The French Ingredient

Name: The French Ingredient
Brand: Ballantine Books
SKU: 9780593500422-PRUSDTR-US
Price: 197.0 HKD
Availability: InStock

Making a Life in Paris One Lesson at a Time; A Memoir

Jane Bertch (Author) ... more

Edition: US - Hardback

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Product Info

English • Age Adult - Adult

304 pages • 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.75 in

Approx. weight: 0.97 lb

Publication date: 09 Apr,2024

Barcode: 9780593500422 • Ballantine Books

More books in English for Age Adult - Adult

Biography and memoirs

Memoirs
Biography: general
Cookery / food and drink / food writing
Travel and holiday

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By: Jane Bertch

The inspiring and delicious memoir of an American woman who had the gall to open a cooking school in Paris—a true story of triumphing over French naysayers and falling in love with a city along the way

When Jane Bertch was eighteen, her mother took her on a graduation trip to Paris. Thrilled to use her high school French, Jane found her halting attempts greeted with withering condescension by every waiter and shopkeeper she encountered. At the end of the trip, she vowed she would never return.

Yet a decade later she found herself back in Paris, transferred there by the American bank she worked for. She became fluent in the language and excelled in her new position. But she had a different dream: to start a cooking school for foreigners like her, who wanted to take a few classes in French cuisine in a friendly setting, then bring their new skills to their kitchens back home. Predictably, Jane faced the skeptical French—how dare an American banker start a cooking school in Paris?—as well as real-estate nightmares, and a long struggle to find and attract clients.

Thanks to Jane’s perseverance, La Cuisine Paris opened in 2009. Now the school is thriving, welcoming international visitors to come in and knead dough, whisk bechamel, whip meringue, and learn the care, precision, patience, and beauty involved in French cooking.

The French Ingredient is the story of a young female entrepreneur building a life in a city and culture she grew to love. As she established her school, Jane learned how to charm, how to project confidence, and how to give it right back to rude waiters. Having finally made peace with the city she swore to never revisit, she now offers a love letter to France, and a master class in Parisian cooking—and living.