If you've seen the movie Julie & Julia, or even if you haven't, you probably know that it tells two stories simulataneously -- that of Julia Child's entrance into the cooking world and her struggle to get Mastering the Art of French Cooking published, and Julie Powell's attempt to cook all 524 recipes in the book over the course of a year. It's based on two books, Julie Powell's Julie & Julia and Julia Child's My Life in France.

Now, if you've seen the movie or read any reviews, it's clear that Meryl Streep as Julia Child outshines the rest of the film. It's the Julia Child scenes that make the movie; Meryl as Julia is charming, funny, admirable and adorable. Her story is both captivating and enlightening. The Julie Powell half of the story? Not so much.

And those who read and cook clearly prefer Julia Child, too, as it's been reported that sales of Mastering the Art of French Cooking on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com are far outpacing sales of Julie Powell's memoir. Which -- in addition to the very compelling Meryl/Julia -- makes even more sense, considering that there's actually a third character in the movie: the food, naturally. How delicious does the pot of boeuf bourguignon Julie cooks for the no-show Judith Jones look? Or the chocolate cake that Julie and her husband Eric tear into? Or, the piece de resistance, the duck en croute (duck in pastry) that Julie serves as her final recipe during her rooftop dinner party? There's a great article in the New York Times that describes what went into all the food styling, and how certain dishes were created, re-created, and sometimes faked. Most of the food, however, is real -- and it certainly looks so on camera. In fact, if the food weren't so delicious-looking or if food shots didn't play such a prominent role in the film, I'm sure that sales of Mastering wouldn't be so brisk. The movie does a great job of inspiring you to cook, to try these recipes at home. Hey, if Julie Powell can do it (and if you've caught any of Julia Child's fearless spirit), you can too, right?

Shamefully, I don't own a copy of Julia Child's cookbook already. But even though I don't like the idea of jumping on the bandwagon, I'm going to do it anyway and order a copy of the book. I know it's a timeless classic, a cookbook that changed ideas about French cuisine, home cooking, and the very nature of cookbooks themselves. Don't expect me to make any aspics anytime soon, but I'm dying to make that Boeuf Bourguignon.

--Maggie

image: bn.com