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Cooking for Claudine: How I Cooked My Way into the Heart of a Formidable French Family
For John Baxter - acclaimed film critic and food lover - that moment came when he fell in love with a French woman and impulsively moved to Paris to marry her. As a test of his love, his sceptical in-laws charged him with cooking the next Christmas banquet. His year-long quest takes readers to the farthest corners of France in search of the country's finest recipes and ingredients. Cooking for Claudine is a warm-hearted tale of good food and true love - Parisian-style. How can you resist?
288 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2011
3 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
John Baxter
226 books123 followersJohn Baxter (born 1939 in Randwick, New South Wales) is an Australian-born writer, journalist, and film-maker.
Baxter has lived in Britain and the United States as well as in his native Sydney, but has made his home in Paris since 1989, where he is married to the film-maker Marie-Dominique Montel. They have one daughter, Louise.
He began writing science fiction in the early 1960s for New Worlds, Science Fantasy and other British magazines. His first novel, though serialised in New Worlds as THE GOD KILLERS, was published as a book in the US by Ace as The Off-Worlders. He was Visiting Professor at Hollins College in Virginia in 1975-1976. He has written a number of short stories and novels in that genre and a book about SF in the movies, as well as editing collections of Australian science fiction.
Baxter has also written a large number of other works dealing with the movies, including biographies of film personalities, including Federico Fellini, Luis Buñuel, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, George Lucas and Robert De Niro. He has written a number of documentaries, including a survey of the life and work of the painter Fernando Botero. He also co-produced, wrote and presented three television series for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Filmstruck, First Take and The Cutting Room, and was co-editor of the ABC book programme Books And Writing.
In the 1960s, he was a member of the WEA Film Study Group with such notable people as Ian Klava, Frank Moorhouse, Michael Thornhill, John Flaus and Ken Quinnell. From July 1965 to December 1967 the WEA Film Study Group published the cinema journal FILM DIGEST. This journal was edited by John Baxter.
For a number of years in the sixties, he was active in the Sydney Film Festival, and during the 1980s served in a consulting capacity on a number of film-funding bodies, as well as writing film criticism for The Australian and other periodicals. Some of his books have been translated into various languages, including Japanese and Chinese.
Since moving to Paris, he has written four books of autobiography, A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict, We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light, Immoveable feast : a Paris Christmas, and The Most Beautiful Walk in the World : a Pedestrian in Paris.
Since 2007 he has been co-director of the annual Paris Writers Workshop.
Baxter has lived in Britain and the United States as well as in his native Sydney, but has made his home in Paris since 1989, where he is married to the film-maker Marie-Dominique Montel. They have one daughter, Louise.
He began writing science fiction in the early 1960s for New Worlds, Science Fantasy and other British magazines. His first novel, though serialised in New Worlds as THE GOD KILLERS, was published as a book in the US by Ace as The Off-Worlders. He was Visiting Professor at Hollins College in Virginia in 1975-1976. He has written a number of short stories and novels in that genre and a book about SF in the movies, as well as editing collections of Australian science fiction.
Baxter has also written a large number of other works dealing with the movies, including biographies of film personalities, including Federico Fellini, Luis Buñuel, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Woody Allen, George Lucas and Robert De Niro. He has written a number of documentaries, including a survey of the life and work of the painter Fernando Botero. He also co-produced, wrote and presented three television series for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Filmstruck, First Take and The Cutting Room, and was co-editor of the ABC book programme Books And Writing.
In the 1960s, he was a member of the WEA Film Study Group with such notable people as Ian Klava, Frank Moorhouse, Michael Thornhill, John Flaus and Ken Quinnell. From July 1965 to December 1967 the WEA Film Study Group published the cinema journal FILM DIGEST. This journal was edited by John Baxter.
For a number of years in the sixties, he was active in the Sydney Film Festival, and during the 1980s served in a consulting capacity on a number of film-funding bodies, as well as writing film criticism for The Australian and other periodicals. Some of his books have been translated into various languages, including Japanese and Chinese.
Since moving to Paris, he has written four books of autobiography, A Pound of Paper: Confessions of a Book Addict, We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light, Immoveable feast : a Paris Christmas, and The Most Beautiful Walk in the World : a Pedestrian in Paris.
Since 2007 he has been co-director of the annual Paris Writers Workshop.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 2, 2013
If two stars is "it was ok" then that's what I have to give it. It was an enjoyable enough little read - a bit of light entertainment to read in the bath. The narrator sounds jovial, passionate and easy to relate to. The main problem I had with the book is that it's not really a story, just a collection of anecdotes - far from the promising memoir of a single event that the blurb on the cover made it out to be. A bookshop browser is led to believe this is the story of a newcomer in France, who doesn't speak French, cooking a first Christmas dinner in order to win the approval of his girlfriend's mother, the 'formidable' Madame Claudine.
Madame Claudine barely even features in the book so I have no idea what was so 'formidable' about her. I think it was maybe just the publishers suggested title for the nice alliterative effect of Cooking for Claudine (in much the same way as the cover designer chose to put in an image of the Eiffel Tower even though the main cooking described is in another part of France). Essentially, this is just another memoir, light on the narrative, of an English speaker's experience of France - a topic publishers know sells well. What was disappointing was that the whole thing was written about a very recent Christmas dinner when the author had already been living in France with his wife for more than 18 years and clearly was already part of the family and a decent French speaker too - to the point where he recommends not bothering to attend a Christmas dinner in France if you don't speak French.
I felt most of his 'life in France' anecdotes must have been used up in previous memoirs and articles so the Christmas dinner idea was just a flimsy theme on which to hang a series of amusing but mainly unrelated anecdotes and observations about the French.
Having recently cooked half my actual first Christmas dinner here in France, with MY mother-in-law, I was keen to read this book and see how much of it I could relate to. As I said, I liked it fine but would have liked more of a story. I think many people will enjoy the book however for its passion for food, some insights into French culture, and its entertaining style. I would probably read another one of his books but would ignore the marketing spin.
Madame Claudine barely even features in the book so I have no idea what was so 'formidable' about her. I think it was maybe just the publishers suggested title for the nice alliterative effect of Cooking for Claudine (in much the same way as the cover designer chose to put in an image of the Eiffel Tower even though the main cooking described is in another part of France). Essentially, this is just another memoir, light on the narrative, of an English speaker's experience of France - a topic publishers know sells well. What was disappointing was that the whole thing was written about a very recent Christmas dinner when the author had already been living in France with his wife for more than 18 years and clearly was already part of the family and a decent French speaker too - to the point where he recommends not bothering to attend a Christmas dinner in France if you don't speak French.
I felt most of his 'life in France' anecdotes must have been used up in previous memoirs and articles so the Christmas dinner idea was just a flimsy theme on which to hang a series of amusing but mainly unrelated anecdotes and observations about the French.
Having recently cooked half my actual first Christmas dinner here in France, with MY mother-in-law, I was keen to read this book and see how much of it I could relate to. As I said, I liked it fine but would have liked more of a story. I think many people will enjoy the book however for its passion for food, some insights into French culture, and its entertaining style. I would probably read another one of his books but would ignore the marketing spin.
April 21, 2015
Cooking for Claudine by John Baxter is a well written, charming and entertaining Food/Memoir - Parisian style. It's very interesting and fun to read. It tells a tale of how someone who fell in love and cooked his way into the heart of a formidable French family.
The thing I liked the most about it was that it is actually a true story and I do like and admire a man who can cook! I also liked the way the writer weaved the different cultures and spices into his cooking and cuisine and his descriptions of everything French. I also liked the old fashioned true Parisian illustrations & quotes throughout the book.
I found this food memoir in The Cookery Book store located in Northbridge, Sydney which is full of amazing cookbooks, memoirs and books. This book caught my eye & I just had to have it!
The thing I liked the most about it was that it is actually a true story and I do like and admire a man who can cook! I also liked the way the writer weaved the different cultures and spices into his cooking and cuisine and his descriptions of everything French. I also liked the old fashioned true Parisian illustrations & quotes throughout the book.
I found this food memoir in The Cookery Book store located in Northbridge, Sydney which is full of amazing cookbooks, memoirs and books. This book caught my eye & I just had to have it!
September 5, 2018
If you want to know how John Baxter cooked his way into the heart of a formidable French Family, then this book will tell you nothing about it. The synopsis was VERY misleading, as the book did not express much at all about his relationship with his mother-in-law. I found that its categorisation in the food/memoir genre is the most accurate description.
There was no story arc, as the whole book was about him and his wife prepping for the big Christmas dinner -- which disappointingly was just like every other grand Christmas dinner he hosted with his Parisian family. How his relationship is supposedly dependent on his cooking (as suggested in the synopsis) was almost irrelevant. There were many tangents of how certain foods found their place in Baxter's life, or affiliated memories. While they were interesting, some of them were irrelevant. I suppose the plus side that the large font, generous margins and occasional images made it so much easier and faster to get through this book.
Having said that, I enjoyed the originality in his voice, which held consistent all throughout the book. There were some relatively dry humor, but at least that helped him speak his mind. As I'm not a cook/chef/Parisian/foodie myself, I was very enlightened by the way he described the food and cooking techniques. There was some jargon, but smartly used that someone like me can still follow through without being too lost. Overall, would only recommend this book if you are familiar with John Baxter's work (that is not in literature), or if you want exposure to Parisian cuisine flavoured with a personal twist.
There was no story arc, as the whole book was about him and his wife prepping for the big Christmas dinner -- which disappointingly was just like every other grand Christmas dinner he hosted with his Parisian family. How his relationship is supposedly dependent on his cooking (as suggested in the synopsis) was almost irrelevant. There were many tangents of how certain foods found their place in Baxter's life, or affiliated memories. While they were interesting, some of them were irrelevant. I suppose the plus side that the large font, generous margins and occasional images made it so much easier and faster to get through this book.
Having said that, I enjoyed the originality in his voice, which held consistent all throughout the book. There were some relatively dry humor, but at least that helped him speak his mind. As I'm not a cook/chef/Parisian/foodie myself, I was very enlightened by the way he described the food and cooking techniques. There was some jargon, but smartly used that someone like me can still follow through without being too lost. Overall, would only recommend this book if you are familiar with John Baxter's work (that is not in literature), or if you want exposure to Parisian cuisine flavoured with a personal twist.
January 31, 2019
Very light hearted and fun written from an Aussie cook's point of view.
September 14, 2020
Over-embellished without much reward.
March 17, 2013
An excellently persuasive short book by someone with a lifelong love of cooking.
Cooking For Claudine is not just a mere string of anecdotes followed by outlines of the recipes, but a cooking experienced through the lens of someone whose life is enriched by what food can mean to people.
Baxter's contrast of plain awful childhood sustenance with his openly expressed delight and confidence learned from his first steps makes his writing far, far more viscerally understandable than any newspaper food critic's tome with the elitist tone of "by a self proclaimed food snob for my peers" that doesn't lower itself to spending ink on explaining any terms or definitions outside the lexicon of any beginner.
A wonderful choice for someone taking their first unsteady steps on the path to cooking for themselves.
The tooltip for Goodreads' rating system describes 5 stars as "It was amazing", and the window into the world of food this book opened up to me truly is just that.
Needless to say I highly recommend reading it.
Cooking For Claudine is not just a mere string of anecdotes followed by outlines of the recipes, but a cooking experienced through the lens of someone whose life is enriched by what food can mean to people.
Baxter's contrast of plain awful childhood sustenance with his openly expressed delight and confidence learned from his first steps makes his writing far, far more viscerally understandable than any newspaper food critic's tome with the elitist tone of "by a self proclaimed food snob for my peers" that doesn't lower itself to spending ink on explaining any terms or definitions outside the lexicon of any beginner.
A wonderful choice for someone taking their first unsteady steps on the path to cooking for themselves.
The tooltip for Goodreads' rating system describes 5 stars as "It was amazing", and the window into the world of food this book opened up to me truly is just that.
Needless to say I highly recommend reading it.
December 10, 2012
If you have had any interaction with the French you will relish this wry look into the etiquette, bizaare mannerisms and general bi-polarity of the culture that they have bred.
The book made me so hungry whilst reading I had to stop mid-way, rush to the grocery store and buy a freshly baked baguette with four varietals of French cheese to munch on while I finished.
It is a culinary journey no food lover should ever miss.
The book made me so hungry whilst reading I had to stop mid-way, rush to the grocery store and buy a freshly baked baguette with four varietals of French cheese to munch on while I finished.
It is a culinary journey no food lover should ever miss.
March 10, 2013
Oh what a superb meal, lovingly woven into story over 270 pages. John Baxter's succulent description of the pig Pascal and the gift of food for his French family leaves the reader hungry for a similar culinary experience. A perfect accompaniment to any reading you are doing featuring food, particularly French, but really - served well on its own as well. Includes recipes, but really requires an invitation to dinner
January 4, 2017
Summary: A pleasant about how an Australian prepares Christmas dinner in France for his family.
My book club were all in agreement that at times this felt disjointed, and that names were dropped for no additional narrative purpose, but overall most of us enjoyed this short biography. It should probably be read around Christmas!
My book club were all in agreement that at times this felt disjointed, and that names were dropped for no additional narrative purpose, but overall most of us enjoyed this short biography. It should probably be read around Christmas!
August 12, 2012
This is just a sweet little book. I have a deep and meaningful relationship with food, so I appreciated the detail that the author uses to discuss his creations. He even includes recipes in the back, but I am not ambitious enough to try cooking duck. Or anything, really, let's be honest.
November 12, 2012
Mixed opinions on this one at book club tonight - most found it an enjoyable read but many found that the narrative was lacking a little and felt let down by a lack of description of the final meal.
We ranged from 2 - 9 out of 10! The scores were:9/9/7.5/6/9/6/6/6/5/7/6.5/7/2/6
We ranged from 2 - 9 out of 10! The scores were:9/9/7.5/6/9/6/6/6/5/7/6.5/7/2/6
September 28, 2014
Recommended by Alison
Beautiful descriptive and heartwarming book about an Australian man cooking for his French family
Read this mood boosting book in Townsville
Beautiful descriptive and heartwarming book about an Australian man cooking for his French family
Read this mood boosting book in Townsville
October 18, 2013
Nice read but nothing special
January 10, 2016
Enjoyed this book, though it's the same as "immovable feast". Again the history and food references are excellent.
September 5, 2025
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14201376
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14201376
October 1, 2012
Nae bad. Some of it made me feel...odd, though, like most writing by Anglo people about France.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews