An enjoyable read about the author’s experiences as an expat in France and the differences in culture. As an amateur baker, I think in my next life I’ll be living in Paris enjoying croissants and popping into and out of the boutiques for fromage, etc. really interesting to hear some of the social differences between the USA and France. Recommend for anyone who has interest in making a life in Paris and/or enjoys baking!

I was delighted to be approved for this ARC after hearing about it on social media. As a self-proclaimed Francophile, I'm often drawn to the memoirs of ex-pats in France because I envision myself doing something like that one day. I enjoyed revisiting (as well as discovering) Paris through Bertch's eyes. She takes readers from the birth of her cooking school La Cuisine, when it was just an idea, a dream, to its present day success. She lays bare all of the wild emotions and feelings she experienced of the process, describing the hiccups and challenges of having a business in a country she's not a native of. The lessons learned and strategies of starting and building a business and the experiences of acclimating to another culture and people are interesting, and even valuable to those entertaining the thought of moving abroad to do something similar. She shares accounts of celebrating Thanksgiving in France (the turkey fiascos made me chuckle), struggling with thoughts of guilt for being so far from her mother in Chicago, navigating social and work relationships and situations, and recognizing, yet celebrating, the differences between America and France. I really appreciated the 'French Astuce' bits at the end of each chapter -- these are nice insider tips on French etiquette and reveal much about the French culture and way of living and thinking. I feel that just maybe I could better navigate life in Paris myself (as an American) after reading Bertch's story. I hope to visit and take a class at La Cuisine someday!

Such a delightful read!

If you’ve ever dreamed of living in Europe, you’ll relate to the author’s decision to find a way to stay in France after falling in love with Paris. From Jane’s first job in Paris to riding the waves La Cuisine experiences, she paints a picture of a vibrant and interesting life in the City of Love.

I loved this book, especially Jane’s tenacity and determination to see her dream through. This is a memoir well worth reading.

This memoir is beautifully written and a true delight. I loved this author's story of her move to Paris for her work, and her later decision to leave banking and open a cooking school. Bertch conveys the cultural differences between her homes with real fairness and consideration. I think this is one of the best expat memoirs that I have read about Paris. It really does bring the often-baffling-to-outsiders French sensibility into a clearer picture. As an American living in Spain, I related to many of Bertch's reflections on developing a full life in a country not your own.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I’ve had this book on my to-be-read list for months so I was thrilled to receive an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for my review! This was a really enjoyable, read it in one weekend memoir that has me itching to book a trip to Paris. I loved the stories about the author’s experiences as a business owner and expat in France, and the foodie angle made it even more special and relatable. I found the little recaps/morals of the story at the end of each chapter to be a little disconnected from the storytelling they intended to summarize, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. I found the latter chapters on the global pandemic particularly interesting, hearing about the experience of a small business weathering those challenging times and what that was like to live through in Europe compared to what we witnessed here in the States. I hope to make it to La Cuisine Paris myself someday!

If you are an American who has dreams of living in Paris this is for you.

The book is an autobiography by Jane Bertch who moved to Paris 20 years ago, quit a job in finance and opened a cooking school. The dream! It’s not without its hardships but Bertch does a nice job of balancing the good times and bad. She dives into cultural business nuances that, as someone who works for a multinational corporation and spent time working with my team in Paris, made me wish I had had this book then!

A fun quick read that will make you want to book a flight to Paris and a class at La Cuisine.

Posted to GoodReads on 1/26/24

I got to take a trip myself with this book! I loved the way she told her personal story, her business story, her France story, her Paris story, and Parisians story all woven into "I'm coming along for a ride!" read. The weaving of being a mid-Western American and also living in Paris (wanting to embrace it but also wanting to be herself and cater to clients) captivated me. It was a pleasure that it wasn't a "tell all" but a "tell enough" with a clearly painted world with characters and lives all their own.

In her memoir The French Ingredient, Jane Bertch chronicles her move from Chicago to Paris, culminating in opening a cooking school catering to tourists. While the Chicago-born francophile imagines an idyllic life in Paris, she struggles adjusting to more reserved French social norms after living in London. Much humor is derived from clashing cultural attitudes, whether French incredulity at desire for a well-done steak or her bewilderment at their financially prudent habit of paying credit cards in full each month.

The book comes alive most vividly when profiling French dining etiquette or pivotal events like the 2015 terror attacks on the Bataclan concert hall. Ms. Bertch movingly conveys the resilient Parisian spirit in the aftermath. She writes, “Through sheer force of will, they would live their lives.”

The English-language cooking school, La Cuisine Paris, succeeds by switching focus from international cuisine to initiating visitors into classic French fare like croissants. Yet rising popularity causes tensions with neighbors disturbed by noise. Trying to decode American politics for French friends after the pivot from Obama to Trump only underscores cultural divides.

While breaking little new ground, The French Ingredient succeeds in its small moments, using vignettes to examine cross-cultural adaptation and the expat experience. Ms. Bertch may not forged enduring connections in Paris, but she has absorbed its enduing lessons.

I really loved this author's lively description of moving to France and finding her way into and out of a corporate job and then creating a cooking school primarily for Americans. She made me want to move to France. I loved the little French "lessons". I would have loved to her more of her romantic entanglements and a receipt or two.

This was a lovely and well written memoir. I’m not sure if I’m scared to visit Paris at this point, or excited to do so! It was so interesting to learn all the social cues and tips to being a visitor in Paris. Jane has had quite the journey in building this business, and she has handled such setbacks along the way- terrorism, a pandemic, moving the entire operation from building to building..she seems to have handled it all with such grace. I am not a “foodie” by any means, but I really loved reading about the importance of food and wine in the lives of Parisians.

Thank you to Jane Bertch, Random House/Ballantine and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The French Ingredient is an easy read, but I often wondered why this story was told. I just didn't find a whole book necessary, and it wasn't much a biography when the author leaves out information on her new partner.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

Chicago born Jane Bertch was working for an American bank in London, and was relocated for her work to Paris. But during her work there, she slowly started to realise that she didn't love her work anymore, and she got the idea to open a location where people could take French cooking lessons. With her new French boyfriend Olivier, she dives in this new business opportunity ; Looking for the right location , hiring French cooks and finding the right target audience for the classes.
And the La Cuisine Paris cooking studio is officially open. While first being aimed at a French audience, which doesn't really take off, she decides to shift the audience to tourists and expats, which works better for the cooking studio. The bookings go well, but there are some unforeseen circumstances coming along that cause a dramatic drop in Paris tourism and in the bookings; the iceland ash cloud and the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris on November 15 2015. Luckily, the cooking studio crawls out if the tourist dip and still exists today. In highly entertaining book, Jane also describes the written and mostly unwritten French etiquette rules she had to get accustomed to as an American; so is looking into a pot to see what someone is cooking in a French home kitchen seen as invasive, as the kitchen is considered a private area, why it is next to impossible to become friends with French coworkers, why you should never arrive on time when invited for a dinner or bring wine with you as a guest to a dinner, and why every French chef sees their way of cooking and the only right way, to name a few etiquette examples. After being located in the courtyard of a typical Parisian Apartment Building, La Cuisine Paris is now located at a beautiful place along one of the Quai's of the Seine.
The French Ingrediënt is a very entertaining and fun memoir, that leaves you craving Paris food and to take a cooking class at La Cuisine Paris. Jane Bertch is truly a magnificent author. I have only been in Paris gor one day, but this book makes you travel to Paris again , as you just can feel the Paris atmosphere and the love the author has for Paris and cooking in the book. I loved that this book describes so many topics about living in Paris and where you stumble upon as an American
This is one of the very best books that are out this year and I truly recommend it!
( but make sure you have a macaron or croissant while reading, because this book makes you crave them !)

I enjoy memoirs of all kinds and have been a fan of ex-pat memoirs probably since Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence". I found Jane Bertch's account of navigating the French culture, despite an initial cool reception, to be very interesting and inspiring. I cannot imagine having the moxie to open a cooking school in a foreign country and I'm impressed by how she weathered all the ups and downs.
I thought it was a nice touch that at the end of each chapter she wrote a short "French Astuce"; basically how things are done in certain social and business situations in France and why.

Thank you to Netgalley for offering me an ARC edition of this most enjoyable memoir.

I fell in love with this book from beginning to end. I felt like I was right there walking the streets of Paris and living this life. The tips at the end of each chapter, helped to describe the French way of life. Paris was not on my bucket list but after reading this it surely is. You really feel a part of the city and you are certainly rooting for her. I do not have enough words to describe accurately how uplifting this book actually was for me. Wonderful, just wonderful.

Un souvenir inoubliable!

When I downloaded this title, I obviously didn't read the description..... So when I started reading the ARC tonight, I was absolutely tickled to discover the author was writing about her experience as the founder and owner of the cooking school, La Cuisine Paris.

In 2010, my husband and I rented a darling apartment in the Marais and we took two cooking classes at the recently opened Hotel de Ville location. We enrolled in the macaron class and in the "American Thanksgiving in Paris" class, fittingly, held on Thanksgiving Eve. My husband and I still often reminisce about both classes and what fun we had.

After the macaron class (which I'm 99% sure was taught by "Brian"), I excitingly rushed off to E. Dehillerin to buy two silpat mats...but needless to say, once home, my macaron baking skills were never quite what they were under the meticulously precise direction of our chef.

The Thanksgiving class was also equally as brilliant. I just actually found the original instruction sheet carefully folded in my wooden keepsake recipe box. The menu for the evening included Coquelet Rôti aux herbes, gratin dauphinois, poires pochées au vin...and 5 other authentically French recipes. We were ten strangers from around the globe, who worked tirelessly to complete a Herculean culinary tasks under scrutinizing eyes, but after the work was complete, we sipped wine, savored our creations and shared stories around a candlelit communal table. The ultimate traveler's treasure trove.

Jane, you are every dreamer's inspiration. Congratulations on your continued success with La Cuisine Paris and now with telling the incredible story of its creation! I'm thrilled I got to relive some of my personal travel memories from nearly 15 years ago through the pages of your book.

And for anyone who hasn't visited La Cuisine Paris, what are you waiting for?

Excited to get this one on our shelves & coffee tables! Grateful for the advanced copy. Can’t wait to get the physical ones in! Just what my customers love to consume!

Bravo! If you adore the French people, Paris and French culture - especially the food and the country's unique personality, all from the viewpoint of an American learning to fit in, this is the book for you. Who knew it would be so hard and yet rewarding? This is Jane Bertch's memoir focused primarily on making the switch from American banking to her self-owned French cooking school in Paris while making friends and meeting neighbors. The reader gets to enjoy and experience her journey to creating and building a successful business and life in a culture that on its face, doesn't seem so distinct, but in actuality, works quite differently. This could have been a mundane retelling of Bertch's life in Paris; however, Bertch is a talented writer and observer. She learned so much about the French culture and people through her experiences that she provides extra value and understanding about how Parisian life really is. Much of her story is a "how-to" for fitting in, and she ends each chapter with a French "astuce" (tip) to how things are done. As someone who has spent some time in France, I appreciate Bertch's perspective and understanding, and I hope others do too. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the eARC.

Oh my gosh, I love a food-related memoir. The French Ingredient was fantastic. The author shares her adventures as an American navigating life as a banker in Paris, then giving it all up to start a cooking school for non-professionals to learn about French cuisine. This book is about culture, friendship, love, entrepreneurship and carving your own unexpected path in the world. One of my favorite books of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Immersive, escapist, and utterly delightful. A recommended purchase for collections where foodie memoirs are popular.

I loved every part of this story. From the moment Jane arrived in Paris, I loved her journey learning what the French are all about and her journey to becoming a international cooking school for travelers. I loved all her new friends and how she wasn't defeated by pandemics, bombers, fellow residences and the fire that burned most of Notre Dame. I also liked her quirky chefs and her genuine love of French food and their way of doing what is right over money. What I love most about this story is I can make believe I'm walking the street with Jane and experiencing Paris first hand. I was suppose to go on a Viking river cruise in France in 2020 and we all know what that year brought and because of some other events in my life I haven't been able to go yet and so these stories make me look forward to some day going and enjoying the sites and people of France.

I want to thank to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this advance copy of this terrific book that allows me to explore the people of France.