Luscious Diva: Elizabeth Bard

The first book for The Luscious Life book club is "Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes". It's a gem of a book and quite luscious! All the recipes in the book sound delicious, plus she gets her man. The modern courtesan can learn a thing or two from Bard. Get to reading..I'll be posting some things on the blog about the book and talking about it on my radio show, "The Luscious Life". Feel free to comment or send comments.

On Saturday I had the chance to go to the New York launch party for the book at a swanky lounge in Brooklyn called Dram. It was a crowd of the city's finest foodies, bloggers, PR peeps, and writers. The food and drinks were so French and fabulous!

Bard took the time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions, including how she met her French man (you know I had to ask).


YS: How does it feel sharing such personal and intimate details about your life and love life?

EB: There are two love affairs in this book – one with my husband, the other with Paris and it’s cuisine – so woven into our story, I wanted the sights, sound – and of course the tastes, of Paris to ring true. I suppose I could have written this as fiction – protected our privacy a little bit more. On the other hand - I’m really proud of the life my husband and I have built together, all the things we’ve learned – and continue to learn - from each other. Building a life in another culture is a leap of faith – belief in yourself and your ability to adapt and be enriched by new experiences. I think it’s important to say that these leaps can be made in real life –not just in fairy tale fiction. It has had some unintended consequences – I think my French friends and family might be more surprised than the American side with the level of detail – Americans are just more “confessional” by nature, European culture tends to be more private.


YS: Let's get to the juicy point! What most of us women want to know is, how did you meet your French husband?

EB: I picked him up on the stairs! God’s honest truth. We were at an Academic conference in London (can think of a less fascinating or likely place to meet the love of your life…). We had been in a number of the same lectures – and on the last day of the conference, I found myself next to him when we were walking down the stairs – so I piped up and asked him what his research was about. Americans have a certain amount of leeway abroad. We have a reputation for being outgoing – in this situation, it served me well.

We emailed back and forth – and eventually I invented a reason to come to Paris – something about temporary art exhibitions I needed to see. I’m kind of an old fashioned girl – I like to be courted, but I believe in putting yourself in the way of good thing. I created the opportunity – the rest was up to him – and chemistry.


YS: They say they way to a man's heart is through his stomach, did you really cook your way to his heart?

EB: My mother always said the way to a man’s heart is not through his stomach. Between you and me, she said aim slightly lower…

YS: What do you think it is about French food that makes it so sexy and romantic?

EB: I think it’s the ritual of it – the way couples and families linger over meals together. The French take so much pleasure in food – the way it looks, the relationship with the individual shopkeeper – it’s all part of the experience. Lots of courses and smaller portions help keep meals lively and light. You almost never feel like a stuffed Turkey afterwards, which leaves a piece of your appetite for other things.


YS: You share some really delicious recipes in the book, if someone is new to cooking which recipes should they start to get them comfortable and ready to tackle the other recipes in the book.

EB: The “Better than French” Onion Soup might be a good place to start. It uses fairly basic ingredients – chicken broth, onions, butter, olive oil, sherry, stale bread and grated cheese – and it is the perfect winter comfort food. It freezes beautifully – so you can make a cozy bowl for yourself and freeze the rest.

I’m also a big fan of being inspired by seasonal ingredients – so when the asparagus start to appear at the market in April/May take some home one night and try the salad with Parma ham, pesto and a poached egg. There’s almost no cooking involved – sometimes simply layering a few thoughtful ingredients can produce such extraordinary results.

Of course – you can’t go wrong with the molten chocolate cakes. Worst case scenario, you never even get to the oven and end up eating the batter out of the pot with a spoon!

For more on Elizabeth Bard, http://elizabethbard.blogspot.com/

Stay luscious!
YS
www.lusciouslifestylediva.com