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Cookbook Author to Share
a True Taste of Paris
November 21, 2001
By Annie Reilly
From its passionate history to its luscious vineyards,
France is adiverse and beautiful country. So says journalist
Patricia Wells, who lives there. She meant to stay in
Paris for only two years. But two turned into four and
four into eight, and so on. Now, 21 years and several
books later, Wells still is living and writing in France.
She'll visit Greensboro on Nov. 29 to share a taste
of Paris through recipes from her new book, "The
Paris Cookbook."
"Something was always happening next week or
next year," she says of her extended stay in France.
"I wasn't getting to the end of learning something.
There wasn't any reason to leave."
Before going to Paris in 1980, Wells was a food reporter
for The New York Times. She took off from America to
get what she called her "Ph.D. in food" by
exploring French restaurants, pastry shops and food
markets. She found no
truth to the stereotypes about secretive chefs and rude
Parisians.
"The chefs are always flattered when they're
asked to contribute," she says.
"The Paris Cookbook" follows seven other
cookbooks by Wells, including best-sellers, "The
Food Lover's Guide to Paris," "The Food Lover's
Guide to France," "Bistro Cooking" and
"Patricia Wells at Home in Provence."
Wells, who helped the Green Valley Grill develop a
French menu being featured through Dec. 4, will dine
and sign books at a Parisian dinner there on Nov. 29.
Wells says she likes the variety and seasons of food
in France, something she says is lacking in the United
States. "Every month there is a new product out
and, along with it, an enthusiasm and newness about
it," she says.
"We're fortunate that food is something that
gives us so much pleasure -three times a day - or more,"
Wells said.
Because she is a journalist, "The Paris Cookbook"
is set apart from other French cookbooks by what Wells
calls the "reporting aspect" of the work.
"Each recipe has a story and a history behind it.
You get my point of view as
well as others," she said.
Wells now works for the International Herald Tribune.
She and her husband divide their time between their
home in Paris and their restored farmhouse in Provence,
in the south of France. The Wall Street Journal describes
her as
"a genuine phenomenon," and she has been ranked
next to Julia Child and James Beard by culinary experts.
She has studied food extensively in Provence.
"That is the center of where everything is growing,"
she said. "Things like apricots are so much better.
The freshness makes you want to work with that product."
For two years, Wells traveled between France and Italy,
studying Italian food. She said Italian food is similar
to French bistro cooking. Wells, whose mother is Italian,
says the climate in Provence is more like Italy's. The
food in Provence is more tomato-based than in Paris,
and there are a lot of fresh fruits.
Wells says she enjoys French culture because of the
set rules and traditions by which the French live. "In
America, we have too much of a laissez-faire attitude,"
she says.
In Wells' book, she gives her readers insight to the
French countryside that tourists would normally miss.
When she describes the Chicken Fricassee With Two Vinegars,
for example, Wells details the life of a pampered local
chicken.
Some of Wells' personal favorites in the book include
the chocolate mousse recipe, the Apple Ladies Apple
Cake and the chicken recipes. She also includes wine
suggestions for certain dishes.
Wells seems to find inspiration everywhere she turns.
"I feel," she says, "like I am bathed
in beauty every day."
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