HBO Consulting Producer Todd Schulkin Would Eat This Dish With Julia Child - Exclusive

For those who have watched any number of Julia Child-inspired movies or shows including HBO Max's Julia, or even Child's own show, it's tempting to think about actually eating the many amazing dishes Child prepared. Actually choosing what delicious morsel or meal you could have eaten with Child is an even hard discussion to dream about. "Oh, wow. It's a different kind of question than being asked what's your favorite meal or if Julia could prepare," Schulkin admitted. That's why Mashed posed the question to the executive director of the Julia Child Foundation, Todd Schulkin, during our exclusive interview. 

While Schulkin was fortunate enough to have actually eaten with Child, there is still one dish that he really wishes he could have experienced from Child first-hand. "Meal wise, I don't think I ever had Julia's roast chicken," he said. "I know the recipe, but actually having Julia make it, I would love to have her roast chicken because I think roast chicken is this thing that's always grade A, it's a delicious dish, but it's a very defining thing of how an individual chef or home cook does their food and you can tell a lot and it's quite transparent," Schulkin explained.

While Schulkin clearly has a very good idea as to why he would love to have had Child herself prepare a roasted chicken for him to eat with her, it isn't the only meal that he is tempted by. "I would ask her to do the roast chicken, although I'm quite also tempted — I know Julia used to prefer to break down a Thanksgiving turkey rather than cooking it whole, but I'll stick with Julia making her way of doing roast chicken for me," Schulkin said. Even though Thanksgiving turkey is another great choice, Schulkin's technical reasons for wishing he could have had Child's own roasted chicken are impressive. 

However, another course altogether drew Schulkin's attention away, too. "Julia was also very skilled at pastry and desserts and loved doing challenging ones," he added. "I've always wanted to taste her apple charlotte," the executive director explained. No matter what it could have been, chances are if Child made it, it would be wonderful.

Visit the Julia Child Foundation's website to learn more about their work in keeping Julia's message alive. New episodes of "Julia"  stream on Thursdays on HBO Max.