The French Chef (1963)

Boeuf Bourguignon, from the first season of The French Chef (1963) Julia Child walked viewers through a classic French stew in black and white on Boston's public station WGBH. What still teaches is her refusal to hide anything: when a dish misbehaved she kept going and showed how to rescue it, turning mishaps into lessons that calmed nervous cooks. Child received a Peabody Award in 1964, and her unhurried, step-by-step pace remains easy to cook along with today. PBS has posted the first season on its YouTube channel, and the series also streams on pbs.org.