Customer Reviews

Julia Child - The French Chef

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Most episodes are in black and white. It's definitely vintage television. Some shows I can find in her companion book, The French Chef - ISBN 0-345-42542-1; others like The Spinach Twins and French Fries I can't even find the individual recipes in the index let alone the show.

Each DVD contains a couple of printable recipes, and there's also a Julia Biography.

The 18 episodes on the three-disc DVD are:

Starters and Sidedishes
1. The potato show
2. Your own french onion soup
3. Bouilabaisse à la Marseillaise
4. The spinach twins
5. Salad Niçoise
6. French fries

Main Courses
1. Bœuf Bourguignon
2. To roast a chicken
3. The lobster show
4. To stuff a sausage
5. Tripes à la mode
6. The whole fish story

Baking, Desserts, and other Classics
1. Queen of sheba cake
2. Cheese and wine party
3. Apple dessert
4. Mouse au chocolat
5. The good loaf
6. The omelette show

These `The French Chef' DVDs give us 18 episodes of this landmark Julia Child PBS series organized by course rather than by chronology. Among the first disc's side dishes are early (1960s) black and white episodes mixed in with later (1970s) color episodes. These confirm what we have read in Julia Child's biography that the early shows were Herculean feats of improvisation in front of a live TV camera in an improvised Boston (WGBH) studio, where there was no opportunity to edit out mistakes.

These episodes show how Child really set the standard for the TV cooking show and invented almost all the conventions we see nowadays from the likes of Paula Deen, Giada DeLaurentiis, and Emeril Lagasse (in his no-audience `Essence of Emeril' shows). It also shows where show creators such as Alton Brown and Rachael Ray have created great shows primarily by breaking out of Julia Child's prototype.

While the contemporary TV culinarians still follow Julia's lead, it is amazing to see how so many of Julia's shows still do a better job with their subject. For starters, you get the full 30 minutes of material per episode. You don't get 22 minutes of material with three interruptions for commercials and promotions. You also get complete shows on a single dish, albeit relatively complicated dishes like the classic `Salade Nicoise'. After four years of watching the Food Network virtually on a daily basis, I recall no show, even from the more classicly oriented hosts such as Martha Stewart or Ina Garten, dealing with a complete composed salad.

The `Salade Nicoise' is composed of at least three major and two or three minor tasks. Making the potato salad alone takes practically half the show. And, actually seeing how Miss Julia composes the final presentation is easily worth anything from Ina or Martha.

In contrast, the modern 22 minute culinary shows are often used to demonstrate three or even four different dishes, which leaves very little room for expounding on less common techniques. If nothing else, the art of the swapout has been mastered to the point where one may be surprised to see any real cookng at all. This is one reason why I respect Rachael Ray's demonstrations, as she is clearly always working in real time.

One possible negative aspect of this show is seen on some episodes where Miss Julia gives us the traditional French method which has really been discarded by almost all modern chefs. One example which comes to mind is on her demonstration of trussing a roasting chicken. Every modern American writer I have seen, including even James Beard from 30 years ago, does not bother trussing a chicken in any way. They simply tuck the wing tips under the body and may suggest tenting the breast with aluminum foil or draping it with bacon so it does not become too well done while the slower cooking dark meat finishes.

Even this show, however, has its virtues, as when Julia shows us how to detect when a bird has gone past its prime by checking the bone on the tip of the breast. If it is fully bony, the bird is probably well over a year old. If it is still soft, the bird is still between 9 and 12 months old. I was also pleased to see, on this episode, exactly how the wishbone is extracted and was reassured to see that even so expert a cook as Ms. Julia Child had some difficulty in doing it neatly.

In short, Julia Child had no inhibitions against doing messy kitchen tasks.

If you are a Food Network junkie, or just a foodie, you can't go wrong by acquiring these Disks.

One of the many things that I love about Julia is that she was a REAL person. She made mistakes, and they were never edited out. That alone made her shows and recipes much less intimidating for the average home cook to try.

This DVD set is such a treat, and it's about time PBS got off their bums and released these shows! My only gripe (and it's a VERY minor one) is that there is no *Play All* option...you have to play one episode at a time, then it goes back to the menu, and you have to reach for the clicker again. Otherwise, this is a wonderful set.

I hope that this sells very well, so that PBS will want to release more sets. I know that I would buy every single one of them!

I knew I would love learning from Julia's shows and see lots of techniques but I had no idea how hilarious these shows are. Julia has a dry humor and a delightful way of handling mishaps but the burned french onion soup and the tart that flipped out of the pan and onto the counter were the best!! No one on the food network would let you see how to do this part of cooking. I'm too young to have seen the shows first hand so there are all new to me. Julia said in an interview once that she always considered herself a cooking teacher and she is. The dish being prepared is just the vehicle to teach about everything from how to shop for food to how important it is to keep your area clean and tidy. And did you know that apples must be stirred with a "purple spoon?" Everything that I make from these DVDs is great and has become a kitchen regular. I recommend them for entertainment, education and a good laugh.

This is indeed a magical set. Julia's was the very first PBS cooking show, and these episodes demonstrate why the genre caught on so well. Julia is incredibly entertaining, and the lessons she teaches as she goes along are invaluable to anyone who likes to cook (e.g. how to sharpen and use a knife).

To correct a few things that have been written by others:
1) Five of these episodes are in black and white; 13 are in color.
2) The version of "Boeuf Bourguignon" included here is not the first show. That show is lost. Episode 96 is the redo version that still exists.
3) Recipes from black and white episodes are found in the book The French Chef Cookbook. Recipes from the color episodes are found in the book From Julia Child's Kitchen.
4) 134 black and white episodes were made, but some have been lost. This collection is chosen from the 119 existing black and white episodes and the 72 color episodes that were made. Thus, there are a total of 191 existing episodes of The French Chef.

This set of 18 shows leaves me hungry for the other 173! Thank goodness Volume 2 is coming soon!

Alright, I admit it: I am a chef wannabe. So my reviews of cooking and baking books, DVDs, etc are slanted.

But you will have to admit, that before there was Paul, Jacque, Martha, Mario, Michael, Giada, Bobby and all the other greats, there was, and always will be, the one and only Julia. No one greater. This first DVD from her groundbreaking cooking series is a pure joy.

When this series first came out in the 60's, I was a little kid. It was on Saturdays on our local PBS station. I would stop anything I was doing and plop myself in front of the TV and wait for this tall, somewhat accented, unusual lady to teach me another cooking/baking secret of French cooking. I was hooked from the moment that I saw her first show. She IS the queen.

This show was the beginning of what would slowly evolve into an incredible food industry, eventually making TV cooking and baking a huge market, and starting the careers of many a chef.

This is a 3-disc set. It comes encased within a jacket that shows many photographs of how the show was really made with set people put into uncomfortable positions in order to invisibly help Ms. Child in making her show the success that it was.

The first disc is entitled "Starters and Side Dishes":
1. The Potato Show
2. Your Own French Onion Soup
3. Bouillabaisse a la Marseillaise
4. The Spinach Twins
5. Salade Nicoise
6. French Fries

The second disc is entitled "Main Courses":
1. Beef Bourguignon
2. To Roast a Chicken
3. The Lobster Show
4. To Stuff a Sausage
5. Tripes a la Mode
6. The Whole Fish Story

The third disc is entitled "Baking, Desserts, and Other Classics":
1. Queen of Sheba Cake
2. Cheese and Wine Party
3. Apple Dessert
4. Mousse Au Chocolat
5. The Good Loaf
6. The Omelette Show

She makes cooking and baking a class in which she does not act as if she is perfect. Things happen and perhaps it won't go as smoothly as it should, but if it can happen to her, then you know it is OK to have mishaps occur for you. She made you comfortable in learning and appreciating a different cuisine. Her point was that she loved French cooking and she wanted to share that knowledge with you. Julia was quite an interesting woman who had a rather interesting and privileged upbringing. Suffice it to say that early in her life, she did not even know how to boil water, much less attempt French cooking. But the love of a man named Paul Child, changed everything and that love evolved her life into the woman we came to know and admire. If you are interested in her biography, I suggest "Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child" by Noel Riley Fitch.

She was such a gracious woman, but all who have known her have said that she was an everyday person, who took no pains in letting you know that she was as comfortable in simple surroundings as in fancy ones. You feel that in her manner of talking in this, or any of her series. She was the "grand dame" of the culinary world and we were blessed by her style and presence.

Like others, I remember the fascination with watching Julia Child on public television as a kid in the 70's, and even beyond (I think it was on cable sometime within the last decade). Recently I felt compelled to purchase this. I own the book "In Julia Child's Kitchen" which most of the recipes for the color TV shows are found, and I had fond memories. I was not disappointed! In fact, I plan to purchase Volume 2. I love the way the discs are divided into appetizers, etc., main courses and desserts. So much information here. Each show is a full 30 minutes. I love how Julia throws other information in along the way (such as the French Onion Soup show where she goes into detail about sharpening and caring for knives). Such a warm and wonderful personality, she is always humourous, never condescending. It is funny to watch things "not quite" turn out as planned, and she goes with it. It is a joy to watch!
My only disappointment is that there's not a "Volume 3." There are SO MANY of these shows available, I hope WGBH in Boston will release them in time. (One that I REALLY wish they would release on DVD is the Chicken Breast show which featured Chicken Kiev, I remember this one especially.) Yes, these shows are 30+ years old, and some of the foods are not quite what I would serve today (tripe, anyone?) but regardless there is a wealth of information in addition to the entertainment value. Highly recommended!

One may remember Julia Child as more of a perfectionist than she actually was and that these disks make clear. The Queen of Sheba Cake episode alone is worth the price of the set of three DVDs. I have been making this recipe for over four years and was amazed how much more I learned by actually seeing her perform the recipe herself. And she is right, it is the best chocolate cake you will have ever eaten. One wishes that more recipes were included, only two per disk, six in total, the one imperfection in this set. And I must add that they have not colorized the black and white episodes, Bravo!

Julia Child still is the best! The DVD's contain many, many of the secrets to French cooking that only can otherwise be found by purchasing many books and watching hours and hours of the Food Channel. The examples and visual images are excellent.

I purchased both DVD's of The French Chef. Both are equally enjoyable and bring back a different time when we didn't have "food celebraties" but just Julia. Still informative and interesting along with the combination of her irreverance and humor make these DVD's a must have whether the viewer enjoys cooking or not.