by Michèle Roberts

Following the success of French Cooking for One, this new cookbook by Michèle Roberts, beautifully illustrated by the author, is about friendship as much as it is about preparing a French dinner for two.

“Friendship has its own distinctive seasons, constantly changing and evolving, just as the years revolve. For example, winter need not mean bleakness and endings but can bring feasts amid the darkness. As the light becomes renewed at the solstice, so does love. Winter recipes can celebrate that.

“This is a book of easy, delicious French recipes celebrating friendship. Cooking for a friend, you can show your affection in a direct, practical way. Offering food you have cooked yourself you reveal your wish to please your friend. Composing a menu to suit or intrigue a particular beloved person, you are demonstrating how well you understand and appreciate them.

“The recipes emphasise using, whenever possible, fresh ingredients that chime with the four seasons. Accordingly the book is divided into four sections: spring, summer, autumn, winter. In each section you will find particular dishes, suggestions and menus appropriate to the season, for example asparagus mimosa in spring, courgette and prawn salad in summer, poached eggs in red wine sauce in autumn, rabbit in cider in winter. The book includes lots of vegetable recipes while not ignoring classic meat and fish dishes.

“Talking tête-à-tête over a good meal adds an extra layer of pleasure, so these recipes are designed to be straightforward to follow, for dishes not requiring the cook's last minute attention. You can concentrate on your guest rather than keep dashing between stove and table.

“The book includes ideas for particular seasonal moments, such as picnics, with baguette stuffed with roasted tomatoes and aubergines, designed to be carried in bicycle baskets, and even for sad moments in the lives of friends such as failing an exam: chicken in half-mourning (roasted with sliced black truffles under the skin). 

“A book to stimulate your appetite to invite a dear friend round as soon as possible and cook for them.”

– Michèle Roberts

Reviews of French Cooking for One

‘An enduring delight for readers and cooks alike.’ – Nigella Lawson

‘So many micro feasts, and every one of them nourishment for body and soul.’
– Rachel Cooke, author of Kitchen Person

'Michèle Roberts’ enchanting book French Cooking for One proves la cuisine française 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

Read more on the French Cooking for One reviews page.

Paperback original with French reverse flaps
190 x 130 x 12 mm, 152 pages
Published 3 November 2025
ISBN 978-1-0684338-3-2