Secrets of a Lazy French Cook

by Marie-Morgane Le Moël

Tiens! When Marie, an adventurous French journalist, decides to try life as a foreign correspondent in Australia, it's a steep learning curve. How to get invited to the best election events, how to get a word in edgewise at press conferences when pushy Australian writers keep interrupting, and how to make new friends - especially when Immigration has firmly suggested your French-Canadian fiance must go home. Luckily, having a suitcase full of Maman's recipes helps when homesickness hits, and it turns out the pushy Australian writer loves her galette des rois...But will Marie ever feel that she belongs in her adopted country? You can take the girl out of France, but can you ever take France out of the girl?

Genres: France, Nonfiction

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Susan Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just lovely. Quirky and heart warming and loved the recipes

[Kora Kubiak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lekka książka do przeczytania latem na plaży 😄 Plusem są na pewno rozmaite przepisy na dania bohaterki ukryte w środku książki 🙂

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up 'Secrets of a Lazy French Cook' thinking that it would make an interesting change from the usual English-speaking-country girl falls in love and moves to France story. Instead, it's a French girl falls in love and moves to Australia story. Sounds like an easy read, and it was. The problem for me was simply that it was so-far-so-superficial. The author spends the first half of the book flitting from one man to the next with every chapter, declaring each one of them to be the love of her life and of course, finding it is always their fault when things go wrong. Indeed, everything that goes slightly left of right for her is someone elses fault, whether that of her twin, parents or friends. It's not until three quarters of the way through the book that she ends up in Australia, with no real explanation given other than there was a job (a freelance position, which doesn't really seem a good enough reason to suddenly move to the other side of the world leaving not only your life behind, but your fiance) and she took it. Once there she breaks up with fiance in little more than a sentence ("we left each other behind") and hooks up with a man many years her senior, eventually marrying him so she can stay in the country on a marriage visa. There is truly no hint of something more real with the final target of her affections than the over a dozen men that have come before. To me, her narrating voice is really slightly cruel, to the extent that her mother is referred to throughout the book by her first name and her father is barely mentioned at all, his death once again being given less than a sentence.

As for the recipes? A lazy cook is definitely an accurate title, to the extent she recommends melting chocolate directly on the stove top. The recipes are french, but so watered down that to someone with some familiarity with french cooking they are almost unrecognisable.

Overall I have to admit I was rather underwhelmed, and will be going back to the english-speaker moves to France stories in the hope of a little more warmth.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming book that the Francophile in me found very enjoyable. Be warned, though, if class is an issue for you that despite the stated leftist l leanings of its author this book contains a lot of unquestioned privilege that even the generally class-blind me noticed.

I'd definitely read it more as a memoir than a cookbook (do not follow the author's advice and melt chocolate over direct heat! Place a bowl on top of a saucepan filled with boiling water instead) but it has inspired me to pull out an actual French cookbook and attempt some authentic coq au vin served with au gratin potatoes...yum!

[Barbara Masiello · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you can see from the rest of my reviews of have a little fasination with the French!!! Loved this book such an easy read and of course the recipes have come in handy as well.

[Elizabeth]

enjoyed this. Am going to attempt some of the recipes tonight. The stories in between are cool