Recettes

Recipes

French recipes explained simply, from a Breton buckwheat galette to bœuf bourguignon and salted caramel.

French classics genuinely worth cooking at home. Precise quantities, clear steps, nothing superfluous.

Galettes & crêpes

Breton galette (La Complète)

A Breton galette is a savoury pancake made from pure buckwheat flour, naturally gluten-free, cooked crisp and folded into a square around ham, cheese and an egg.

145 min · 4 servings

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Basics

Buckwheat galette batter

A true Breton galette batter needs only buckwheat, water, salt and time. No wheat, naturally gluten-free.

740 min · 6 servings

Galettes & crêpes

French crêpes, the real sweet batter

A proper French sweet crêpe batter needs only flour, eggs, milk, a pinch of salt and a little butter, plus an hour of rest so the crêpes turn out thin and silky.

73 min · 4 servings

Gluten-free

Gluten-free buckwheat pancakes

Gluten-free pancakes need no special flour mix, just 100% buckwheat flour, eggs, milk and butter. They come out thin, supple and nutty.

58 min · 4 servings

Guide

Savoury pancakes, the French way

The French savoury pancake is called a galette: made from buckwheat flour, gluten-free, and filled with ham, cheese, egg or salmon.

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Technique

How to make a perfect crêpe

A thin, silky crêpe with golden edges is no accident, it is about griddle heat, a thin batter and one fluid sweep of the spreader.

Technique

Guide

Galette, crêpe or pancake, what’s the difference?

A galette is a savoury Breton pancake of buckwheat, a crêpe is a thin sweet French pancake of wheat, and the Slovak palacinka is their close cousin.

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Classics

Salted butter caramel

Breton salted caramel is sugar melted to amber, softened with butter, cream and flakes of Sel de Guérande, thick, glossy and dangerously good.

15 min · 6 servings

Desserts

Crème brûlée

Crème brûlée is a French dessert of smooth vanilla custard under a thin sheet of caramelised sugar that cracks when you tap it.

240 min · 4 servings

Classics

Robuchon mashed potato

The most famous French mashed potato: silky smooth, with almost as much butter as potato. Joël Robuchon’s secret is passing it through a sieve and beating in cold butter.

50 min · 6 servings

Classics

Quiche Lorraine

Quiche lorraine is a savoury French tart of shortcrust pastry filled with eggs, cream and smoked bacon.

60 min · 6 servings

Classics

Warm goat cheese salad (chèvre chaud)

Salade de chèvre chaud is a French bistro classic: goat cheese baked to gold, honey, walnuts and fresh salad with vinaigrette. In the gluten-free version the cheese sits on buckwheat instead of wheat toast.

20 min · 2 servings

Classics

French onion soup

French onion soup is built on patience: cook the onions until they turn sweet and brown, simmer them in stock, then bake under a crust of cheese and toasted baguette.

75 min · 4 servings

Classics

Bœuf bourguignon

Bœuf bourguignon is beef braised in red wine with pearl onions, mushrooms and bacon, a slow, fragrant dish that is even better the next day.

210 min · 6 servings

Bistrot

Croque-monsieur (French ham and cheese toast)

A croque-monsieur is the French baked ham and cheese toast: two slices of sandwich bread with Dijon mustard, ham and Emmental, topped with thick béchamel and more cheese, then browned under the grill.

30 min · 4 servings

Galettes & crêpes

Crêpes Suzette (flambéed orange crêpes)

Crêpes Suzette are thin crêpes warmed in a sauce of butter, sugar and orange, then doused with Grand Marnier and flambéed.

75 min · 4 servings

Bistrot

Steak haché with black pepper sauce

Steak haché is the French minced-beef steak, eaten without a bun: seared in a hot pan and served with fries and a sauce, most often black pepper.

50 min · 4 servings

French food

Bistro, bistrot, brasserie, bouillon: what is the difference?

A bistro (also spelled bistrot in French) is a small place serving simple everyday food, a brasserie is a larger restaurant with roots in brewing that often serves all day, and a bouillon is a big, cheap canteen of the kind Paris has known since the 19th century.

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Soups

Hokkaido pumpkin soup (creamy, made with roasted pumpkin)

A creamy Hokkaido pumpkin soup is made from pumpkin roasted in the oven with its skin on, with onion, garlic and, if you like, carrot, then covered with stock and blended smooth. Cream goes in only at the end, and you can leave it out.

65 min · 4 servings

French food

The most famous French dishes: the classics worth knowing

The best-known French dishes include onion soup, bouillabaisse, bœuf bourguignon, coq au vin, cassoulet, confit de canard, steak frites, croque-monsieur, quiche lorraine, the Breton galette and crêpe, crème brûlée, tarte Tatin and crêpes Suzette, along with cheese and the baguette.

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Galettes & crêpes

Chocolate crêpes (French crêpes with chocolate sauce)

French chocolate crêpes are thin crêpes covered with a warm sauce of dark chocolate and cream that takes five minutes to make. Serve them as they are, or with whipped cream, banana, coconut or almonds, or orange.

70 min · 4 servings

Brittany

Far breton

Far breton is a dense baked Breton custard with prunes, somewhere between a cake and a flan.

60 min · 8 servings

Gluten-free

Is buckwheat gluten-free?

Yes, buckwheat is naturally gluten-free. Despite the name, it is not related to wheat or any cereal grain and contains no gluten.

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Cidre

Cider: what it is, fermentation and history

Cider is fermented apple juice from Brittany and Normandy, low in alcohol, gently sparkling, dry (brut) or sweet (doux).

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