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Setting the Table for Julia Child: Gourmet Dining in America, 1934–1961
Before Julia Child’s warbling voice and towering figure burst into America’s homes, a gourmet food movement was already sweeping the nation. Setting the Table for Julia Child considers how the tastes and techniques cultivated at dining clubs and in the pages of Gourmet magazine helped prepare many affluent Americans for Child’s lessons in French cooking.
David Strauss argues that Americans’ appetite for haute cuisine had been growing ever since the repeal of Prohibition. Dazzled by visions of the good life presented in luxury lifestyle magazines and by the practices of the upper class, who adopted European taste and fashion, upper-middle-class Americans increasingly populated the gourmet movement. In the process, they came to appreciate the cuisine created by France's greatest chef, Auguste Escoffier.
Strauss’s impressive archival research illuminates themes—gender, class, consumerism, and national identity—that influenced the course of gourmet dining in America. He also points out how the work of painters and fine printers—reproduced here—called attention to the aesthetic of dining, a vision that heightened one’s anticipation of a gratifying experience.
In the midst of this burgeoning gourmet food movement Child found her niche. The movement may have introduced affluent Americans to the pleasure of French cuisine years before Julia Child, but it was Julia’s lessons that expanded the audience for gourmet dining and turned lovers of French cuisine into cooks.
David Strauss argues that Americans’ appetite for haute cuisine had been growing ever since the repeal of Prohibition. Dazzled by visions of the good life presented in luxury lifestyle magazines and by the practices of the upper class, who adopted European taste and fashion, upper-middle-class Americans increasingly populated the gourmet movement. In the process, they came to appreciate the cuisine created by France's greatest chef, Auguste Escoffier.
Strauss’s impressive archival research illuminates themes—gender, class, consumerism, and national identity—that influenced the course of gourmet dining in America. He also points out how the work of painters and fine printers—reproduced here—called attention to the aesthetic of dining, a vision that heightened one’s anticipation of a gratifying experience.
In the midst of this burgeoning gourmet food movement Child found her niche. The movement may have introduced affluent Americans to the pleasure of French cuisine years before Julia Child, but it was Julia’s lessons that expanded the audience for gourmet dining and turned lovers of French cuisine into cooks.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 10, 2012
While Julia Child is often heralded as the sole savior who elevated American cuisine, Strauss chronicles the growing momentum of the gourmet movement that reached a climax of sorts at the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Before there was Julia, there was:
- A gaggle of elitist, male-centered gourmet dining societies, which begin in the 1930s (this is interesting for about 10 pages, but there are two chapters on this)
- Gourmet magazine, whose first issue comes out in 1941, which will promote gourmet dining not only throughout, but as part of the war effort (I loved this bit)
- Travel writers who linked cuisine to tourism, particularly in Europe and more specifically, in France (again, interesting, but goes a bit long and gets a bit bogged down in the details)
I particularly like his exploration of the cultural conflict between gourmet dining and nutritionism, which have gone head to head throughout the twentieth century. As I begin my archival study of airline dining, I also found his arguments on American travel and cuisine exposure relevant and thoughtful.
Some sections are certainly more interesting than others, but all in all, it's an interesting book that I hope to incorporate in my research going forward.
- A gaggle of elitist, male-centered gourmet dining societies, which begin in the 1930s (this is interesting for about 10 pages, but there are two chapters on this)
- Gourmet magazine, whose first issue comes out in 1941, which will promote gourmet dining not only throughout, but as part of the war effort (I loved this bit)
- Travel writers who linked cuisine to tourism, particularly in Europe and more specifically, in France (again, interesting, but goes a bit long and gets a bit bogged down in the details)
I particularly like his exploration of the cultural conflict between gourmet dining and nutritionism, which have gone head to head throughout the twentieth century. As I begin my archival study of airline dining, I also found his arguments on American travel and cuisine exposure relevant and thoughtful.
Some sections are certainly more interesting than others, but all in all, it's an interesting book that I hope to incorporate in my research going forward.
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June 9, 2011A very concise and descriptive read. The research and references reflect the author's dedication to accuracy. A great compilation for an era that produced amazing talent and clothed the table for today's enthusiasm.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews