia's Legacy is today?
Alex Prud'homme:
Well, in one of my books, I called her revolutionary in pearls, which is a throwaway line, but it's serious underneath it all. I think our real legacy is her optimistic can do attitude. She used to say, "You've got to work hard, you could really learn your technique, take risks in the kitchen, be willing to fail and when you do never apologize and above all, have fun." This is as seemingly simple statement that she applied to cooking, but I think is actually quite profound and is kind of a life lesson. She inspired millions of people across the country. I think it was really ... At the end of the day, it was that attitude towards life, whether it was for cooking or something else, that really inspired people and made people feel that they could do things that they had never done before or were afraid of.
Kerry Diamond:
Dorie, how about you?
Dorie Greenspan:
I think we are her legacy. Cherry Bombe is certainly her legacy. She was so encouraging for women to be working in food. I think Julia taught us, we teach others. I think this is a legacy that her teaching continues. Also Grace, when you said that Julia had said she was going to take the bugaboo out of French food and she had demystified it, I think that's what so many of us are doing, in teaching other people how to cook, in writing books that make food accessible too, the technique, the bringing in new flavors, making food making recipes doable for people. That was so important for Julia, to be clear. Can I just tell one quick story?
Kerry Diamond:
Of course.
Dorie Greenspan:
Julia went on tour with Baking With Julia. She would call me every night after she'd been on tour. She always start the same way. "It was a great day. All of the recipes worked." She was so open and so funny and so gracious, that it would be easy to forget what went behind all that, all of the work that she didn't and how important it was for her. The responsibility that she felt to get everything right so that someone at home would get it right. She was thrilled when the Junior League made the wedding cake from the book and everything was perfect.
Kerry Diamond:
It's so funny. Sara, how about you? What do you think Julia's Legacy is?
Sara Moulton:
Well, it's so hard to say any one thing. I mean, she was such a trailblazer in so many ways. But I think she enabled a lot of people to feel comfortable to get in the kitchen and cook. I mean, it's really counterintuitive, because here she'd be saying, "Oh, it's so easy," as she made a ballotine of something or other. I mean, nothing she did was easy, but her whole attitude about it made it seem like, "Oh, maybe I can do that too." But even beyond that, she insisted on setting the table and serving some wine and talking about the whole dining experience.
Sara Moulton:
Tanya like we dine, we live. Because Americans at that point we're eating frozen food and eating it in front of dinner. I mean, in front of TV and not talking to each other. She brought that very good part of French culture to the United States. Really said, "Yeah, we had a dine." I would say one other little quick story is very quick. She would have ... When we were working, we'd have dinner parties at our house.
Sara Moulton:
That famous kitchen and all the counters came up to here on me and I can never reach the knives because I'm five feet. She was six, three, and the whole ... But any way, bunch of us would all be cooking dinner because we were all going to be eating dinner with her. In the middle of the whole thing, as we were doing whatever we were doing, she would turn to us and say, "Aren't we having so much fun?" It's just what Alex said she just had such a [inaudible 00:49:16]. She was amazing.
Kerry Diamond:
Tanya, how about you? What do you think Julia did?
Tanya Holland:
I mean, Kerry, I'm so glad you're talking about legacy, because I'm just amazed at so many cooks, young cooks, I meet to work for me. They don't know anything about those who came before them. It's so important, just like everybody said, I mean, there's just so much to her legacy. For me, training in France or being a huge Francophile. I was born on Bastille Day. But I got so much street cred from training in France. African American folks didn't have any choice to be in subservient positions for years and years and the thought of me go into cooking school, they thought it was crazy.
Tanya Holland:
But when they heard that I was going to France they said, "Well, Julia Child, learned to cook in France," and I was okay. I think the legacy is the French techniques bringing those classic techniques to America. I bring them to my cooking, even though I cook Southern and soul food, I'm always using those techniques. I'm just appreciative that Julia wrote the cookbooks that she did and introduced me to more than I even learned there. Yeah, I am just grateful.
Kerry Diamond:
Grace.
Grace Young:
Well, I was struck when Janie said that she was influenced by Julia in Brazil as a little girl. Here, a little Chinese girl in San Francisco, her whole life changes because of Julia Child. Many years ago, I discovered Joseph Campbell, and he talks about finding your bliss. He talks about when you find your bliss you know it and doors open up for you. When he said that, I thought to myself, Julia Child was my bliss, because the moment I saw her I knew, and unexpected doors opened up for me and things just kept on going and moving. This last year with all the turmoil with Chinatown, feel that my power was in using my voice as a cookbook author, as a known food person to try and give voice for the voiceless.
Grace Young:
It's all because of Julia, right? The night of the AIWF meal, that was so memorable for me, the entire evening as we sat having dinner, there was a steady stream of women who kept on coming up to the table and interrupting Julia feeding and saying, "Miss Child, I just want to say to you, how much you mean to me, how much you mean to my mother, how much you mean to my daughter. We have always cooked your recipes." Julia was so gracious and gave full attention to each person that came. Was never irritated or short with them. I was very powerful to witness how many people needed to express their love to her. It's was clear to me that night and it's clear to me now that her legacy will live on because so many of us have been so profoundly changed by her.
Kerry Diamond:
Grace, that's so beautiful. Thank you. All right, I hate to say it, but we are almost over. We're going to take a few audience questions because there are some fun questions in here. Alex, I'm going to ask you this one. This is kind of funny. Did Julia ever send a meal back when you were eating out in the restaurant?
Alex Prud'homme:
I never saw that happened. No. She was a hungry person. She liked to eat as Sara contest. I think we had a couple meals together. She was also very conscious of her celebrity. She didn't take it that seriously for herself, but she was aware that her actions and words had a profound influence and so I think she was careful.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Sara, what was your favorite recipe to make with Julia?
Sara Moulton:
Oh, I can't say what my favorite recipe to make was but I'll tell you what she made every single time you came over for lunch. "Salad nicoise." Every time we make a salad at home ... Now, my daughter was lucky enough to meet her too, because GMA shot something in our building and they needed children and so Ruthie went there and got to be one of the little children under the tree with Julia and this spot. Julia looked at Ruthie and she said, "Do you like McDonald's french fries?" Ruthie said, "Yes." She said, "Well, we must go some time." They never did which is sad but anyway every time we make a salad at home and put it on the table we say ... Even if it's has nothing to do with salad nicoise, we say, "Salad nicoise."
Kerry Diamond:
That's so funny. Dorie, we have a question from Alison Hornbeck. She said on Baking With Julia, the TV show, it always seemed that Julia is so thrilled to be learning from the chef she had on. Were she not comfortable with baking or was she the ultimate student? Her enthusiasm on the show is infectious.
Dorie Greenspan:
She was the ultimate student. She knew a lot about baking, but she was always interested. I think that Julia probably could have watched somebody, like five people, make five genoise and find something different in how each one made it and be interested in that. Because she was so interested, she always ask the right question. She would always ... Just as the eggs were going in and you'd wonder if they were at room temperature, Julia would say, "Were those eggs room temperature?" She was terrific because she was so interested in knowing what we needed to know and giving us that information.
Kerry Diamond:
Tanya, if Julia were around today, what would you like to see her do for the restaurant community at a time like this?
Tanya Holland:
Oh, wow. I think sort of to say Sara's point, just emphasize the importance of sitting down with each other and slowing down for a meal and how important restaurants are to our culture, to cultures around the world, to keep it going. To keep the culture going, to keep the humanity going. I would like to hear her voice tell everybody. I think people would listen.
Kerry Diamond:
Grace, this question has come up in almost everything we've done all week long as part of the Julia Jubilee. But people are so fascinated to know what culinary professionals would cook for Julia if she came over for dinner. If you had to make a meal for Julia, what would you make for her?
Grace Young:
Well, I do know that Julia loved Chinese food. The night that we had our dinner together, my mother was with her the entire night. My mother would always overdo it and just serve and serve and serve and most people would like be too much. Julia just kept on completely cleaning up her plate. It was extraordinary to see her appetite. But I think I would steam her some homemade dumplings, maybe fresh shrimp dumplings. I would make a delicate winter melon soup for her. Just do little courses.
Grace Young:
A steamed fish with scallions and ginger, really simple things that just brought out the true flavor of the ingredients. Maybe my mother used to make this rock sugar, ginger chicken that was out of this world that's in Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. She was just so appreciative of good food. You could tell that it didn't have to be fancy and it didn't have to be complicated and seasoned with a million different ingredients. Yeah, I wish I could cook for Julia.
Kerry Diamond:
That's wonderful. I hate to say this panel is over. I'm so sad that this is over and I know we could talk for another hour because you all have so many wonderful Julia stories and I hope we get to hear more of those stories soon and in the years ahead. But panelists, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your Julia stories. It's lovely seeing all of you as well. I also want to thank Todd, from the Julia Child Foundation. Also, Janie, thank you so much. We're so inspired by you and you also are our Julia's living legacy.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, everyone in the audience, thank you so much for tuning in. That is it for the Julia Jubilee. On behalf of the Cherry Bombe team and I, we have just had such a wonderful time all week, hearing everyone's Julia stories, learning Julia wisdom and it's just been ... It's been wonderful. I'm so sad that it's all over. Again, I have to thank our sponsors for making all of this possible. Kerrygold, Crate & Barrel, Le Creuset, Whole Foods Market, San Pellegrino, and Kobrand Fine Wine and Spirits. Thank you for helping us keep all of this content free.
Kerry Diamond:
Everyone keeps asking can they watch all of these panels and talks again? Yes, Cherry Bombe is a small team. Were editing everything very quickly, but it will all be online next week and we'll be sure to share all the links with everyone. Again, I just wanted to say thank you and I hope that all of you carry the spirit of Julia with you. Wherever you go and are inspired by her fearlessness, her dedication to home cooking, and most of all her joie de vivre. As we like to say Cherry Bombe, you're all the Bombe, and we'll see you for the next Jubilee. Bye, everyone.
Dorie Greenspan:
Thank you.