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My French Kitchen: A Book of 120 Treasured Recipes – A Family Collection from Quiche Lorraine to Chocolate Cakes and Meringues
In My French Kitchen bestselling author Joanne Harris , along with acclaimed food writer Fran Warde, shares her treasured collection of family recipes that has been passed down from generation to generation. All the classics are Quiche Lorraine, Moules Marinière, Coq au Vin, and Crème Brûlée, plus anentire chapter devoted to French chocolate, including cakes, meringues, and spiced hot chocolate.
254 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
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821 people want to read
About the author
Joanne Harris
124 books6,272 followersJoanne Harris is also known as Joanne M. Harris
Joanne Harris is an Anglo-French author, whose books include fourteen novels, two cookbooks and many short stories. Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology and fantasy. She has also written a DR WHO novella for the BBC, has scripted guest episodes for the game ZOMBIES, RUN!, and is currently engaged in a number of musical theatre projects as well as developing an original drama for television.
In 2000, her 1999 novel CHOCOLAT was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and in 2022 was awarded an OBE by the Queen.
Her hobbies are listed in Who's Who as 'mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion'. She also spends too much time on Twitter; plays flute and bass guitar in a band first formed when she was 16; and works from a shed in her garden at her home in Yorkshire.
Joanne Harris is an Anglo-French author, whose books include fourteen novels, two cookbooks and many short stories. Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology and fantasy. She has also written a DR WHO novella for the BBC, has scripted guest episodes for the game ZOMBIES, RUN!, and is currently engaged in a number of musical theatre projects as well as developing an original drama for television.
In 2000, her 1999 novel CHOCOLAT was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and in 2022 was awarded an OBE by the Queen.
Her hobbies are listed in Who's Who as 'mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion'. She also spends too much time on Twitter; plays flute and bass guitar in a band first formed when she was 16; and works from a shed in her garden at her home in Yorkshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 27, 2009
This cookbook is so much more than merely a cookbook. Indeed, it offers many, many recipes; however, it also offers background and anecdotes that help relay why certain dishes are so important in France and to the author. This book translates the food culture of France. And, although it may at face value presume to be decadent and rich, not all of it is thus...but all that I've tried has been over-the-top good.
Although I already knew the importance and requirements of a bechamel sauce prior to reading this cookbook, Harris' book helped me learn its many applications - soups, side dishes, deserts, etc. Further, this book introduced the notion of employing ground nut meal rather than flour in desserts. The dessert concoction I made with such ingredients (including $15 worth of chocolate) was such a hit that I was asked if I purchased it at a gourmet restaurant. :)
Although I already knew the importance and requirements of a bechamel sauce prior to reading this cookbook, Harris' book helped me learn its many applications - soups, side dishes, deserts, etc. Further, this book introduced the notion of employing ground nut meal rather than flour in desserts. The dessert concoction I made with such ingredients (including $15 worth of chocolate) was such a hit that I was asked if I purchased it at a gourmet restaurant. :)
September 4, 2007
While I'm simply too lazy these days to cook any of the recipes in this book (give me a break, I'm pregnant, huge, and more inclined daily to open a box of cheese its than actualy cook something!), I loved her philosophy of cooking. The recipes in the book all lend themselves to cooking with loved ones, from friends to small children. They all the sort of lingering, putzy recipes that beg for a cool fall day and lost of time to prepare. The desserts look decadent (I actually worked up the energy to buy the ingredients for a tastey chocolate filled chocolate cake- maybe I'll update my review if I actually bake it!).
So I guess in sum, I loved the idea of this cookbook, along with the pictures and the cute background stories attached to most of the recipes, but I really can't offer much evidence that the recipes are as good as they look.
So I guess in sum, I loved the idea of this cookbook, along with the pictures and the cute background stories attached to most of the recipes, but I really can't offer much evidence that the recipes are as good as they look.
October 8, 2012
I first came across this book in France a couple of years ago, always meaning to get it, but delighted to say very recently received it as a birthday present. This book is a delight in which Joanne Harris shares her family recipes, passed down through the generations. From her Grandmother's 'Festival Loaf', to traditional French classics such as 'Moules Mariniere' of 'Boeuf en Daube', The French Kitchen: A Cookbook is a wonderful collection of casseroles, soups, roasts, salads, tarts and sweets. A collaboration between a writer who loves food and a former chef who loves writing about food, this book gathers together simple yet stylish recipes from the heart of a French family. Even to read it takes you into the heart of France, its markets & kitchens. Magnificent.....
November 26, 2019
A lovely cookbook full of fresh menu ideas... A foodie vacation for you to enjoy
February 19, 2009
A wonderful gift from a wonderful friend - as much fun to read through as it is to test try some of the recipes.
The following has nothing to do with this particular cookbook but rather with the world of blogs. If you're into cooking, the web link below is listed as The Guide to 50 of the World's Tastiest Food Blogs - give it a go.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life...
The following has nothing to do with this particular cookbook but rather with the world of blogs. If you're into cooking, the web link below is listed as The Guide to 50 of the World's Tastiest Food Blogs - give it a go.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life...
March 17, 2011
One of my absolute favorite cookbooks. Not overcomplicated, easy to find ingredients; it's the best French cookbook in English I have found (along with it's companion volume The French Market). What I love about this is that it has recipes that are typical of what people eat at home in France, rather than what French restaurants serve.
July 9, 2014
I love this cookbook. Beautifully written and photographed, the author shares many of her family recipes and childhood memories with the reader. Yesterday I made her Warm Tuna and Potato Salad recipe with amazingly great results. I can't wait to try some more. Maybe something with the lentilles du Puy I picked up yesterday! Very highly recommend.
January 7, 2019
I always knew Joanne Harris loved food. Her books always have food as the heart and soul of the stories. So when I encountered her cookbook, well, that was an easy sale.
It's a lushly put together book, with gorgeous photographs on almost every page. It's beautiful to hold, but it also is full of recipes that look both delicious and not too complicated.
Each recipe has little notations from Harris, who clearly adores food, and has charming little stories about where these recipes come from.
Very lovely, and I enjoyed it a great deal.
It's a lushly put together book, with gorgeous photographs on almost every page. It's beautiful to hold, but it also is full of recipes that look both delicious and not too complicated.
Each recipe has little notations from Harris, who clearly adores food, and has charming little stories about where these recipes come from.
Very lovely, and I enjoyed it a great deal.
January 16, 2022
As a French Native Speaker, I know most of the recipes from the book but the cover is gorgeous and the pictures are really nice. What is really interesting is the way the author describes the meals, it seems they are real, just in front of me... All the senses are combined to start cooking and it works since even I know the recipes, there are some I have never tried. And now I know what to do. Moreover, the history of these recipes from through generations is compelling.
February 10, 2019
I love this book! It has delicious, easy to follow recipes that have all come out phenomenal! I especially love the lemon rosemary roasted chicken.
June 22, 2022
Fabulosas receitas partilhadas com as experiências, fotografia e deliciosa escrita de ficar com água na boca.
January 9, 2024
Great cookbook and truly authentic French quisine.
December 12, 2025
A lovely family cookbook with shared stories and favourite recipes. I found quite a few that I'm planning on making. So glad that I grabbed this book at a charity sale!
February 17, 2011
My French Kitchen / 0-06-082094-2
I absolutely love Joanne Harris' writing and I absolutely love cookbooks, so it seemed like a perfect confluence of interests when I received this gorgeous book for Christmas. I couldn't wait to sit down and thumb through the recipes.
I was a little disappointed that there isn't more 'writing' in this book - it is, for the most part, simply another cookbook. There are a few heartwarming recollections scattered at the beginning of each section, but this isn't the Joanne Harris version of "The Book Lover's Cookbook". I'm not sure why I was expecting it to be, but I was a tiny bit disappointed that the book doesn't include references or passages from Harris' books linked to the appropriate recipe, especially since her food-oriented writing style seems so suited to a cookbook collection. Oh well.
Unfortunately, I should have read the title with a little more literalism. I live in the southwest USA, and I'm afraid that even the biggest organic marketplace in the area doesn't provide fish as fresh as Harris' book recommends, and her many recipes for exotic meats are not likely to be tested in my kitchen any time soon - I have a hard enough time finding grass-fed beef, let alone wild rabbit and duck! The exotic French wines, gourmet cheeses, and heirloom vegetables also aren't located at my organic market. In addition, the addition of wine in most recipes causes a unique problem for me, personally, as I have a great deal of trouble digesting alcohol in almost any form. Ultimately, in my cultural insularity I simply forgot to realize that a *French* cookbook may likely contain wine in most of the included recipes!
In a way, it's really a shame that this book isn't more useful to me. The pictures are lovely and mouth-watering, and the recipe instructions are very simple. I'm not in the least bit upset with Ms. Harris - it's hardly her fault that her French recipes call for French ingredients that can't be located in my corner of the world and/or can't be digested by my own unique biological makeup. I just thought it might be useful to post a review here letting other people know. If you have access to fresh fish, duck, rabbit, French wine, heirloom vegetables, and gourmet cheeses, this is definitely a fantastic cookbook to utilize your bounty!
~ Ana Mardoll
I absolutely love Joanne Harris' writing and I absolutely love cookbooks, so it seemed like a perfect confluence of interests when I received this gorgeous book for Christmas. I couldn't wait to sit down and thumb through the recipes.
I was a little disappointed that there isn't more 'writing' in this book - it is, for the most part, simply another cookbook. There are a few heartwarming recollections scattered at the beginning of each section, but this isn't the Joanne Harris version of "The Book Lover's Cookbook". I'm not sure why I was expecting it to be, but I was a tiny bit disappointed that the book doesn't include references or passages from Harris' books linked to the appropriate recipe, especially since her food-oriented writing style seems so suited to a cookbook collection. Oh well.
Unfortunately, I should have read the title with a little more literalism. I live in the southwest USA, and I'm afraid that even the biggest organic marketplace in the area doesn't provide fish as fresh as Harris' book recommends, and her many recipes for exotic meats are not likely to be tested in my kitchen any time soon - I have a hard enough time finding grass-fed beef, let alone wild rabbit and duck! The exotic French wines, gourmet cheeses, and heirloom vegetables also aren't located at my organic market. In addition, the addition of wine in most recipes causes a unique problem for me, personally, as I have a great deal of trouble digesting alcohol in almost any form. Ultimately, in my cultural insularity I simply forgot to realize that a *French* cookbook may likely contain wine in most of the included recipes!
In a way, it's really a shame that this book isn't more useful to me. The pictures are lovely and mouth-watering, and the recipe instructions are very simple. I'm not in the least bit upset with Ms. Harris - it's hardly her fault that her French recipes call for French ingredients that can't be located in my corner of the world and/or can't be digested by my own unique biological makeup. I just thought it might be useful to post a review here letting other people know. If you have access to fresh fish, duck, rabbit, French wine, heirloom vegetables, and gourmet cheeses, this is definitely a fantastic cookbook to utilize your bounty!
~ Ana Mardoll
December 26, 2008
I bought this after reading Joanne's Harris book "Chocolat." I love this cookbook and use it often. The recipes are easy to follow and taste delicious. Most are healthy too. For some cooks the biggest drawcard would be a whole chapter on Chocolate desserts! Impress your family and freinds with pork with lentils, green beans with pine nuts, the fisherman's stew, salmon in a parcel, country chicken, cherry clafourtis and chocolate meringues.
May 17, 2013
Interesting group of recipes, not ones I've seen in other cookbooks. Lots of beans, vegetables, lamb...and don't forget the butter. I can't eat a lot of the recipes because of the butter, but I did copy a few recipes for bean soups, a cabbage pie (galette), sole over spinach (I'll substitute coconut oil for the butter), lentils with sausage, and mendiants for dessert (little chocolate discs you top with cherries or other goodies.
May 13, 2014
I enjoy reading about the food of a region as well as family recipes passed down from grandparents. This book describes the food of that region of France and the bounty to be had at the local farmer's market. A good read but I don't think I'll be making any of the dishes except the cherry clafloutis.
February 1, 2015
Beautiful, visually transporting presentation. It made me nostalgic for France, and I'm still living here. Recipes are prefaced with the smallest of anecdotes, and all about the food, not fabricating some cult of personality. I marked over a third of them to try as soon as possible, so it's going to be a pretty tasty couple of months in my French dining room.
September 8, 2007
Great resource for recipes calling for beans, cheeses, cabbages, or dried fruit. Lots of garlicky recipes, which is wonderful.
A little weird to see cute pictures of happy piglets atop descriptions of how to select good bacon.
A little weird to see cute pictures of happy piglets atop descriptions of how to select good bacon.
August 27, 2011
J'ai acheté ce livre de recettes de Joanne Harris, auteure de Chocolat, surtout pour les magnifiques photos! Elles sont tellement belles qu'en le feuilletant, on a l'impression d'être dans le sud de la France alors qu'un délicieux s'y prépare. Délicieuse sensation!
September 7, 2014
Harris has a lot of tasty, easy recipes in this cookbook, but what I really love about this book are the photographs. The book contains so many great photos that capture the everyday essence of France.
March 28, 2008
This one and "The French Market" are quickly becoming my go-to favorites.
May 28, 2008
The spinach gnocchi is fabulous, and so are the pictures.
tbr
July 20, 2009mom's
March 14, 2009
Only half of this is useful to vegans, but some great French recipes.
November 22, 2009
A lovely cookbook and memoir...
May 21, 2014
This cookbook has some amazing recipes, not complicated, but involved. It also has some great photography in it. I would get it for just the Chocolate cake and Coco Recipe.
June 8, 2011
You will find a chapter devoted to Chocolate... Including some recipes from her book, 'Chocolat'
November 16, 2011
One of the recipes just didn't work
June 5, 2012
A beautiful compendium of French recipes, notes, and photographs, and of course a chapter on chocolate, including flourless chocolate cake and Vianne's hot cocoa!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews