“I want to make corn pudding.”

“Really? Do you have a good recipe?”

“Yes, it’s Julia Child’s corn pudding.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Julia Child cooked French food and corn pudding is not French.”

He searches through “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Not there.

“When did you last make corn pudding?”

“Probably 25 years ago. But it was really delicious.” He looks through other Julia Child cookbooks. “Ah, ha! Here it is!”

Sure enough, the 1978 cookbook, “Julia Child & Company” features a photo of her using my favorite corn creamer to make her corn pudding. The creamer scrapes the sweet corn milk from the cob, but without the indigestable hulls.

“But, breadcrumbs in corn pudding? Why? Corn is full of starch.”

“This corn pudding is really delicious. And Julia always specifies, use fresh breadcrumbs from homemade bread.”

So, he made bread. Then, he made breadcrumbs. Then, he made corn pudding. It was really delicious. It was so delicious that everyone asked for the recipe. I smiled and said, “Julia Child, of course.”

August 15 is the 97th anniversary of Julia Child’s birthday. Celebrate with a fabulous corn pudding!

Julia Child’s Corn Pudding

• 3 cups corn milk (scraped from the cob with a corn creamer)
• 6 eggs
• 3 tablespoons minced onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 2/3 cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 2/3 cup grated swiss cheese
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

Butter an 9-cup charlotte mold and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Whisk together the corn, eggs, onion, salt, parsley, breadcrumbs, cheese, cream, red pepper, and black pepper. Pour into the charlotte mold. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn down the oven to 325 and bake for 45 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, then unmold onto a serving plate.