Book Reviews

The most recent publications appear at the top of page. Note that reproducing every newspaper review and radio interview/review is impractical so it is mostly magazine reviews are reproduced here.

Your Weekend (The Press, Dominion Post, Waikato Times supplement) – May 1st 2010

Guest Chef - Christelle Le Ru

In France, where Christchurch food writer Christelle Le Ru grew up and learnt to cook, home-cooking was - "and still is", she says - the norm. Takeaway was a foreign concept to me until I was 23 and moved to the UK, and in New Zealand I think people rely a lot more on ordering a takeaway or buying food out.

"In France people would have a fit if they were told they had to eat a sandwich at their computer for lunch. Lunch break is still generally an hour-and-a-half and people normally have a cooked meal. Personnally I enjoyed the UK/New Zealand lunch system better because I enjoyed finishing work earlier when I worked my day job, but it is definitely different in that respect."

Christelle came to New Zealand with her husband in 2002, after four years in the UK. In the intervening years the couple have had four children. Christelle is an engineer by training, but always loved to cook. She would often bake cakes for her workmates, and was always having to write recipes down for people, until eventually someone suggested to her that she should write her own recipe book.

"When someone throws me a challenge I can never turn it down," she laughs. Plus, there was the pleasure of discovering the ins and outs of a whole new industry. So she got to it, initially mining her French heritage: Simply Irresistible French Desserts was her first, followed by French Fare and Passion Chocolat. All have won awards at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Last year's Fresh Start and this new one, 5 Ways With... have taken her firmly in the direction of recipe suggestions for the busy-mum-in-the-kitchen. "It's for mums like me," she says. These days I find that my typical routine consists of rushing like a mad woman with a baby on one arm while trying to get as much work done as possible and making sure the other three children are all still in one piece by bedtime. I find I hardly have a minute to stop and catch my breath, let alone give some forethought to dinner."

She recalls an article she read that said that most home cooks have a repertoire of no more than seven dishes that they turn out for their families over and over again. "I thought it would be a good idea to take basic ingredients that most people would use quite frequently and show new ways to use them," she says. "For instance, you might be cooking broccoli several times a week but you might be cooking it the same way every time."

So she has developed a book of recipes that, in group of five, are all based around one very ordinary ingredient (potatoes, pasta, mince, bananas and so on), and include other ingredients that are absolutely staple in most kitchen cupboards (flour, eggs and cheese for instance).

For instance, with broccoli, she offers: Broccoli and Fish Gratin, Broccoli and Shrimp Tartlets, Broccoli Terrine, Vegetarian Broccoli Curry and Creamy Broccoli and Cauliflower soup.

"What I like most about the recipes in this book is that the ingredients I have used are pantry must-haves and other commonly used food." This is a book for people who might be intimidated by cooking, or by glossier cookbooks. Christelle has taken her own photos and the result is dishes that look as if they could have come from your own kitchen - the styling is simple, the concept highly achievable.

"My ultimate goal," Christelle says, "is to encourage people to cook at home more. I don't have a degree in cooking. My whole goal is to show how easy it can be to cook really nice meals at home, without having to resort to takeaways. It's not difficult, expensive or boring."

By Margie Thomson

Northern Outlook – April 2010

Christelle finds recipe for success

Take an ounce of marketable French flair, several spoonfuls of love for family and cooking, mix with a sharp working ethos and the result will be four children and five cookbooks in five years.

Add to that a four-day week working as an embedded software engineer for some of those years and the result is even more remarkable. This month, Oxford-based food writer Christelle Le Ru celebrated the release of her fifth cookbook, 5 Ways With..., by publisher HarperCollins. The launch co-incided with Le Ru moving onto a lifestyle block in Waimakariri from Christchurch to take up the next turn in her life, focusing on her cookbooks, raising her children, writing food columns for newspapers and magazines, and undertaking English-to-French technical translations.

A qualified software engineer, Le Ru said it would have been impossible to change career direction in her native France. "My husband and I both have degrees in electrical engineering but I have always loved to cook and I became the baker of the family." Those notebooks of recipes, collected since she was 10, have been rerpoduced in her five cookbooks and all have evolved as favourites among her family both in France and New Zealand.

Her previous four cookbooks were self-published as a labour of love but she said she had welcomed handing over the marketing side to a publisher to free up more time to spend on herself and family. It was when Le Ru returned to work for four days a week after maternity leave with her first child in January 2005 that she was given the idea of making her hobby a career that would allow her to spend more time at home.

Her colleagues were used to her bringing baking into the office and the first day back after maternity leave was no exception. "Someone said I should write a cookbook - I already had a webpage for my recipes - and in half an hour I had made the decision." The first three books - French Desserts (2005), French Fare (2006) and Passion Chocolat (2007) - were written at night between 7pm and midnight after the increasing number of children were put to bed. Saturdays were reserved for cooking and baking the dishes to be photographer for the books, with photographer and friend Vanessa Jones taking the pictures on Sundays.

In mid-2008, Le Ru gave up her regular employment for goodf and went on to produce Fresh Start - Healthy Recipes and Food Tips for Parents of Preschoolers in 2008. Produced on a marketing budget of zero with a first print run of 3000, it sold out and was translated into several languages. This month, it was nominated in the Best Children Cookbook category at the 2010 Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards, to be judged next month in Australia.

After the success of Fresh Start, and pregnant with her fourth child, Le Ru was signed up by HarperCollins, which released 5 Ways With... this month. "Now, I am 'only' writing books, food columns and looking after my children," she says.

By Laura Melville

Beattie's book blog – April 2010

Five Ways With...

Christelle Le Ru, author of four award-winning cookbooks, and a busy working mum to four preschoolers, is very familiar with the question what am I going to cook for dinner tonight, so she has selected 19 basic ingredients that her family loves, and used each one to create five family meals: 5 Ways With.

5 Ways With shows you how to cook meals using basic, inexpensive and nutritious ingredients while preparing them in different and interesting ways. So we have 5 ways with Eggs, 5 ways with bananas, 5 ways with pasta,5 ways with rice, 5 ways with dried fruit, 5 ways with broccoli and so on. For each of the 19 key ingredients there are five recipes.

Christelle wrote 5 Ways With as she wanted to show people how easy it can be to cook healthy and delicious dishes that won’t blow your budget and don’t require hours of slaving over the stove.

Last night from the 5 Ways With meat section I made Chorizo and vegetable casserole which proved to be both simple to make and delicious to eat and the publishers have kindly given me permission to reproduce the recipe on the blog.

This is unlike any other cookbook I have come across with its themed approach using a particular key ingredient selection. It is a winner I reckon and warmly recommend it especially to those with young families and on a budget but who want to give their kids nutritious, satisfying and enjoyable meals.  

by Graham Beattie, former Managing Director/Publisher of Penguin and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards,

Healthy Options Magazine – April 2010

Five Ways With...

Have you ever had too much of one product in your fridge or pantry? Family saying something to the effect of “not that again…!” And you stare down at your dinner plate and realise you have used the same key ingredient in the same recipe yet again?

Christelle Le Ru steers you lightly and delicately away from your gastronomical cul-de-sac – although she does use the same ingredient incorporated in five dishes, these are so versatile in nature that those complaints will not be heard again. Her recipes use basic, inexpensive ingredients that are nutritious with a refreshing end result. These dishes keep the budget in mind as well as offering the family a meal that will satisfy the most picky connoisseur.

MORE FM Hamilton, NZ - April 10

Five Ways With... by Christelle Le Ru

I'm the first to admit that my kitchen is full of cookbooks - that I never use! I have literally dozens of them but find myself returning to the same 2 or 3 time and time again. This great new cookbook by French-born Christchurch-based Christelle Le Ru has joined my list of favourites. What I really like about this book is that Christelle has taken 19 basic ingredients that her family loves, and used each one to create five family meals - hence 5 Ways With...

For example, onions. The chapter starts with an introduction all about onions, when to pick them, how to store them etc. And then we have 5 recipes - in this case: stuffed onions, onion soup, onion tart, onion and chicken casserole and onion and tomato gratin.

Then we have fish: baked red cod, smoked fish pasta, fish risotto, portugese-style fish fillets and salmon filo pockets. And kiwifruit: kiwifruit meringues, kiwifruit roulade, kiwifruit and citrus salad, upside-down kiwifruit cake and kiwifruit crumble cake.

So all you do is pick the type of food your family likes to eat - and instantly you have 5 recipes to help get you through the week. Christelle has purposely chosen ingredients that are pantry must-haves and commonly used foods easily found in your local supermarket.

All the recipes show how easy it can be to cook healthy and delicious dishes that won't blow your budget and don't require hours of slaving over the stove.

By Kerrie-Maree Adams

Hurunui News – April 2010

Fresh Take on Family Meals

Helping Mum prepare family meals and tasty treats at home in France led Christelle Le Ru to develop a passion for food. Christelle became the baker of the "sweet stuff" while Mum was left in charge of preparing the savoury food for the family.

Today the mother of four, food writer and food photographer lives on the other side of the world in Oxford and has just released her fifth cookbook "5 Ways With...". She says once her appetite for food preparation was whetted and with the encouragement of family and work colleagues, who demanded her recipes once they had tried her cakes, the books began to flow.

"I got sick of writing recipes on bits of paper for work colleagues after I had taken cakes to work so with their encouragement I decided I would have a go at publishing my recipes," she says. Christelle, a software and electrical engineer, didn't know much about the publishing world but set to and self-published four cookbooks, all of which received awards at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Her first in 2005 - Simply Irresistible French Desserts - won the Best Cookbook Cover, French Fare in 2006 won the best French Cuisine book, Passion Chocolat won Best Chocolate book in 2007 and in 2008 she won the Best Children and Family Cookbook for Fresh Start. By the time her chocolate cookbook hit the shelves Christelle had three children - and she shifted her focus to nutritious food. She published Fresh Start, based on recipes and food tips for parents with preschoolers, which were "fun for children".

She was expecting her fourth child when she began her latest book. "I was really busy as I had started writing for magazines and papers. I couldn't handle everything and something had to go so I gave up my real job and got a publishing contract with HarperCollins," she said.

The book focuses on affordable family food and is based around 19 basic ingredients her family loves. She uses each of them to create five family meals using basic, inexpensive and nutritious ingredients. "I wanted to show people how easy it can be to cook healthy and delicious dishes that won't blow your budget and don't require hours of slaving over the stove. Also I know as a busy working mum I used to have the same problem as everyone else deciding what to have for dinner," she says.

Christelle, whose husband Regis is also an electronics engineer, settled in Christchurch eight years ago aftera four year stint in the United Kingdom. They have since moved to Oxford. "We took one-way flights, did not have a job and just came over," she says.

She writes during quiet moments with much of her work being done at night after the children are tucked up in bed. "I basically work around the children and what's good for them," says Christelle. Her website, www.christelle-leru.com has more information, newsletters and recipes.

By Robyn Bristow

Bay Weekend – March 2010

Scrumptious ways with good Kiwi tucker

It’s not enough for cookbooks to have great recipes anymore. For it to stand out on the book shop shelf there needs to be some kind of a theme. Christelle Le Ru’s gimic has been to base her recipes around 19 key ingredients and find five very different ways to serve each ingredient as a family meal.

As she says, “If you’re looking for haute cuisine you won’t find it here.” This is practical, delicious, nutritious, feeding-the-family-on-a-budget fare. The recipes scream tasty. Even cabbage looks palatable under Le Ru’s guidance and any recipe book that includes a dessert as yummy-sounding as Kiwifruit crumble cake is okay by me.

The best thing about these recipes is that they are all easy peasy. The 19 key ingredients are all staple foods for most New Zealanders. Foods like broccoli, potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, mince, chicken, apples and pasta, to name a few.

The rest of the ingredients are all the sort of thing you would find in the average pantry so there’s no need to go out and buy special ingredients. A great guide for inexperienced cooks.

By Diane McCarthy

FoodTown Magazine – March 2010

Five Ways With… Take one key ingredient and create five fantastic family meals

Christelle Le Ru has come up with an unusual concept for her fifth cookbook. She has selected 19 basic ingredients and offers five recipes for using each of them. It’s all standard family fare, which is not a bad thing either, given that most of us spend time in the kitchen cooking meals for our nearest and dearest, not tinkering with exotic ingredients in the hope of impressing dinner guests. A mother of four, Christelle has focused on pantry staples to put together a simple selection of quickly cooked dishes that are easy on the budget and should appeal to the taste buds of both young and old. The food photography is a bit of a disappointment, but it won’t stop this book being a great kitchen standby for whipping up meals.

Bright Start - May / June 09

Fresh Start by Christelle Le Ru, www.christelle-leru.com

For some wonderful ideas on actual menus, recipes and ideas for feeding children, Christelle Le Ru's book "Fresh Start" is invaluable.

Bright Start - Feb / Mar 09

Fresh Start by Christelle Le Ru, RRP$34.99

If you’re thinking of giving a present to a young mum, whether pregnant or pre-school, this is the gift for you. Forget baby booties or “how to tame your toddler” books – tame your children with this inspirational little book on good food for littlies, plus all the nutritional and factual information you need about diet and appetite.

Christelle Le Ru, a mother of four pre-schoolers, as well as an expert cook and cookery writer, covers nutritional needs and how to encourage healthy eating. She’s also good on sound psychological advice on how to manage meal-times, tempt capricious toddler appetites and how to introduce new tastes and old must-haves (like greens) in a subtle and appetising way.

Beautifully illustrated with lots of tempting ideas and ways to make food fun, and meal-times a pleasure, it’s a great little book with some delicious ideas, - for adult appetites as well. It is packed with useful information including conversion tables, and is a book I would definitely want if I was still cooking for small children – and bigger ones too!

Parenting Magazine - Summer 08-09

Fresh Start by Christelle Le Ru, RRP$34.99

French-born New Zealander Christelle Le Ru is the award-winning author of Simply Irresistible French Desserts, French Fare and Passion Chocolat. In Fresh Start, she has created a collection of healthy and nutritious recipes specifically designed to appeal to pre-schoolers' budding tastes.

The nutritional information and recipes have all been reviewed by a nutritionist and a dietician. As a mother to three young children aged one, two and four, Christelle is well aware of the challenges parents face at mealtimes.

Mums and dads alike will appreciate her many food tips, as well as the fact her recipes are easy to make and use readily available ingredients.

New Zealand Dietetic Association's News and Views - December 08

Fresh Start by Christelle Le Ru

The author of this beautifully illustrated book was born in France and came to New Zealand in 2002. This is her fourth recipe book, and reflects her focus as a mother wanting to give her children a healthy and nutritious diet. Her three previous recipe books have received awards at the prestigious Gourmand World Cook Book Awards.

The content of the book is divided into two main parts – nutrition information and healthy tips for parents, and recipes – Savoury Bits and Sweet Treats.

Nutrition information is interspersed throughout the book, and covers a variety of topics, ranging from nutritional needs of preschoolers, healthy eating, preschoolers’ behaviour and taste, making food fun and getting children involved, family meals, safety and exercise. Browsing through the book – these inserts came as a pleasant surprise! It was a little frustrating to have two of the sections – ‘Basic Nutritional Needs’ and ‘Preschoolers’ Behaviour and Taste’ each spread over two non-consecutive pages.

Information was generally factual, practical and sensible. It is necessary to acknowledge that this book was not written only for a New Zealand audience, nor is it meant to be a nutrition text book! The example of saturated fats given was deep-fried food, and this is not always the case, depending on the type of fat or oil chosen. The list of carbohydrate foods given did not include foods such as fruits that provide readily available energy necessary for active youngsters – only the starchy foods that metabolise more slowly. There were other points of dubious accuracy, but generally, the information was good. The sections on mealtime behaviour, getting children involved, safety and exercise are most practical.

Recipes are beautifully presented. Each is photographed and appended with a personal comment from the author. Recipes all have a French name (albeit with translation), which may deter some potential purchasers. The ingredients are listed using both metric and imperial measures and there is a useful conversion chart at the end. Some of the ingredients would be unusual for a New Zealand pre-schooler’s palate – e.g. olives, mushrooms, feta cheese. However, this book is intended for a universal audience, and already the author has sold translation rights for a Danish and an Arabic version, with others in the pipeline.

The recipe index is extremely helpful. I noticed that the name of the recipe did not always indicate some of the important components, e.g. ‘Stuffed Tomatoes’ contain beef, and ‘Pumpkin Cakes’ contain chicken. This index however, identifies these recipes as containing beef and chicken respectively. Many readers would find this approach useful.

For those wanting something more adventurous in a recipe book for young palates, I believe this book provides many interesting and sometimes sophisticated ideas that are designed to encourage young children and their families to enjoy a variety of different foods. In my opinion, the book meets this goal.

By Julian Jensen

New Zealand Nutrition Foundation - November 08

Fresh Start by Christelle Le Ru

Fresh Start is a collection of healthy recipes and food tips for parents of preschoolers. It is the fourth cookbook by Christelle Le Ru and reflects her focus as a mother to give her three young children a taste for a healthy lifestyle and nutritious foods from an early age.

It is a well-presented book, full of colour with an appetising picture for each recipe. There is a section on basic nutritional needs of preschoolers that is very easy-to-read and was produced in association with nutritionist Victoria Landells. The nutrition content was also reviewed by Nikki Hart on behalf of the Foundation. The vast majority of the recipes contain fruit or vegetables, introducing the taste of these important foods at an early age.

It can be a challenge to provide meals that taste bland enough for preschoolers but are not boring for adult family members. The use of herbs and assorted ingredients in this book mean a number of the recipes can be cooked for the whole family, saving time and encouraging shared mealtimes. The variety of recipes will provide ideas for anyone stuck in a rut, and the delicious-looking photos will encourage parents to experiment with a new dish.

There are a number of pages of information and tips about preschool behaviour that are commonsense, although often neglected, to help parents establish a healthy relationship between children and their food. It is encouraging to find a book aimed at children where there is a balance on the enjoyment of food within a healthy dietary framework.

The final word goes to Sue Pollard, CEO of the Nutrition Foundation, who is quoted on the back cover of the book: “Christelle’s recipes will offer your children new tastes and provide them with a good start to their lifelong eating habits”.

Little Treasures - Dec 07 / Jan 08

French Fare - With a love of cooking and children, this French-born mum of three under four says she has found her niche in Christchurch

Kiwis always pride themselves on being a "can-do" race of people. And maybe that's what attracted Christelle Le Ru to our shores in the first place, but this energetic French-born mum of three could make the best of us look lazy.

The bubbly 32 year old arrived with her husband Régis in 2002, not knowing a soul. Since then she's worked a day-job as a software engineer, produced three children aged 3 months to 3 years, and self-published three stunning recipe books (two of them award-winning) with a fourth in the planning stages.

Growing up in Brittany in north-west France, Christelle always dreamed of living abroad. She and Régis, 33, met and married and moved to the United Kingdom, where the outdoorsy couple encountered many people who told them they would love New Zealand.

"We thought we'd give it a go and were granted residency. So we ended up resigning from our very well-paid jobs, packing up all our gear and shipping it, and flying here on a one-way ticket. It was a bit of an adventure," remembers Christelle.

Régis had his heart set on Christchurch as a place to put down roots and they bought a home within two weeks of starting work. "But had we known we would have three babies in three years, we would have bought a bigger house!"

Christelle's first book Simply Irresistible French Desserts was started soon after her first baby, Noémie, arrived."I'd always loved cooking and baking at home. My mum tended to do the savoury stuff and I would do the desserts... I would often bring cakes to work for my team and people would ask me for the recipes. Someone said I should publish them so I decided, 'Let's try it'."

The project soon grew in scale. "Originally it was just going to be some colour photocopies I would give out to my friends so it was a big shock even for me that it turned into a book." But the new mum saw an opportunity to turn a passion into an income-earner that could allow her to spend more time with her babies.

Christelle faced many challenges. The first was learning to be disciplined enough to measure out her ingredients so she could write recipes. "I'm quite experimental and I think it's common in France for people to cook like that. We have some very classical dishes, but otherwise people use their imaginations. I've had no complaints from my husband!"

But negotiating the world of publishing and fitting her books around babies and preschoolers was an even bigger learning curve. Christelle was lucky to come across photographer/graphic designer Vanessa Jones through her work, who was happy to be involved.

Christelle didn't have the luxury of a test kitchen or food stylist, she cooked everything in her own tiny kitchen. She'd prepare about 10 dishes at once the day before, which were photographed at her house. Vanessa then designed the pages.

"With my first book I only had one baby so even though I was working, I found it fairly possible to work around her sleep times, and worked on the recipes at night," says Christelle. Eloïse, now one, was born in the middle of French Fare so I had to take her to all the photo shoots and breastfeed her in the middle of it all."

The third book was done early in Christelle's pregnancy with Yohann so she was not too tired. "We did all the photo shoots on my day off and in the weekends"

The books are distributed through Nationwide Books and getting into Whitcoulls was a major coup. The first two won accolades at the Gourmand World Cookbook awards, and Christelle is waiting to hear how Passion Chocolat will do in the same competition.

"Sales have been pretty good. We haven't made much money out of it yet. But because we have covered costs and because I love it, I can keep going."

"Christelle, who has appeared on Good Morning, has yet to realise her dream of being a full-time food writer, but hasn't given up on the idea. "I often lie in bed thinking about recipes, about how I can do things and how I can improve upon it. It's not really a problem to come up with recipes, I could keep going forever."

And she has had no problem getting the ingredients she needs in New Zealand. "There's been a big increase in the dark chocolate that's available. There are lots of delicious cheeses here and different vegetables such as kumara. I pretty much get everything at the supermarket - I don't have time to go special shopping." Which must be the understatement of the year.

Christelle admits it's been tough going at times, with family thousands of kilometres away and only a small support network to depend upon. "You are in survival mode and so sleep-deprived in the early years, but that doesn't last for very long. I love the babies and small children and it's great to be able to do things together. My husband is wonderful, we really rely on each other, it's the only way we can do things."

Christelle's girls, Noémie and Eloïse, have already started to follow in her footsteps. "They like to cook with me, so often we end up cooking at the table so they can join in. They like to experiment too and have even tried eating raw garlic!"

With children so dear to her heart, the next book will be full of recipes for healthy food for preschoolers. Christelle may enlist the help of a dietitian on this one. "I have always been interested in nutrition and despite what you may think from my other books, we don't eat chocolate every day!"

Christelle and Régis became New Zealand citizens last year and have no plans to return to Europe. "We loved New Zealand from the moment we set foot here."

By Nicole Parish, for Little Treasures

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NZ House & Garden - May 07

Passion Chocolat

"I am not overweight, I am chocolate enriched" may be a comeback worth remembering if this collection of heart-stoppingly decadent recipes proves too hard to resist. Christelle Le Ru's milkshake contains dark chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate ice-cream and drinking chocolate. Cheesecake vanille-chocolat is best kept a secret from your cardiologist. Even her not-so-humble apple crumble gravitates to the dark side with its layer of chocolate chips. This is Christchurch-based Le Ru's third self-published book of recipes reflecting her French heritage. Her immorally rich and sweet dishes will seduce - then leave you wondering how it can be that Frenchwomen don't get fat.

By Sally Butters, for NZ House & Garden

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Café Magazine - Autumn 07

Win "Passion Chocolat"

We're chocolate freaks and to make us feel less guilty about our weighty problem we're giving away 3 copies of Christelle Le Ru's latest cookbook "Passion Chocolat". Christelle, whose first two books "Simply Irresistible French Desserts" and "French Fare" won international awards, now lives in Christchurch. "Passion Chocolat" features irresistible recipes including Bavarois au Chocolat (Cointreau and chocolate pudding), Moelleux au chocolat et au café (Chocolate and coffee cakes) and many others. To be in our draw to win just tell us the name of another French city apart from Paris. Write it on the back of an envelope with your name and address and post to Passion Chocolat, c/- Café magazine, Box 35051, Browns Bay, Auckland by June 1.

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Next Magazine - December 06

Update

When we talked to Christelle Le Ru for our July story "Piece of Home" on immigrants who have kept their culture alive in New Zealand, she had just self-published a recipe book, Simply Irresistible French Desserts, and was about to give birth to her second child. Since then, she's released French Fare, with a third cookbook, Passion Chocolat, due out next year.

Originally from Pornichet in France, she became a New Zealand citizen in August. "I'm so proud," she says. "It's made me feel more part of this country." Now expecting her third child, Christelle's mission is to encourage New Zealanders to experiment with French gastronomy. "I'm a busy working mother and these are quick and easy meals."

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The FoodTown Magazine - December 06

If you are interested in French gastronomy it's a safe bet that you will enjoy this offering from Christchurch-based Christelle Le Ru. French Fare is the second in a series of books on French cuisine that Christelle is producing and self-publishing - her first, Simply Irresistible French Desserts, won a prestigious Gourmand World Cook Book Awards in 2005.

The simple yet authentic French recipes have been adapted for New Zealand ingredients and tastes and reading through them you come to realise that French cuisine is not necessarily as complicated as you may have thought. And of course the recipe names somehow sound so much more sophisticated - feuilletés au fromage (cheese pastries), poulet indien au yaourt (chicken and yoghurt curry), carrés à la confiture (jam squares).

An interesting introduction outlining the origins and current trends of French gastronomy leads on to about 100 pages of recipes (Nibbles and Starters, Main Fare, Sweet Treats) and then a final section of menu ideas for various occasions. Useful information, tips and comments about the dishes featured and the ingredients used are scattered throughout.

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NZ House & Garden - October 06

French Fare

If you love authentic French food but hesitate to prepare it at home because it's too rich or just downright difficult, Christelle Le Ru is the cookbook author for you. She's thoroughly French but lives in Christchurch so all the ingredients she uses are familiar.

Her methods are straightforward and she makes meals most of us love to eat. With dishes such as chicken casserole, lentil soup, fish curry and blueberry cheesecake her focus is clearly more cuisine du terroir (regional-style) than haute cuisine, so don't worry if you've never achieved lump-free roux sauce or mastered choux pastry.

Simple and natural, the flavours will speak for themselves. However, if you want to impress use the French names - velouté de potimarron and carrés à la confiture sound a lot more exotic than pumpkin soup and jam squares. And if you think baked apples are boring don't miss her pommes au mascarpone. Christelle's brief history of French gastronomy provides an interesting introduction to her delicious fare and her closing chapter of well-considered menu ideas is certain to inspire many French-themed gatherings.

By Sally Butters, for NZ House & Garden

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Next Magazine - July 06

Christelle Le Ru doesn't look like a creator of cakes - there's just not enough of her. Yet the 30-year-old French woman, who has lived in New Zealand for three years, has self-published a wicked, out-of-kilojoule-control recipe book, Simply Irresistible French Desserts.

A software engineer by day, Christelle reckons she is known more for her bake than her byte. "I would often bring cakes to work for my friends," she says. "I just love giving them. It makes people happy." The requests for recipes became so persistent that she decided to put together a book, collaborating with Vanessa Jones, who took photographs and designed the layout.

"It's a cookbook that's full of creamy, messy desserts that are typically French but are not difficult for the home cook who likes or wants to bake," Christelle says. The soft-covered book is divided into three parts - Chocolate Creations, Fruit Delights and Small Treats. Half of the recipes have been created by Christelle and the rest are cakes and desserts she first made with her mother as a child. "In France, women cook and bake a lot. They don't rely on ready-made meals or takeaways. My mum is a great cook and when there was no school I used to help her. She used to prepare the main part of the meal, so I would make a dessert or bake a bake."

She says she owes so much to these mother-daughter kitchen capers that she has taken her mother's maiden name, Le Ru, to create Christelle Le Ru, cookbook writer. Christelle and husband Régis are now seeking New Zealand citizenship "because this country is such a fantastic place for children to grow up in". Twenty-two month old Noémie and 16-week-old Éloïse aren't likely to suffer from a lack of good food either.

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NZ House & Garden - December 05

Simply Irresistible French Desserts

Chocoholics and those passionate about puddings will drool over this collection from Christelle Le Ru, a Frenchwoman now living in New Zealand. She shares her favourite tried and tested French recipes for wickedly delectable cakes, tarts, gateaux, biscuits and other sweet treats. All use readily available ingredients and are less complicated than you might expect.

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Cuisine - November/December 05

Simply Irresistible French Desserts

The first book by this French-born, Christchurch-domiciled food writer contains enough chocolate and other treats to die for, several times over.

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The Foodtown Magazine - October/Nov 05

Simply Irresistible French Desserts

This French-born, soon-to-be Kiwi should be congratulated for going it alone. Christelle Le Ru's self-published, delightfully different, sweet treat book of over 100 French-influenced recipes is aimed at home cooks - but you need to own a set of scales. The recipes are well executed and measurements and weights are given in both metric and imperial. We loved her Pêches au Mascarpone and Biscuits au Citron.

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Your Home & Garden - October 05

Simply Irresistible

There's no doubting Christelle Le Ru's first cookbook has been put together with love. Born in St Nazaire in France but resident in New Zealand for the past three years, Christelle's lifelong love of home baking has culminated in this delicious debut, focusing on what the French do best, their decadent desserts. Unlike some cookbooks that include only a few truly achievable recipes, there was something I felt like trying on almost every page.

By Kate Shaw, for Your Home & Garden

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The Taste - September 05

Sweet French fare hot off the press

"Having grown eternally tired of the dessert fare offered by many restaurants, and the often long wait between dining on a main and even seeing a dessert menu (that’s if the staff remember you’re sitting there), I figured it’s about time I stayed at home and re-discovered my kitchen.

And voila! Christelle Le Ru appeared in my orbit with the most delicious looking book aptly titled Simply Irresistible French Desserts.

Who better to write such a book of authentic recipes than a French expatriate now settled in Christchurch, New Zealand, who loves baking and is a self-confessed chocolate addict.

“There are four basic food groups,” Christelle writes on the first page of the book to be launched this month: “Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles.”

It’s important not to be put off by the notion that because it’s French, it must be elaborate. The tiny amount of knowledge I have of French cookbooks is that the recipes are surprisingly simple, and create food from a combination of straightforward but luscious ingredients. This book is a good example, proven by the fact that I’m no chef but I found myself eager to get cracking on the Fondant au Chocolat – mascarpone and chocolate creamy cake.

Christelle says in introducing the recipe that it was a last-minute inclusion in the book, mainly because it’s not a typical French dessert, but something that happened by accident while trying to make a cheesecake as nice as those she tasted in the UK.

“This cake is so irresistible it would simply be cruel and selfish not to share it with others,” Christelle says.

Not only does she fly the flag for French baking, Christelle is also a highly skilled software engineer who came to New Zealand with her husband a few years ago. Writing a stunning recipe book that has been expertly produced is really a secondary interest to a fulltime technical career, as well as that of becoming a mother within the last year.

Christelle believes her interest in food was acquired from her mother, who she says is the best cook ever. The recipe book, created with the help of photographer and graphic designer Vanessa Jones, has the ability to transport those who use it to the top shelf of the finest patisseries in France. Dessert recipes have been allocated to three categories: chocolate creations, fruit delights and small treats. Helpful inclusions are the index and conversion tables, and there’s a nice touch at the back of the book where you can read about Christelle and photographer Vanessa Jones."

By Tracy Neal, for The Taste online magazine

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