Austinist Interviews: Superstar Food Blogger Julie Powell

Julie Powell is a hero to food geeks everywhere, but Austin food geeks should be especially proud. Long story short: An Austin native without formal culinary training, she and her husband packed up for NYC a few years ago, and, soon after, she began the cathartic process of plowing through Julia Childs' tome, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." A year later, she had recreated every recipe in the book, blogging the whole way through. The blog begat a book - The Julie/Julia Project - and the rest is food geek history.

Now working on her second book, she took some time out of a fact-finding vacation in Buenos Aires to write home.

"Mastering the Art of French Cooking" was the clear choice for your blog. What other cookbooks are on heavy rotation in your kitchen?

Let's see... Crushes come and go, of course, cookbook-wise, but I turn again again to: "The Border Cookbook" by Cheryl Alters Jamison, for fantastic foods to remind of home; "Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen," for reasons same; all Marcella Hazan; Roy Andries DeGroot's, "Feast For All Seasons," now sadly out of print but a lovely book, as much for bedtime reading as anything else.

After working for six months at a butcher shop I realized for one of the first times in my life that I would really like a salad. I've been using Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian" a lot lately, and am amazed to say it has never failed me yet.

In your writing, you've been known to drop an f-bomb or two, and you're pretty candidly liberal. Have any of your blog readers (or bleaders as you call them) ever broken up with you over your politics or language?

Eh. I don't really concern myself with that. When I started the blog, it was a totally personal endeavor, and part and parcel of maintaining honesty and intimacy with my readers was maintaining my real voice and talking about the things that were worrying/elating/angering me at any given moment, be that my brilliant souffle smashed on the sidewalk (longish story) or my rage at the various ways this country is being run into the ground (longer story, but one everyone knows.) If people don't like what I have to say - and of course plenty of people don't - then by all means don't read me. But I've found that I've been able to bridge lots of gaps with people who don't necessarily agree with my views, don't always like the terms I couch my views in, but can see past that to something the two of us have in common. That to me is the most valuable relationship I can have with a reader.

We are not ashamed to admit that your book was one of the few in the past few years (and certainly one of the few food books ever) that at times left us laughing out loud in public spaces. Did you ever think that food nerds everywhere would be sitting around in random locales, chuckling over your adventures and mishaps?

'It is absolutely the craziest most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me, and I'm eternally grateful. I don't fool myself that I have hundreds of thousands of rabid fans out there or anything, but they do pop up in the oddest places. I was once staying alone in a cabin in the Adirondacks with my (110-pound) dog. We were sitting there one afternoon - me working, Rob the dog snoring - when all of a sudden he jumped and ran helter skelter out the door toward this couple and their poor terrified terrier taking a walk in the woods. I ran after him, caught him, shouting "It's okay! It's okay! He won't hurt you!".... So we got to talking - and she was a blog fan! I was so glad my dog didn't kill her.

In your book, you mention several Austin culinary landmarks - like Hut's Hamburgers and Central Market. What are your top five Austin culinary musts?

'Oh gosh, this is always one of the hardest questions to answer, because it changes all the time, and because any answer I give will be inadequate. As of this particular moment in time I'd say (in the order that they come to mind:)

Angie's - awesome tortillas, and awesome everything else.
Pok-E-Jo's - good barbecue near my folks' house, plus fried okra
Texadelphia - an absolute must.
Fonda San Miguel - an obvious choice, perhaps, but I so crave excellent Mexican food when I come home.
Vin - this is my parents' favorite place ever. They go there like weekly, and are treated like royalty. The fish is lovely, wine pairings unfailingly great, and they make a fantastic martini.

You're having the best dream ever where you're throwing a flawless dinner party. Who's there?

Oh so hard. Okay, Joss Whedon. My friend Elizabeth Gilbert ("Eat Pray Love.") Samuel Pepys. Mary McCarthy. Casanova. My husband. My friends Emily, Helen and Dan.

What are you doing now?

At this very moment, I am listening to the yelling of Catholic school children outside my apartment window in the Congresos barrio of Buenos Aires. I'm hear for a month, hopefully to study butchery for my new book, tentatively titled "The Dying Art."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Sam Armstrong in Arts & Entertainment, Food, Other on June 22, 2007 10:58 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

jooley ann

I think several of Powell's picks have more to do w/ being a displaced Texan than what's *best* in Austin. Even lived somewheres else? Believe me, ya get homesick for the strangest things.

She probably misses the unique-ness that is Texadelphia -- I'm betting they don't put jalapenos on their cheesesteaks up there on the East Coast. And fried okra is a southern treat that's doubtless seldom served in NYC eateries.

ol'pappy

Oh wow! That was a good Data there, sam.

sam

Haha, O-P-P. That whole entry makes me think of Data on ST:TNG being all, "Captain, I don't understand why certain okra is perceptibly different to some humans based upon the contextual nature of the place where it has been prepared."

ol'pappy

I meant to say, buttermilk it or toss it in some cornmeal and flour since I'm assuming that's what the cook on #2 did.

Anyway - fried okra's a simple dish. I don't see how anyone would miss it when it's so easily made.

ol'pappy

I guess that's true. But fried okra is so simple, I can't imagine someone craving it and going nuts for it when you can just throw some cornmeal on some sliced okra and come up with this:

http://www.ourfamilycookbook.com/Photos/food/FriedOkra.JPG

like my mom makes.

Or dip it in some buttermilk first and come up with this:

http://z.about.com/d/southernfood/1/0/d/T/friedokraa1.jpg

like most Southern Kitchen places cook it.

Or go to the H.E.B. and buy a bag to deep fry like this:

http://www.pigtrip.net/photos/Cookhouse-okra.jpg

which is what I'm guessing Pok-E-Joe's fried okra looks like since that's what you get when you order fried okra just about anywhere from Luby's to Threadgill's.

keb

sammy, your posts always make me hungry. even after lunch!

Aaaron

I disagree. Some fried okra is crap and some is spectacular. Spectacular is far and few between, most bread it way too much. I wouldn't put PeJ's in the must have category, I'll have to try it again next time just to make sure. Though they tore down the best of the chain, so maybe not. :-(

ol'pappy

Oh yeah - typo in the last sentence. "Here" for "hear".

ol'pappy

Yeah. I wonder what Texadelphia she's been going to because I've never had anything from there I liked. And Pok-E-Joe's too. I've never had their fried okra but I've also never had fried okra that make me piss myself. Fried okra is fried okra, lady.

matthew Mckinley

i work at texadelphia and while i do agree we have some good food i find it odd that a culinary sort would label it an "absolute must".