THE FRENCH CHEF

My favorite show used to be Captain Kangaroo. He was always being fooled by Mr. Moose with his knock, knock jokes. He would then receive a shower of ping pong balls. When the Captain was not on we were exposed to the original Celebrity Chefs. There was no food network. Emeril was probably a line cook. I do remember Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet. His show would come on in the morning. He would always tell a joke to start the show. He was very entertaining. He caught the attention of my young impressionable mind. He made calf brains look appetizing. I even lobbied my Mother to buy some. That did not go over to well. We would also watch 'The Grande Dame' of PBS Julia Child. What a show this was! She was over the top. With her sing song voice and large presence, a fun cooking environment, was created. This was the beginning of cooking on TV as entertainment. Martin Yan and Jeff Smith followed in the PBS lineup. I was hooked on cooking shows at an early age. I now have a DVD of Julia to remember how entertaining she really was.

"The French Chef is a three DVD set. It can be purchased from all the usual suspects. What a treat this is. It is a compilation of her PBS shows. The three discs are separated by categories. Disc 1, is about Starters and Side Dishes. One of the episodes on this disc is Bouillabaisse a la Marseillaise. She hacks up this monster fish with a Huge cleaver. It is pretty impressive seeing her hack up this whale. Disc 2, is about Main Courses. Tripes a la Mode is entertaining because she brings out the whole stomach. She has to wrestle it to the counter. Disc 3, is about baking and desserts. Julia makes a Queen of Sheba Cake in an episode. The shows span from the early black and white episodes in the 60's to the later color episodes. It was a kick to watch Julia drop something on the counter and just swipe it to the floor.

I have had a great time watching these show. It really makes you appreciate what a great teacher and entertainer Julia was. It also makes you realize how lame a lot of the new cooking show have become. This DVD will bring a smile to your face.

Bon Appetit!