Julia...who else?

Through the Buffalo Film Society, we lucked out with passes to an advance screening of Julie & Julia last night, and it brought back our own cherished memories of the culinary legend. In the fall of 1991, one of us attended a "marketplace tasting" presented by the D.C.-area chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food, at Union Station in our nation's capital. We got to sample foods from the Capital Region, and bought one of Julia's cookbooks, which she personalized for us. How things have changed...the ticket price was a mere fifteen dollars! Union Station had only recently been restored, and it was a grand setting for the occasion.

In the late Nineties, the other one of us had the privilege of waiting on her and Chef Alfred Portale at Gotham Bar and Grill in New York City. She and the chef's party sat at Table 45, the large round table in the center of the floor. Julia was dressed in her trademark, no-nonsense matron francaise mode. After Champagne was poured and amuses-bouche of silken Goat Cheese Ravioli with Cremini Mushrooms and Parmesan had been delivered and devoured, Julia turned to the chef and said in her sing-song, plummy voice, "Now, what shall we eat?" Alfred, who we still greatly admire and respect, seemed at a loss for words, but Julia opened the menu and said, "Now, this sound delicious...Pheasant and Foie Gras Terrine..." We left them to discuss the strategy for ordering, and everyone else at the table wanted to know what Julia and Alfred were having before they ordered.

We remember that terrine almost as much as we remember being in the presence of the late, great author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The portion was a good half-inch slice of rich, wine-colored pheasant forcemeat studded with morsels of foie gras that nearly melted during the bain-marie bath in the oven. There were pistachios and peppercorns and a white ribbon of fatback around the whole terrine slice, which came with a salad of blanched haricot verts that snapped when you ate them, as well as some simple but delicious lentilles du Puy. We still make pates and terrines on special occasions, and are tracking down the technique and proper name for a chicken galantine we haven't made in a while.

The movie, incidentally, is enchanting. Bon appetit!