Adventures in French cooking, with Bill Buford

In conversation with Pamela Druckerman

In 2008, acclaimed writer Bill Buford left his job and moved to Lyon with his family to learn how to be a French cook. He planned to stay six months. He was there for five years. He describes the top kitchens where he worked, and what the so-called "gastronomic capital of the world” taught him about the Frenchness of French food.

Bill Buford is a James Beard winner and former literary and fiction editor of the New Yorker. His best-selling book Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking, was published earlier this month. He's also the author of Among the Thugs and Heat, and the founding editor of Granta magazine. Watch Bill make the perfect French omelette.

Pamela Druckerman is the author of five books, including the forthcoming rhyming picture book for children Paris by Phone.