What Makes Food Network's Julia Child Show Unique
Fans of Julia Child, take note: a new cooking competition inspired by the American doyenne of French cooking is coming to Food Network next month. A much-lauded chef and television host who almost single-handedly introduced American home cooks to French cuisine, according to NPR, the California-born Child got her start cooking in Paris, where she lived with her husband Paul after World War II. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, Child went on to share her deep knowledge of classic French cuisine with people living in the U.S. First, she published the now-classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," then went on to host a series of PBS cooking shows that are remembered for their approachability as well as their humor.
And now, this cooking icon is coming back to the airwaves ... in a sense. Food Network will debut "The Julia Child Challenge," a cooking competition that pits eight home cooks — described as Julia Child "superfans" — against each other in a series of challenges to recreate signature Child dishes, as well as their own creations that take the chef's style and techniques as inspirations.
The cooks will compete in a recreation of Child's kitchen
Julia Child, who passed away in 2004, never faded from the culinary spotlight. Her life and career have been remembered through various projects, including Julie Powell's blog The Julie/Julia Project, whose story was adapted for the 2009 movie "Julie & Julia." Next month, HBO, too, will air a new Child-focused show, the biographical series "Julia." And in April, the new book "Warming Up Julia Child" will hit bookshelves. Considering the public's ongoing interest in Child, it makes sense that Food Network's new show will feature her heavily, with contestants cooking in a kitchen that recreates Child's sets, as well as showing some of her filmed segments on a giant TV screen during round one, as a way of offering the home cooks some wisdom and advice (via Food Network).
"Julia Child is a culinary hero to cooks everywhere," shared Courtney White, Food Network's president. "Her love of food and sense of humor set the tone for this one-of-a-kind competition. From the kitchen set to Julia's own words, the level of detail in each episode can only be described as mind-blowing."
The series will be judged by former "Top Chef" contestant Antonia Lofaso, as well as rotating judges including food world luminaries Dorie Greenspan and Jacques Pepin. The winner will claim a three-month cooking course at Child's Paris alma mater Le Cordon Bleu to "[follow] in Julia's footsteps." The first episode airs on Monday, March 14, at 9 p.m EST on Food Network, streaming the same day on Discovery+.