In A French Kitchen: Tales And Traditions Of Everyday Home Cooking In France

Description

A delightful celebration of everyday life in France through the lens of the kitchens and cooking of the author s neighbors, who, while busy and accomplished, still manage to make every meal a sumptuous occasion. Even before Susan Herrmann Loomis wrote her now-classic memoir, "On Rue Tatin," American readers have been compelled by books about the French s ease with cooking. With "In a French Kitchen," Loomis an expat who long ago traded her American grocery store for a bustling French farmer s market demystifies in lively prose the seemingly effortless je ne sais quoi behind a simple French meal. French cooks have the savoir faire to get out of a low-ingredient bind. They are deeply knowledgeable about seasonal produce and what melange of simple ingredients will bring out the best of their garden or local market. They are perfectly at ease with cracked bowls and little counter space."In a French Kitchen "proves that delicious, decadent meals aren t complicated. Loomis takes lessons from busy, everyday people and offers tricks and recipes to create a meal more focused on quality ingredients and time at the table than on time in the kitchen."

Reviews

"In a French Kitchen" is an enticing mix of recipes, stories, and "astuces" (tips) Susan shares from her sun-filled kitchen in France. Few people understand French cuisine as deeply as Susan, and if you want to experience honest, French cooking - without a lot of fuss, but with great results - you'll as happy as I am to have "In a French Kitchen" as a companion in your kitchen. David Lebovitz, author of" My Paris Kitchen "and" The Sweet Life in Paris" "" With a clear, distinctive, emphatic, and personal style, Susan captures the essence of the French home cook: the search for the finest ingredients, one s personal connections to purveyors, superior organization, the creation of a comfortable repertoire of dishes, the joy as well as the triumph of putting a meal on the table. Patricia Wells, author of "365 Days in France" and founder of At Home with Patricia Wells From her long experience cooking and eating with her French friends and compatriots, Susan has extracted the essence of what makes French home cooking so special. In this book she distills those lessons with warmth, clarity, and lovely recipes, so your kitchen can be French too! Clotilde Dusoulier, author of "The French Market Cookbook" and "Edible French " "" This is the best trip to France you'll ever have -- walking through Louviers with Susan Loomis as your appreciative, ever-hungry guide. You'll stop in kitchen after kitchen to meet her friends and taste their glorious home cooking, you'll get a supermarket tour with special attention to the candy aisle, you'll find out why she's still dazzled by the French art of using up leftovers, and why you'll never see her in public sopping up sauce with a piece of bread. And when it's over, you'll head home with a string bag full of Susan's incomparable recipes. Laura Shapiro, author of "Something from the Oven" Susan Herrmann Loomis s "In A French Kitchen "makes me want to move right back to France, where people expect to eat well, love to eat well, and know how to do it. Susan has always been one of my favorite food writers; sharing her wisdom comes naturally to her, and I love being drawn into her life. This book will inspire us to adapt at least a little bit of the lifestyle she describes with such heartfelt eloquence. You will want to make every recipe in the book, and you ll be able to do so with little effort, just like Susan and her French friends. Martha Rose Shulman, author of "The Simple Art of Vegetarian Cooking" " In this charming memoir cum superb cookbook, Susan Hermann Loomis gets right to the heart of how the French "really" cook with recipes, tips and techniques of her own and from the friends she's made during twenty years of living in France. Deliciously honest, it's as delightful to read as it is to cook from." Alexander Lobrano, author of "Hungry for Paris "and "Hungry for France " "" There is wisdom in this book, expressed in stories and anecdotes, in advice, opinions, recipes, and shopping lists, and most of all in Susan Loomis s warmly engaging yet always sternly authoritative writing. In a French Kitchen is a crash course in cooking and living well. Luke Barr, author of "Provence" "" "With practical tips, delicious recipes, and real stories from real people, "In a French Kitchen "is a wonderful guide for producing honest, simple, and chic meals, a la francaise. Susan Herrmann Loomis has revolutionized the way I cook for my family!" Ann Mah, author of "Mastering the Art of French Eating" "" A warm invitation to the French table... a tempting and helpful guide to delectable food. "Kirkus Reviews""

Author description

Susan Herrmann Loomis is a France-based, award-winning journalist, an author and cooking school proprietor with nine books to her credit, and a professionally trained chef. Among her books are "On Rue Tatin," a narrative about her life in France, with recipes, which won the IACP Award for Best Literary Food Writing for 2002. Loomis contributes to many publications, including "Cooking Light," "Metropolitan Home," "France Today," and "Gastronomica." She has lived in France for nearly twenty years and operates On Rue Tatin, a cultural and culinary cooking program, from her fifteenth-century home in Louviers, France, where she lives with her two children.