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I just finished watching all 10 (!) hours of this four-DVD set over several days, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is seriously interested in learning to cook time-tested, delicious meals at home. But be aware: this is old-school bourgeois cookery: roasts, stews, flans and crepe gateaus. This isn't foamed smoked salmon on a bed of organic flower petals or other such nonsense.
Rather, it is gratifying cooking that requires some practice and attention. That's why these DVDs are so great: You can easily play and replay the techniques that are often the most difficult in french cooking. Jacques Pepin debones a duck for an easy stove-top preparation, but if you were watching on PBS, you'd be likely to forget the exact steps and tricks for removing the hip bone or separating the breast from the carcass. It takes a bit of thinking, but if you go out and buy a duck, take it home, and review the DVD as often (and as slowly) as necessary, you will get it right. This is a great leap for home-learning.
These DVDs are a boon for Julia and Jacques's desire to convince America to return to homey, sensible meals, because it makes learning the techiques less forbidding. (I did the "serious amateur's" Saturday cooking classes at the French Culinary Institute in SoHo, where Pepin is a dean, and I especially appreciate the reminders that the DVDs provide; his technique and style is 100% FCI.)
For a lifelong devotee of Julia, it's difficult at times to see the great dame aging on-screen (and this is from '94-'95); Jacques does most of the heavy lifting here. But the series is nonetheless 100% Child and is worthy of her legend.
NOW IF ONLY THEY WOULD RELEASE ALL OF THE OLD SHOWS ON DVD ("Julia Child and Company," "Julia Child and More Company" or even the old "French Chef")!! A la Carte communications take note: there are more Julia addicts out there than just I!
There is a lot of information here, not only on how to cook but also on how Julia and Jacques think and feel about food, in the margins and in the recipes. They don't hesitate to explore their differences of opinion, from seasonings to what to do if you make a mistake. As a weekend gourmet cook, I find this extremely helpful. It has already enhanced my comfort and ease with the food I cook, and that, to me, is worth it.