# Rude article about Julia Child: "Do Not Buy her Book" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667 "2009-09-02T18:55:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667/101 "2009-09-06T05:03:17Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > (Oh jeez, I was only being snide and sarcastic about ‘old sunny Me-he-co’ here! 😛 God knows my any attempts at humor on the internet never fail to crash like the Hindenburg, that one right there being exhibit A .) To the best of my recollection, that review of Mr. Bayless’ cookbook I posted went like this: (paraphrasing myself here) ‘recipes sound wonderful, blah blah, especially the chicken, blah blah…but recipes seem to require exotic Mexican seasonings and a lot of exotic peppers blah blah…some recipes sound labor intensive…so I haven’t actually made anything yet…’ THAT is what set him off, I was criticizing by assuming the recipes would be too complicated or hard to make, without having actually prepared a recipe! …(It was ten below zero that winter, I had a small child and sick husband at home who would have had fits at the smell of scorching peppers in the oven in our tiny house!; opening the windows to air it out was not a good option. Plus, the only peppers in the grocery were green bells, not a habanero or jalapeno in sight. But I did copy a few of the recipes from the book to try out in the future - if it had been summer, I could have opened all the windows, found the proper peppers to roast, and actually cooked something. Maybe I should have included all those fascinating details in my review?:dubious:) > > The sheer, foaming at the mouth viciousness of Rick Bayless’ response was alarming. He really did sound deranged, more or less implying that I was just too f’ing lazy to do the prep work or order ingredients like epazote online, or call a farm in Texas and have them express mail me a crate of Mr. Bayless’ recommended veggies. My horrid review was going to scare away droves of potential customers who might purchase his book, and all because I implied the food was too hard to make - and yet I had confessed I hadn’t even tried to make anything! … Showed it to my husband, he said are you going to answer this loon? and I said, NO, I am not throwing any more fuel on this fire… Whatever. He’s a rude douche IMO, and of course a big success. > > (Would Julia Child have replied thusly, if I had written a similar review of her book? She struck me as a kind soul who would have said ‘thank you, please do try a recipe sometime, it isn’t that hard to do, bon appetit!’) I’m curious **sailingmind** , what recipe of Bayless’s were you going to try to attempt that involved “Roasted” Peppers? Were there no other recipes in the book that would have been more adaptable to your situation? I find that there is usually a suitable local binary to most “exotic” mexican ingredients or a substittute to a native technique. But I do kind of feel you short changed him in the ease of preperation department, that’s one of the things I enjoy about Rick’s recipes, they are usually very concise, plainly descriptive, and eminently easy to follow, he has truly made traditional Mexican cooking accessible. Also, you seem to be under a misimpression, roasting fresh hot peppers and then steaming, does not release noxious fumes, neither does dry toasting, deseeded, dried chiles for few seconds a side in a hot skillet. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667/102 "2009-09-06T13:08:20Z")
I don’t even remember which recipe. It’s water under the bridge now. I was so shocked at the vitriol displayed by Mr. Bayless, that he would personally take time out of his busy life to search me out and flay me for posting a (positive) review…I just lost interest. I am now an anti-fan of Rick Bayless and Mexican cuisine. I am a big fat idiot in his eyes and should never have read his cookbook in the first place. My little review didn’t seem to derail his Great Career, though, did it? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667/103 "2009-09-06T15:25:39Z")
This is probably a dumb question, but… are you sure it was really Rick Bayless? It seems odd that he’d find your site (admittedly maybe you’re a Hugely Famous Food Blogger) and take the time to write himself, especially with such venom. Could it have been a nutter fan of his? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667/104 "2009-09-06T17:17:46Z")
I picked up a copy of _Mastering the Art of French Cooking_ at Target yesterday for $28. It includes the 1983 edits; for one thing, the food processor “made fast work work of routine dog work like mushroom dicing, cheese grating, bread crumbing and onion slicing.” It’s a pleasure to read the introductory stuff. I may get around to actually making some recipes… ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667/105 "2009-09-06T18:39:42Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > That would be funny if we shared a border with India. Neither does Canada, but interestingly enough, I can get my hands on all sorts of obscure Indian ingredients with a minimum of fuss. However, if I want the kinds of chilies I need to make authentic Mexican a-la-Bayless, I have to trek halfway across town to find them - and even then, I’ll only be able to get the dried ones, not fresh. And that’s in Toronto, which is one of the most multicultural cities in the world (though, granted, we have significantly more citizens with Indian ancestry than we do with Mexican). Anyway… the point I’m trying to make is that if I have trouble finding said ingredients, is it really a surprise that the average family in, say, suburban Minnesota or rural Connecticut might find it a little difficult to get their hands on anything beyond generic chili powder? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667/106 "2009-09-06T21:30:19Z")
I don’t know if it was Rick Bayless. His primary concern was that not only was I too stupid and lazy to cook his recipes, but I would scare off potential book customers by implying his recipes were too complicated and esoteric for the average joe to prepare. Anyway. Water. Bridge. … Julia Child wouldn’t have been such a bitch! SHE would have been encouraging, I just know it. Someday I hope to make something of hers, but I’ll keep it to myself! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667/107 "2009-09-06T21:55:33Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I don’t know if it was Rick Bayless. His primary concern was that not only was I too stupid and lazy to cook his recipes, but I would scare off potential book customers by implying his recipes were too complicated and esoteric for the average joe to prepare. Anyway. Water. Bridge. … Julia Child wouldn’t have been such a bitch! And perhaps Rick Bayless isn’t either, since you have no idea whether it was really him or not. Still, while he doesn’t come across as that sort of person, it wouldn’t necessarily surprise me. Either way, it’s a bit of an overreaction on your part to become an “anti-fan” of Mexican cuisine because of what an author may or may not have wrote in response to a book review posted on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667/108 "2009-09-07T18:10:03Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Personal insults directed at other posters are NOT permitted in this forum. You want to insult other posters, go to the Pit. > > In Cafe Society, we assume that it is possible to listen to and share different opinions without calling each other names. > > You will NOT do this again, **CrazyCatLady**. No, and I can’t imagine how it slipped through my radar in the first place, to be honest. I even read back over the damn thing to check for spelling and punctuation. **Bridget** I do apologize if you felt in any way hurt, insulted, or belittled by my response. It certainly wasn’t my intention–I meant only to discuss your post, not your personality. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rude-article-about-julia-child-do-not-buy-her-book/508667.md?page=5)