As I perch on a stool in her kitchen in Lyon, I think about what makes Sonia Ezgulian’s cooking so compelling. Ezgulian, who is also a journalist, is well known for her simple, beautifully arranged and colorful dishes. Her hands work quickly as she peels zucchini and chops herbs for her signature spiral tart, with efficiency and effortlessness in every movement. Sonia’s food is both classically French in its techniques—she has perfected standards such as pâté en croute and terrines—and utterly contemporary, employing spices and less-common ingredients from other cuisines. Her Armenian roots show up in dishes such as mantis, a sort of open, crunchy ravioli, and tcheurek, a braided Easter brioche. Ezgulian is a well-respected figure in professional culinary circles who judges exclusive culinary competitions such as the Bocuse d’Or and champions women’s contributions to French cuisine. But she also maintains what we think of as housewife sensibilities, and has become one of France’s key figures in the “zero … Continue reading The Female Cooks Who Shaped French Cuisine