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This little assignment, writing about my friendship with Julia Child, was a fun project: I started by re-reading my file of Julia's letters to me through the years. Our themes were varied but bakery products and projects, the personal threads of our lives, and Julia's projects were the constant subjects.
 Julia Child and Danielle Forestier, photo by Paul Child ~1977
We shared the same professor of bread baking, Prof. Calvel, in Paris. Julia while writing about making baguettes for Mastering, Vol. II and I for my Master Baker certification classes. Prof. Calvel introduced us while helping me open my bakery in 1976 and we three were friends from then on.
Julia and I discussed food, especially bakery things, endlessly and in detail. The puff pastry problem in the bakery harassed me. In France, I worried about getting the texture and the airiness to my standards with American flour, especially achieving a tender bite. That standard turned out not to be a problem, but where was the flavor so important to compliment the texture? Julia answered that question with one little astute comment so typical of her: "more butter". Of course! We complained daily about the modest flavor of American butter!
When discussing various projects of teaching and training bakers in other places and countries Julia would often remark that I was 'teaching them to eat!' That was what mattered to her; that was what she wanted to happen.
Of course we all think of eating when we think of Julia. It's what she did. And I think of her with a special appreciation of how my palate became more refined through our dining and talking. But even more prominent in my thoughts is an appreciation of her ego, her peace with the world and her personal standard to put people together. She was wholly selfless.
In our 30 year friendship, I never experienced an instance of her needing to act to protect her own feelings. She seemed impervious to misgivings of self-confidence. She had a native ability to feel comfortable in her self and unthreatened by others opinions. What a gift! Coupled with her natural generosity she truly had a character to be emulated. She worked to connect people who shared interests and she did this behind the scenes, often only discovered by chance much later. I suspect many a young chef found opportunities because Julia had 'put in a word' to someone else.
Julia's selflessness and generosity helped make her marriage strong and long. Paul's little peculiarities were disregarded without censure, even if she disagreed with him. He would not share tastes at the table; he "ordered what he wanted to eat and ate it himself", a disappointment for the rest of us if we wanted to sample the cooks' talents served on his plate. She and Paul shared a mutual respect and deep caring, and their marriage became the model for my second. When I told her this she lent me the 'borrowed' and the "blue" item for our wedding, an amulet to remember to try to build a marriage like she and Paul enjoyed.
About Danielle Forestier
Danielle Forestier, Oakland, CA, trained and certified in Paris as a Master Baker troubleshoots bakery production problems, trains bakers and works on new bakery products. Her Santa Barbara bakery, Les Belles Miches, was widely acclaimed for the quality of its French bakery products. Julia featured Danielle making baguettes on her Baking With Julia series.
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