Julia Child: America's French Chef Quiz

Answer: Pasadena, California

Julia had a brother and a sister (and all three were quite tall and very athletic). She lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts for many years, but was born and died in California.

Answer: Smith College

Located in Northampton, Massachusetts, Smith College is a private school for women which has been operating since 1875. Julia earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history there, graduating in 1934.

Answer: The Office of Strategic Services

Julia had been turned down by the US Navy (they said she was too tall) and instead joined the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), an intelligence organization created in June 1942. The OSS was a spy agency, precursor to the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), and it played a significant role in the war effort. Child's work was top-secret, and only became public knowledge in 2008, when thousands of personnel documents were published for the first time.

During World War II, many women worked to aid the war effort, having served as clerks, cooks, drivers, and telephone operators at the war's beginning. As the war progressed, their duties expanded to include air traffic control, navigation, communication and clerical jobs with greater responsibilities.

Answer: She met her future husband

Julia met Paul Cushing Child while both working for the US spy agency. He was a high-ranking OSS official, and she worked cataloging highly classified documents.

Paul Child was a sophisticated gourmand, artist and poet who had spent time living in France. They married in 1946. He introduced Julia to French food, and she often told the story of the meal they shared that first awakened her desire to learn the art of French cooking, a meal that included oysters, Sole Meunière and some fine wine.

Answer: False

Actually Julia Child attended Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, one of the finest and most prestigious in the world, and later studied with various master chefs. Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle were her close friends, and together the three began to teach cooking in Julia's kitchen. They called themselves "L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes" (The School of the Three Happy Eaters).

Answer: Mastering the Art of French Cooking

The book made French cooking more accessible to Americans. It has over 500 recipes, and all with explanations and encouragement. The recipes flow along, step by step, making it easier to cook even the more complicated dishes. Child and her collaborators worked on the recipes for years before the book was published, and the result was one of the great cookbooks.

There was a Volume Two to follow, and in the subsequent years Child published many more, including the three listed in this question.

Answer: Bon appétit!

While promoting her cookbook, she did an interview on a Boston public television station and was soon offered her own cooking show. "The French Chef" first aired in 1963. Julia's unique style and relaxed manner were a big hit with viewers eager to learn about French food. She rhapsodized about plump chickens and egg recipes, and if there was a mistake sometimes, it was no big deal. Spills were laughed off.

Answer: 6'2"

Funnyman Dan Aykroyd did an impersonation of her that Julia herself is said to have enjoyed very much. She never let her height get in the way of her active social life. Julia's husband was 5'10", not quite as tall as she. She was 32 when she married Paul Cushing, he 10 years older. They seemed to have been made for each other.

Answer: Shark Repellent

The invention was shark repellent. Since underwater explosives were often used against Nazi vessels, it was important that sharks not get near them, as the sharks would often bump into the explosives or jostle them and set them off prematurely. The explosives would be coated with the repellent, keeping the sharks away.

This was critically important in the battle against German U-boats.

Answer: Meryl Streep

I've only seen the film's trailer, but still I find Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia Child to be uncanny. What a great part for one of the world's great actresses, though a bit of a "stretch" for the 5'6" Streep.

Julia Child died in California at the age of 91 in 2004. Her beloved husband and closest collaborator Paul had died ten years earlier. Julia Child's kitchen was moved from her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts to the National Museum of American History in Washington DC in 2001.