It’s not too late to snag a ticket to this year’s #SmithsonianFood History Gala, taking place Thursday, October 13 in Washington, D.C., and featuring the 8th annual presentation of the #JuliaChildAward to cookbook author, culinary historian, filmmaker and activist Grace Young. Hosted by the National Museum of American History, this year’s Gala includes Francis Lam as the MC, along with speakers Sara Moulton and Dr. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, plus Julia Knight of Poster House presenting the Award to Grace Young. To get your tickets, visit the Museum’s website: https://americanhistory.si.edu/events/food-history-weekend/gala
Grace Young National Museum of American History Francis Lam Julia Child Award Sara Moulton Poster House Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

When conducting research in the mid-1990s for her first cookbook, The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, Grace Young observed how her parents’ favorite cooking pan was not in fact a wok, but a Farberware stainless-steel skillet. When she asked why they weren’t using a wok, they explained that after moving to a new home in the 1960s, it was difficult to get their round-bottomed wok sufficiently hot on the flat coils of their new electric stove. For them, the skillet was a way to keep cooking familiar Chinese dishes, although the pan couldn’t replicate the nuance of “wok hay,” the prized taste that comes from wok cooking. The family wok was set aside for decades.

Years later, Young discovered her parents’ original round-bottom wok. It became an important symbol of her family’s migration story and a touchstone in her own writings and teachings about Chinese cuisine and culture in America.

Join Young, the 2022 Julia Child Award recipient, on Friday, October 14 at noon for a cooking demonstrate and conversation about Chinese culture in America, the importance of wok cooking, and her work to conserve Chinatowns across the U.S.

Register for this free event here: https://s.si.edu/3fAiiZa

Cooking Up History is made possible by Dr. Stephanie Bennett-Smith, with additional support from Wegmans.

Did you know that Julia was the first woman to be inducted into the Culinary Institute of America’s Hall of Fame? It was one of several distinctions she received from the school, including an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts and the CIA’s first Lifetime Achievement Award. Here she is in 1993, accepting the Hall of Fame honor. (Photo courtesy The Culinary Institute of America). For more on Julia’s life and career, visit the Foundation’s website: https://juliachildfoundation.org/timeline/#
The Culinary Institute of America

This week on Inside Julia’s Kitchen, Todd Schulkin welcomes French chef Eric Ripert of New York’s four-star seafood restaurant Le Bernardin. They discuss fine dining in today’s post-pandemic world, the evolution of French food in America, and his work with the food rescue non-profit organization City Harvest. Plus, as always, Eric shares a #JuliaMoment. Eric Ripert Le Bernardin City Harvest Heritage Radio Network
http://heritageradionetwork.org/series/inside-julias-kitchen/

After two years of virtual presentations, the Smithsonian Food History Gala and the presentation of the Julia Child Award will once again be presented in person at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Thursday, October 13. This year’s recipient is Grace Young, an award-winning cookbook author, culinary historian, filmmaker and activist. To learn more about Young and to purchase tickets, visit the Museum’s website. Due to health precautions, seating will be limited, so tickets are going fast! #SmithsonianFood (Photo: Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet) National Museum of American History
https://americanhistory.si.edu/events/food-history-weekend/gala

As the world mourns the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, the Foundation would like to share a remembrance of Julia’s brief encounter with HRH.

In 1976, Julia participated in a public television telecast of a White House State Dinner for Queen Elizabeth II, as part of the bicentennial celebrations. Julia’s role was to present White House Executive Chef Henry Haller preparing the meal for the Queen, along with 224 guests, including the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, Cary Grant, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara Walters, Dorothy Hamill, and Willie Mays. As Alex Prud’homme writes in The French Chef in America, Julia and her producer Ruth Lockwood felt grateful to take part in the event: “Ruthie Lockwood and I just felt that we were two lucky girls to join in a dinner for the Queen of England at the White House.” (Photo: Schlesinger Library, used with permission)