Julia Child Fever

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last month or so, you’ve heard something about Julie & Julia, the new Nora Ephron film about the life and legend of Julia Child, which hits American theaters this Friday. The American cooking doyenne, born Julia Carolyn McWilliams in California in 1912, introduced French cuisine to the American mainstream, starting with the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, first published in 1961. Her television program The French Chef, which aired for the first time in 1963, pushed words like soufflé, béchamel, and roux into the kitchen vernacular, and brought us that classic phrase, “Butter is better.”

Everybody is celebrating Julia right now, including PBS, which is airing old episodes of The French Chef all this week. For a little taste of her special kitchen methods, here’s Madame Child in her kitchen, teaching the world how to make the perfect omelette.

Julie & Julia opens nationwide on Friday, August 7. Find out more.