French Chic Book Club ~ The French Ingredient

Welcome to the third month of a new feature here on Life With Dee – the French Chic Book Club! Each month I’ll select a book for my fellow Francophiles to read. This month we will read The French Ingredient.

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The French Ingredient: A Memoir
Making a Life in Paris One Lesson at a Time

By: Jane Bertch

When Jane Bertch was seventeen, 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.

If you’d like to discuss this month’s French Chic book selection, I’ll have a pinned post in my French Chic Facebook group where you can share your thoughts and observations.

Have you joined the French Chic group yet? If not, here is the link:

French Chic

Be sure to answer the membership questions so your request will be approved.