ALEX PRUD’HOMME

Celebrates Julia Child’s Enduring Legacy

by Raven Howell

Growing up, Alex Prud’homme spent many years listening to Julia Child’s captivating stories about living in France and discovering great food. Alex is Julia’s grandnephew, and as an author, he’s relayed Julia’s gusto for good food and experiences of her adventurous spirit by writing her memoir (My Life in France), and a new Julia Child picture book, Born Hungry. No pun intended, but with an advance copy in hand, I devoured every page and then went back for seconds!     

Over the years, Alex has written for many prestigious magazines and published a vast catalog of books, from feasting in France to Hydrofracking. Born Hungry is a book he’s feeling particularly passionate about sharing.

Alex is cheerful. “Hi, and thanks for your interest in Born Hungry! I hope it makes you smile … and hungry,” he says.

His motivation for writing is heartfelt. “I like to educate, entertain, and inspire readers which is not always easy, but when it works, you feel as if you’ve made a small but positive contribution to the world. In a way, you could say this book has been gestating my entire life. Paul Child was the twin brother of my grandfather, Charles Child. Julia was my grand aunt. My sister and my cousins and I grew up listening to their stories about living in France where Paul worked at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. Julia learned to cook there, at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.”

He continues, “In 2004, I helped Julia write her memoir of those years. The book is titled My Life in France, which inspired half of the movie Julie & Julia, and became a best-seller. Meanwhile, Julia had such a warm, encouraging, inspiring personality that I have long thought she would make an ideal subject for a children’s book,” he muses. “When my friend, Liz Van Doren, who worked for the publisher, asked if I’d be interested in writing a children’s book about her, I jumped at the chance.”

Alex says, “I think of it as an adventure story, a love story, and a book about finding yourself and pursuing your passion. The way she lived her life and the things she said remain inspiring to people of all ages, and I hope they always will.”

The passion for cooking rubbed off on Alex. “I love to cook, and so do my wife and two children. We cook all sorts of things and try to keep our food healthy and seasonal, and experiment with different cuisines.”

He explains, “As a kid, I cooked with Julia, though she never gave us “cooking lessons”—she’d just put us to work washing the salad, dicing butter, baking Lace cookies, etc. We learned by osmosis. She even made doing the dishes a fun group activity. One reason Julia and I got along well is we had similar interests and approaches to life (and I look a lot like Paul). Both of us were curious, determined, and enthusiastic—and we liked to eat!”

Talent runs in the family. “We have a creative family, including artists, architects, actors, and musicians. We all love to eat, and most of us love to cook. Julia Child was the best-known example, but we were lucky to have grandmothers, mothers, and an uncle who were very talented in the kitchen as well.”

Holidays are always a celebrated occasion. Alex says, “Thanksgiving is our family’s favorite holiday, and we really go for it with a big turkey and many creative side-dishes and desserts. It takes us a few days to recover, but there are few things as tasty as leftover turkey.”

In Born Hungry, Alex describes Julia’s younger years working for the U.S. spy agency. Did she look back on those days with a fondness or was it a pensive, somber experience? “World War II was a terrible conflict that cost millions of lives, but ironically it was a wonderful, life-changing adventure personally for Julia and Paul Child.”

Alex continues, “They met in the OSS (the precursor to the CIA) while stationed in Sri Lanka. They were not in combat but worked on intelligence matters with a remarkable group of spies, academics, former criminals, military specialists, and so on. It was a challenging and exciting time.”

“Paul designed maps, posters of enemy aircraft, and a secret war room for the generals. Julia was a clerk typist who handled classified information, and, as explained in Born Hungry, created her first “recipe”—for shark repellant to protect our sea mines.” How’s that for Julia Child trivia?

This time period provided groundwork and an avenue for Julia’s future—both in her personal and professional life. “Best of all, Julia and Paul met each other. In their off hours, they would visit restaurants and food markets in Sri Lanka and China. Chinese food was their second favorite cuisine after French,” Alex says.

Julia and Paul’s relationship blossomed. “Paul and Julia called each other “two sides of a coin” because they were true life partners in both love and business. In their personal life they shared an equal marriage, which was unusual at the time, and remains unusual today. Paul was 10 years older than Julia, and at first he was the “senior” member of the couple, a diplomat who took Julia to France and tutored her on art, culture and politics.”

“When he retired and they moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, Julia’s career as a writer and TV cook took off, and he was happy to support her from behind-the-scenes. She was taller, louder, and more social than Paul—a natural performer who loved to cook, teach, and learn. The French Chef became a hit, and she was America’s first celebrity chef.”

Alex asserts, “But she said she couldn’t have done it without Paul, who was not only her business manager, but her chief mushroom dicer, dish washer, recipe tester, wine expert, cue card maven, staff photographer/editor/illustrator, and life coach. Julia became the public half of the couple, and Paul remained her best adviser and biggest supporter.”

The portrayal of Julia Child in Born Hungry provides a wonderful picture of persistence and steadfastness. Alex agrees, “Julia faced many obstacles in life, both personal and professional, and she usually found a way around them. She was amazingly resilient.”

“Early on, Julia was a woman in a man’s world. She didn’t learn to cook until she was 39, and didn’t appear on TV until she was 50, yet with hard work, intelligence, and humor, she became arguably the most famous chef in America at the time.”

Alex says, “If a recipe didn’t work the way she wanted it to, Julia would make it again and again—sometimes 10 to 15 times until she had figured it out. Then she’d explain it to her audience in a way they could understand. If I can do it, so can you, she’d say, and people believed her.”

Julia continued to discover new directions. Alex reveals, “When her career as The French Chef began to decline, she reinvented herself and began to write and perform as Julia Child herself, which led her to cook recipes from around the world, write books in the first person, transition from public TV to Good Morning America, and build a bigger audience than ever. When she and Paul faced health issues, Julia handled those setbacks as well as possible and kept moving ahead with her positive, can-do spirit.”

Alex adds, “There was no role model for Julia’s career, but she trusted her gut and made it up as she went along. This meant she had to be creative, hardworking, humble, and determined.”

“Sometimes she’d have a good idea such as a TV show in which she cooked with other chefs that her bosses didn’t think would work. She put that idea aside, but never forgot about it. Years later, she did a couple of books and TV series called Cooking with Master Chefs, in which she introduced the world to cooks like Jacques Pepin, Emeril Lagasse, Lidia Bastianich, and Sarah Moulton. Those books were a hit, and one of the series won an Emmy award. It was a remarkable achievement, one that would not have happened if Julia had given up on her idea.”

Julia Child was the only woman at the time she attended the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school among a class of American soldiers. It was her love of cooking that kept her upbeat and involved. “Yes, that’s exactly right. Madame Bugnard, the head of the school, put Julia in a beginner’s ‘Housewife’s’ cooking class, but Julia demanded more rigorous training,” says Alex.

“When she was moved to a basement classroom for professional cooks, her classmates were American soldiers learning to cook after World War II. They did not like the tall, loud woman from California who wore pearls, but Julia was so obsessed about learning French classics that she impressed her teacher, Chef Max Bugnard, who became a mentor and friend. Eventually, Julia became the best student in the class, and the rest is history… .”

In Born Hungry, Julia and her two French friends opened their own cooking school, L ‘Ecole des Trois Gourmandes. They encouraged students to use tender, loving care, even with assembling ingredients. “Yes, this was another great lesson—that it’s always worth taking the time and care to make something beautiful and delicious to eat,” says Alex. “She loved marketing, talking to food vendors, sampling their wares, and getting their recipe tips almost as much as cooking.”

Alex notes, “When she was 91, and we were working on her memoir, I’d take her to the farmer’s market in Santa Barbara, California, every weekend. She loved it, and sampling the fresh asparagus and strawberries reminded her of her favorite years, living in France with Paul.”

Julia offered many useful tools and techniques helpful to cooks. “She loved her copper pots and French knives, and was endlessly interested in technique, but I think her attitude was the most useful lesson of all. “Be a fearless cook!” she’d say, “Read the recipe all the way through before you begin a dish,” “Taste your food while cooking,” and “Food is love.”

Alex maintains Julia Child’s impression on us. “Julia liked to tell her fans to work hard, learn your technique, don’t be afraid of making mistakes in the kitchen, if you do mess things up, never apologize for your cooking, and above all, have fun! She applied this message to her cooking, but it’s really a recipe for life, one that inspired millions of people. This seemingly simple lesson is her true, lasting legacy. I hope it will inspire kids as well as adults to follow their dreams. It’s certainly inspired me.”

These days, Alex’s own kitchen is the place to be. “Right now, I am cooking a lot of presidential recipes for a book I’m writing about the history of food at the White House—from George Washington’s grilled sea bass to Eisenhower’s two-day soup, and Obama’s home-brewed beer.” More goodies include “Donald Trump’s burgers, Joe Biden’s pasta and ice cream, and Kamala Harris’s Masala dosas in 2022. It’s a fascinating look at the politics of food and the food of politics. It will be published by Alfred A. Knopf, and I can’t wait to share it. It’s fun, educational, and delicious!”

I ask Alex some of his food preferences. Crepes or pancakes? “Crepes AND pancakes!” Grilled or roasted? “Grilled AND roasted!” Vanilla or chocolate? “Vanilla for me, chocolate for Julia and my wife.”

With a chuckle, we wrap up our conversation, and Alex says, “Love is extraordinary, but also the act of creativity, such as filling a blank page with words or pictures, or transforming a pile of raw ingredients into a wonderful meal. It’s a form of magic that gives hope and opens up new possibilities.”