The First Dish Julia Child Ever Made On Television Was Super Simple

Julia Child was a darling of public television (and a fan of the fast food chain In-N-Out). Her show, "The French Chef" debuted in 1963 and ran for a full decade. Viewers were charmed by her distinctive voice and how she made French cuisine approachable to home cooks. Child never took herself too seriously, often poking fun at herself on camera. But her first television appearance actually came two years before her own show began. In 1961, she was invited to be on another public television show called, "I've Been Reading," a book review program. She'd been selected because her cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" had recently been released.

But Child didn't want to just talk about her book, she wanted to show viewers how simple French cooking could be, so she made an omelet on set. French omelets are not like the American omelets you find in diners, full of meat, veggies, and cheese. French omelets often consist of little more than eggs, butter, and some salt and pepper. This was the type of omelet (plus a few mushrooms) Child made on the show, to the delight of host Albert Duhamel. 

The viewer response to her appearance was swift and strong; the network received many letters requesting to see more of Child, and so, two years later, she was made host of the now iconic, "The French Chef," which was filmed at WGBH studios in Boston.

Original footage of Julia Child on "I've Been Reading" has proven difficult to find, but the Pasadena, California native also devoted an episode of "The French Chef" to making French omelets. Assuming her technique didn't waver between the two shows, Child makes cooking omelets look downright easy. The original, black and white omelet episode, seen on YouTube, shows Child explaining the importance of things like using a good, sturdy, hot pan, how many eggs to use, how to tell when your melted butter is ready for your eggs, and approximately how much to beat them.

After she pours her scrambled eggs into a hot, buttered pan, Child immediately shakes and stirs the eggs with a fork until they begin to coagulate. In mere seconds, she's inverting the pan and plating the omelet, explaining that French omelets are intentionally soft and creamy instead of fully cooked and rubbery. Child, who uses an aluminum pan, says that if the cooking vessel is well-seasoned, the eggs simply won't stick, even if the pan doesn't have a non-stick coating.

Intermixed with her cooking, she tells her viewers how omelets are more often served for lunch and supper in France, as well as the kind of flavorings that go into typical french omelets — fresh, soft herbs and ham are popular (just not this herb that Child loathed). Her finished omelets look strikingly similar to the potato chip omelet from season 3 of "The Bear" (without the chips, of course), suggesting that a classic omelet never goes out of style.