Salade Niçoise - Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Quote Julia Child



Soon Food Bloggers around the World are going to watch the long-awaited movie: 'Julie and Julia'. Julia Child exhibited class & culture. Any foodie would have loved to have Julia in their own kitchen. Before becoming famous on TV, Julia and her cookbook collaborators, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, started an informal cooking school in Paris in 1952. The school was held in Julia's kitchen and they taught American students how to cook French food. It was called: L'École des Trois Gourmandes.

Paul & Julia Child travelled by boat to France in 1948 and a simple lunch, in Paris, changed the course of history. Julia Child eat sole poached in white wine and draped in a cream sauce, with oysters on the side, nestled in their half shells. She simply could not get over it.

One of Julia's famous quote is:

'Find something you're passionate about & keep tremendously interested in it.'

It was, in Paris, the day she had her first lunch that she found her passion. She trained at the world-renowned French school: le Cordon Bleu.

And the rest is history. In 1961, Julia finally held in her hands the book titled "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She has left a legacy of delicious French recipes for the delight of all epicureans.

The movie 'Julie & Julia' will be released August 7. To celebrate the event I had invited foodies on Twitter to join me in cooking from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I prepared a salade niçoise. It was delicious. It is a perfect main-course summer salad.

To watch the trailer of the movie: Julie & Julia

Discover what food bloggers are cooking:

Cherry Clafouti at More Than Burnt Toast

Coquilles St. Jacques à la Provençale & Biscuit au Beurre at Lisa is Cooking

Râpée Morvandelle at Gratinée

Oeufs à la Bourguignonne at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict

Potage Parmentier & Mousseline au chocolat at La Fuji Mama

Fresh Peach Ginger Peasant Cakes at Passionate About Baking

Tomates à la Provençale at Grandma's Kitchen Table

From my kitchen, salade niçoise:

Salade niçoise

44 comments:

Selba said...

The salad looks so good!

Blomma (prononcer Blouma, "fleur" en suédois) said...

Une bien belle salade toute simple mais bien rafraîchissante.

Nina Timm said...

Love, love, love the new site!!! It is so light and inviting!! Lovely salad too!!!

My Carolina Kitchen said...

Your salad nicoise is gorgeous and JC would be very proud of it.

I learned to cook following Mastering the Art of French Cooking, The New York Times and 60 Minute Gourmet and wrote about it on my blog when I first started blogging. There weren't pictures with every recipe like cookbooks today. I learned my knife skills from Mastering the Art with black and white line drawings and lots of instructions. It was a different time.

I've read Julie & Julia and am looking forward to the movie.

Thanks for sharing what other bloggers are cooking. As Julia would say, "Cooking together is such fun."
Sam

Dhanggit said...

i agree that passion should always be burning in each one of us :-)

Donna-FFW said...

I so can not wait for the movie to come out, I so enjoyed the book. Your salad looks absolutely beautiful, such an elegant presentation!

lisaiscooking said...

Beautiful salad, and I do love the nicoise. I'll have to try Julia's version next time I make it!

Grace said...

i love that quote. amen, i say. lovely salad plate, too, helene--it'd be quite satisfying!

♥peachkins♥ said...

The salad looks refreshing..

Elra said...

Lovely quote Helene! This is what we keep telling our son.

Love nicoise salad!
have a lovely weekend,
elra

♥Deeba @Passionate About Baking♥ said...

Great great challeneg Helene. I ♥'d it so much!I LOVE the new look & feel of your blog.Beautiful & elegant...WOW!!The salad nicoise & the photograph are beautiful too. COOL!!! ♥♥♥

Pooja said...

That is a lovely salad! And what a nice quote!

Mary said...

I love the quote and your photo of salad nicoise is a stunner.

Reeni♥ said...

What a gorgeous salad! So light and delicious! I love your new site!

Manggy said...

What a hearty salad! Good luck in your French Cooking event! :)

Fuji Mama said...

I love that JC quote that Sam included, "Cooking together is fun." I think that sums up why I love this foodie community so much! Thanks for organizing this Helene--SO MUCH FUN! And your salade niçoise looks DIVINE.

Pam said...

I can't wait to watch that movie - Meryl does such a great job as Julia.

The Duo Dishes said...

Your new layout is great. Very nice. Elegant photo of the salad as well!

Melissa Clifford said...

Beautiful salad. Julia would be proud!

Bellini Valli said...

It was fun to see what everyone has chosen for this event Helene. I can't imagine cooking all of the recipes from the coookbook as Julie did, but it was fun to participate:D

Michelle @ Find Your Balance said...

Lovely! I've never really tried cooking french cuisine before. Actually I recently heard on NPR that in France they are starting to succumb to fast food and Spain is becoming known more and more for its food, overtaking France as the #1 foodie destination.

Cynthia said...

Helene! I am bowled over and totally in love with the new look and feel of your blog template. Really lovely!

Kayte said...

This looks so delicious for a summer day! I made this a few weeks ago at Whisk Wednesdays with the Le Cordon Bleu at Home book and we all loved it. So easy to throw together, so colorful...what's not to love. Your plate looks so healthy and colorful and delicious...everything a salad should be! Thanks for starting this little group. My goal each week is to coordinate it with Whisk Wednesdays, so if we are cooking a meat dish, I will do a side in MTAFC, vice versa, etc. That way I can serve it all in one meal and have it well rounded!

pigpigscorner said...

That's a great quote and I agree! Can't wait for the movie! It looks really good.

maybelles mom said...

wow great new look! and I had really wanted to join in on this but it wasn't happening. It seemed like a great event.

Sylvia said...

Beautiful salad Helene. I am waiting the movie for a long time, I think that will be amazing

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

Great advice from Julia, and a lovely salad!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A great quote and piece of advice! That salad niçoise looks delicious!

Cheers,

Rosa

Kim said...

Hi Hélène,

What a lovely website you have. I am curious about what you put in your salade niçoise. What are the two items in the lower right of the photo - looks like a grilled carrot possibly?

doughmesstic said...

Okay, I am IN! My MtAoFC came today, and I soooo want to get started! Thanks!

Lore said...

Ta salade a l'air vraiement delicieux :)

Dawn said...

I adore (j'adore) what you've done with your blog. Amazing! Really enhances your photos.

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

Your salad looks so colorful and beautiful. I made this a while back and really loved it. And yes, it will be great fun to see the movie!!

George said...

I have an award for you on my blog Helene :)

Marc @ NoRecipes said...

Your salad looks great, such a classic. I made a version of this a couple weeks ago. Nice filling salad for summer:-)

pinkstripes said...

Your salad looks wonderful. How cool that you are organizing this. I may join up once things settle down for me later this summer. Thanks for the invite!

veron said...

How I love Julia Child and that quote is so inspiring! Gorgeous salad too!

Jackie at PhamFatale.com said...

I love the buzz around the movie Julie and Julia. Can't wait to see it. We're going to have a dinner party around the theme next week

Chef Jeena said...

Fabulous salad, I also look forward to seeing the film. Your baguettes look perfect.

eatme_delicious said...

What a gorgeous salad! Perfect for this weather. I love that Julia Child quote.

Lisa Michelle said...

I grew up worshipping both Julia and Jacques Pepin, but Julia's cookbooks were handed down to me by my late paternal grandma, and I have an original copy of Mastering the Art of French cooking that I cherish and refer to to this day. I'm so looking forward to the film, as I hear it focuses more on Julia than Julie - Thank God!

A World in a PAN said...

I didn't know this story. I'd love to be able to take time to go places, as it used to be when travel was done by boat!

Amanda said...

Would love to be included in your next round up! http://amandascookin.blogspot.com/2009/08/eggs-baked-in-ramekins-wit-herbs-oeufs.html

Yasmeen said...

Wholesome salad!I'll watch the movie for sure.Wish I could participate ,just so busy for rest of the month with packing and moving to a new place.