Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Volume 1 of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" received overwhelmingly positive reviews when it was first released in 1961. In the "New York Times", Craig Claiborne wrote that the recipes in the book "are glorious, whether they are for a simple egg in aspic or for a fish souffle," and that it "is not a book for those with a superficial interest in food...but for those who take a fundamental delight in the pleasures of cuisine." Michael Field, writing for the "New York Review of Books", praised Beck, Bertholle, and Child for "not limiting themselves to la haute cuisine," and stated that "for once, the architectural structure of the French cuisine is firmly and precisely outlined in American terms." Field's sole criticism of the book was that the authors suggested dry vermouth as a substitute for white wine, as he felt the domestic vermouth available to American home cooks, the book's target audience, was "bland and characterless." Despite being a relatively expensive cookbook, retailing for $10 in 1965, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" Volume 1 did well commercially, selling over 100,000 copies in less than five years. According to Julia Child biographer Noel Riley Fitch, the publication of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" instantaneously changed the entire American cookbook industry, leading more cookbook publishers to place emphasis on clarity and precision, and away from the "chatty and sometimes sketchy" style that had typified American cookbooks.
Julie &amp; Julia
Ephron's screenplay is adapted from two books: "My Life in France", Child's autobiography written with Alex Prud'homme, and a by Powell, "Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen" (later retitled "Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously"). Both of these books were written and published in the same time frame (2004–06). Powell's book was based on her blog "The Julie/Julia Project", where she had started documenting online her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". The film is the first major motion picture based on a blog.