At My French Table: Moving To France
Lifestyle Travel Memoir French Cooking Family Memoir Illustrated Cookbook Food Writing Regional French Cuisine
Jane Webster’s At My French Table: Moving to France is the illustrated chronicle every Francophile dreams of—part cookbook, part travel memoir, part family saga—wrapped in a 320-page, full-colour paperback that weighs just under two pounds and fits perfectly in a tote bag for train or patio reading. First published by Penguin Random House in 2014, the book follows the Australian author as she uproots her young family, buys an 18th-century château in Normandy, and turns the crumbling estate into a thriving culinary retreat. Each chapter pairs personal stories—school runs in French, renovating a pigeonniere, hunting for antiques at the Marché aux Puces—with recipes collected from local grand-mères, market stalls and Webster’s own kitchen, giving readers an insider taste of real French country living.
What makes this title so collectible is its rare blend of travel writing, food styling and family memoir. Unlike standard cookbooks, Webster’s pages are thick with atmospheric photography: baskets of just-picked figs, long farmhouse tables set under string lights, children riding bikes down dusty lanes. The dishes—think duck confit with garlic potatoes, tarte Tatin thick with caramelised apples, and the simplest green salad with Dijon vinaigrette—are broken into manageable steps for home cooks, while side-bars explain French food lore, regional wine pairings and brocante etiquette. Readers come away knowing not only how to bake a Normandy apple galette, but why the French keep their pastry boards marble-cold and their conversations long.
Because the book is out of print in hardcover and the 2014 trade paperback is becoming harder to source in clean condition, this copy—listed as acceptable and from a smoke-free home—offers an affordable entry point into Webster’s world. At roughly nine by seven inches and one inch thick, it sits nicely on a cookbook stand while you whisk béarnaise or knead brioche, and the 29.7-ounce heft feels substantial without unwieldy. For fans of Frances Mayes, Mimi Thorisson or Ina Garten, At My French Table is the next best thing to a one-way ticket to Rouen—an invitation to linger, taste and daydream without ever leaving your own kitchen.
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