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Cooking With Friends in France

Contact:

696 San Ramon Valley Blvd. #102

Danville, CA 94526-4022

800 / 236-9067

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COOKING WITH FRIENDS IN FRANCE PROVIDES AN IMMERSION INTO THE FOOD & LIFESTYLE OF PROVENCE

Lush Landscape the Backdrop For Fourteenth Year of Culinary & Cultural Program at Julia Child's Former Residence

Chateauneuf, France (1/06) -- Most visitors to the south of France experience the crowded towns and beaches along the Côte d'Azur. Beyond the beaches and bright lights of St. Tropez, Nice, and Monte Carlo lies the ancient town of Chateauneuf, where the Cooking With Friends in France program is nestled on a hillside among olive trees and vineyards.

Located in the former house of cooking legend, Julia Child, in 2006 Cooking With Friends in France will launch its fourteenth season. Guests who come to Cooking With Friends get a first hand look at the food and rich culture of this part of Provence. 

"Describing Cooking With Friends in France as strictly a cooking program is a bit misleading," said Kathie Alex, director of the program. "I have made this program a six-day immersion into the food and culture of Provence. My guests walk away with a knowledge of Provencal cooking and lifestyle." Most mornings are set aside for in-the-kitchen cooking instruction, but Ms Alex intersperses her lessons with excursions to an open air market, cheese and butcher shops and hotel restaurant kitchens.

Guests reside on the property where Julia Child and Simone (Simca) Beck lived when they wrote their cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and where Simca ran a cooking school.  The house, called La Pitchoune, is a classic Provencal style farmhouse with tiled roof and colored shutters. The house is on a hillside among olive trees, cypresses, and vineyards over looking Grasse and the village of Plascassier. It is hard to believe that less than an hour beyond this rural countryside lie the bright lights of Monte Carlo and the world famous beaches of the Côte d'Azur.

Guests arrive on Sunday and begin their cultural immersion with a casual supper to get the chance to meet other visitors. Ms Alex limits each week's class size to six people, so typically by the end of the week, everyone has become friends.

Each week of classes is individually booked, so Ms Alex has the flexibility to choose recipes that suit the interests and skill levels of her students. Classes are taught in English, and during each class, students prepare a four or five course luncheon. In the afternoon, after they feast on the fruits of their labors, guests are free to explore the countryside.

Each week, Ms Alex takes her students through Forville, an outdoor food and flower market in Cannes where local chefs do their shopping. Here she shows her guests how to select the best ingredients. Following the tour of the market and a visit to food shops along the Rue Maynardier, Ms Alex takes her students to a behind the scenes lunch La Palme d'Or, a Michelin two-star restaurant in the Hotel Martinez to see the workings of a French kitchen in action.

"In addition to meeting, working, and dining with local residents and chefs, my students truly get to know their surroundings as I guide them through the bargains of the markets and specialty boutiques on what literally is a cook's tour of Provence," explains Ms Alex." This is so much more than a cooking school. I want to give people a real experience of the French people, food, and local color."

With the Cooking With Friends in France program, Kathie Alex has been able to continue Simca Beck's tradition of sharing French food and culture. The program runs weekly from April through June and September to November. Classes may be booked at other times of the year based upon availability. Seasonal classes, devoted to hearty winter fare and truffles, are also offered. Since Ms Alex began Cooking With Friends in France, more than one thousand people have participated, and the program has become a popular group trip for cooking schools in the United States.

The cost for Cooking With Friends in France includes six nights accommodation, all classes and excursions, breakfast each morning, dinner on Sunday evening, and all lunches. Please call (800) 236-9067 or e-mail info@cookingwithfriends.com, to request a brochure.

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Kathie Alex's love of French cooking and culture began in 1979 when she attended Simca Beck's cooking school in Provence. Once she experienced life in Provence, Ms Alex knew she would not be able to return to her career as an accountant, so she began her training as a chef. With the help of her mentor, Simca Beck, Ms Alex was able to train at Roger Verge's restaurant, Le Moulin de Mougins. She also attended Lenotre's Professional Cooking School outside of Paris, as well as La Varenne, Le Cordon Bleu, and Marie-Blanche de Broglie in Paris. Through her association with the Great Chefs Cooking School at Robert Mondavi Winery in California, she had the opportunity to work with many prominent American Culinary figures including Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, Alice Waters, and Bradley Ogden. Ms Alex also developed recipes for Michel Richard's cookbook, Home Cooking With A French Accent. 

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