AMERICA - Julia Child at 100th Anniversary

"Bon Appetit! Celebrating Julia Child's 100th Birthday" PBS Newshour 8/15/2012

Excerpt

GWEN IFILL (Newshour): Finally tonight, the continuing influence of Julia Child on cooking and American tastes.

Today would have been the famous French chef's 100th birthday. The tributes have already begun for one of the original pioneers in the PBS family.

We have our own look. And Jeffrey Brown is our guide.

JULIA CHILD: The chicken sisters, Ms. Boiler, Ms. Fryer.

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): A little confidence, Julia Child taught several generations of Americans, is all you need to cook French cuisine -- oh, and a lot of butter.

JULIA CHILD: If you do that, then the butter won't burn.

JEFFREY BROWN: In fact, it wasn't until her 30s that Child even began cooking seriously. She was born in Pasadena in 1912, and during World War II, worked for the OSS, the precursor to the CIA.

Then, in 1949, while her husband was stationed in Paris as a Foreign Service officer, she enrolled at the famed Cordon Bleu School of Cooking. In 1961, she published the first of 18 books and the one that made her a national name. "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" not only launched Child as an author. It led to her first TV show, which debuted nationally on public television in 1963.