 "Bon appetit!!" | 2008-04-16 |
| - Reviewed By movibuf |
Wow. I'm a FOODNETWORK junkie at heart, and seeing this show puts all those other wild, pretentious, and over-the-top cooking shows in their proper perspective. For my first ever Amazon purchase I chose this marvelous foray into early videotape television. Ms. Child- already 50 at the start of this series and an amazon in her own right with her 6'2" frame- gives you the direct cooking business, without giving you the business. I had seen some of her later shows on PBS in the 80s, but THE FRENCH CHEF had already wrapped by then- save the occasional reruns. (Amazingly, this marvelous show only ran ten years, ending in 1973.) But the episodes don't look any older or younger than any of her subsequent series, which is a testimony to their timelessness. Humble, self-deprecating, and a little wicked, Julia rocks. And cooks. And brandishes a mean cleaver. Watch for the notable kinescope look of her very first show (from 1963) as she prepares Boeuf Bourguignon in real time. Later episodes switch over to B&W videotape, then to color videotape as well as a new, springier theme song, while gliding through such dishes as Salade Nicoise, Pommes de terre (potatoes) au gratain, spinach in puff pastry, lobster, stuffed sausage, roast suckling pig, chocloate mousse, an entire episode dedictated to roasting a chicken, and french onion soup. Purchase the 2 French Chef volumes together if you can-- more Julia at one time!!
Omigod-- "the Chicken sisters!!" |
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| "Julia Child is great!" | 2007-12-13 |
| - Reviewed By sammyjo_unca |
| Julia Child is a character. I grew up watching her, so it is nice to reminisce with her craziness. This set includes some black and white and shows in color. Also, there are snippets of her in France. This has been passed around my family, so we all enjoy it. Bon apetite! |
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| "The great Julia Childs" | 2007-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By templar |
| What can one say? She was the Queen of cooking shows, and I grew up watching her on television as her show was unusual for the time. I learned to cook from her, and am greatful that her series has been preserved on DVD. Highly recommended as all of her recipes were thoroughly tested by her before even making it into her landmark cookbook "The French Chef" or her television series. She was meticulous in her testing, and having tried a number of her recipes, I can say that they are magnificent. |
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| "The Best Cooking Secrets" | 2006-08-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2ZBDNE9AEPYKC |
| 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. |
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| "The French Chef - Julia Child" | 2006-08-20 |
| - Reviewed By foodie34 |
| Just great, a real classic, and still so relevant today. |
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| "Beginnings" | 2006-08-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: ACKYJ3V432X29 |
| 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. |
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| "Fun with Julia in the kitchen" | 2006-06-26 |
| - Reviewed By mefrench |
| With many of the early episodes & recipes included, this DVD is a delight. Watching Julia's aplomb as things go wrong is reassuring to anyone who has had a kitchen disaster. Though I doubt that I'll cook the tripe, some of the other recipes look worth tackling. |
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| "Dinner and a Show" | 2006-03-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: A30594025F40TX |
| 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. |
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| "Thank you Julia!!!" | 2005-12-28 |
| - Reviewed By theskinnychef |
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. |
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| "Five Stars for Julia Child and Ruth Lockwood" | 2005-11-05 |
| - Reviewed By robbiekendall |
| 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! |
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