WINNER OF THE JANE GRIGSON TRUST AWARD

A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE FINANCIAL TIMES, OBSERVER AND THE WEEK

Paris has a justifiable claim to be the centre of European gastronomy - but beyond its trademark terrasses and zinc-topped tables, what can its cuisine tell us about the city? Chris Newens, an award-winning food writer and long-time resident of the historic slaughterhouse quartier Villette, takes us on a delightful gastronomic journey around Paris' twenty spiralling arrondissements, seeking out, sampling and attempting to recreate a dish that represents each as it is today.

Hemingway wrote that 'wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast'. From Congolese cat fish in the 18th to Middle Eastern falafels in the 4th, to the charcuterie served at the libertine nightclubs of Pigalle in the 9th, Newens lifts the lid on the city's ever-changing, defining and irresistible food culture.