Although this book was not at all what I expected when I picked it, I thought the concept for it was excellent. Learning a language by applying it to cooking is really great. It connects with the language and with the culture behind that language. It is definitely a great book for someone who wants to work on their French in a more entertaining way than picking up a grammar book. The author applied her teaching methods to the recipes in this book and I found it an impressive piece of work.
While the book is great as a language adventure, I personally found it a bit difficult to read as a cookbook because of the two languages being intertwined. I thought the recipes were nice but with only ten of them I was left a bit hungry for more, and in particular some more traditional French recipes that are famous all over the world. For those foodies who like to learn French, we hope that the author will put them together in a sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley, to the publisher and to the author for the pleasure of reading this book as a readers advance copy.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I will learn" (Chinese proverb).. This book is fundamentally a vehicle for learning French using the Total Physical Response (TPR) method. In other words, by following commands in French, what the hand does the mind remembers.

There are just ten recipes - albeit each with several variations - written in French with some translation to US English. With the way it is written, I found the recipes quite hard to follow. I'm determined to try the crustless vegetable quiche recipe and found myself reading parts of it it over and over again to make sure I was properly understanding it. (OK, great for repitition!)

I found this book hard to rate. Right now it is a 3 star "maybe". I've had to order ingredients to actually make the quiche. I may revise my rating in a few days time but right now I'm not convinced by the premise of TPR method.as implemented in this book.

Addendum: I made the quiche using cherry tomatoes and basil. It was OK, though I reckon it would have been very bland if made with courgettes as per the main recipe. I remain thoroughly unconvinced by the premise of the book however.

Not what I was expecting. I didn’t realize that learning the language, not cooking, was the focus. This one just wasn’t for me.

I have been studying French for about 6 months now and found this cookbook to be very interesting. It had a great variety of recipes and was a fun way to work on functional translations. I also liked how there were ways to adapt the recipes for dietary needs and for taste preferences.

3.5 stars actually.

This is a French lesson indeed!

I like how the translations are side by side. And the dishes, they look easy to make and are comfort food.

My only problem is that it doesn't translate very well in kindle format. The instructions would jump and get mixed up. That was annoying, so half star down for this.

But other than that, I'm keeping this ebook!

Thank you NetGalley and Elisabeth de Châtillon for the arc of this very interesting cookbook.

The Hands On French Cookbook is not your ordinary cookbook! The author combines cookbook, language lessons with an introduction to French cooking! I love the recipes that were presented in the book only wish there were more recipes! The book was too short and should have been expanded more. Maybe a future sequel to this book?

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun cook book!

It's in both French and English to immerse us in cooking French food. There's not as many pictures as I'd like, but the pictures included are beautiful! The book lists recipes and information, like what is tofu, in both English and French. I was hoping for more variety in the recipes, but you can learn how to make crepes, tarts, and quiches which is nice.

It's part cook book, part educational dive into French culture. This is an exciting find that breaks down the language and actions that going into French cooking.

Interesting and unique way to learn to cook French and learn the language at the same time. First of a kind in my long line of reading, and a great way to introduce muscle memory to learn a second language.

What did I like? My first bilingual cookbook, had no idea there was such a thing. I’ve always been a big fan of teaching muscle memory and this was such a unique idea. It’s not an overwhelming cookbook with only ten recipes but it’s definitely a unique idea. What the hand does.... the mind remembers. Five main meals and five desserts of French cuisine and the book ends with variations of the recipes.

Would I recommend or buy? This is a great way to introduce yourself to a new language. All the while enjoy food or recipes from the culture. This would be a great class exercise for teachers teaching French to pretty much anyone. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to try authentic French dish and learn some of the language as well. I would love a paperback copy!

I received a complimentary ecopy to read and voluntarily left a review!

An interesting, unique approach to cookbooks, this bilingual book will have you learning a new language as well as new recipes! It isn't the easiest book to follow due to the recipes being written in French, but I appreciated the idea behind it

I like the idea of having both English and French languages in the book but for me it was too messy and hard to follow. I end upo giving up on the recipe because of that. The recipe photos look great though and I would try some of them. I think it would be better if they write the recipe in English in a page and in French in another page. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

Amazing cookbook with so much information and definitely a different take on your traditional book. I really enjoyed all the different lessons to be found inside and the recipes also.

The Hands On French Cookbook is an interesting and tasty hybrid language & culture cookbook with recipes by Elisabeth de Châtillon. Due out 2nd June 2021, it's 156 pages and will be available in paperback format.

This is a really fun bilingual cookbook and vocabulary for learning and retaining French words by learning to cook 10 different recipes; 5 main dishes and 5 desserts. Research has shown that tying information to muscle memory is a very good way to retain it permanently. Associating the word "stir" with the action of stirring is a great way to remember the word in another language (French). All of the instructions and vocabulary are given in both French and English.

Recipes are all pictured and are exhaustively described with specific, complete, easy-to-follow step by step preparation directions. The ingredients are given with both American standard and metric measures (yay!!). Recipes are accompanied by interesting trivia about the origin of the dish and time of year/occasions where it's popular. The recipes have a French flair and include classics like quiche, crepes, salad nicoise, chocolate mousse, and gateau.

This is a very useful book and would make a superlative selection for library acquisition, classroom support text, as well as home use. It's appropriate for all ages, though I would say it's possibly intended for a younger (middle school or older) audience. It's *not* a complete resource or language textbook on its own and there are no pronunciation guides.

The drawings and graphics are appealing and simple - mostly line drawn with the exception of the recipe photographs. The dishes are presented appealingly and serving suggestions are appetizing and appropriate.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Tres bien!

If you're looking for an in depth recipe book filled with dozens of traditional French recipes, well, this isn't the book for you--there are only 10 in total. However, I found it to be a neat concept. Elisabeth de Chatillon mixes these recipes with repetitious French and English--so it becomes more of a language learning tool more than a cookbook. And as my French has been lately out of use, it was nice to try to grasp it again.

So while this cookbook turned out to be something other than what I was expecting, it was a nice read nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley and Elisabeth de Chatillon for making this ARC available for review.

I was not at all sure where to place this book being very loosely a cookbook with only 10 recipes (all simple and familiar) although there are variations for each but some separated disjointedly at the end. It is basically a language book in French and English (American English) which is somewhat fragmented as most phrases are followed by the translation. A lot of repetition but crucial for language learning. However, this is how I learnt French back in the early 60s, all written down never spoken and not a lot of use when visiting France, I can read the French written word with ease but struggle with the language. However, I can see that this book would be perfect as a textbook to accompany hands on combined French/cookery classes. How much more interesting that would have made learning French and wonderful as a concept.

Although I love the concept of this book, the layout makes it very confusing to read, so although I'd love to try out the recipes, it's very difficult to actually work through the book because of the translation running alongside it. I'd love to love this book, but I'm afraid the design has let it down.

A BIG THANK YOU to Elisabeth de Châtillon for the ARC of The Hands On French Cookbook: Connect with French through Simple, Healthy Cooking, scheduled to be published on June 2, 2021. This is the first bilingual cookbook I've read, and I absolutely love the teaching approach and the author sharing her background and experience with interactive methods and concepts, such as Montessori instruction and TPR (Total Physical Response), that teach language acquisition naturally through commands and body movements. I knew I would like this cookbook from the jump, as it begins with a favorite quote from Maria Montessori: "What the hand does, the mind remembers." This is a great resource for beginners in French looking for an easy, hands-on language learning guide that also includes cultural references.
★★★★★

From the publisher: 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.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 2 June 2021
#TheHandsOnFrenchCookbook #NetGalley

I wasn't really sure what this cookbook was about once I received it but after opening it I can definitely say it wasn't for me. But after having said that I CAN SAY that if you are learning the french language and need a focus on food and cuisine within learning the language, then THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. In order to learn french terminology, the french is placed alongside the English for better understanding. The recipes are more on the basic side in my opinion.

I think making that point ( that its a learning resource) more prominent on the cover would be most helpful to the reader. I adore French cookbooks but this was just not the cookbook for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A really intresting book and ideal if your trying to learn either French or English combined with tasty food, I would maybe like to see some more recipies but the concept does work.

Qu’est-ce que c’est? A cookbook that would not only teach me how to cook classic French dishes, but also teach me to speak some French? And it’s written by an author who seems to have produced this ambitious book on her own? As an aficionado of cooking and cookbooks, as well as language, words and world cultures, and to top it all off a enthusiastic support of independent authors, I knew I had to read this cookbook.

The author has chosen ten recipes for our cooking and language lessons. Don’t scoff at a cookbook with only ten recipes! They’re each a good example of French cooking, and can be varied in many ways. And since you’re also here to learn French, you won’t be overwhelmed by a vast number of recipes.

At first, my eyes automatically skipped over the French phrases to read the English versions, but after I’d read a while, I found my focus shifting. The French instructions started to become more familiar, and some words were so interesting that I paused to think about them. “Potatoes” really stood out to me. “Pommes de terre” translates to ‘apples of the earth’ in English. This led me to some internet research where I learned that other cultures have their own similar phrases for ‘earth apples’. Eventually I circled back round to the cookbook and continued learning how to cook a crustless quiche (I’m terrible with crusts, so that recipe was just begging me to try it.)

Immersing in another country’s culture is never a straight-line process. If you traveled to France with the goal of learning the language, you would not find the French to be static people, doing nothing but sitting around waiting to teach you a new word or two. No, you’d learn the language while participating in daily life. This cookbook is like that. The author uses what she calls TPR – Total Physical Response. It’s a way to learn French by incorporating specific physical tasks with a French command. This is how each of us gained fluency in our own native languages, after all, through hearing, responding, and doing.

My thanks to author Elisabeth de Châtillon and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

There are only a few recipes in this book, but each one has lots of details and even some background on where the dish came from. There are also variations in the back so you can substitute ingredients that you prefer. The directions are written in French with some English to help, and the translations are available in the book, just not on the same page. This will give you a good foundation in several cooking techniques and french words.