With its great gastronomic tradition, there has always been much to celebrate about French food. But behind the menus of the Michelin-starred restaurants lies regional cooking that has evolved around the ingredients and seasons of France's diverse terroir. From the Brittany coast to the Alps, Paris to the Mediterranean, internationally acclaimed food and travel writer Sarah Woodward seeks out time-honoured, home-cooked dishes. She explores not only the dishes themselves but also the influences that formed them as she travels around France, stopping frequently to hear about the best local market or producer. And because France doesn't stop at the Channel and the Pyrenees, she includes recipes from the overseas departments - chestnut soup from Corsica, crab terrine from Guadeloupe and 'blaff', a favourite fish stew of Martinique.