The French Kitchen Cookbook: Recipes and Lessons from Paris and Provence

With The French Kitchen Cookbook, culinary legend Patricia Wells invites home cooks into her life in France, making the fresh and delicious recipes from her popular classes available to fans who dream of experiencing their own gastronomic adventure in the world's culinary capital.

Beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated with stunning color photos, The French Kitchen Cookbook is a compilation and reflection on what she and her students have learned. Patricia Wells's meticulously written recipes express the basics—the rules that will help anyone become a better cook, while providing the deep satisfaction that comes from creating exquisite food from the freshest ingredients.

Here are some of her best recipes for appetizers, desserts, and everything in between, dishes inspired by the vibrant Provençal countryside and the bustle of Parisian life, including Miniature Onion and Goat Cheese Tatins, Zucchini and Basil Velouté, Fricassée of Chicken with Fennel, Capers, Tomatoes and Sausage, and Apricot Lavender Honey Sorbet.

Convinces even beginners that it’s possible to make guest-worthy food in a small kitchen…[The book] comes directly from the cooking classes Patricia Wells gives at her homes in Paris and Provence; the lineup includes plenty of uncomplicated dishes that have been tested within an inch of their lives. — The New York Times Book Review

Long an award-winning cookbook author and restaurant reviewer…Patricia Wells also holds culinary classes in her Paris and Provence residences. Join her via delightful stories, enticing photography and distinctive dishes. There are her French favorites…But Wells’ years of world travel also brings Italian and Asian dishes to her table. — The Post and Courier

“Patricia Wells is a culinary legend who has lived and cooked in France for more than 30 years. Her most recent book is The French Kitchen Cookbook. Reading it left me hungry, and with a great case of wanderlust.” — The Splendid Table

A master class in fresh, delicious, French-inspired cooking

Since 1995, students have waited months and sometimes years for the privilege of learning to cook with Patricia Wells at Chanteduc, her eighteenth-century Provençal farmhouse, and at her Parisian cooking studio. Now, the culinary legend invites home cooks into her life in France, making the recipes from her popular classes available to fans who dream of embarking on their own gastronomic adventure in the world's culinary capital.

Beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated with stunning color photographs, The French Kitchen Cookbook offers simple yet profound pleasures to Patricia's students: the satisfaction of preparing a perfect fruit tart; the gratification of extracting a warm, fragrant, golden brioche from the oven; the giddiness of sharing a meal with a group of former strangers who quickly become lifelong friends.

Patricia's meticulously written recipes explain the basics—rules that will help anyone become a better cook—while providing the deep satisfaction that comes from creating exquisite food that extracts the best of fresh ingredients. Here are some of her best recipes for appetizers, desserts, and everything in between, dishes inspired by the vibrant Provençal countryside and the bustle of Parisian life, including Miniature Onion and Goat Cheese Tatins, Zucchini and Basil Velouté, Fricassée of Chicken with Fennel, Capers, Tomatoes and Sausage, and Apricot and Lavender Honey Sorbet.

"The French Kitchen Cookbook is about a way of life and a lifestyle of food and entertaining," Patricia writes. "It is all about the joys of combining good food, good wine, and friends altogether around the table—an experience we can enjoy day in and day out, any time."

Patricia Wells is a journalist, author, and teacher who runs the popular cooking school At Home with Patricia Wells in Paris and Provence. She has won four James Beard Awards and the French government has honored her as a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, recognizing her contribution to French culture. A former New York Times reporter, she is the only foreigner and the only woman to serve as restaurant critic for a major French publication, L'Express. She served as the global restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune for more than twenty-five years. She lives in Paris and Provence with her husband, Walter Wells.