Martha Stewart Pays Tribute to Julia Child in a New PBS Series
It's no secret that Julia Child had an unparalleled and profound impact on food media. Professional and home cooks alike were inspired by her innovative cooking show, The French Chef, her joy of being in the kitchen, and, let's face it, her incredible use of butter. Now some of the most well-known chefs across the world are joining forces to celebrate Child and relive her iconic episodes. In a new six-part series titled Dishing with Julia Child, nine chefs will re-watch episodes from Child's show and share personal anecdotes and reflections on her legacy. The episodes will include "Your Own French Onion Soup," "Boeuf Bourguignon," and "To Roast a Chicken."
"Julia Child pioneered what cooking shows have become today and to get a once-in-a-lifetime look at how she inspired the master chefs of today is truly a treat," said Andrea Downing, co-president of PBS Distribution. The chefs slated for the series include our founder, Martha Stewart, as well as José Andrés, Rick Bayless, Carla Hall, Vivian Howard, Sara Moulton, Jacques Pépin, Éric Ripert, and Marcus Samuelsson. "Because Julia really was so amusing and so interesting on television, many of us who wanted to have television shows really used her as an example," Martha said in a trailer for the new series.
Related: Julia Child Really Did Teach Us the Way to Cook
In addition to being one of the first cooks-turned-television-personalities, Child is best known for her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking ($17.89, amazon.com). Child moved from her home state of California to France, where she lived for several decades, before returning to the states, bringing along her love and knowledge of French cooking. She demystified complex French dishes like boeuf bourguignon and bouillabaisse, and convinced home cooks everywhere that they too could recreate these iconic European dishes in their own kitchens.
"I think what Julia did with her television show was to make people aware that learning how to cook, experiencing the cuisines of other countries, [and] to really study a recipe the way she studied a recipe was certainly interesting and certainly brilliant. I think that really was the beginning of the craze for food on TV," Martha said. The series will be available for streaming on PBS, Apple TV, and Prime Video beginning on February 28, 2020. For anyone who doesn't have access to those streaming services, the series will have its broadcast premiere on local PBS stations beginning on April 3, 2020. In the words of Julia Child, bon appétit!
