"Like Water for Chocolate"

This first novel by Laura Esquivel follows the story of a young Mexican girl named Tita who shares a deep and abiding love with Pedro but can never have him; her domineering mother believes that a youngest daughter must remain unmarried to take care of the matriarch until the day she dies. 

Tita is thus only able to express her simmering passions through cooking – which causes anyone who tastes her creations to experience exactly what she does, often to ironic and hilarious effect. Each chapter begins with a recipe.  (Wikipedia)

The 1993 movie of the same name also follows the love story of Tita and Pedro as it is thwarted by not only family tradition but the numerous challenges of everyday life during the Mexican Revolution that was launched in 1910. 

MFK Fisher and "The Art of Eating"

The works of Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher deal primarily with food, from its preparation to its history, culture, and the related philosophies.  For Fisher, eating well and with awareness was one of the "arts of life," and the exploration of the arts of living was a major theme in her writing. 

Among her books are "Consider the Oyster," "Here Let Us Feast," "An Alphabet for Gourmets," "The Cooking of Provincial France" and "The Art of Eating." 

"An oyster leads a dreadful but exciting life. Indeed, his chance to live at all is slim, and if he should survive the arrows of his own outrageous fortune and, in the two weeks of his carefree youth, find a clean, smooth place to fix on, the years afterward are full of stress, passion, and danger."

Julia Child's Love Affair with France 

Julia Child revolutionized the way Americans cooked by introducing them to the classics of French cuisine with her first collaboration, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (with Bertholle and Beck), and with her popular TV show and book of the same name, "The French Chef." 

Child's career as a cookbook author was almost not to be, however, after a series of publishing rejections, trouble with collaborators, and even a bit of unwelcome interference from the US (McCarthy-era) government. 

A post-humously published series of letters and writings recounting that period, "My Life in France," recalls her early troubles at the famed Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris (see below) and was the basis for the 2009 film, "Julie & Julia." 

The Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris remains France's most celebrated culinary institute. In less than a year it is possible to obtain a diploma that is likely to open the doors to a career in cuisine anywhere in the world. Shorter courses are also available and offered at affiliated campuses in Sydney, Tokyo, London, Ottawa, Kobe, Melbourne and Seoul.

Founded in 1895, it prepares some 20,000 students a year from all over the world for a career in the culinary arts. Classes are also taught in English.

Master french chef Alain Ducasse is the founder of Spoon, which has establishments in Paris, Hong Kong, Mauritius and St Tropez. Ducasse is also in charge of the Jules Verne restaurant on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. 

In May 2009, Ducasse opened his own cooking school, where he trains amateurs as well as professionals in the finer arts of French cooking. His school's official site is only in French. For more on the opening of his ecole cuisine in English, click here.