So you can’t wait to watch Julie & Julia and don’t have a copy of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking to hand? Or perhaps you like the theme but want a more modern take on things – either way, take a look at these recipes we were inspired to pull from the GT archives after we left the cinema ourselves.
Martinis
Martinis
Martinis
They’re not necessarily part of Julia’s program, but they’re integral to Julie’s way of life, along with Gimlets. Everyone has their ideas on what makes a good Martini. Here’s ours.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS COURT
Upside-down pear cake
Upside-down pear cake
And in what might be one of the most GT office-pleasing recipes ever, Phillip Searle’s upside-down pear cake.
PHOTOGRAPH CON POULOS
Tarte Tatin
Tarte Tatin
Tarte Tatin
We like the pear take on the classic French upside-down cake so much that we’re going to give you not one but two versions. Here’s Bistro Vue’s version…
PHOTOGRAPH CON POULOS
Buttermilk bavarois with rhubarb and strawberries Romanoff
Buttermilk bavarois with rhubarb and strawberries Romanoff
Strawberry bavarois
We’ve got strawberries, we’ve got the Bavarian cream, only our version uses buttermilk, and the berries are soaked in booze. What’s not to like about our buttermilk bavarois with rhubarb and strawberries Romanoff?
PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM
Crowd-pleasing chocolate cake with roast rhubarb
Crowd-pleasing chocolate cake with roast rhubarb
Crowd-pleasing chocolate cake with roast rhubarb
PHOTOGRAPH BEN DEARNLEY
Soft-centred chocolate tortini
Chocolate and pecan pie with candied pecans
Chocolate and pecan pie with candied pecans
Chocolate and pecan pie with candied pecans
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Chocolate sour cherry cake
Triple chocolate praline tart
Triple chocolate praline tart
Chocolate cream pie
Easily one of the most enticing dishes in the movie, and a genre of dish we have a lot of time for here at GT. Check out our favourites, starting with:
Triple chocolate praline tart
PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM
Boning a chicken
Boning a chicken
…and if you still really want to get your hands that far into a bird, check out food director Emma Knowles’ guide to boning poultry.
PHOTOGRAPH ANSON SMART
Roast duck with crackling
Roast duck with crackling
…and if you’re after one of those Queens-rooftop-dinner-party-style showstoppers to impress your Manhattan friends, why not give this pressed roast duck with crackling a whirl?
PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM
Roast duck with sautéed cabbage and apple cider sauce
Roast duck with sautéed cabbage and apple cider sauce
Boned duck en croûte
In her final, most challenging dish, Julie Powell bones and stuffs a duck and then roasts it in pastry. That’s one you’re going to need Julia for, we’re afraid, but if you’re like us and would be happy just roasting the duck as it is, we think you’ll enjoy Rodney Dunn’s recipe for roast duck with sautéed cabbage and apple cider sauce…
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Lobster à l’Americaine
Lobster à l’Americaine
…and there are far more noble reasons of taste to do it, too, as seen in this recipe for a grilled lobster with mustard and burnt butter.
PHOTOGRAPH BEN DEARNLEY
Lobster
Lobster
Homard à l’Américaine
Prepping a live lobster shouldn’t be anywhere near as traumatic for the lobster (or for you) as the movie may lead you to believe…
PHOTOGRAPH AMANDA MCLAUCHLAN
Morel-enriched chicken with vin jaune
Morel-enriched chicken with vin jaune
Chicken with cream and mushrooms
If you thought the version in the movie looked outrageous, wait till you get a load of this morel-enriched chicken with vin jaune from Melbourne master chef Jacques Reymond.
PHOTOGRAPH SHARYN CAIRNS
Roast chicken with potato, fennel and tarragon sauce
Roast chicken with potato, fennel and tarragon sauce
Roast chicken
We almost don’t need a recipe for this one: buy the best bird you can afford, wipe it dry and season it very thoroughly inside and out, then roast it in a pretty hot oven for about an hour – no fuss, no muss. There are a thousand good variations on the theme, though, and this video of roast chicken with potato, fennel and tarragon sauce is just one of them.
Slow-cooked beef in red wine
Slow-cooked beef in red wine
Boeuf Bourguignon
The dish Julie frets over when she’s expecting a reporter from The Christian Science Monitor is, in truth, pretty straightforward – it just needs plenty of time. For something with similar flavours but a bit more textural interest, try our slow-cooked beef in red wine.
PHOTOGRAPH CHRIS CHEN
Creamed parsley soup with egg and ham
Creamed parsley soup with egg and ham
Poached eggs
We know you know how to poach eggs (fresh eggs, and vinegar and salt in the simmering water being the keys); how about taking it to the next level using them as the garnish for a creamed parsley soup with ham?
PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM
Artichokes with Hollandaise sauce
Artichokes with Hollandaise sauce
Artichokes with hollandaise sauce
Fear not: we’ve got everything you need to know about artichokes in our
artichoke masterclass, plus a recipe for artichoke, broad bean and goat’s cheese salad, but if you want to simply prep and boil your artichokes, try them with the hollandaise from our poached ocean trout with hollandaise and peas recipe.
PHOTOGRAPH TENY AGHAMALIAN
Mushroom and Taleggio bruschetta
Mushroom and Taleggio bruschetta
…and if something vegetarian is more your speed, you can’t beat this mushroom and Taleggio bruschetta.
PHOTOGRAPH WILLIAM MEPPEM
Mushroom and guanciale bruschetta
Mushroom and guanciale bruschetta
Bruschetta
When we first meet Julie Powell, she hasn’t yet dived into the Julia Child challenge, but we can see that she loves food and likes to cook. Exhibit A is a scene involving a drippingly attractive bruschetta. Good as it is, we’d like to think the mushroom and guanciale bruschetta we nicked from Lauren Murdoch at Sydney’s Ash St Cellar is even better still…
PHOTOGRAPH JASON LOUCAS
Whiting fillets with lemon and capers
Whiting fillets with lemon and capers
…and these whiting fillets with lemon and capers.
PHOTOGRAPH BEN DEARNLEY
Skate wings in brown butter
Skate wings in brown butter
Sole meunière
It’s this deceptively simple-looking bistro classic of fish pan-fried with a basic butter sauce that is positioned in the film as one of Julia Child’s epiphanies at the table in France. Sole isn’t something you see much of in Australia, but we pulled faces similar to Child’s when we first tasted these skate wings in browned butter…
PHOTOGRAPH BEN DEARNLEY
