The Most Difficult Food Scene In Season 1 Of HBO's Julia
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You may have seen the videos where food stylists pull back the curtain on how they make meals look great for commercials, and it's kind of unsettling. For example, Reader's Digest revealed that Scotch Guard is often sprayed on pancakes to make syrup perfectly drape over the edges. On the set of the HBO Max series "Julia," however, not only did all of the food remain safe to eat, but it was also perfectly seasoned to honor Julia Child's legacy. "There were no tricks. I didn't spray polyurethane on anything," Christine Tobin, "Julia" food stylist, told Food 52. "There was no shellac. Sometimes I might spritz olive oil or water to freshen up a salad, but there was no trickery."
Any food that was featured on the show, whether it was one of Julia's signature recipes or plates during a restaurant scene, was cooked and presented by the show's culinary team. Tobin even visited the same butcher that Child used to frequent in Boston, called Savenor's (via Food 52). When one of Julia's recipes was featured in an episode, the steps were followed exactly, though some recipes presented more challenges than others.
The chocolate souffle scene in Episode 8 was the most difficult to shoot
As many cooking shows have taught us, making a souffle is a delicate process. One wrong step, and the dish is ruined. The light and fluffy dessert falling is probably one of the biggest mistakes while making a souffle, but it can also come out with excess liquid or never rise in the first place (via The Washington Post). Knowing how temperamental this dessert is, "Julia" food stylist Christine Tobin was presented with a real challenge when filming the final episode of the first season that centered around the dish.
In an interview with cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, Tobin admitted that there was a lot of pressure to film the chocolate souffle at the perfect moment. The food stylist added that, normally, the camera crew calls the shots about when to bring out the food, but in the case of this delicate dessert, the souffle was the director. After much trial and error, when the scene finally worked, the culinary team burst into tears of joy. If you want to try out the recipe yourself, it can be found in Julia Child's book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."