Twenty by The Splendid Table | Free Audiobook

**Lynne Rossetto Kasper** (0:05)
This is The Splendid Table from APM, American Public Media, the show for people who love to eat. I'm Lynne Rossetto Kasper.
July 4th marks Independence, getting outside and celebrating and reveling in the great eats of summer. Well, this week, we're looking back at some of the more formidable summer eating advice we've gotten over the years. We'll hear from Mario Batali about the Italian way with vegetables. Joshua Wesson has advice on pairing wine with sweet corn. Claudia Roden introduces us to the nuances of Middle East grilling, and then there's the queen, Julia Child. She was a guest on the very first national broadcast we ever did 20-odd years ago. It was a 4th of July special. Now, she thought that a radio show about food was a great idea, and talked to us a number of times over the years. But here is part of that first somewhat wandering interview.

**Mario Batali** (1:14)
Well, let's have a little fun. There's someone I know who really knows how to celebrate life. She's a very special lady, and I'm dying to know what she's going to be doing on the 4th. Her name, by the way, is Julia Child. Some of you may have heard of her. And the amazing thing about Julia is that she's so available to those of us in the food profession. She's always there to help in some way or another. By the way, do you know that she films Master Chefs right in her own kitchen? She has the best restaurant range. But let's find out what Julia's doing on the 4th. I wonder if she's got a good recipe for potato salad.

**Julia Child** (1:51)
Hello?

**Mario Batali** (1:52)
Hi Julia.

**Julia Child** (1:53)
Oh hi. Hi there. Where are you?

**Mario Batali** (1:56)
I'm in St. Paul, Minnesota.

**Julia Child** (1:58)
Oh, it's beautiful there.

**Mario Batali** (1:59)
It's gorgeous here. We're talking about the 4th of July. And I was wondering what comes to mind when I say the 4th of July to you?

**Julia Child** (2:09)
Picnics and hot weather.

**Mario Batali** (2:12)
Definitely hot weathered. You know, you and Paul spent so many years living outside of the United States. Did the holiday take on a special significance during those years?

**Julia Child** (2:23)
Well, it did very much so when we were in Paris. We got there in 1948 That's a long time ago. But the American Embassy always had an enormous reception for all the Americans in Paris. And they had it in the lawn of one of their sort of embassy houses. There were just thousands of people there.

**Mario Batali** (2:46)
Did they do hot dogs and hamburgers?

**Julia Child** (2:49)
No, it was very French because they had an excellent chef. I know what we do here, which is hamburgers and potato salad. And I love it.