Bibliofemme Bookclub An Irish Bookclub

Subtitled “Further adventurers in a small French town”, Tarte Tatin is the follow up to Susan Herrmann Loomis’ first memoir. On Rue Tatin was published in 2002 and describes how she, her sculptor husband Michael and their two-year-old son Joe decided to move to France, searched for their dream home and ended up in the little town of Louviers. In Tarte Tatin she continues the story, interspersed once again with recipes for dishes she mentions throughout the chapters.

While the Loomis family have settled into Louviers at the opening of the book, there are many challenges ahead, which include offering dinners to paying guests, the construction of a new kitchen, the birth of a second child – their daughter Fiona – and the opening of Susan’s French cookery school. There are mouth-watering descriptions of not only the cooked dishes but also the raw materials that Susan sources in Louviers.

The first half of the book acts as a direct sequel to On Rue Tatin but the second part seems to be slightly padded with chapters on how the American Loomis family have dealt with life in France. What makes this book, however, are the recipes – from Hot Chocolate the Way We Like It to Ginger Madelines, Salted Spanish Almonds and Quiche from the Louviers Market (the quiche pastry is short and sumptuous and has already made it into my collection of reliable recipes). Their quality encourages the reader to seek out Susan Herrmann Loomis’ cookbooks, and Italian Farmhouse Cooking has become a particular favourite of mine.

The Loomis’ have had the courage to do what others only dream of – and had the skills to make a success of it. As an example of wish fulfilment, fuelled by hard work and sacrifice, Tarte Tatin is indeed a worthwhile read.