Julia

Yesterday, I spoke of the inspiration that Martin Luther King, Jr. had on me early on in life. But today, I am going to speak of the great lady who has been an inspiration to cooks all over the world. That lady, of course, is Julia Child.

Many people have spoken about her greatness, of course – hell, there was a movie this summer pretty much all about her (Julie Powell seemed to just accidentally show up). Julia’s contributions to cooking in the United States are legendary, allowing women to go beyond 1950s style and make things that are truly amazing and delicious.

But my inspiration from Julia comes from a lady by the name of Judy Zeidler. This woman is legendary in the kosher cooking world, particularly in Los Angeles. She founded several restaurants and has written multiple cookbooks, several of which I own. I have corresponded with her in the past, and she is simply a lovely woman who told me, no matter what, to never give up my passion for cooking.

In “The Gourmet Jewish Cookbook,” Judy comes up with plenty of different recipes from all around the world, even adapting recipes that may not traditionally be kosher to a world that doesn’t consume pork and shellfish.

Judy was at one point trying to adapt a recipe for bouillabaisse, particularly Julia Child’s. In French cuisine, this dish usually contains all sorts of different shellfish. At one point, Judy ran into Julia and told her what she was trying to do. Julia couldn’t have been happier. Judy and Julia had quite a friendship, and Judy has even written about it. But it amazed me how much respect Julia seemed to have for the kosher kitchen – remember how I said earlier that many chefs would rather die than have their pork taken away? Not Julia. She seemed to embrace challenge, along with good food -- no matter how it came.

It’s actually a rare thing to find these days, that beautiful respect. Hell, I have friends that are still confused by the fact that I don’t eat meat when I go out with them to a restaurant – in fact, many kosher people I know wouldn't even go with them to said restaurant. Taking on kashrut is quite a challenge for anyone, but it is something we do because we truly believe in it. I love my faith, but I love good food with lots of great flavor. Luckily, I can have both.

In turn, Julia’s respect for the kosher kitchen led me to appreciate her philosophy of cooking, and indeed the true heart of French cooking: Food doesn’t necessarily need ten zillion herbs. You don’t need any fancy gimmicks. What really matters at the end of the day is that your ingredients are fresh and that you keep things simple, all while every once in a while throwing something new into the mix. And above all, learn to truly enjoy food, and all the greatness it has. So whenever I sauté butter with some diced onions and thyme, and the scent wafts through my kitchen, I think of Judy, and I think of Julia.

This recipe below is simple, but the flavor is good. Julia comes to mind for this one, because there's not much there, but a whole world of flavor waiting to be discovered.

LEMON DILL SALMON

2 fillets of salmon (see quick tip 2)
½ lemon, or two tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
3 tablespoons garlic salt
1-2 tablespoons olive oil.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the salmon in a baking dish. Pour the lemon juice or juice half a lemon over the fish. Top with the salt and dill. Drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven. Cook for 25 minutes. Serve hot or chill.

QUICK TIP 1: For a recipe like this, the ingredients you use are the most crucial part of the dish. So make sure everything is the best it can be, because they will have to shine on their own in this dish. If you can, get fresh fish instead of frozen -- it makes all the difference in the world.

QUICK TIP 2: This dish will work on other fish such as cod or halibut. Salmon is just much easier to find. Just remember that most fish are at their best when you slightly undercook them.