Books About France

A rattling good story BBC Good Food Magazine We hail his astonishing determination, and his evocation of his life at home with Mum and Dad, and revel too in his descriptions of English catering in the years before Blanc Guardian Much more than a cookbook, more of a bedtime read, his book deserves a place on any food-lover's bookshelf Leicester Mercury His story takes us from simple, rustic cuisine to the rarefied realms of molecular gastronomy

Entirely self-taught while growing up in the Franche-Comte region of eastern France, Raymond Blanc has been a restauranteur since 1977, and has nurtured the talents of scores of the world's finest chefs in his kitchens. The face of the BBC's The Restaurant, in which he puts nine couples through their paces for a chance to become his partner in owning a restaurant, Raymond was recently awarded an OBE in recognition of his efforts to promote culinary excellence. Author of the seminal Foolproof French Cookery and owner of a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, he was also recently awarded a Lifetime Acheivement Award at The Catey Awards - the catering industry's 'Oscars'.