"When Ms. Jones began her career in publishing in the 1950s, cookbooks and food writing in general weren't taken seriously, often lumped in with technical manuals and textbooks. Their editing focused on the recipe instructions, without thought to point of view, cultural context or the beauty of language." [Archive]

Rebekah Peppler on Julia Child and cooking in the south of France: "The kitchen remains as one imagines it did when Julia Child built it. Tart rings, copper pots, measuring spoons, and whisks line the four walls, with outlines marking a designated spot for every single item. Market baskets pile high in a corner; the screened door bangs shut in a way that feels like many have entered through it. And many have."

Julia previously, previously, previously, and so on.

What it says on the tin. (Gift link, New York Times) Come for the cooking technique; stay for the radius, standard deviation, and not-actually-surprising ending. Previously on Metafilter: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt; onions.