What Julia Child taught Inci Jones goes beyond cooking

Follow your passion. It’s a phrase used often, but taking that advice to heart is more easily said than done. When Julia Child expressed the importance of finding your passion and staying interested in it, Inci Jones took it to heart. Today, Inci Jones has a wonderful YouTube cooking show and complementary website, Inci Cooks Turkish, featuring healthy recipes. When I asked Inci to be a part of the Women’s History Month project here, she kindly said yes, and here is her guest post on how Julia Child inspires her.

Guest post: How Julia Child inspires Inci Jones

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon, or not at all.” – Julia Child

In my eyes, we should celebrate Women’s History every day. Each woman has her own story, filled with life’s triumphs and trials, with many valuable lessons to share. March is a celebration of those stories and our shared history. For me, there have been many women that have been inspirational through the years. But one woman in particular, Julia Child, consistently inspires me on multiple levels.

She genuinely loved life, and through some of her rough periods, she never became discouraged or bitter. She consistently had an abundance of love and passion for her life and her craft. She broke down barriers for women as a chef with her authenticity, charm, personality, and fun sense of humor.

Julia was born in Pasadena, California, in 1912. She was actually a very a tall woman, standing at 6 feet 2 inches. It was an interesting note that she didn’t discover her love of cooking until she was in her 30s when she moved to Paris with her husband, Paul Child, who was a diplomat. So, there’s hope for those that are still trying to figure out how to boil an egg without burning it.

While her husband Paul worked, Julia decided to attend the Cordon Bleu cooking school, where she honed her skills and developed her signature style of flavorful dishes. When Julia attended the Cordon Bleu, she was very aware that she was the only woman in the classroom. And the only American. It made for some interesting times navigating the male-dominated world of professional cooking and overcoming the language barrier.

Later Julia met two other women who would become her closest friends and collaborators: Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. Together, they wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a cookbook that would revolutionize the way Americans thought about food, and a personal cookbook bible for me.

I think the first time that I started watching Julia on The French Chef, I was 6 or 7 years old. I loved watching her prepare all of her delicious dishes. There was a comfortable, homey feeling to her show that I thoroughly enjoyed. She made preparing food easy but still an art form. I still watch her show to this day on YouTube or my collection of her DVDs, sometimes right before I go to sleep at night.

But it wasn’t just Julia’s cooking that inspired me. It was her spirit, her quirky sense of humor, and her willingness to take risks and pursue her passions.

Julia was always seeking new challenges and experiences, whether it was learning how to speak French fluently or mastering the art of bread baking. On her PBS show The French Chef, she was not afraid to be a pioneer in one of the first cooking shows on television. She kept the show fun, entertaining, and, most importantly, she taught women across America how to cook with a little more flavor and imagination.

One of my favorite quotes from Julia is,

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” – Julia Child

That’s a sentiment that has inspired and resonated with me throughout my life, and I think it’s especially meaningful for all women. Too often, women are told to be quiet and amiable, to put our own passions and ambitions on the back burner in order to please others. But Julia refused to play by those rules. She spoke her mind, pursued her dreams, and never let anyone else define her or limit her potential.

Another thing that I admire about Julia is the way she approached cooking. For her, it wasn’t just about creating a delicious meal – it was about sharing the food experience with others. Julia believed that food was a universal language that could bring people together, no translations necessary. She always wanted to share her knowledge and enthusiasm with anyone that was interested in the culinary arts.

For me, Julia Child pioneered being a woman in the male-dominated chef industry, broke down barriers, and pursued her passions. She brought joy and inspiration to millions of people around the world with her television show on PBS and her books. She taught me to never settle for anything less, be fearless, be curious, do our personal best, most of all, do the things in life that you love passionately.

About today’s writer, Inci Jones

My life’s mission and my life’s ambition were always to be living and working creatively. With a background in understanding makeup, fragrance, and skincare, I was hired by the oldest fragrance house in the world. After our first child, my husband and I teamed up and started a consulting company specializing in health and nutrition, which I am still involved to this day. I’ve since authored two books, focused on health, nutrition, and wellness topics.

In my journey of being a mother, wife, and auntie, I started exploring the culinary arts and have spent several years studying food and nutrition. Wanting to keep my family and my relatives healthy, I learned to prepare healthy and nutritious meals. It wasn’t long before I was encouraged by my family and others to start a cooking channel on YouTube.

Now I still do some consulting work, but primarily I’m dedicated and focused on sharing with others how they can keep themselves and their families healthy by understanding how to prepare not only nutritious meals but food that really tastes great. Currently, I’m in the process of writing a cookbook with recipes that are tested in my very own kitchen.

I feel blessed and thankful for all the support I have received. It’s truly a passion for me to help others learn to prepare and cook delicious meals in their own home.

 

Top photo: Meet Inci Jones. Photo by Rod Jones Artist; used with permission.