Julia Child's kitchen in her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home was a serious workspace and recipe-testing lab that exuded a sense of warm mid-century comfort. On display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History for most of the past 20 years, museum goers have made it a top destination.
The kitchen contains more than 1,000 parts and pieces—tools, appliances, utensils, furniture, artwork, knick-knacks, books, and bits of whimsy—all reflecting Child’s status as an accomplished chef, gastronome, delightful cooking teacher, television trailblazer, women’s advocate, mentor, and generous, jovial friend.
Drawing on her new book, Julia Child’s Kitchen, curator Paula Johnson, one of the original collectors and keepers of the 20′ x 14′ kitchen, provides an intimate portrait of Child at home and remembrances of cooking with her and examines how the kitchen’s layout, design, and contents reflect Child’s philosophy of cooking as well as a period of social and cultural change in the United States.
Hear Johnson, curator of food history and director of the museum’s American Food History Project, discuss the beloved cookbook author and television star’s favorite place in the world—her home kitchen. In conversation with Jessica Carbone, a food writer and historian, she also examines how the legacy Child created in this iconic room continues to influence the ways we cook today.
Copies of Julia Child’s Kitchen (Abrams Books) are available for purchase.
Book Sale Information from Local Bookseller
- Bold Fork Books
- Purchase your copy of Julia Child’s Kitchen by Paula Johnson.
- SPECIAL NOTE: Bold Fork Books is offering a 10% discount to Smithsonian Associates ticket-holders. To claim your discount, enter the code SMITHSONIAN10 (no space between letters and numbers) in the “Coupon” line on Bold Folk Books' check-out page.
General Information
