French Women Don't Get Fat - Mireille Guiliano

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Advantages:	Nicely worded and looks pretty on the bookshelf
Disadvantages:	Doesn't really provide any groundbreaking information

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

This is one book I’m embarrassed to admit that I bought from Amazon at 7.20 GBP. In my defence, I was bored and the allure of ordering books overcame me, the cover enticed me; a drawing of a svelte French woman with fancy writing depicting the title and the words “The Secret of Eating for Pleasure”, didn’t Dr Atkin’s say the same? Either way the author vehemently states this is a book of choices not a diet book.

The author, French born and bred Mireille Guiliano is the epitome of French chic; her picture graces the back jacket sleeve and would put many 25 year olds to shame.
She was educated at the Sorbonne and is now President and CEO of Clicquot Champagne. She is now permanently based in America although she comes back to her homeland frequently.
After spending a year in America as an exchange student in her younger days and gaining X number of kilos due to the gigantic portion sizes, processed food and general gluttony, she came home to France a few dress sizes bigger. In France, women just don’t get fat, at least the ones she knew didn’t. Her father greeted her at the airport with, “You look like a sack of potatoes”, enough to put anyone on a diet!

After the short introduction we are led into pages of seemingly repetitive advice; very nicely phrased and worded to be sure, with a smattering of French for effect.
To get her balance right after the year of over-indulging, we are given the French mantra of “Tout est question d'équilibre” (Everything is a matter of balance) starting with a weekend of “Magical Leek Soup”, in essence, 1kg leeks covered in a pan with water, boiled into a watery soup. After the purgatory of the soup weekend we are told to identify and reconsider our eating habits for 3 months, cutting out our worst offenders in food terms; pastries, chocolate, alcohol to name a few (this seemed obvious to me and probably countless others).
The French, apparently do not believe in denying oneself gastronomic delights and let’s be honest anyone who has been to France can confirm there are many delights to be had. Again the author mentions “balance”, by the end of the book anyone who hasn’t grasped the subtle message of “If you eat 6 chocolate éclairs a day, you not only will become fat but positively deserve to be” hasn’t been paying attention.

Ok, so balance, moderation and willpower are all attributes that French women have, so what else is in the book? Well there are a few handy recipes, not necessarily low-fat but simple, filling and satisfying. An interesting section on chocolate, something French women love but only “par petites doses”. French women enjoy the real thing; dark bitter chocolate, not the junk us Brits eat in kilos and they only partake in a square or two to satisfy a craving.
A nice section and probably the most interesting is the fresh produce advice, stating that markets are the French woman’s shopping place of choice. Not only buying fresh seasonal produce but only buying food needed for the next day or so, eliminating the chance of over-buying junk on a twice-monthly supermarket bender! Apparently France has a limit by law to the number of supermarkets that can spring up, fantastic idea!

The book is 279 pages long and I would say I was mildly entertained for 10 of those pages, I’m not totally slating the book as there are some handy tips, albeit ones all of us already know, such as: when dining out, don’t eat the whole bread basket before your starter arrives or opt for a nice salad instead of chips as a side dish. Ok yes I am slating the book!

Personally I don’t need to lose weight but I bought the book thinking it would offer a peek into a lifestyle centred on the French women’s magical power of magnetic chic and the ability to eat béarnaise sauce with everything. Alas the book is basically a nicely presented book of clichés which every woman already knows. Advising us that we need to start eating the real thing in terms of food, i.e. real cheeses not the processed rubbery kind and only eat small portions – whether you’re English, American, Mongolian or French, over-indulgence of any kind has negative effects in terms of weight and to be honest we all already know this.
Expect to find my book on the shelves soon, “Half-English, Half-Scottish Women Don’t Get Fat” – No Great Secret, Just a Number of Observations.

Peut-être un livre pour engager de votre bibliothèque (roughly translated – A book to get from the library!).

Publisher Chatto & Windus 2005
ISBN 0-7011-7805-1