By Paula J. Johnson, August 11,
2016
To mark what would have been
Julia Child’s 104th birthday on August 15, curator Paula Johnson shares new
information on two works of art in Julia’s kitchen. To keep up with all the
latest Food History information and programs, including our Julia Child themed
Cooking Up History demonstration on August 12, join our Food History email
list!
As a curator of food history and
fisheries, I’m always delighted when these realms overlap. This happened
recently with two objects in Julia Child’s kitchen, when I learned the real
story (and not just a fish tale!) behind the fish prints that hang high on the
kitchen’s walls. Several months ago, I received two email messages from Pat
Pratt, a dear friend of Julia’s, who set the record straight on these works of
art. And in so doing, Pat gave us a glimpse of Julia as an intrepid angler, an
enthusiastic friend, and a curious cook in search of an answer to the nagging
question, “what went wrong with that dish?”
The Bluefish
Measuring 40” x 12,” the first
print hangs above the doorway connecting the kitchen and the pastry pantry. Our
catalog record noted that the object was made of paper, ink, and wood, and that
it was not signed, but little else. We weren’t sure of the species of fish, or
anything about the print’s origins, until Pat wrote:
“I made the print of the bluefish
on the day when Julia caught it off our Herreshoff 12-1/2 foot sailboat while
sailing in Saco Bay near Prouts Neck [Maine]. Julia and I were with my husband,
Herbert Pratt, at the tiller. It was the morning of August 31, 1975. Julia and
I were fishing for mackerel with the usual small-hooked, multicolored mackerel
rigs, holding the lines by hand over the sides of the gunwales. Suddenly Julia
yelped that she had a huge bite. With considerable pulling she got what we
thought would be multiple mackerel wiggling on the line. Instead, to our
amazement, it was a big fish. When we got it into the cockpit and onto the
deck, we realized it was a bluefish—the first one we had ever caught, or seen,
in Maine. We were all astounded.
“Julia said with glee that she
had been eager to cook a whole fish in a new way. We went ashore and showed it
to Paul [Julia’s husband]. I had been making fish prints in the Japanese manner
that summer, using my regular Winsor and Newton watercolors, so I had all the
equipment to make one [fish print] of the bluefish. I cleaned and dried the
exterior of the fish and laid it on a flat surface. I covered it with Payne’s
Grey [paint color] using my 2” flat brush. Then I placed a sheet of rice paper
over the fish and carefully rubbed it to get all the details of the fish
including the fins and tail. I carefully lifted the paper off to have a nice
clean image of the fish.
“Our dining room table was made
of Cypress wood and through the years of being scrubbed it had a nice raised
grain. Paul said, ‘Why not make the fish look as though it were in water by
making a rubbing of the grain in greens and blues with wax crayons?’ We placed
the dried print on top of the table and with a whole Caran d’Ache crayon,
stripped of its paper wrapping we lightly rubbed over the print. ‘Voila!’ said
Julia, ‘It looks alive.’”
The bluefish print.
2001.0253.0754.
“While Julia and I prepared the
fish in her new way, Paul and Herbert set the table and chose the white wine
for lunch. The new way was: Place the cleaned but not scaled fish on a baking
sheet. Oil the fish. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20–25 minutes. Skin
the fish and place the cooked fish on a platter to serve.
“Licking our chops in delightful
anticipation, we sat at the table with a wide view of the sea from which the
fish came. Julia served our plates and just before taking the first bite, we
raised our glasses in joy. We all took our first bite and, to our horror and
dismay, the fish was tough as leather. It was basically inedible! We were
utterly disappointed, as we had thought what perfection it would be to have a
spanking fresh fish. We had no idea what was wrong.
“At eight o’clock one morning 10
years later, Julia called me. ‘Pat, Pat,’ she said, ‘I just found out why our
bluefish was so tough. I’ve just been talking to John, in Seattle, who deals
with all sorts of fish big time at the fish pier. . . . He said it is very
important that fish be out of rigor mortis when you cook it, otherwise it will
be ‘tough as leather,’ it may be a matter of days for big fish like salmon and
tuna.’ Julia was a bird dog in always wanting to find answers to questions and
problems. This time, it took 10 years!"
Unsure what to make of this, I
consulted an article on rigor mortis in fish, which suggests that if Julia and Pat
had put the fish back on ice and waited a few hours, it would have passed
through rigor, at which point the muscles would have softened again and the
fish would have been edible when cooked.
The Rock Cod
This 25.5” x 17.7” fish print is
more straightforward because it is signed by Paul Child, an artist in his own
right. While we do not know the exact date for Paul’s fish print, we know that
he used the same techniques described by Mrs. Pratt. She speculates that Paul
made the wavy water by hand “as he was not near our dining room table for the
raised grain.” The rock cod print hangs above the refrigerator and is a bit
more difficult to see; a menagerie of ceramic and wooden cats, chickens, and
miscellaneous kitchenware partially obscure the view of the print.
The rock cod fish print.
2001.0253.0747.
The lesson of the fish prints
meshes with Julia’s attitude toward cooking: never stop asking questions
because you might learn something new!
You can read more about Julia’s
kitchen and recipes on our blog!
Paula Johnson is a curator in the
Division of Work and Industry. She has also blogged about cooking with Julia
Child in Washington, D.C.