The Potato Show, 1963
The flip misses the pan.
- 1Say what happened
- 2Fix it in frame
- 3Keep the clock moving
What actually happened She scooped the potato back in, said what went wrong, and kept cooking.
Live from WGBH Boston
The French Chef with Julia Child
Tonight you cook boeuf bourguignon.
Session 01 Monday, Feb 11, 1963 28 minutes, one take
00:00:30 The promise
In 28 minutes, French cooking becomes a weeknight dinner.
After this session you can
- Brown the beef so it builds a crust instead of a puddle.
- Braise in one pot low and slow, while you do something else.
- Finish on the side onions and mushrooms, then bring it together.
- Housekeeping
- Live to tape, start to finish
- No retakes
- Leftovers may go to auction
00:01:00 Your host
Julia Child co-wrote the 726-page book on this.
- Trained
- Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. Graduated 1951.
- Co-founded
- L'École des Trois Gourmandes, a cooking school in Paris.
- Auditioned
- One omelette on a WGBH book show. Viewers wrote in for more.
Volume one
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Simone Beck
Louisette Bertholle
Julia Child
Knopf 1961
726 pages
Rejected once for reading like an encyclopedia
00:01:45 Running order
Twenty-eight minutes, six segments, no edits.
Off air
00:28:00
Done in one take
00:02:00 The demonstration
Brown in batches. A crowded pan steams.
Searing. Room around every piece, so the crust forms in minutes.
00:12:40 Mistakes
Things go wrong live. Recover on camera.
Mishap 1 of 5, all real
00:20:15 Viewer poll
Halfway poll: what keeps you out of the kitchen?
Polls ran in only 22% of webinars (ON24, 2019). Be the exception.
00:24:30 Recap
Three moves, each back on its outline.
- 1Brown dry, in batches
- 2Braise low and slow
- 3Garnish on the side
- 4Your pan goes here
00:26:10 The replay
The pilots were taped over. The series made it to Twitch.
Nearly half your audience watches later. Record everything.
1962 Three pilots air. Later taped over.
1963 Weekly series premieres, Feb 11
1964 Peabody Award
1966 Emmy, educational television
1970 First season in color
1973 Episode 212, the last
1989 PBS reruns finally end
2016 The series streams on Twitch
00:27:00 Next step
Next Monday: French onion soup. Same stove, same time.
Take home Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Knopf, 1961
Monday, Feb. 18
Ch. 2The French Chef. French onion soup, start to finish.
Bon appétit.