Colette Rossant

Colette Rossant (born 1932) is a French-American cookbook author, journalist, translator, and restaurateur, who is a member of the Pallache family.

Background

Born in Paris, Rossant traveled with her mother to Cairo to live with her father and her father's family during World War II. Her mother spent much of the war in Beirut (part of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon), while her brother Eddy Palacci remained in Paris with their mother's parents.

After World War II, Rossant returned to Paris and lived with her grandmother and brother, joined occasionally by her mother. In Paris, she studied at the Lycée La Fontaine. She spent a year learning English at Roedean School near Brighton, UK. She earned a B.A. in Comparative Literature at the Sorbonne in 1954. She married American architect James Rossant in 1955.

Career

Moving to New York with her husband in 1955, Rossant pursued several careers, often simultaneously: teaching, writing, translating, restaurant business, and raising a family.

Rossant spent many years teaching French. She was first a language instructor at the Browning School (1957–1961). She then taught French at Hofstra University (1961–1970). She became head of the French department at St. Anne's School (1970–1983). Her last position was as Liaison Officer at the New York branch of Crédit Lyonnais (1985–2000).

Exploring New York, Rossant became very interested in bettering the food she found there. She published her first of seven cookbooks in 1975 (and last to date in 1991). Her third cookbook, ''A Mostly French Food Processor Cookbook'' (1980) sold more than 50,000 copies and made a name for her in the Food industry. She became "underground gourmet" for ''New York Magazine'' in the 1980s. She served as food and design editor for ''McCalls Magazine'' (1983–1990). She then became a columnist for the ''New York Daily News'', where she wrote a popular Wednesday column called "Ask Colette." Currently, she contributes to ''Food Arts'' and ''Super Chef'' magazines.

Rossant helped launch two restaurants in New York. Buddha Green (1998–1999) opened in Midtown Manhattan and featured original, vegetarian "Buddhist" cuisine. Dim Sum Go Go (2000–2003) opened in Chinatown and featured original Imperial Cantonese cuisine, although Rossant has stopped consulting there. Her husband James Rossant helped design both, while son Tomas Rossant helped on the interior at Buddha Green.

Rossant has traveled abroad (often with her husband, whose architectural design work took him to countries like Bhutan, Tanzania, and Turkey). Her lifelong interest in Asian cuisines took her to China and Japan, reflected in her cookbooks and restaurants.

With children grown and married, Rossant's most recent books have been memoirs: ''Apricots on the Nile'' (2004, originally published as ''Memories of a Lost Egypt'' in 1999), ''Return to Paris'' (2003), and ''The World in My Kitchen'' (2006).

In 2002, Rossant moved from New York back to France, but rather than return to Paris again (as she had as a teenager), she went to live in the department of Orne

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