Le Cordon Bleu - in Books and Films

In Books and Films

In her memoir My Life in France (Knopf), Julia Child, aided by her husband's great-nephew Alex Prud'homme, discusses her experiences attending the school in the late 1940s. This is one part of Julia Child's life portrayed in the feature film Julie & Julia, released in the U.S. in August 2009. Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep plays Child in the film.

In 2007, an American writer, Kathleen Flinn, wrote the first insider's account of attending the modern Paris flagship school titled The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry. Flinn's best-selling memoir recounts the modern day-to-day trials of the program, and provides a further history of the school. The film rights for Flinn's book were purchased by the TV division of 20th Century Fox; an adaptation is expected to be filmed in Paris.

In 1991, Le Cordon, Inc. published its first English-language cookbook entitled Le Cordon Bleu at Home. As printed in the inside cover, the book "provides a solid understanding of the philosophy and skills taught for nearly a century in the school's nine-month "Classic Cycle" course. Moving through three stages, from basic to advanced techniques, this in-depth approach to classical French cuisine offers a series of easy-to-follow menus and recipes that correspond to classes at the school. Nearly three hundred beautiful color photographs depict finished dishes, serving ideas, and cooking techniques at each stage through completion."

In the 1974 James Bond film The Man With the Golden Gun, villain Francisco Scaramanga says of his manservant Nick Nack, "He's a Cordon Bleu."

Another book about attending Le Cordon Bleu was published in 2008 in the United Kingdom, "Sacré Cordon Bleu: What the French Know About Cooking" by Michael Booth (Jonathan Cape). Like Flinn's book, it also features numerous classic French recipes.

It is often assumed that the character Audrey Hepburn played in the 1954 film Sabrina attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris; however, the school's name is never mentioned in the film. She did visit the school for the film's launch.

In the Artemis Fowl series, the Butler Family is taught Cordon Bleu cooking as part of their training to protect a Fowl. This is why Artemis has no other servants because Butler can do it all.