Julia Child Queen of the kitchen

It was far from an auspicious moment. On February 20, 1962, a fledgling public television station in Boston was airing a new instalment of the book review series I’ve Been Reading – and host Professor Albert Duhamel had an unusual guest. She was a virtually unknown cookbook author who had recently co-written Mastering the Art of French Cooking and was embarking upon a promotional tour.

Despite being told she needed no props, Julia Child arrived with a hotplate, whisk and eggs, and in front of the camera showed viewers how to make an omelette “the French way”. While most guests would come and go without making much of a dent in audience consciousness, the middle-aged 6ft 3in (190cm) woman with a distinctive quavering voice saw the station flooded with calls and letters asking for more. And in that moment an unexpected star was born who would go on to shift perceptions of what