On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town - Hardcover

It has been said that food defines a culture. For the French, food is an integral part of their coveted tradition, and Susan Herrmann Loomis's new book On Rue Tatin embraces both. As a young, recent American college graduate, Loomis left the U.S. for France to attend one of the oldest French cooking schools, La Varenne. Her intent was to immerse herself in French cooking with the aspiration of becoming a food critic. Working as the French equivalent of an apprentice, she quickly became intimate with the ways and traditions that define the French culture, specifically its cuisine. On Rue Tatin ("On Tatin Street") is a descriptive narrative of Loomis's first several years in France, her encounters with the local people, and the bonds she formed, as well as recipes she gathered during her time there.

Following her formal culinary training, Loomis returned to the U.S. and met the man who would become her husband. After the couple's first son turned 2, they moved to France where Loomis was determined to launch her writing career focusing on unique aspects of French farming cuisine. She and her husband eventually purchased an old monastery in Louviers in the Normandy region of France. One of the more humorous and memorable stories she shares concerns the landlord of the small rental that they occupied for a year while her husband remodeled the monastery to livable conditions. During that year, the wife of the landlord believed them to be CIA agents and chose to keep a cold distance from the family. Meanwhile the French police suspected them of dealing drugs.

Every recipe featured throughout this memoir comes with an interesting, anecdotal story, and is very much representative of traditional French cuisine. Gateau au Chocolat de Mamy (or Mamy Jacqueline's Chocolate Cake) is a dense, almost death-by-chocolate confection, but served alone or with a fresh fruit coulis, it will bring a smile, as will the sweet explanation of its origin.

Loomis describes experiences and people with much detail, sometimes several times over, and her prose allows the reader to imagine the tempting smells and vivid colors of the countryside. You may find yourself wishing to see pictures of Loomis's home and the quaint village where she lived, but perhaps that was Loomis's intent--she wants to tempt and challenge you to experience the beauty and foods of Louviers and the Normandy region for yourself. --Teresa Simanton

Advance praise for On Rue Tatin:

"Where many American writers merely love France, Susan Loomis knows it: its smells and people and manners. Her cookbooks have always been especially well-written, and, in On Rue Tatin, her first book where there is more writing than cooking, she shows that she is as natural a writer as she is a chef." --Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon

"Susan Loomis's homey French kitchen is one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. If you love food, love France, and dream about living there, you must read On Rue Tatin."
--Barbara Tropp, author of China Moon

"When Susan Loomis went to France 20 years ago she was impressed, just as I was, with the beauty and aliveness of French food. What a pleasure to be seduced with her delightful stories and taken into a kitchen filled with the irresistible tastes and aromas of Normandy."
--Alice Waters, author of Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook

"Susan's charming tale of living and working in France is just like her recipes: delicious, sometimes surprising, and always satisfying." --Johanne Killeen and George Germon, authors of Cucina Simpatica: Robust Trattoria Cooking

"In this, her most personal book, Susan Loomis shares with us her rich family life, a world of amazing French friendships, and proves, most of all, that each and every dream CAN come true!" --Patricia Wells, author of Patricia Wells at Home in Provence

"Susan Loomis has written a radiant love letter to France-particularly Normandy-its countryside, food, markets, and people. Buy it and settle down for good reading and an occasional sortie into the kitchen." --Barbara Kafka, author of Soup: A Way of Life