Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris by Ann Mah
I’m currently working my way through the Julia Child memoir of living in Paris. I seem to be on a Paris book-kick at the moment. (Julia Child, David Lebovitz, Laura Florand and Lauren Willig, to name a few.) This memoir seemed to tie nicely into it, and looked like a fun read.
Ann Mah and her husband moved to Paris for her husband’s diplomatic job. Only when they got there, he was stationed in Iraq for a year. She took to exploring the country and its food history, and trying to manage on her own.
On the way, there are recipes, and stories of trying to make friends. The best story was inviting total strangers home to cook together, just because you happen to like the same restaurant. I would love to eat those dumplings.
To be honest, there is a bit too much jumping around in this book for my taste. The chapters lack a certain fluidity between them, and feel like articles stuck together in a book. I actually ended up reading it that way, which I found worked much better for me.
In the end it all comes together, and I am definitely going to try to make boeuf bourguignon, and maybe some of the other recipes from it.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
