In her first ever cookbook, Mireille Guiliano provides her millions of readers with the recipes that are the cornerstone of her philosophy-mouthwatering, simply prepared dishes that that favour fresh, seasonal ingredients and yield high satisfaction. Organised around Mireille's three favourite pastimes-breakfast, lunch, and dinner-these recipe emphasise pure flavour, balanced ingredients and easy cooking methods. Eating pleasurably is just as important as eating healthfully, and Mirille devotes chapters to dessert and chocolate (essential components of any Frenchwoman's diet) and incorporates advice on entertaining, menu planning, and wine selection.

About the Author

Mireille Guiliano, born and brought up in France, is an internationally bestselling author, long-time spokesperson for Veuve Clicquot and former President and CEO of Clicquot, Inc (LMVH). She is married to an American and divides her time between New York and France (Paris and Provence). Her favourite pastimes are breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Reviews

Guiliano's approach to healthy living is hardly revolutionary: just last month, the New York Times Magazine ran a story on the well-known "French paradox," which finds French people, those wine- guzzling, Brie-noshing, carb-loving folk, to be much thinner and healthier than diet-obsessed Americans. Guiliano, however, isn't so interested in the sociocultural aspects of this oddity. Rather, befitting her status as CEO of Clicquot (as in Veuve Clicquot, the French Champagne house), she cares more about showing how judicious consumption of good food (and good Champagne) can result in a trim figure and a happy life. It's a welcome reprieve from the scores of diet books out there; there's nary a mention of calories, anaerobic energy, glycemic index or any of the other hallmarks of the genre. Instead, Guiliano shares anecdotes about how, as a teen, she returned to her native France from a year studying in Massachusetts looking "like a sack of potatoes," and slimmed down. She did this, of course, by adapting the tenets of French eating: eating three substantial meals a day, consuming smaller portions and lots of fruits and vegetables, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, drinking plenty of water and not depriving herself of treats every once in a while. In other words, Guiliano listened to common sense. Her book, with its amusing asides about her life and work, occasional lapses into French and inspiring recipes (Zucchini Flower Omelet; Salad of Duck a l'Orange) is a stirring reminder of the importance of joie de vivre.(Jan.) Forecast: Guiliano, a champion of women in business who has been profiled in numerous magazines, will promote the book-with a 100,000-copy first printing-on an 11-city author tour, which should result in plump sales. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Head of Cliquot, Inc., Guiliano got chubby as an exchange student in America, then slimmed down using this traditional Gallic approach to extra heft. An 11-city author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.