French Cooking for One

'‘This slender volume insists that food for one should be simple yet delicious. Drawing on memories of her French grandmother’s cookery, Roberts’ recipes are elegant and – mostly – quick to prepare: celeriac croquettes, trout with almonds, or sausages with apples and cider. A delightful little book.’ - Constance Craig Smith, Daily Mail Best Cookery Books for Christmas

'To make a proper supper for yourself is, after all, a kind and tender thing to do if you're under pressure - and [Roberts'] book contains only recipes for one person. For the absence of doubt, however, I must stress it isn't the kind of manual that has you making lasagne, to be frozen in individual portions. The dishes included are at once more simple and more luxurious than that. Mussel salad with ravigote sauce. Rabbit with mustard. Steak with bordelaise sauce. So many micro feasts, and every one of them nourishment for body and soul. (...) [Roberts' book is] edged like an old tablecloth with the spirit of her maternal grandparents' kitchen as well as her own domestic expertise. Most of the recipes, short and uncomplicated, aim to deliver the perfect effort-to-taste ratio; if she has an Elizabeth David-like briskness on the page, she's also a sensualist, a part-time sybarite. But even if you're not in the mood for cooking, simply to read them is to encourage rumination. She is such a noticing writer, and in her hands you find yourself doing the same, a dowdy cauliflower suddenly beautiful, a slab of marbled meat a world unto itself.' - Rachel Cooke, Observer Food Monthly

'Michele Roberts' enchanting book French Cooking for One proves la cuisine francaise can be enjoyed alone, when there is nothing to interrupt the joy of preparing good ingredients and turning them into enticing dishes. Her anecdotes and notes of wisdom that accompany the recipes make her the perfect companion in the kitchen.' - Carolyn Boyd, author of Amuse Bouche