Seeing Julia’s Kitchen
Since reading about the Julie and Julia Project, since reading My Life in France, and since watching the movie, I haven’t made it to Julia Child’s kitchen at the Smithsonian in Washington. That is, until today.
This was a powerful place. First, I got to the museum early on Sunday morning, shortly after it opened, and it seemed “empty” until I found the Julia exhibit on the first floor. Whoa. A crowd of people.
For some reason, I had the emotional baggage of Julie Powell with me, I was a bit overwhelmed with it all. I’ve been watching Julia’s shows on DVD lately with Jacques Pepin, and to see the kitchen up close, in person, was an intense experience.
By the time I made it around to all of the accompanying stuff around the outside of the kitchen (mementos, kitchen tools, and videos with interviews and her shows), I heard some folks talking… people were sharing their stories about coming to love cooking from this woman. It was a bit too much to take…
I stepped back out, into the main hallway, where you can see the exhibit through glass. Here was a bunch of Americans who had a connection to this woman, paying their respects, if you will, on a cold Sunday morning in the nation’s capital city. There’s the constitution to see, there’s artifacts from our founding fathers, but here they are, to see a glimpse into the domestic world of a famous American cook and TV personality. Julia Child.
I wish I could have met the woman. Better yet, as someone tweeted me today after I posted a picture of her Le Cordon Bleu diploma, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a meal with her?”
I think this woman’s success is directly related to her passion. She wasn’t a particuarly gifted speaker on television (her mistakes and such are great, however, because they reveal the authenticity of the shows). She was a messy cook, at least in front of a camera. Yet, her passion carried out to all these people. I wonder how many visit per year, to see her kitchen?
I, or any of us for that matter, should be so lucky that we make a mark on the world with our passions that folks come to see something we leave behind.
I had a great day.
Julia Child’s kitchen is located at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, on the mall, in Washington, D.C. Yes, even her E. Dehillerin pans.
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