Vie de France: 6sharing Food, Friendship, and a Kitchen in the Loire Valley

by James Haller

Book Overview

Readers who enjoyed A Year in Provence can now spend a month in Savonnieres with an award-winning chef and his friends, with dozens of recipes includes. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425190110
• ISBN13: 9780425190111
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Excellent reading

This is a thoroughly entertaining and interesting account of the author's month in France. He and his friends had a great time, just as I did when I read it. His comments and observations make me want to rent the same house sometime. I re-lived the year I lived in a different part of France.

Food, friends and France!

You can almost taste the buttery brie and smell the crisp baguettes baking in chef James Hallers book, "Vie de France".Haller and a group of friends rented a lovely home in Savonnieres a small town in the Loire Valley for a month. The beauty of the area, availability of fine fresh food and warmth of good companions inspired Haller to share the time he spent in the region.In "Vie De France", Haller describes how he and his friends enjoyed their days, looking for antiques, exploring the marketplace and soaking up the atmosphere. Haller is an award winning chef and author of several cookbooks. He loves to eat, cook and shop for food. He relishes food and this radiates throughout the book. In each chapter, he shares mouthwatering morsels of the food he feasted on. He describes dishes he made using fresh, local ingredients and dishes he enjoyed at casual cafes and fancy restaurants.Haller walks you through the marketplace where he selects from four aisles of cheeses. You will pick from the freshest vegetables displayed like jewels. The butcher cuts your meat to order as you wait. In the patisserie the variety of breads, candies and pastries delight the eye. It's hard to decide between a "crusty round pain de compagnes" or a hearty wheat bread. Back in the kitchen, Haller prepares tasty dishes using natural, healthy ingredients like creamy French butter, olive oil, herbes de Provence and garlic. The delicious recipes he makes are interspersed throughout the book. Recipes included range from the simple - french toast baguette with an apricot sauce to the more complex - turkey cutlets stuffed with a mushroom pilaf in a white wine and sorrel cream sauce. Other recipes included range from the common - grilled meat and a nice green salad to the more unusual - baked snails in butter, lemon and parsley.The dining experience usually includes a fine red wine and a dessert. Desserts range from light to rich. A decadent creme caramel ends a simple soup and salad meal. Chocolate with hazelnuts tops a meal of sausage and red wine ragout. An apricot lavender tart completes a roast chicken stuffed with cassoulet. A table of menus at the beginning of the book makes finding the recipes easy.In "Vie De France" Haller will create his moroccan olive salad or fresh tomatoes in basil dressing for your enjoyment. You will tour the countryside perhaps stopping for a glass of red wine at the local cafe. You may stop at the antique shop and find a special piece of pottery or pay a visit to the patisserie and pick up a fresh baked apple tart. You will savor the fresh food, beautiful views and good friends.Lee Mellott

uplifting biographical story

In 1996 having celebrated his sixtieth birthday in Maine, renowned chef James Haller, wary of the kitchen, decides to R & R in the French Loire Valley. He and friends rent a seventeenth century home in Savonnieres. Six people including James would stay the entire month that they have leased the property for while other friends will come by for shorter duration.The house combined the best of history with much of modern day convenience. The company was companionable both those staying in the house and the locals whose fresh foods at the markets provided James an invigorating regeneration and though he planned not to cook one meal the motivated chef was soon doing all the cooking. Though the recipes are what readers might expect from the author-chef, the key to this uplifting biographical month is how important friendship is to the human condition. France furbishes the atmosphere that rejuvenated a tired James. VIE DE FRANCE: SHARING FOOD, FRIENDSHIP, AND A KITCHEN IN THE LOIRE VALLEY is an inspirational toast to the stimulation of camaraderie that is a human need in order to live precious life to the fullest.Harriet Klausner

La Vie Douce

I just finished reading it and I was charmed. The book, a day by day description of a monthlong visit to the Loire Valley, is funny, interesting, touching and hopeful. I feel like I've just had a wonderful vacation with good friends. Reading it also made me want to try some of the delicious meals described in the book. Mr. Haller makes it sound so easy for anyone to be a terrific, creative cook. I envy him his ease. This is a perfect book for a lazy afternoon read.

Pure Sunshine!

I could sense the intense friendship of Chef Haller's fellow sojourners, I envied their enjoyment of his brilliant cooking, and I could feel the Loire Valley sunshine that beamed from every page.Charles J. Ippolito, M.D.(New York City)