Thu, Nov 09
|Zoom
Cassoulet Confessions (in English)
Join us for a virtual conversation based on Sylvie Bigar’s recently published food memoir, Cassoulet Confessions: Food, France, Family and The Stew That Saved a Soul (Hardie Grant 2022).
Time & Location
Nov 09, 2023, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM PST
Zoom
About the event
Thursday, November 9, 2023 2pm PT / 3pm MT / 4pm CT / 5pm ET Federation of Alliances Françaises USA In English
Join us as we talk with Sylvie Bigar, author of the best-selling memoir, Cassoulet Confessions.
Cassoulet Confessions is an enthralling memoir by award-winning food and travel writer Sylvie Bigar that reveals how a simple journalistic assignment sparked a culinary obsession and transcended into a quest for identity. Set in the stunning southern French countryside, this honest and poignant memoir conveys hunger for authentic food and a universal hunger for home. In Cassoulet Confessions, Sylvie travels across the Atlantic from her home in New York to the origin of cassoulet – the Occitanie region of Southern France. There she immerses herself in all things cassoulet: the quintessential historic meat and bean stew. From her first spoonful, she is transported back to her dramatic childhood in Geneva, Switzerland, and finds herself journeying through an unexpected rabbit hole of memories. Not only does she discover the deeper meanings of her ancestral French cuisine, but she is ultimately transformed by having to face her unsettling, complex family history. Sylvie’s simple but poetic prose immerses us in her story: we smell the simmering aromas of French kitchens, empathize with her family dilemmas, and experience her internal struggle to understand and ultimately accept herself.
Award-winning food and travel writer Sylvie Bigar was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and lives in New York City. Her writing has appeared widely, including in The New York Times, Washington Post, Food & Wine, Forbes.com, Saveur, Bon Appetit, Edible, Departures, Travel & Leisure, and National Geographic Traveler. In French, Sylvie has contributed to Le Figaro, Histoire Magazine, Le Temps, and FrenchMorning.com.
This event will be on Zoom and is free for all Alliance Française members, AATF members, and invited guests of the presenter or publicist. Non-members or persons who have no AF chapter nearby can purchase tickets ($10). Click here to register.