Julia Child's kitchen 2 by Matthew Bisanz

Julia Child's kitchen is a historic artifact on display on the ground floor of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...

: Kenneth E. Behring Center, located in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...

. The kitchen is not a replica, but is the actual

kitchen A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a ...

used by noted 20th-century

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

author and

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Ty ...

host

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...

, appearing as the backdrop to several of her

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

History

Built in Child's home on Irving Street in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 1961, the kitchen was designed by her husband,

Paul Cushing Child Paul Cushing Child (January 15, 1902 – May 12, 1994) was an American civil servant, diplomat, and artist known for being the husband of celebrity chef and author Julia Child. Early life Child was born in Montclair, New Jersey, on January ...

with 38-inch high countertops, rather than the standard 36-inch height, for her 6-foot-2-inch frame. Paul also selected the light blue-green color scheme dominating the kitchen's

panel Panel may refer to: Arts and media Visual arts * Panel (comics), a single image in a comic book, comic strip or cartoon; also, a comic strip containing one such image *Panel painting, in art, either one element of a multi-element piece of art ...

s. It was the setting for three of her television shows: '' In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs'', '' Baking With Julia,'' and '' Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home'' with

Jacques Pépin Jacques Pépin (; born December 18, 1935) is a French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and artist. After having been the personal chef of French President Charles de Gaulle, he moved to the US in 1959 and after working ...

. The kitchen was fully transformed into a functional

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

, with TV-quality lighting, three cameras positioned to catch all angles in the room, and a massive center island with a gas stovetop on one side and an electric stovetop on the other, but leaving the rest of the Childs' appliances alone, including the "wall oven with its squeaking door." During taping, the kitchen table and chairs were removed and replaced by a cooking island that had a built-in stovetop and food preparation surfaces.Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonion Institution
FAQ. This kitchen backdrop hosted nearly all of Child's 1990s television series. In August 2001, representatives of the Smithsonian Institution met with Child in her home, where she agreed to donate her kitchen to the Institution, where it is now on display. Shortly after Child's 90th birthday, on August 18 and 19, 2002, Child attended the opening of the display of her kitchen. Her iconic copper pots and pans were on display at

Copia Copia may refer to: * Copia Vineyards and Winery, a premium winery in Paso Robles, California * Copia (or Copiae), the ancient city and bishopric also called Thurii or Thurium, now a Latin Catholic titular *COPIA, a metal band from Melbourne, Aust ...

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...

, until August 2009 when they were reunited with her kitchen at the National Museum of American History.

References

External links

* {{Julia Child Artifacts in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution American culture