Julie & Julia--movie review

This movie reflects screenwriter Nora Ephron's attempt to bring together two memoirs: Julia Child's My Life in France and Julie Powell's Julie & Julia. Julia Child, of course, needs no introduction. She revolutionized American cooking and pretty much launched the TV cooking show. Julie Powell, as a young writer living in a tiny apartment in NYC, decided to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days. What she called "the Julie/Julia Project" became a popular blog that turned into a book and then into this film.

Ephron (When Harry Met Sally ... and Sleepless in Seattle) does a masterful job of revealing two parallel lives separated in time and space but joined by a love of cooking. I'll be surprised if Meryl Streep doesn't win an Oscar for her remarkable portrayal of Julia Child. She is the main focus of the film, and her performance is the main reason to see it. She actually transforms herself into Julia Child. She has the voice and mannerisms down pat. Wow. How can she play such disparate roles as Miranda Priestley (in The Devil Wears Prada), Donna Sheridan (in Mama Mia!) and Julia Child? Here's the most amazing thing. Meryl Streep is only 5' 6" and Julia Child was 6' 2". Yet Meryl Streep comes across looking "tall." How did they do that? One trick is to surround her with even shorter actors. At 5' 8", Stanley Tucci is a good choice for her husband, Paul (and he gives yet another solid performance). The other trick is to choose the right camera angles--and really high heels for Streep. In some shots, they are obviously using a stand in. Actress Jane Lynch, who plays Julia's sister Dorothy, is 6' tall, yet somehow when she stands next to Streep, they appear to be about the same height. (Jane Lynch was relatively unknown when she made this film, but now she has a cult following as Sue Sylvester on Glee.)

Amy Adams plays Julie Powell, and although she is certainly a fine actress, she is overshadowed by Streep. This isn't entirely Adams' fault. Julie Powell's story just isn't as compelling as Julia Child's. Child wasn't much of a cook at all, but she knew that she loved to eat (who doesn't?). She started taking cooking lessons at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then her larger-than-life personality took over. With Streep and Child, you get two legendary figures.

This is a great film, and I would recommend it as a good "date night," but I have to give a PG-13 warning. Movie ratings now allow one use of the "R-rated" swear word (in a none-sexual context) before the film receives an R rating. There are so many movies now that have little objectionable content except for the one use of this word (Stranger Than Fiction is a good example). Without this and a few other remarks, the film would probably be rated PG.

A warning, however, about Julie Powell's blog and book. These both have many uses of strong language (she is a New Yorker, after all) and some pretty explicit sexual content. Just a heads up before you select this book for your Relief Society book circle. Stick with Julia Child's My Life in France or one of several biographies about her. If you want a book that is not as daunting as Mastering the Art of French Cooking, check out Julia Child's *Julia's Kitchen Wisdom* (only 160 pages).

What did Julia Child think of the blog? Judith Jones, Julia Child's long-time friend and publisher reported that Julia didn't consider Powell "a serious cook" and thought the blog was a flimsy stunt. She also objected to all of the harsh language (and rightly so). Jones wrote, "Flinging around four-letter words when cooking isn’t attractive, to me or Julia."

Rooibos

I first tried herbal tea on my mission to Denmark. Once they let you in the door (which wasn't very often), the Danes were very hospitable, but it was difficult for them to find something to serve us. "Would you like a cup of coffee? A beer? Some tea?" The easiest answer was to suggest herb tea.

I'm not sure what the first herbal blend was that I tasted, but I thought it tasted like weeds. Then I got to where I really liked herb tea--particularly peppermint tea. (I used to eat that Ricola granulated tea right out of the can.)

Recently, I've been turned on to rooibos (roy-boss), or African "red tea." I first learned about rooibos by reading the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. The main character, Mma Precious Ramotswe, prefers the native African red tea, or "bush tea," to the imported green or black tea. Red tea is naturally caffeine free and high in antioxidants. Those who know tell me that it preserves some of the qualities of regular tea. As a result it's occasionally used as a substitute for tea or even coffee. (You can buy an "Earl Grey" variety, which is red tea with oil of bergamot, an essential oil extracted from the bergamot orange.)

My kids were a little disturbed when they saw me mixing up a cup of rooibos. "Dad," they asked, "I thought you weren't supposed to drink tea." This led to a lengthy discussion about what is really "tea" and what the Word of Wisdom means by "hot drinks." They were finally satisfied when I pointed out that just like "rootbeer" doesn't really have beer, not everything that is called "tea" is really tea. (In the world of French cooking, an herb tea is technically a "tisane," a word describing any herbal infusion.)

Red tea will taste best if you let it steep for a longer time than you would regular herb tea. Pour boiling water on the tea bag and let it sit for at least five minutes until it is a dark, rich red. I sweeten mine with sugar or honey. In Africa, milk is often mixed into the tea. Red tea also makes a good iced tea.

There are a few retail varieties of rooibos. Republic of Tea (which I haven't tried) offers several flavor blends. Kalahari offers a pure red tea along with several blends, including the "Africa Grey." You can also find varieties from Celestial Seasonings, Tazo, Lipton, and Twinings (which is my favorite). But nothing from Bigelow that I can find.

If you're going to drink herbal teas, you need to be a careful reader of labels because sometimes herb teas have regular tea blended in. I avoid green tea, black tea, and white tea (oolong). Although church members drink it in Argentina, I would also avoid yerba mate. This isn't tea, but it's got pretty strong stimulants (as does guarana).

"No thanks, I ate bugs for lunch . . . ."

In one of the few really good scenes from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Kate Capshaw's character dines on some exotic and extreme (but not very realistic) Indian food. When one of her fellow diners asks why she isn't eating, she replies, "I ate bugs for lunch."

I'm currently reading Christa Weil's Fierce Food: The Intrepid Diner's Guide to the Unusual, Exotic, and Downright Bizarre. This is an alphabetical listing of extreme foods from Armadillo to Yuba. (Armadillo is apparently tasty, but a major carrier of leprosy--caveat omnivore.)

Weil is a London-based fashion journalist, whose other books are Secondhand Chic and It's Vintage, Darling!. As far as I can tell, this is her first foray into food writing.

These are brief and interesting discussions of exotic food from around the world, most of which just sound too disgusting to eat but a few of which might be interesting. Weil has developed an interesting rating system for each item, indicating for example whether the item "has eyes," "tastes like chicken," or "may cause pain/disease/death."

This book provides good bedtime reading because each entry is only a page or so long, but you might end up with some strange dreams. (You can buy the book used on Amazon for 1 cent plus shipping.)