“Julia taught me what it takes to find your way in the world. It’s not what I thought it was,” she once said of Child’s way of living. Source: YouTube.
Julie Powell, the food blogger and author, known for her quest to cook her way through Julia Child’s famed cooking book, has died aged 49.
Her husband Eric Powell confirmed the news earlier in the week saying that she died at their home in upstate New York from a heart attack as a result of a heart arrhythmia.
In 2002, she started a year long quest to cook her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She started a blog on Salon.com called the Julie/Julia Project that documented her attempts to make all 534 recipes.
The blog amassed a loyal following and garnered her a book deal which saw the 2005 release of Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.
Julie & Julia author Julie Powell has passed away at just 49. 💔 pic.twitter.com/Nt805qHsmr
— E! News (@enews) November 2, 2022
Her journey of mastering the French cuisine in the style of Julia Childs was so popular that a film was made in 2009 entitled Julie and Julia. Amy Adams starred as Julie and Meryl Streep as Julia with the film directed by Nora Ephron.
The film was based on both Powell’s blog and Julia Child’s autobiography called My Life in France and switches between the lives of the two women.
Although the film and book were hits, Julia’s editor Judith Jones said that the TV star and famed cook did not think highly of Powell’s blog.
“Flinging around four-letter words when cooking isn’t attractive, to me or Julia. She didn’t want to endorse it,” she said.
“What came through on the blog was somebody who was doing it almost for the sake of a stunt. She would never really describe the end results, how delicious it was, and what she learned. Julia didn’t like what she called ‘the flimsies.’ She didn’t suffer fools if you know what I mean.”
Julie Powell released one more book entitled Cleaving: a story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession which detailed her experiences learning how to butcher as well as the affairs by both herself and her husband.
