Book review The Hands On French Cookbook by Elisabeth de Châtillon

The Hands On French Cookbook, Elisabeth de Châtillon

Elisabeth de Châtillon on Tour 20th September - 1st October with

The Hands On French Cookbook: Connect With French Through Simple, Healthy Cooking

(nonfiction: Healthy Bilingual French Cook Book and Language Book – French and English) 

 Release date: 6/2/2021 144 pages Hands on French Goodreads 📚📚📚

Synopsis

If you think French food is complicated, decadent, and heavy, think again! If you think learning and exploring another language is difficult or boring, think again! And if you think cooking French food and learning French at the same time is impossible, teacher and home cook Elisabeth de Châtillon is here to prove you wrong. It might sound too good to be true, but THE HANDS ON FRENCH COOKBOOK is full of healthy, simple French recipes that you can make for friends and family while you learn not only the French language but also a little bit about French culture in a relaxed, fun, tasty way.

My review 

There is a lot to love in this innovative French recipe book. 

It is bilingual, with all the text cleverly split into short phrases that can easily be read and translated, with the addition of a handy verb section for each recipe. The repetition of reading this will mean you will soon remember the difference between éplucher and égouter or étaler and émietter. I certainly remember struggling with verbs like these when I first tried to follow a recipe in French. I will admit that although I don’t really need the English translations these days, I still picked up the odd new word or two. 

I also enjoyed the choice of recipes, as there is a good selection from all over France, and for all times of year, although I’d have loved a few more than the ten. From summer salads to comforting and warming gratin dishes, and not forgetting tempting desserts. The seasonal vegetable variation suggestions for each dish were also a great addition to the main recipe, and certainly gave me a few good ideas.

I think my favourite element, and where I learned the most, was the helpful section at the end of each recipe explaining where in France (or elsewhere) each dish came from. Regional food and seasonality are so important in French cooking, I’m glad this was included rather than just a collection of recipe ingredients and methods.

For anyone with an interest in cooking and eating French food, who is also looking for a practical and fun way to improve their French vocabulary, this book ticks a lot of boxes.

Purchase links

 

Our Bookshop

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

About the author

Elisabeth de Châtillon

 

Elisabeth de Châtillon was born in France, has an MA in Education and Marketing, and has taught extensively in both the USA and Europe. She is also an accomplished home cook who enjoys sharing her love for French cooking by feeding her family and friends simple, good food. Her book, THE HANDS ON FRENCH COOKBOOK, was born from her combined love of teaching and cooking —and a desire to share that love and knowledge. When Elisabeth isn’t working or cooking, she likes stepping on her yoga mat, meditating, swimming in the ocean and lakes, walking in the beautiful outdoors, and traveling. She currently lives in Nashville, TN, with her husband, Ron, and Minou, her bilingual cat. To find our more, please visit her website. Follow her on Facebook, on Instagram, or on LinkedIn  

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