S01.E06: Breads

[Pallas]

A bad roll of videotape leads to reshoots and a dubious decision to replace chicken with a less savoury meat.

[Joe Bacigaloop]

Is chicken really that “savory?”

Almost any other meat would have more flavor.

[Pallas]

"Less savoury" as in unsavoury. 

[Joe Bacigaloop]

Ooooo!

I thought we already covered the unsavory elements.

What could it be?

Cod?

[Anela]

2 hours ago, Joe Bacigaloop said:

Ooooo!

I thought we already covered the unsavory elements.

What could it be?

Cod?

That would work for me, because I don't like seafood, but sweetbreads are things like brains and pancreas, aren't they?

[Joe Bacigaloop]

12 minutes ago, Anela said:

That would work for me, because I don't like seafood, but sweetbreads are things like brains and pancreas, aren't they?

Well it could be tripe but that was already provided by the rest of the PBS lineup. 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Joe Bacigaloop

[GustavMahler]

I laughed endlessly when Julia toasted Paul for his innovative way of using ASBESTOS tiles in the oven to produce the perfect loaf of bread. The joyous naïveté by the group, regarding the dangers of asbestos at that time in America, was concerning yet still humorous the way they applauded the innovation.

Edited April 22, 2022 by GustavMahler

[buckboard]

When Alice couldn't get the butcher to wait on her, Avis came along and got his attention.  He asked Avis what she wanted and she told him she wanted all the sweetbread he had.  I thought she was going to say -- and should have said -- "What I want is for you to pay attention to Alice and take her order.  She is a supervisor of Julia's show." 

[Yeah No]

13 hours ago, GustavMahler said:

I laughed endlessly when Julia toasted Paul for his innovative way of using ASBESTOS tiles in the oven to produce the perfect loaf of bread. The joyous naïveté by the group, regarding the dangers of asbestos at that time in America, was concerning yet still humorous the way they applauded the innovation.

I read that they changed subsequent editions of the cookbook to something other than asbestos because its dangers were first coming to the public's attention soon after its first printing.  I have first editions of both the original Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2 and neither of them * Vol. 2 mentions asbestos tile.  The original MTAOFC didn't have bread recipes, while Vol. 2 did, and gave detailed instructions on how to simulate a bread baking oven, however an asbestos brick was called for, not an asbestos tile.  Also, for a real time perspective, Volume 2 wasn't published until 1970.

* I changed it to confirm that Vo. 2 DOES mention asbestos tile in its first printing - I just didn't notice it until this morning.

Edited April 22, 2022 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

39 minutes ago, buckboard said:

When Alice couldn't get the butcher to wait on her, Avis came along and got his attention.  He asked Avis what she wanted and she told him she wanted all the sweetbread he had.  I thought she was going to say -- and should have said -- "What I want is for you to pay attention to Alice and take her order.  She is a supervisor of Julia's show." 

I was hoping for something like that too, like an introduction and comment that she might end up being a regular there.  I suppose they were going for an opportunity to depict racial prejudice, however as a small, less assertive young white woman I was often and I do mean often passed over in similar situations myself.

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I read that they changed subsequent editions of the cookbook to something other than asbestos because its dangers were first coming to the public's attention soon after its first printing.  I have first editions of both the original Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2 and neither of them mentions asbestos tile.  The original MTAOFC didn't have bread recipes, while Vol. 2 did, and gave detailed instructions on how to simulate a bread baking oven, however a brick was called for, not an asbestos tile.  Also, for a real time perspective, Volume 2 wasn't published until 1970.

Actually, I went over that section on how to simulate a bread baking oven and it did mention asbestos, I just didn't notice it when I was tired late last night.  It's a little confusing because at times they just refer to it as a brick, but not a tile or what it's made out of.  I took a photo of the page I found it on to illustrate.

[Joe Bacigaloop]

When Julia negotiated at the end of the episode I didn’t see her ask for more money for herself. I googled it and found out that she made $50 an episode!

Imagine that!

[GustavMahler]

11 hours ago, Joe Bacigaloop said:

When Julia negotiated at the end of the episode I didn’t see her ask for more money for herself. I googled it and found out that she made $50 an episode!

Imagine that!

So that translates to: $50 in the 60's is the equivalent of around $475 today working for Public Television.

[J-Man]

On 4/21/2022 at 8:20 PM, buckboard said:

When Alice couldn't get the butcher to wait on her

That NEVER would've happened on "The Brady Bunch."

 

On 4/20/2022 at 8:12 PM, Joe Bacigaloop said:

Well it could be tripe but that was already provided by the rest of the PBS lineup. 

PBS didn't exist until 1969. During the time period covered by "Julia" its predecessor was the National Educational Television and Radio Center (NETRC), which was owned by the Ford Foundation. In November of 1963, it became National Educational Television (NET). WGBH was an NET affiliate from 1955-1970.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/21/2022 at 11:20 PM, buckboard said:

When Alice couldn't get the butcher to wait on her, Avis came along and got his attention.  He asked Avis what she wanted and she told him she wanted all the sweetbread he had.  I thought she was going to say -- and should have said -- "What I want is for you to pay attention to Alice and take her order.  She is a supervisor of Julia's show." 

Unfortunately, Avis had no clue why Alice wasn't being waited on.  It didn't even occur to her. 

On 4/21/2022 at 8:36 PM, GustavMahler said:

I laughed endlessly when Julia toasted Paul for his innovative way of using ASBESTOS tiles in the oven to produce the perfect loaf of bread. The joyous naïveté by the group, regarding the dangers of asbestos at that time in America, was concerning yet still humorous the way they applauded the innovation.

How may people had an asbestos tile at hand? How did/do French bakers get the proper crust in a commercial bakery?

 

[Miss chi chi]

I thought BeBe did a great job in a couple of scenes with Alice showing subtle examples of prejudice ex. Showing a flicker of surprise when she learned that Alice spoke French and had gone to Paris; and also, not recognizing what was happening at the butcher counter.

[paramitch]

I absolutely loved everything about the bread-baking interlude here -- it was just so funny and charming, and so much fun to watch.