Interview with Sophie Beaumont - Author of The Paris Cooking School
Interview with Sophie Beaumont -Author of ‘The Paris Cooking School’
Release date: November 1st, 2023
Publisher: Ultimo Press
My Review Here.
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What inspired you to write The Paris Cooking School?
Paris itself! I love the city and have been there multiple times, several members of my family live there, plus I had the great good luck to be awarded a writer’s residency there for 6 months some years ago, so I really got to know it well. Also, of course, another inspiration is the food I grew up with as I’m from a French background (though we are from south-west France, not Paris). I loved putting my characters in the midst of this amazing city, discovering more about French food culture, and history, walking all over Paris—and falling in love.
What is it about the French food culture you like?
Well, I grew up with it as both my parents are French, though as I say from south-west France. My mother is from Biarritz, in the Basque country (the French side of it) and my father is from Toulouse. Even though we lived in Australia, we frequently went back to France, and both in Australia and France, my parents insisted we speak French at home (and we read and wrote in French too) and also the food they cooked was very French—with a few detours into Indonesian food (as they’d lived there too, and I was born there). But what I love most about the French food culture, apart obviously from the family connection, is the fact that it really respects food, in a very natural, unpretentious sort of way: it’s about freshness, flavour, and beauty. Ingredients need to be good, but improvisation is also the name of the game. French home cooking is not difficult or ‘fancy’ –it’s simple to create in fact, but it’s always delicious!
Food is often connected to stories. Tell us about Kate’s connection to the strawberry tart that graces the cover of the novel?
When Kate first arrives in Paris, she buys a beautiful little strawberry tart from a local patisserie, and thoroughly enjoys it, not only because it is delicious and gorgeous to look at, but because it symbolises both an escape from the emotional turmoil she’s suffered back home and the possibility of a second chance. At the end, the strawberry tarts she eats with Arnaud reflect what’s happened…and symbolise her feeling about what ‘douceur’ or sweetness, the sweetness of life, that is, not just of a wonderful cake, means to her…
Gabi is an artist. What does she hope to gain by taking a cooking class in Paris?
Gabi also hopes for escape—from a crippling creative block. She is running away from the expectations of others, hoping to find a way back to her creativity, but also knowing she needs to immerse herself in something she very much likes doing—cooking—but that is not connected to her art. And though she has French/Basque heritage on her father’s side, and speaks good French, she doesn’t know Paris well—until now, when being in the city changes everything for her…
MONET HOUSE - PHOTO BY SOPHIE BEAUMONT
I loved the inspiring Monet garden descriptions. Can you share a little of this setting’s importance to Sylvie? And have you ever visited this location?
Thank you, glad you liked the descriptions of the garden! It’s very important to Sylvie because it’s on a visit here many years before that she decided she was absolutely going to start her cooking school. She’d been thinking of it for a while but was nervous about it, especially as she was the single mother of a young child…but being there, in the midst of Monet’s garden, and in his house, really made her take that leap—because not only was Monet a great artist, he was also a great foodie. For him food was a central part of life and art. So, in a way that gave her the inspiration…Yes, I have been there, though only once quite some years ago, but it was so gorgeous! I also researched the house and garden quite a lot as I needed to be sure what would be growing there in April, for example. I also by the way found a gorgeous book called Monet’s Table which is all about Monet’s relationship with food and features fabulous recipes and photos of his house and garden. I’ve made a few things out of there now!
Name one unique incident or fun thing that occurred while writing The Paris Cooking School.
I went back to Paris in spring 2022, as I was finishing off the book, we stayed with my sister and her family, and the city just put on the most glorious spring I have ever seen there (and I’ve been there a few times at that time of the year). It was as if the city was pulling out all stops so the descriptions in my book could be even stronger 😊There were literally blossoms and flowers everywhere, the air was soft yet exhilarating, like champagne, we had picnics by the Seine and strolled along the Port de l’Arsenal…
SEINE AT SUNSET
What message do you hope readers grasp from reading your novel?
I hope readers feel a sense of freshness, lightness, and joy when they have finished the book; a reminder that life can indeed be sweet, and that second chances can be within our grasp. Many readers have said to me that they feel as though they’ve taken a joyful holiday with the book, that it’s a delicious escape from the pressures of life, something they really needed: and to me that is the highest praise ever! I am so happy that people love reading this book as much as I loved writing it.
You have an impressive catalogue of books you have written that are a mix of genres. Please share a few highlights of your writing journey.
Well, of course, my first book—or rather books, as I had two published in the same year. One was an adult novel called The House in the Rainforest; the other a children’s novel called Fire in the Sky. It was very exciting! Other highlights have included winning the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, in the children’s category, for my historical novel for middle-grade readers, The Hunt for Ned Kelly—I was not expecting that at all, and was absolutely bowled over that it was chosen (that was 13 years ago but the book just keeps selling and selling—readers love it). Another highlight was being awarded the Nancy Keesing residency in Paris, where I was in the city for 6 months with my husband, in a small flat on the Right Bank, just two steps away from the river and a short walk to Notre Dame…just amazing! We walked everywhere and saw so much and experienced so much—and it resulted in several books too, including, eventually, The Paris Cooking School ! Yet another highlight was being awarded an AM in the Order of Australia just 4 years ago—I was not expecting that at all either, and it was the most wonderful surprise. I felt so honoured. I loved going to the ceremony for it in the beautiful setting of Government House in Sydney which was absolutely wonderful. Now, of course, most recently, another highlight is the truly amazing response to The Paris Cooking School—it has blown me away! Those are just a few highlights in my writing journey—I feel very fortunate indeed in so many ways.
PORT DE L’ARSENAL
Our family heritage shapes us in many ways. Would you like to share a bit about how cultural connections have inspired your own creative writing?
I mentioned in my answer to the second question about my French background, well, ethnically speaking we are very mixed, with Spanish and Portuguese and French-Canadian as well as French and Basque. Plus, I and one of my sisters were born in Indonesia. We came to Australia as kids and all of us siblings grew up bilingual in French and English (we all still are). We had a foot in two worlds and that has been very important to me creatively, as I have a lot of influences to draw on. And being bilingual certainly underpins the way I use language.
Stories and food go hand in hand. If you were putting on a literary and food feast, which four authors would you invite as guests and why? (They can be from the past or present.) Each author could do a reading or chat on one of their novels? Which of their books would you choose? And what foods would be on your menu?
Wow, that’s a great question! Hmm…now first of all I would definitely invite Alexandre Dumas (the author of The Three Musketeers, the Count of Monte Cristo, etc) as he was a great gourmet who loved food and cooking. As well as his swashbuckling novels, he wrote fabulous non-fiction about food, and the travels he’d gone on to experience different countries’ cooking. In terms of his novels, I would definitely choose The Three Muskateers as he often describes great feasts in it. On the menu would be roast chicken, rabbit stew, and mixed herb salad—as well as lots of wine! Here’s a fabulous article you can read online about his food and recipes. Then there is Emile Zola, another great French classic novelist, whose tumultuous, huge work Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris) I quote from in The Paris Cooking School, when it comes to a description of various cheeses—and there are other elements relating to his work in the book, which I won’t reveal here. 😊 But of course, that novel would be the book of his I’d choose, and of course, there’d be a fabulous cheese board on the menu!
In contemporary novels, I’d go for Irish-Australian author Monica McInerney’s lovely book A Taste for It, set in South Australia and Ireland. It’s about chef Maura Carmody who goes off on a promotional tour of Ireland— introducing the Irish to Australian food and wine but gets much more than she bargained for, including a most unexpected romance. It’s a perfect lighthearted read, beautifully-written, with very engaging characters and a deft touch of humour—plus delicious food! On the menu I think would be mussels and other seafood, with fresh salads, all paired with excellent Clare Valley wine and smooth Irish whiskey…
Finally, for the ‘douceurs’, the sweets, I’d go for another couple of contemporary novels, by Scottish author Jenny Colgan, whose books are full of joy, delicious food, romance stories and they are beautifully-written too: Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe and, to bring us back to the City of Light,The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris. And on the menu of course would be not only cupcakes, but the best patisserie, and handmade chocolates to finish…
If you’d like to check out some of the actual recipes from my own book, have a look here, on my blog!
SPRING ON THE SEINE
