August 20, 2008
the spy cook
"Julia Child a Spy!" exulted last week's headlines after the release by the National Archives of hitherto redacted names from Office of Strategic Services (OSS) personnel files.One can only imagine the fictional narrative fantasies this declassification might inspire: Parachuted behind the lines during the German Occupation of France, the 6-foot-2 Smith College graduate met her future husband, multilingual sophisticate Paul Child, a liaison to the Resistance in the Maquis. In the clandestine world of safe houses, the daughter of the safely Republican Pasadena McWilliams clan acquired the fundamentals of French cuisine.
Would that it were true. The facts are infinitely more prosaic, but fascinating nonetheless.
more from the WSJ here.
Posted by Morgan Meis at 10:18 AM | Permalink
Comments
I have received unconfirmed reports that Anthony Bourdain is also a CIA operative, and periodically sends reports to Langley, Virginia on the secret ingredients used by chefs around the world.
Posted by: Wade Nichols | Aug 20, 2008 11:57:14 AM
Apart from being a chef, I, too work for the Company, meeting the occasional seditious element on 3QD. The food industry is fertile fields for those anxious to contribute to American life in a variety of ways, not all of them overt.
Posted by: Elatia Harris | Aug 20, 2008 6:35:45 PM
Damn...she was OSS, that's real old school and solid. Heck any turkey can be tapped by the CIA or NSA (turkey tapping is a big part of what they do) but the OSS, that's rank.
Posted by: Pete Chapman | Aug 21, 2008 12:43:29 PM
I have always been a bit suspicious about the CIA (Culinary Institute of America)----
Posted by: Dave Ranning | Aug 22, 2008 12:02:39 AM
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