Ellen Bloom of Los Angeles never owned a Julia Child cookbook and always thought the famed chef's recipes would be just too difficult for an amateur like her to master.
But after seeing the movie "Julie & Julia" at the Grove last week, she rushed to the nearest Barnes & Noble bookstore to pick up the first volume of Child's classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She noticed other people from the screening had the same idea.
"The way the photography displayed the food was fantastic," she said. "Just looking at it, it looked so delicious and intriguing that I thought I might be willing to put the time in to make it myself, or at least be willing to look at the recipes."
All over the country Americans are rediscovering Child, whose long career as TV chef began in the 1960s, and she is now captivating a new generation of food lovers.
On Amazon.com, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" shot to No. 1 on its most-popular list over the weekend. Bookstores have reported sellouts. Newly minted foodies have signed up for French cooking classes and made reservations to dine at bistros.
The sudden popularity reflects a rising interest among Americans in all things food, said Alice Waters, chef-owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley.
"It has tapped into our longing for joie de vivre in the kitchen," she said. "Cooking is not drudgery; cooking is about pleasure."
Waters said this renewed interest in food is evident in far more than the weekend box-office take of $20 million for "Julie & Julia" and brisk sales of Child's cookbooks.
"You can see it in the growth in farmers markets, in how much about food is out there in blogs, the planting of a White House vegetable garden by Michelle Obama and demand for better food on college campuses," Waters said.
It's also apparent in the rapidly expanding array of food items available at mainstream grocers, said Marcela Valladolid, the San Diego chef and Mexican food specialist.
"Slow food, local food, organic food. People are thinking a lot more about their ingredients -- even when it comes to burgers and fries," she said.
Child, said Waters, epitomized the enjoyment of cooking and eating.
You would "see her smacking her lips and talking about how beautiful the vegetables are. That's what has caught fire. This is a delicious revolution," Waters said.
A revolution the late Child would no doubt approve of.
