Here's Why Julia Child Didn't Love Her Microwave

If you've ever spent time in the kitchen, chances are you've heard of the legendary chef Julia Child. Renowned for her incorporation of French cuisine into American culture, she acted as an important bridge bringing sophisticated culinary culture to everyone's table. She was an approachable presence that transformed recipes filled with difficult jargon into something for any chef, crafting many accessible cookbooks and TV shows such as "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and her cooking show "The French Chef". There are many ways she changed the way we cook.

Child serves as a perfect role model for almost any level chef to follow, with one of her many words of advice being, "Learn how to cook, try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun." But one idea she had might be a little less than popular. She had a certain ambivalence toward one kitchen appliance that has become ubiquitous in modern times: the microwave. 

While some of us are firm believers in the microwave for reheating meals or speeding up a tough recipe, Julia Child was someone that cherished the slow and steady approach to cooking. Taking the time to cook a meal properly was a must for her. It was not only worth it for the taste but also for the sense of accomplishment it brought. Cooking, for her, was an art form, and the microwave could be an affront to that art.

Child's grandnephew Alex Prud'homme shared the first time she tried the microwave with The Ellsworth American saying, "She was told you could cook everything in it." Stuffing it full of frozen chicken, chocolate cake, and vegetables before a dinner party, naturally, the whole thing melted together in a pile of singe marks and clouds of smoke. 

 As she used the gadget more, Child found that the microwave did not always properly cook food and was a delicate instrument that could leave food dry and tough. For the serious chef, the convenience of a microwave was not worth sacrificing the taste and quality of her food. 

In her book "The Way to Cook", Child said that although she did have a microwave oven, she rarely used it for her own recipes. She preferred "having complete control over [her] food" according to Smithsonian Magazine. While the chef wasn't a huge personal fan of the modern appliance, she often did mention the tool in her books, usually accompanied by a warning to watch your food closely or a simple acknowledgment that other options could be better. 

As she stated in "The Way To Cook", "I know that some cooks swear by the microwave, but I prefer the ... simple and straightforward system, where I am in complete control." Still, she used it for her own purposes from time to time. "Although the microwave does not let me participate fully, I do love it for rewarming, defrosting, and sometimes for starting up or finishing off." 

Despite her complicated view of the microwave, Child was not generally one to shy away from most new technologies. She was an early adopter of the food processor and embraced other modern kitchen tools that she believed made cooking easier without sacrificing quality. So while some may not agree with her take on microwaves, it's hard to deny the impact that Julia Child had on American cooking.