About Chocolate & Zucchini

Chocolate & Zucchini is a blog written by Clotilde Dusoulier, a 33-year-old Parisian food writer who shares her passion for all things food-related.

Here you'll find recipe ideas and cooking inspiration, plus musings on quirky ingredients, cookbook acquisitions, nifty tools, and restaurant experiences.

The blog was created in September of 2003 as a creative outlet. One thing led to another, some media attention was received, a book deal was signed, a dayjob was quit, and a new life as a full-time food writer began.

Clotilde Dusoulier now writes food and travel articles for magazines in English and in French, writes and edits cookbooks, and works as a recipe developer, public speaker, and food trend consultant.

If you have a project you'd like to discuss, please get in touch!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Chocolate & Zucchini?

It is a good metaphor for my cooking style: the zucchini illustrates my focus on healthy and natural eating: fresh produce, artisan goods, and a preference for organic and local ingredients. And the chocolate represents my decidedly marked taste for baking in general, and chocolate in particular.

Although it wasn't what I had in mind initially, I later discovered that the two ingredients make quite the happy couple, in both sweet and savory recipes.

How do I subscribe to Chocolate & Zucchini?

There are various options, all of them free.

- You can subscribe to the C&Z newsletter: it is sent out at the beginning of each month and includes news and announcements, as well as a digest of recent entries. Naturally, your email will never ever be used for any other purpose than sending you news from C&Z, and each newsletter you receive will include a link to unsubscribe.

- You can subscribe to the RSS feed.

- You can also follow me on Twitter.

- You are welcome to join the C&Z Facebook page.

How can I contact you?

You can leave a comment at the end of a particular post if you'd like to add your two cents, or use the contact form about anything else. I do my best to reply to the messages I receive, but sometimes life gets in the way. I apologize in advance if that happens.

Are you French or American?

I am 100% French, born and raised in Paris, but I lived and worked for two years in the San Francisco Bay Area after I graduated from college. It is in California that I started to get interested in food and cooking -- although this may be surprising to some, it really isn't when you know how fresh and varied the food is in that region -- and my cooking was certainly influenced by this experience.

Why do you write in English?

When I first started C&Z, the handful of blogs that existed were mostly in English. And because there is a nice sense of community between bloggers, I naturally wanted the ones whose writing I enjoyed to be able to read mine. I was also coming back from two years in the US, and writing in English was a good way to stay fluent.

Is there a French version of your blog?

Yes, there is! It was started after four years of C&Z so not all the archives are translated, but my ambition is to provide a French version for most posts and recipes starting from the fall of 2007. Posts for which a translation is available are indicated by a little French flag (Reminder, this is what the French flag looks like: ) at the bottom of the page.

Are you professionally trained?

The bulk of my cooking education comes from observing my mother and teaching myself. I did take a one-year weekly class in traditional French cooking (you can read about it here) and have worked a few stints in professional kitchens, but my college education was in computer science. I worked for five years as a software engineer in California and Paris before becoming a full-time food writer.

Where can I find your books?

You'll find detailed information on my book projects on my book page.

How can I get my book(s) signed?

You can either attend one of my booksigning events, or you can order signed bookplates.

Who takes the pictures on Chocolate & Zucchini?

The pictures on Chocolate & Zucchini are all by me, unless indicated otherwise. They are also protected by copyright and all rights are reserved, which means you can't use them without my permission. This is true of the writing and recipes on the site as well.

Is there a list of your recipes somewhere?

Head over to the recipe index, where C&Z recipes are organized by name and type of dish.

I don't understand grams and liters and stuff. Can you help?

Most of the recipes on C&Z are published in both the metric and the cup/spoon system, but some of the early ones weren't. You can check the conversion page to clarify those.

I would like to advertise on your website. How do I do that?

Chocolate & Zucchini is part of the BlogHer ad network. If you are interested in advertising on Chocolate & Zucchini, you can contact BlogHer directly. To discuss other opportunities, such as newsletter sponsorship, giveaways, and special promotions, please get in touch.

What else?

You can check out the moblog on which I post pictures taken with my cell phone, use the food glossary for French-to-English translations of food terms, and play around with the plat du jour feature that generates random dish ideas.