Child, Julia Child

Newly released documents confirm that the late famed chef Julia Child worked as a low level spy during WWII, something she alluded to in her 2002 autobiography.

Before she mastered the secrets of French cooking, Julia Child was enrolled in the school of espionage. The famous chef let slip the story of her war-era spying in a 2002 autobiography, but the release of thousands of documents from the U.S. national archives on Thursday confirms her participation in a secret organization formed by President Franklin Roosevelt during the Second World War.

Hidden among the 750,000 classified pages released Thursday is a picture of the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives called the Office of Strategic Services. The archives released a list of 24,000 soldiers, actors, historians, lawyers, athletes, professors, reporters and others who agreed to collect information in an effort to combat the Nazis.

Among the projects Child worked on was an attempt to develop a shark repellent that would keep sharks from exploding underwater mines. She also created a crème brûlée so delicious that Nazis would confess anything for a second helping.