Beginning with her first food memory - the greyish-pink fuzz of her grandmother's strawberry jam - M.F.K. Fisher takes us on a voyage of gastronomical discovery, from her childhood in America to her arrival in Dijon as a young woman, where she tasted real French cooking for the first time. As she embarks on a whole new way of eating, drinking and living in Europe, Fisher recounts memorable meals shared with an assortment of eccentric characters, set against a backdrop of mounting pre-war tensions.
In exquisite prose, both convivial and confiding, Fisher shows how food unlocks memories of life's most significant moments, from family celebrations and tensions, to falling in and out of love, to great and dramatic journeys across continents. As she reveals the secret to ordering well, how to cook for those you love, and the true art of eating alone, Fisher proves that when there is food in the bowl, more often that not, there is nourishment in the head and heart.