Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris Author: Ann Mah | Language: English | ISBN:
B00C1N934S | Format: PDF
Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris Description
The memoir of a young diplomat’s wife who must reinvent her dream of living in Paris—one dish at a time When journalist Ann Mah’s diplomat husband is given a three-year assignment in Paris, Ann is overjoyed. A lifelong foodie and Francophile, she immediately begins plotting gastronomic adventures à deux. Then her husband is called away to Iraq on a year-long post—alone. Suddenly, Ann’s vision of a romantic sojourn in the City of Light is turned upside down.
So, not unlike another diplomatic wife, Julia Child, Ann must find a life for herself in a new city. Journeying through Paris and the surrounding regions of France, Ann combats her loneliness by seeking out the perfect pain au chocolat and learning the way the andouillette sausage is really made. She explores the history and taste of everything from boeuf Bourguignon to soupe au pistou to the crispiest of buckwheat crepes. And somewhere between Paris and the south of France, she uncovers a few of life’s truths.
Like Sarah Turnbull’s
Almost French and Julie Powell’s
New York Times bestseller
Julie and Julia,
Mastering the Art of French Eating is interwoven with the lively characters Ann meets and the traditional recipes she samples. Both funny and intelligent, this is a story about love—of food, family, and France.
- File Size: 605 KB
- Print Length: 289 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0670025992
- Publisher: Viking Adult (September 26, 2013)
- Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00C1N934S
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,076 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #5
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > French - #15
in Books > Travel > Europe > France > Paris - #15
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Travel > Europe > France
- #5
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > French - #15
in Books > Travel > Europe > France > Paris - #15
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Travel > Europe > France
Having read quite a few food and cooking oriented books written by food authors who were also chefs, I find this book is unique as author Ann Mah. She is a less adventurous eater and more like the rest of us. I feel that her research of this book, is done in a way, that addresses those of us that don't know the history of area or the recipe being discussed. so I get more out of her approach. I don't know my history (much less France's) and this was delivered in such a way, not to be facts and figures, but the local stories that made up the past of an area.
Ann Mah, had a unique opportunity to live in the city of her dreams, but unfortunately not the way she envisioned it. Instead with her husband miles away in Bagdad she found herself spending this time alone. Fortunately for us she has made the best of it and taken the opportunity to pursue her fascination of French cooking. I find her unique situation (being of Chinese heritage, but being American), while having a nomadic experience in other countries fascinating. I never thought how awkward that could be in China, looking like a local, while clearly not being one. It seems less of an issue for American's in Europe. The irony of this displacement while pursuing the food heritage of a country, is not lost on the reader. So much of who we are is what we eat. The comfort foods of each generation are often passed down and define us. I found this especially pertinent in the section she discusses Alsatian food. Clearly though the area was passed between German and France several times and languages were mandated, the food was unaffected.
Each time I have traveled, it has been the food of the area that has stayed with me. That unique taste that when I recall it takes me back to that place and time.
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