Traveling to France Through Cookbooks

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I love to travel and France is my favorite destination in the world. Right now it can be hard for a lot of people to travel, so how do you enjoy those memories of your favorite places? I use my cookbooks to take me back to iconic dishes and treats of France. Learning to cook your favorite dishes from your favorite place can transport you across the world in a second in your own home.

As a self proclaimed Francophile I love to have French cookbooks in my home. Currently I have four that I love: Les Marches Francais, The Little Paris Kitchen, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and French Macarons for Beginners.

Mastering The Art of French Cooking

You may think that cooking cuisines from your favorite travel spots will be too hard for you but that isn’t the case. It doesn’t matter if you are a new home cook or an expert home cook there are always recipes that you can try.

For me one of the first French cookbooks I tried was Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. I am not going to lie it was a little intimidating, but I managed to get through the recipes. I made eggs baked in ramekins and boeuf bourguignon. The eggs were fairly simple to make but the boeuf bourguignon took over five hours to make. It was worth the effort as it was one of the best meals I have ever made.

Les Marches Francais

A while ago I saw a new French cookbook called Les Marches Francais and immediately ordered it. The recipes remind me of the everyday food that the French eat. It is gluten free and incredibly delicious. I love that it shows you how to cook seasonally with what you can find at the market as the French do.

These recipes brought me to the simple yet flavorful dishes the French eat on a regular basis. I imagine that you could cook these recipes for any French guests and they would be right at home.

French Macarons for Beginners

When a lot of people think about French food they gravitate to the sweets. Macarons are one of the most common sweets you find in France. They are so soft yet still have a crunch. When I stumbled across French Macarons for Beginners cookbook I ordered it and a macaron kit from Amazon.

All of the ingredients were easy to find in my local grocery store and the recipes made making the macarons much easier than I thought they would be. They were absolutely delicious and reminded me of the ones I bought last time I was in Paris. I can’t wait to make the strawberry ones again.

The Little Paris Kitchen

French food seems on the outside to be complicated yet it’s really not. The Little Paris Kitchen cookbook is a great example of how to make French food without over complicating it. Any home chef can achieve success with these recipes.

In my mind I think the recipes are the ones that the French Grandma’s make. I imagine sitting down to the table with Grandma and her poulet aux champignons avec une sauce au vin blanc (chicken and mushrooms in a white wine sauce).

Traveling and cooking are the two greatest joys in my life. Even when I can’t get on a plane to go to Paris I know that I can use my cookbooks to take me there. As soon as I can get traveling again I will but in the meantime I will be cooking up a storm and making each day a new adventure at home.