We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
With all the buzzy culinary newcomers, fly-by-night food personalities, and viral cooking contenders in orbit, we still look back to Julia Child for guidance on how to live more deliciously. Julia Child’s cooking tips to make meals works of art are obviously tops, but we also like to peer into her personal preference for hints on what to have for dinner. The name Julia Child will forever be synonymous with French food — the icon’s favorite – and winnowed down even further, coq au vin, in particular, was a poultry preference.
Child asserted the dish’s deliciousness in an episode of “The French Chef” dedicated to coq au vin. Although “coq au vin” literally translates to “rooster in wine,” you can go ahead and disregard the bird’s gender in this case. You can likewise use almost any vin you have hanging around. “This popular dish may be called coq au Chambertin, coq au riesling, or coq au whatever wine you use for its cooking,” reads the recipe entry in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” which Child authored with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck. Child, for her part, preferred red wine for her coq au vin.
Child’s easy affinity for coq au vin and more of the icon’s faves
The best things about coq au vin, both for restaurant kitchens and for the home cook, are its make-ahead components, and the whole preparation’s relative ease, Julia Child said on her show. Your mileage may vary in that latter case, particularly as her recipe instructs that you set the chicken on fire at one point, but you can whip up some ingredients like par-boiled and fried bacon before you get the whole coq going.
As one of the nation’s foremost cuisine lovers — a genuine article who actually seemed suffused with a fondness for cookery — Child, of course had plenty of other favorites. Sole meunière, tender white fish in a brown butter pan sauce, was her seafood preference, and one of the things that made her fall for French food to begin with. And even Julia Child had a fast food favorite right here in the United States: the West Coast’s In-N-Out burger. Bon Appétit!
