The Hands On French Cookbook:
Connect With French
Through Simple, Healthy Cooking,
by Elisabeth de Châtillon
Hands on French
Published on 6/2/2021
144 pages
Nonfiction:
Healthy Bilingual French Cook Book
and Language Book – French and English
Goodreads
Buy the book on Our Bookshop / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
France Book Tours is very soon shifting to a flexible model of tours:
you request one of the books offered for review, but you don’t need to review it on a specific day. You read it and review it when it is best for you! And you still get perks for posting your review!
The Hands On French Cookbook is actually the very last book I received for the traditional book tour format, and it’s a wonderful conclusion to this phase, as the book is so very good. And as you know, a synonym for good is delicious!
In the introduction, Elisabeth de Châtillon shares about her life and how she got to start her Hands On French business, and the pedagogical vision behind this book, that is, TPR (Total Physical Response), which is basically how you learned your own language.
With all this in mind, the book packs a lot of goodies:
you can learn basic grammar, basic French, especially related to food and cooking, as well as get a nice introduction into French culture and history related to food.
The book is bilingual, with either French and English on odd/even pages, or two parts on the same page. Or even a line by line translation; when it’s the case, the translation is more literal, so you get to understand better the order of words in a French sentence.
The book offers ten recipes. For each of them, you have a page on ingredients, on utensils, on the verbs used in the recipe, and then the recipe itself. The translation is first offered literally, and then in good English.
This is just part of page 17, to give you an idea
The recipe is not fully translated, to encourage you to memorize the words you just saw on the previous page for instance, in the ingredients section. The context makes it easier to remember the words. Then there are ideas and tips, offering variations (plus the last twenty-five pages offer even more variations), so you actually get many more than ten recipes.
The last section of each recipe is cultural, explaining for instance the origin of the quiche.
I am French, so I cannot say I discovered any brand new recipe here, but I can tell you the author is offering a well chosen selection.
I especially enjoy preparing une quiche sans pâte (crustless quiche), un gratin de pommes de terre (potato gratin), un clafoutis, and I’ll keep my favorite for the final word: la galette des rois !
VERDICT: The most yummy book I have read this year. Cook and learn French at the same time!
SYNOPSIS
f 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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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
or on any other book blog participating in this tour.
Visit/Follow the participating blogs on Facebook/Twitter,
as listed in the entry form below, and win more entry points!
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
Tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour
will give you 5 extra entries each time!
[just follow the directions on the entry-form]
Global giveaway open to US residents
2 winners will receive a print copy of this book
HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK?
Any other good French cook book? Or TPR book?
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS IN A COMMENT PLEASE
SEE MORE REVIEWS AND Q&A BY CLICKING ON THE BANNER
In full compliance with FTC Guidelines, I received this book free of charge to review.
I was in no way compensated for this post as a reviewer, and the thoughts are my own.
Words And Peace 
This sounds fabulous! And good to know that the selection of recipes offered is a good one 🙂 I love experimenting with French cooking (the less daunting recipes) so I’m going to look for this one. Thanks for the great introduction to it!
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I think you will really enjoy it. You can also enter our giveaway
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I did!!! Fingers crossed 🤞
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Wonderful
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Pingback: Elisabeth de Châtillon on tour: The Hands On French Cookbook | France Book Tours
What an imaginative way to help someone gain language skills. You’re far more likely to remember the vocabulary if you learn it in a context and it has a practical use.
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Exactly, just like you learned to speak as a young child
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I’m always seeking to try new recipes and learn about other cultures, so this book sounds excellent for me to learn about French culture.
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Yes, perfect! Be sure to enter the giveaway
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The idea of cooking French food and learning French at the same time is almost irresistible. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of this cool book.
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Definitely a good temptation to fall into, lol
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Emma, thank you so very much for your awesome review. I really appreciate you featuring my book on your blog. I am grateful for your in-depth comment, not only taking the time to introduce me, but also having the generous idea of supporting your comments with appropriate excerpts from my book to give a clear idea to the readers. I definitely recognize the excellent teacher and writer in you!
Merci de même to take the time to try some recipes, even if they were not brand new to you, being a French native speaker as you wrote with good humor.
Merci infiniment !
Elisabeth
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Tout le plaisir était pour moi. Thanks for such a wonderful book.
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Hm… I’d like to learn how to cook French cuisine, but I’m not sure I could handle learning the French along with it. I mean, I studied French in middle school, but I was SO bad at it, mostly because the Hebrew I’d learned as a little girl kept creeping into my head when I had to speak in class.
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But the way this book is done is very helpful, though obviously mostly focusing on cooking terms
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