Legendary chef and cookbook author Julia Child taped her first TV appearance nearly 60 years ago, on a public TV station in Boston. It was a landmark moment, as Child essentially invented food television, which has gone on to become a behemoth industry in the television, film and now social media industry. It’s only apropos, then, that Child’s legacy continues to loom large, especially with the boom of Julia Child-related content that’s amassing on the airwaves right now.
“Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” producer Daniel Goldfarb has a new biography series out celebrating the American chef who taught the country to cook French. Now streaming on HBO Max, “Julia” stars British actress Sarah Lancashire as Julia Child, in the eight-episode series named after different dishes for which Child was known. David Hyde Pierce stars as her loving husband Paul, and the series charts her rise to the top as a beloved household name and presence in America’s kitchens.
Also titled “Julia,” the new documentary from “RBG” directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen depicts the life of Child in this breezy biographical doc, which was released in late 2021. The film charts her early life and courtship and her storied career as a television innovator in the early days of the medium, as well as her lasting legacy for chefs who have followed in her footsteps and home cooks who have been inspired by her recipes. Rent the film on all platforms for a $5.99 rental.
Of course, the renaissance of Julia Child mania started back in 2009 with Nora Ephron’s hit film “Julie & Julia,” starring Meryl Streep as Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell, a New York City blogger cooking her way through Child’s oeuvre. Her embodiment of the chef earned Streep one of her many Oscar nominations for Best Actress. Stream it on Starz or rent it for $2.99 elsewhere.
Also new to the Food Network, “The Julia Child Challenge,” which tasks amateur chefs to follow along and master some of Child’s most iconic recipes in this twist on a reality competition cooking show. The prize for the winner is pretty good too: a trip to Paris to study at Child’s legendary alma mater, culinary school Le Cordon Bleu. Stream through discovery+ on Amazon or Hulu, or check it out on Food Network.
But if all you want is the real thing (remember, Julia always advocated for cooking with the real thing too), PBS, Child’s TV home, has a wide variety of her programs available to stream in “The Julia Child” video collection. Just sign in with your local provider and get watching on series like “The French Chef” and “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home.” Or, Amazon has season one of “The French Chef” available as well. Here’s to finding some culinary inspiration from the woman who taught America to make an omelette almost 6 decades ago.
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