10 minutes with Julie Powell

WORDS: Carine Visagie | PHOTOS: Shavan Rahim

World-renowned food blogger Julie Powell of Julie & Julia fame was in Cape Town for the much-anticipated Toffie Food Festival. VISI’s Carine Visagie caught up with her over a glass of bubbly.

If you’ve seen Julie & Julia, you’ll know the story: one of a cash-strapped, at-the-end-of-her-tether woman who chronicled her attempt to cook all the recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a blog. Well, the now-famous author has arrived in the Mother City and is here to share her journey with local foodies and food bloggers.

Julie is quick to point out that she’s not a proficient chef – even though she was here for a food event. While her relationship with food continues in her home, where she still makes Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon as a “meditative act” once a year and where her muse’s baked-cucumber recipe remains a favourite, her focus – for now – is on writing.

Fans who enjoyed Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously (2006) and Cleaving (2010) will be happy to hear that another novel is on its way. “I’m a grand eater and I cook a lot, but my life certainly doesn’t revolve around food,” says Julie. “For me, food is a prism that reflects how we interact with each other. I use it to explore other things.”

Cooking has become trendy again. Do you think food blogs have played a role?
Yes, I do. The rise of the blogosphere certainly informed the DIY food trend, which happened pretty much over the same time period.

Why do you believe you’ve been invited to come and speak at the Toffie Food Festival, which is strongly associated with popular culture?

The boring answer is that the book I wrote, Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, inspired a blockbuster movie. So, a book that was primarily centred on food as a creative act became widely popularised.

This kind of thing didn’t happen a lot in the past. In earlier generations, preparing gourmet food crossed a line with the higher classes – those people who would regularly visit the opera, for example. Now cooking is something everybody can get into. It’s become a cool, democratising trend.

Another interesting movement that ties into this is “food-cart eating”, or the rise of pop-up food stores that stock gourmet ingredients. Social-media sites like Twitter have forced chefs to find a way to “speed it all up”; to come up with concepts at the speed popular culture is moving. This has made gourmet food even more accessible.

VISI is a decor and design magazine, and we’re particularly interested in food design and aesthetics. Which visual food trends are you seeing at the moment?

The 1990s saw a lot of “tall and small” foods; then things got really big and messy at the turn of the century; now I see a return to a certain amount of artistry, but without the pretence. I certainly hope that food design will get a lot “cleaner”.

TOFFIE FOOD FESTIVAL: This weekend VISI’s Sumien Brink and Alma Viviers cooked up a storm and played host to a few lucky Toffie Food Fest delegates. Hope you joined in the fun? Watch this space for our pics.