There is a general notion that French cuisine is fancy. Not a lot of people can prepare French cuisine at their own home, so some people spend big bucks for a taste of the cuisine in restaurants. Along with the decadence of gorging on bouillabaisse or foie gras, is the general notion that French food is hard and complicated to prepare. But Laura Calder promises that French cooking is actually easier than it looks.


Her culinary expertise on making French cooking accessible has led her to host 78 episodes of “French Food at Home” with two seasons shown exclusively on the Asian Food Channel (AFC).

In this interview, the charming celebrity chef recounts her humble beginnings in her hometown. She also shares with us how cooking became her calling and how she fell in love with France. Apart from those, Chef Laura encourages us to give French cooking a try, to “dive in and try it” as she grounds intimidating French cuisine by staying true to her credo of keeping everything real and simple.
 
When did you discover your love for food?
I think it began because I grew up in a rural place. There’s not a lot to do, probably. Well, there was a lot to do. But I was not distracted by a lot of outside things. And all the action, it was always the action in the kitchen. Because we had vegetable gardens and my mother was always cooking. And so that’s where the fun was. I think that’s where it got me interested

 
So you were always interested in cooking even at such a young age?
I was always interested. When I was 5 to 6 years old, I wrote other people’s recipes down and asked them how they made things. [I was] always interested with what people were doing.

Do you remember the very first thing you prepared or cooked?
I used to make a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. It’s disgusting (chuckles). Though when you were little that’s what you think is good. Well, it probably was good but the idea of a peanut butter icing doesn’t appeal to me now.

 
You used to have a day job in Canada before you decided to be a full time chef, is that right?
In Canada, yes I was working in PR, no offense (chuckles) And I was a journalist too. I liked that. I liked the writing side of PR but I couldn’t sit still long enough. I got to get up and do something. So now I could write for hours if I had to write a script or a book or something, an article. But I had to stand up and make some cookies and go sit down again.

 
You stayed in France for years even if your stay was supposed to last only for seven months. What made you stay?
Because I was working with Anne Willan ( a recognized authority on French cooking, with more than 35 years of experience as a cooking teacher, cookbook author and food columnist). She wanted me to work on a certain book project, which I did. And then she had more and I just stayed. Things kept coming up. Yeah, funny thing. You go someplace else for a short time that you don’t realize you might end up there forever.

 
What is it about France exactly that made you stay? The food? The air?
Yeah. It’s both and it’s the landscape. It’s (also) the language because I spoke French growing up. I grew up in a part of Canada where both languages (English and French) were official so I learned French in school. That was one thing that made it easy. But I think it’s the French. They have very high standards in everything. You know, for quality of clothing, of furniture, of food. And they care about that, which I also did, and I loved that about it. And the pace. Things don’t go too fast in France, and I like that too. They have time for the good things in life.

 
Who are the people you consider your mentors?
Anne Willan is a woman who taught me about French cooking. I have, you know, a friend now and she’s Australian, but she works here, we’re peers, Jennifer McLagan (one of Canada’s most sought after food stylists). She’s written books about meat actually but that’s beside the point. She’s someone who’s sort of a big sister to me in the industry, who teaches me things. Also it’s really the people around me, who cook with me, that’s where I learn.

 
Next: Laura shares tips on how to make French food more accessible at home.

 
French food has a reputation that it’s hard to prepare. What are your tips to make French cooking easy?
I haven’t had that feeling. Well I have that feeling with Asian food because I don’t know where to start with it. Look, it’s just like saying that language is hard but it’s not hard for people who speak it. So you’ll just have to dive in and try it. It’s not hard. I think French food has that reputation because of the way people cook it in restaurants. But when you’re just cooking at home, it’s not difficult. That’s what I do.
 
My tips are just to keep it simple. Cook like a home cook. Don’t try to cook like a chef. I can just imagine if you try to cook like a chef, like a sushi chef in a Japanese restaurant, and you know, you’re barely on the knife and you don’t know how to do it. So I think it’s about sticking to simple things, that’s what’s best. And don’t try to impress people; just be happy
 

If you weren’t a chef, what would your profession be?
Well, if I wasn’t writing about food and cookbooks, I don’t know. I’d probably be a professor of English literature (chuckles). Or languages. I’d do something with languages and books.  
 

What particular French dish would you like people to try?
Here’s something I think anyone would love--Bouillabaisse. That’s a dish with all kinds of seafood with tomato and saffron. That’s very good, and light.  

 
What is your message to the people who watch your show? To your fans?
I hope people will try a few things. I think my advice is for you have to adapt to wherever you are. I mean I’m in Canada right now. I cook French food basically but you have to change it a little to fit where you are. I can’t pretend I’m in France. I have to be where I am. And I think that’s what everyone else should do too.  

And you can also make one thing. You don’t have to learn all of French cuisine just to learn how to make chocolate mousse. You can just make chocolate mousse and never bake anything else in your life. I don’t think people should be intimidated by thinking that they have to master the art of the cuisine. You can just try one thing, try two things. See what you think.

 
If you were a French dish, what would you be? And why that particular dish?

Oh, what would I be? Well, maybe I would be a gratin, a vegetable gratin. It’s vegetables, kind of in a sauce, you bake it with crust on top. It’s simple. It’s real cooking and it’s very French. It has many different textures, with more than one thing.

 

Photos courtesy of The Asian Food Channel.