On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town

by Susan Herrmann Loomis

Book Overview

This description may be from another edition of this product. Susan Loomis arrived in Paris twenty years ago with little more than a student loan and the contents of a suitcase to sustain her. But what began then as an apprenticeship at La Varenne ?cole de...

Customer Reviews

Entertaining & Engaging!

Unlike some that have reviewed this book, all I can say is that it is a wonderful read, very interesting, engaging and well written. Like Peter Mayle, the author has found a warm and wonderful place in France and relates in detail her pleasant experinences, as well as a great deal of preferred recipes that she has found great success with in both her personal and professional cullinary life. There is nothing disappointing about this book. After just the first chapter, I was hooked and enchanted and ready to read more by Susan Loomis. A great read, a wonderful and vicarious adventure for any true Francophile or other armchair reader. Full of fun, great recipes and dozens of reasons to smile, this book is worth every penny and then some. Kudos to the author!

Envy and Enchantment

There are many---perhaps too many---first-person narratives about adventurous Americans falling in love with Provence, with Tuscany, with Portugal, and deciding willy-nilly to move there, to buy and renovate a house. Invariable we laugh and sigh and commiserate with their struggles with the language, the culture, the habits of the natives, the rules and regulations of the government. But many of these, to my mind, fall far short of the ideal---which should be to create a feeling of both envy and enchantment. Ms. Loomis, with On Rue Tatin, does both. This book not only tells a wonderful story but tells it wonderfully. The sights, the sounds, the scents, the tastes, of building a new life in an old, old house in a small French town---a wonderfully-humorous and never-too-self-congratulatory voyage into the fulfillment of one person's life-dream: to live, work, and write in France. If you've ever used one of Ms. Loomis' excellent cookbooks in your kitchen, you'll know how thorough, precise, and user-friendly her writing is---I've never had to struggle with one of her recipes, no matter how obscure and unfamiliar the ingredients---and this memoir (which, joyfully, also includes recipes! Try the mussels in apple cider vinegar) gives further proof to the strength of her writing talents. A really lovely little book, sure to set the romantics among us daydreaming....

Mouth Watering

Susan Herrmann Loomis' book on living in the French countryside should come with a warning: Do not read this book hungry!Not only does she end each chapter with some amazing recipes, but much of the book is spent in loving detail describing all the various types of food in the region.A baguette smeared with butter has never read better. Similar in tone to Frances Mayes Tuscany books,but this is less about restoring a house and more about daily life in the town with her husband and child. Simple, and satisfying it is a charming and wonderful escapist read. One that when you finish, will make you want to brush up on your French, and book the next flight out.

Wonderful, warm read!

Captivated by Peter Mayles descriptive works on Provence, I was eager for more. Susan Loomis's book did not disappoint. It is a wonderful read that captures the richness of her life in France.The book begins with Susan arriving in Paris with little money. She begins an apprenticeship at a cooking school. As the book progresses Susan shares her immersion into the French culture and cuisine.Eventually she marries,and she and her husband purchase a rundown house in Normandy with charming potential. Step by step you walk with Susan as she recounts her experiences making the home a haven for her family. You experience Susan's delight in her friends and the joy she has relishing the French cuisine. The love and pride Susan has for her husband and small son emanates from the pages. When she gave birth to her second child, I was touched by the outpouring of love from her freinds and felt tears of joy for her!Throughout the book the pleasures of life in Normandy captivate. And Susan intersperses the text with special recipes such as Braised Chicken in White Wine and Mustard, Tarte Tatin, and Swiss Chard Frittata. On Rue Tatin is a wonderful book to curl up with!

A wonderful read!

I tried as hard as I could to read this book slowly and savor it as one would a good meal but as with most wonderful meals it was over too soon. My husband and I will be going to Paris and Normandy this September and will visit Louviers to see first hand the town, church and shops she so beautifully describes in her book. Even in the cold and dampness of Normandy the warmth she has for her village, its people and the food she lovingly prepares for her family and friends transport you on a mini vacation in your mind where you can certainly envision yourself sharing a meal in her courtyard or kitchen.