LOS ANGELES?In a column last August, we toasted Meryl Streep, the actress, for continuing to share her acting gifts with us (she is deliciously good in ?Julie & Julia?) and for being a wonderful interview subject, as well.

This time, we feature excerpts on Meryl talking specifically about Julia Child?America?s first food star, a renowned culinary book author who hosted a TV cooking show way before Rachael Ray was born?whom the divine actress plays in ?Julie & Julia.?

Singsong accent

In our talk with Meryl at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles, she discussed cooking for her family. Yes, La Streep does putter around in the kitchen whenever she?s not speaking in yet another convincing accent on a movie set (her take on Julia?s singsong accent is dead-on).

In one interview in New York, she confessed with a laugh that, even as she was answering our questions, she was thinking about what to cook for dinner for her husband, Don Gummer, and the kids, once she got home.

Recently, in Cancun, Sony Pictures hosted a cooking class at the Ritz Carlton?s Culinary Center in connection with the movie, which intersperses Julia?s fascinating life in the ?50s and ?60s, and with the real-life story of Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams), a food blogger who attempted to cook all 524 recipes in Julia?s book in 2002.

The first instruction by our chef/teacher was to pick up a glass of champagne (we were happy to follow that one). We would have been happy just sipping bubbly, but after the chef demonstrated how to cook the perfect omelet, we were asked to go to our respective ovens and cook, as well.

All the omelet ingredients and utensils lay there, waiting for us. We started promisingly, getting a smile of approval from a kitchen assistant. Alas, we ended up with a slightly burnt omelet. The chef smiled and stammered, ?Interesting,? when we showed him our culinary creation. We staggered out of the kitchen to mug for the camera with a cardboard likeness of Meryl as Julia, a turkey that was ready to be cooked (not by us, oh no) and two plastic chickens. Posing with a turkey that was as heavy as our overweight dog, Jasmine?that one we can do.

We?d like to be able to cook someday. In the meantime, Wolfgang Puck can rest easy. Excerpts:

What do you remember about food that was prepared by your mother when you were growing up?

My mother said, ?If it?s not done in 20 minutes, it?s not dinner? (laughter). She had one cookbook. It was Peg Bracken?s ?The I Hate to Cook Book.? That was her attitude about cooking (laughs). She had a lot of things she wanted to do, but cooking wasn?t one of them. But, it was also the time when everybody was enthralled with convenience. The idea was to make everything convenient for the housewife?all the reconstituted space food. We all had Tang, instead of orange juice.

In the kitchen

I remember when I was 10, and I went to a neighbor?s house. My friend and her mother were sitting in the kitchen with what looked like tennis balls. They were doing something to them. I asked, ?What are you doing?? They replied, ?We?re making mashed potatoes.? I said, ?Mashed potatoes come in a box??because, in my house, they did. That was the world in 1963 (the year ?The French Chef? debuted on TV) that Julia Child broke into. In the heartland, where you could grow everything, there was a very limited palate. Then, Julia transformed cooking for regular people.

What do you admire in Julia?

What was compelling about her was her joie de vivre?her appetite for living. Her unwillingness to be bogged down in negativity and whatever was going to hold her back. She chose a positive path.

Also, she came on television at a time when there weren?t that many women on the small screen. She was a pioneer, like Barbara Walters, one of the first who wasn?t an entertainer. She came onto television when she was already 50. She had fully formed?she was herself. Her personality was indelibly created not by anybody else, but by her own life experience. Julia?s generous nature was part of what drew people to her. There was no focus group telling her how to dress and look. She was really sui generis.

It was a time when people were not constantly taking pictures and videos of each other. Julia had never really seen herself until her first show. It was a complete shock to her. It?s like hearing your voice on a tape recorder for the first time. I remember?I thought I sounded like a 10-year-old boy.

What do you like to cook from Julia?s recipes?

I do love her roasted chicken with tarragon. I?ve been cooking roasted chicken the wrong way for 30 years. There?s a really good way to do it?it?s foolproof. Get the book (?Mastering the Art of French Cooking?). You can?t go wrong. It?s the difference between a nice meal and one where everybody goes, ?Mom, that was fantastic!?

What do you indulge in at home?

I like simple things?a perfect roasted chicken with salad and a glass of Sancerre is my idea of heaven. Everything in season and local.

What?s in your kitchen you can?t live without?

I have some really great knives. That was one of the things that Julia Child taught me. If you have a sharp knife, that?s everything. It saves time, and everything goes faster.

How appreciative is your husband of your cooking?

He?s amazing?he likes everything I make. Even when it doesn?t turn out well, he?s so appreciative. It?s the greatest thing. There?s nothing better than when you?re a bit disappointed in what you?ve tried, and he doesn?t notice that it didn?t turn out so good. Or, if it does turn out good, he says, ?This is great!?

No excuses. That?s another thing Julia taught me: Don?t apologize. ?Because it always makes the food taste worse. They didn?t notice it was bad, so shut up (laughs). Cooking for my family?that?s an act of love. Unless it doesn?t turn out very well.

E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com, and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.