I'm always intrigued with French cooking so when I got my hands on this little cookbook I was pretty happy. It is set-up in a way that is supposed to help you learn the French language while you are actually reading the recipes. It's a system called TPR. You are told commands in French like, Chop or Mix and then you physically start to do it and the command stays in your mind....hmmm I'm not so sure about that 😕

The recipes are all both in French and English in the book. The author has also set-up a website where you can hear the recipes all in French (supposedly to help you understand how to pronounce the words.) I'm not convinced. I did not understand any of it when I listened to the recipes in French. I guess my high school French here in Canada did not take me quite that far 😂 Still, the website is clever.
https://www.handsonfrench.com/

There are only ten recipes in total and the categories consist of; Quiches and Crepes (oh yes please!), Lentils, Salads, Potato Gratin, Chocolate Mousse and Cakes.

I will definitely try to be ambitious and make some of these recipes. I'm especially looking forward to, "The Crustless Quiche with yellow squash, ricotta and Parmesan."

I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and the author, Elisabeth de Chatillon for providing me with this Advance Reader Copy.

This is not your normal cookbook. By using this cookbook you can learn a few French recipes and learn some French as well. Elisabeth de Chatillon has used her loves of cooking and teaching in one place. Each recipe is written in both English and French on a line by line basis. These translations are both literal and then more colloquial. This allows you to learn what each word is and then how the combination works for it to make sense. Not only is each recipe in two languages but it include a list of ingredients, a list of kitchen tools you will need, a list of the verbs that are used in the recipe, the recipe itself, and then any notes of substitutions you can make.

Obviously with all of this each recipe will take about 10 pages so there are only 10 recipes (5 main and 5 desserts). The recipes are classics yet simple like quiche, salad nicoise, and potatoes au gratin. She also includes variations at the end of the book for the recipe so if you are not a fan of zucchini but like mushrooms or even leeks there are variations of the quiche recipe for those.

This was very different for any cookbook I have ever read and I could definitely see this as one that someone who wanted to learn French or students might use since such a large part of the book is about the two languages.

This French and English cook book is very u inquest but only contains a few recipes. There are lengthy instructions and measurements for each recipe so it looks like it is targeted for very basic or beginning cooks to try French method cooking. I am not not sure if this review copy was supposed to be this short but it had more work in the translations of how to cook the very few recipes in this book.

The Hands on French Cookbook is such a wonderful way to explore French Cuisine. Written in both French and English you are learning more about the French language as you peruse through the beautiful recipes. From the Potato Gratin to the Apricot Clafoutis this cookbook brought back wonderful memories of my last trip to France and I am excited about trying some of these delicious recipes in my own kitchen. A must have for lovers of French Cuisine.

I must say this is not one of favourite reciipe books. I got a bit annoyed with the back and forth of the French and English languages.

The recipes were alright but I just didn't find it to be my kind of recipe book.

This cookery book contains only 10 recipes that are given in both English and French to assist you to recognize the French language when cooking.

Each recipe comes with a colour photograph, the serving sizes, preparation and cooking times. The ingredients are in both metric and imperial measurements, though there are no Gas Marks. Also included are a list of command verbs for the recipe, which are then used in the instructions, so you need to keep referring back to what you are supposed to be doing - beating, whisking, cutting, etc.

For me, the dual language aspect of the recipes made it harder to follow what was going on in the steps.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

Da kid has spent this last semester learning some conversational French, so she was thrilled to get this cookbook, so she could working on some French vocabulary and cooking! This is an interesting concept of showing both the English and the French, for the same recipe and instructions (as well as cooking tips prefacing recipes). It really helps you to start picking up phrases (ie pinch of salt) and vocabulary (potatoes, fruit, cup, etc). By the third recipe, I did find myself looking at the French first, trying to decipher it, before switching back to the English! Success! That really is the goal of the book- to give you a handful of very basic French recipes and teach French language while doing so. Even da kid was picking up more and more as she looked over book. If you have a high schooler or coed taking French this year, this is a must have book for them- it will REALLY help their new language skills! And the recipes are quite tasty too!

I would only recommend this book to someone who wants to learn the French language while attempting to prepare some interesting French dishes. I find the language too difficult to adequately comprehend the recipes and techniques.

I live in France, and as a keen cook, I frequently meet up with French friends who also love cooking to share recipes and ideas. I was excited to get a copy of this book, thinking it would be a wonderful way to cook together and improve both English and French language skills.
But having used the book, I have mixed feelings about its usefulness for this type of learning. As a language learning tool for foodies, it has been a fun book to read through with French friends, useful for learning both English and French pronunciation and vocabulary. I like the focus on learning the imperative forms of the verbs used in the recipes and found the section “from where does it come” a useful area for discussion. However, cooking from the recipes was not easy in the current format with the two languages breaking up the flow and making the instructions for what are very simple (yet authentically French!) recipes difficult to follow. I would have preferred to have the two languages on opposite pages.

I’d never heard of a dual language cookbook and was intrigued. I love food, cooking and cookery books. I studied French to A level many moons ago and I’ve been brushing up on my rusty language skills, so this seemed like a perfect combination.

It’s possibly an acquired taste; I think the lay out is probably better in book form rather than electronic. I found some of the formatting a little odd and it breaks the flow between language learning and cooking skill. I can the idea behind it and the Montessori method is one I like. There’s an interesting range of recipes and I’ve approached them piecemeal. So I’ve used this as a guide to learn a new recipe and at the same time, learn it in English and French. What I haven’t done is actually make the food at the same time. For me, that’s working really well and when I come to make the food, I think I’ll be familiar with the ingredients and method.

It’s different, but interesting and I’m enjoying it.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

My husband I have been planning to trave to France for almost two years now. We were originally supposed to go in May 2020, but Covid put a damper on those plans. My husband surprised me with this trip on December 2019 and we are very excited that we are finally able to take this trip in December 2021! I like the idea of this book because I am desperately trying to learn French via Rosetta Stone, Duolingo, and even some phrasebooks. I like that the English phrases are right by the French words or phases which really helps instill what the words mean. I absolutely love that two of the greatest loves of my life- cooking and France- are put together in this innovative book.

I wanted to love this book, to many hands going to many directions. I wanted to try the yellow squash recipe but trying to just see an ingredient list and directions was too involved.

I loved the French language immersion experience of this book. I love that there are explanations for the food. What it is etc. super helpful. There are also pictures of the dishes. Always a must in a cookbook. There’s a variety of recipes. Things for vegetarians, those who are gluten free/dairy free etc. very accommodating. Something for everyone. I didn’t like the little cartoon graphics. I couldn’t help but take the book less seriously. It’s also a book you should have in print. It’s a hard book to read on a device.
Overall it’s a great intro to French cooking. Good for a beginner.
I received this book from NetGalley and was in no way required to write a positive review. All thoughts are my own.

A very well, beautiful and illustrated cookbook! My only negative is that I do not have this as a physical copy! I can not wait for the release date, I would absolutely love this book to take pride and place on my cookbook shelf!

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Perfect book to learn and experiment with new recipes and techniques. Love the author's food knowledge and will enjoy many of my new favorites!

The Hands on French Cookbook is a dual-language cookbook designed to immerse an English-speaking reader in the French language through the process of cooking. The author also explores French culture through a discussion of the origins and customs surrounding the prepared dishes. While the format is a wonderful method for learning the French language, its space limitations may prove disappointing for those who are seeking to learn more about basic French cooking.

Delightful! If you love France and food; this is perfect to indulge your senses. Delicious traditional recipes, often with a twist. So much more than just a cookbook as you can immerse yourself in the language while you’re in the kitchen! Beautifully written and presented along with mouth watering photos.

This is a unique, quirky, but rather odd book, in that it is intended to teach you the French language through your mastery of reading recipes for classic French dishes. As such, it is kind of neither fish nor fowl (to use a food related metaphor!) ... not REALLY a cookbook, and not really a French language textbook either. I am not sure how successful it would be at teaching either cooking or the language - it is rather difficult to use the recipes, as the directions are interspersed in the two languages, so are a mite difficult to use/follow - nor am I sure that learning food-related French idioms is going to be all that useful to converse (how often does the word canard come up in conversation?). So this is more of a novelty item - but points for something so unusual.

I wanted to like this book. I have had several years of French, and I love cooking. The illustrations are beautiful, and the recipes look delicious. However, I found it to be confusing and overwhelming. It’s probably the way my brain works. Immersion don’t work here. It takes a lot of focus on my part to follow a new recipe. Couple that with trying to read the instructions in alternating English and French, and it became too distracting for me. Others may not struggle to the degree I did. Perhaps it is worth a try.

First of all I'd like to thank NetGamley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Being French and a Chef, I was kinda curious to read that one !

It wasnt what I was expecting at all ! It seems to be more of a French learning book than a recipe one !
That being said I liked the idea of people being able to learn french while cooking, I dont how that would work out but I like the idea of a bilingual cookbook !

Then onto the recipes themselves, they seem like pretty simple, french inspired recipes !
Thoses recipes are not the traditional French recipe for thoses dishes so if it's what the reader is looking for it might be the wrong book !

The thing that put me off is that every recipe take at least 5/6 paged, and when cooking I like to get straight to the point, so that's way too many pages for me I'm afraid !