John Baxter is an Australian-born writer, journalist and filmmaker. Baxter has lived in Britain and the United States as well as his native Sydney, but has made his home in Paris since 1989, where he is married to the filmmaker Marie-Dominique Montel. They have one daughter, Louise.

A Paris Christmas is the charming, funny and improbable tale of how a man who was raised on white bread - and didn't speak a word of French - unexpectedly ended up with the sacred duty of preparing the Christmas dinner for a venerable Parisian family.

Having fallen in love with a French woman and impulsively moved to Paris to marry her, LA-based film critic John Baxter could hardly refuse the challenge of cooking up a feast for his sceptical in-laws. But what to cook? And how to make it palatable to such a terrifying band of gastronomes.

In this sparkling memoir, we follow Baxter's misadventures and delicious triumphs as he visits the farthest corners of France in search of the country's best recipes and ingredients. Irresistible and fascinating, this book is a cultural and culinary education which teaches us the difference between food that is just edible and something feeds the soul.

A Paris Christmas is the charming, funny and improbable tale of how a man who was raised on white bread - and didn't speak a word of French - unexpectedly ended up with the sacred duty of preparing the Christmas dinner for a venerable Parisian family. Previously published as "Cooking for Claudine".