Lunch with a culinary icon

E-mail keeps her in touch with pals back east, such as chef Jacques Pépin. When Child isn't online corresponding with friends, she might tune in to a cooking show on TV. One of her favorites is that of Jamie West, executive chef at the San Ysidro Ranch. She also enjoys Emeril Lagasse, Sara Moulton, and, for the most part, Nigella Lawson.

Mid-sentence, while remarking on TV chefs, she exclaims: "Don't you just love our profession? You're always working with people who love what they're doing."

Especially in the last decade, she says, the world of food has come a long way. "When I started out, people hadn't even heard of puff pastry," she says in disbelief. "But now, there's a much greater awareness of food, and so many able people are entering the field."

For a moment, her enthusiasm makes me forget that my lunch companion has more to do with this progress than anyone else. Some of America's greatest chefs as well as avid home cooks point to Child as their inspiration.

Even the Smithsonian Institution is paying tribute to her with the opening next month of "Bon Appetit: Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian," an exhibition of her Cambridge kitchen, which was hauled – copper pots, whisks, fish poachers, and all – to Washington.

But despite her larger-than-life status, she is still just Julia.

At her front door, we comment on the delightful lunch and say goodbye. As she shaking hands with Harbison, the photographer recently back from assignment in Afghanistan, she looks him in the eye and warmly says, "I am so glad you survived."

'This is the best formula for chocolate soufflé I have run into so far,' says Julia Child. 'It has a fine chocolate flavor, a subtle texture, and it holds up well for serving. The secret is in the egg whites, which are beaten into a meringue – 6 egg whites held up with 1/2 cup of sugar.'

7 ounces sweet baking chocolate, smoothly melted with 1/3 cup strong regular or decaffeinated coffee

1/3 cup flour

2 cups milk

3 tablespoons butter, optional

A big pinch of salt

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

6 egg whites (3/4 cup)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Confectioners' sugar in a fine-meshed sieve

Optional accompaniment: lightly whipped cream

To get started, melt the chocolate with the coffee in a double boiler, measure out all the other ingredients listed, butter the soufflé dish, and surround it with a foil collar. (A collar of buttered, double-thickness foil wrapped around the outside of the dish that supports the soufflé puff as it rises 2 to 3 inches above the rim. Secure it with a straight pin.) Then, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large pot, whisk the flour and half of the milk (1 cup) together and boil slowly, for about 2 minutes. As you continue whisking, pour in the remaining 1 cup of milk. Off heat, whisk in the optional butter (if using), the salt, and the vanilla. Then add the egg yolks and, finally, the melted chocolate/coffee mixture.

In a clean separate bowl with an electric mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks, gradually sprinkle in the 1/2 cup sugar, and beat to stiff shining peaks.

Ladle the chocolate-sauce base down the side of the egg-white bowl, rapidly fold the mixtures together, and turn the soufflé into the prepared baking dish.

Set the soufflé on the lower rack of the preheated oven and turn the thermostat down to 375 degrees F.

In 35 to 40 minutes, the soufflé will have puffed and risen an inch or so over the rim of the dish. At that point, slide the rack out gently, quickly dust the top of the soufflé with sifted confectioners' sugar, and continue baking until the soufflé has puffed 2 to 3 inches over the rim of the baking dish into the collar. You can test it by plunging a skewer down into the side of the puff. If wet particles cling to it, the soufflé will be creamy inside and will not hold as long as if the skewer comes out almost clean.

As soon as it is done, bring the soufflé to the table. To keep the puff standing, hold your serving spoon and fork upright and back to back; plunge them into the crust and tear it apart.

Serves 8.

– Adapted from 'The Way to Cook," by Julia Child(Alfred A. Knopf, $30)

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