Product Description

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 École de Cuisine evolved into a lifelong immersion in French cuisine and culture, culminating in permanent residency in 1994. On Rue Tatin chronicles her journey to an ancient little street in Louviers, one of Normandy’s most picturesque towns.

With lyrical prose and wry candor, Loomis recalls the miraculous restoration that she and her husband performed on the dilapidated convent they chose for their new residence. As its ochre and azure floor tiles emerged, challenges outside the dwelling mounted. From squatters to a surly priest next door, along with a close-knit community wary of outsiders, Loomis tackled the social challenges head-on, through persistent dialogue–and baking.

On Rue Tatin includes delicious recipes that evoke the essence of this region, such as Apple and Thyme Tart, Duck Breast with Cider, and Braised Chicken in White Wine and Mustard. Transporting readers to a world where tradition is cherished, On Rue Tatin provides a touching glimpse of the camaraderie, exquisite food, and simple pleasures of daily life in a truly glorious corner of Normandy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #216561 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-30
• Released on: 2002-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com Review
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

From Publishers Weekly
Loomis, an American chef and author of Farmhouse Cookbook and The Great American Seafood Cookbook, enthusiastically recounts every aspect, both intriguing and mundane, of her immersion into the cuisine and lifestyle of northern France. She moved to Paris in 1980 to study cooking and, after a rough start, found her place as a weekend visitor at one family's home in Normandy. After cooking school, she went back to the States, returning to France frequently to visit friends. It wasn't long before she became addicted to Normandy's fresh ingredients goose, garlic, rabbit, wild mushrooms and rich gastronomy, and found herself longing to live there. In 1994, Loomis and her husband moved to the region and bought a dilapidated convent in the small town of Louviers. Her tales of adventures in restoration and run-ins with locals (e.g., the crotchety priest next door, the incorrigibly gregarious rug salesman) are funny, but certainly familiar, especially given that many recent books have told similar stories about ambitious expatriates' forays into rural European life. The cookbook/travelogue/memoir hybrid has become an overcrowded genre, and Loomis's doesn't distinguish itself. Nevertheless, few food writers have depicted Normandy so attentively, and Loomis has compiled an impressive collection of savory recipes that evoke the region's best, including Civet D'Agneau (Hearty Lamb Stew) and Roti de Cuisse de Sanglier (Roasted Leg of Wild Boar). Furthermore, classic Gallic personalities are accurately and engagingly rendered, making this more than just a culinary memoir. (Apr.)Forecast: This work targets Francophilic gastronomes, but probably won't break out of that niche. Nonetheless, the success of Loomis's cookbooks should help boost this title's sales.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Here are two culinary memoirs by American women now living in France. The similarities end there, as one author went to France for the food and stayed for the life that grew up around her, while the other moved to France for its own sake and realized that she'd better learn to cook once she became engaged to a Frenchman. In On Rue Tatin, Loomis, a food writer and an accomplished cook, recalls her initial journey to Paris to attend cooking school. Her apprenticeship at La Varenne cole de Cuisine led to a job as an assistant to food writer Patricia Wells and a lifelong fascination with French cooking and culture. Eventually, in 1994, she and her family permanently settled in a medieval convent on Rue Tatin in the Norman town of Louviers. Interspersed with her lyrical descriptions of daily life in urban and rural France are 50 recipes from a simple frittata to a complex pot au feu culled from both famous chefs and the local fish seller. The author prepares most of the dishes in her own home, and American readers should be able to do the same in a well-equipped kitchen though they may have trouble finding a leg of wild boar at their local supermarket. In French Fried, Rochefort (French Toast) writes about how her obsession with French food became a personal one when her French husband-to-be announced that they could not afford to keep eating in restaurants for the rest of their lives. There are a few recipes, most of them for "basics" such as vinaigrette or homemade mayonnaise. More of a general commentary on life in France as seen through its cuisine (one helpful tip for tourists: don't go into a restaurant and order only a salad or a sandwich because this is something you do in a caf ; restaurants are for meals), French Fried is the book to purchase if your patrons are looking for an informal travel guide. Buy both books if you are able; and if you regularly answer reference questions about the cooking of wild boar, you'll definitely need On Rue Tatin. Wendy Bethel, Southwest P.L., Grove City, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Good Information, Mediocre Writing
Substantively, this is a good book. It communicates well the ethos and richness of that which is France with its emphasis on quality of life and simple joys. It has a nice mix of non fiction story telling with actual cooking recipes that the story motivates you to try. All that makes the book a good read.
It is worth reading for those reasons and I would recommend it (with my stated disclaimer below) despite the comments that follow in the next paragraph which I feel compelled to make given the book's problems.

It is actually pretty amazing that this book got published in its persent form. As another reader noted in his/her review, the writing is mostly like a first draft. The book is poor as any kind of demonstration of writing ability and style. The writing is in bad need of editing: chronic overuse of compound sentences, excessive gushing descriptions, repeated words like "drool" to convey the writer's excitement (e.g., it tasted so good it made us "drool") or phrases like "I was in heaven". The writer almost never sees any real problems in life and at every turn the world is seen as full of charm...like nothing bad could ever happen. The writer, as far as she lets on, has clearly had a charmed life...one "charmed" stage in her life seems to seamlessly transition to the next "charmed" phase...she never dwells on how phenomenal that is (if true) and how lucky she has been compared to others. As a result the writer comes across as self-absorbed, self-centered and certainly unaware! Certainly not what you expect of a good observent writer of any true depth.

Small but not inconspicuous oversights in the book make you question the editorial process, if any, it underwent. A minor problem, for example, appears in a late chapter about a ritual bike ride which the writer and friend take in spring/summer to a local lake. The writer describes how long it takes to take the bike ride and for her to get back home but mathematically the times she describe are impossible.

I still standby the recommendation of the book. I feel, however, I must make this disclaimer: I'm a great lover of France and all that is French. Given this bent and hunger, I was highly motivated. For me at least informational it was useful and feeds a key interest of mine.

Hope that this is helpful to readers and perhaps to the author herself!

Charming book
This book is great for anyone who loves France and life's little pleasures. Susan Herrmann Loomis brings you into her daily routine, introduces you to her neighbors, and invites you to her table. I enjoyed fantasizing that I too have the pleasure of early morning market shopping, biking through the French countryside, and indulging in gorgeous pastries and coffees in cafes just paces from my own doorstep.

The book sometimes reads as if it comes straight from her journal notes, but her stories are so charming and the recipes so delicious that it hardly matters.

French Life and Cuisine
Susan Loomis fell in love with France, the French and French cooking when she was a young student 20 years ago. After an apprenticeship at La Varenne de Cuisine in Paris and her subsequent marriage to Michael Loomis, she decides to emigrate. They buy a dilapidated former convent in Louviers, France in 1994 and their story really gets underway.

ON RUE TATIN tells about the renovation of the house as well as the story of their adjustment to French culture, the friends and workmen they encounter, and the life they live as modern expatriots. Having established a reputation and published a cookbook, Loomis writes another throughout the development of this memoir and she includes some of her recipes in this volume.

Loomis is a pedestrian writer at best, so the charm of the book rests on the experiences of the author and the usefulness of the recipes. I tried one -- the chocolate cake -- and found it delicious.

Sunnye Tiedemann