From crispy baguettes to rich cheeses and beautiful patisserie, French cuisine is loved the world over. French cooking might seem overly complicated, but with the right cookbook everyone from complete beginners to experienced home cooks can have a go at recreating their favourite gallic delights in their own kitchen.
French cooking and technique is considered by many to be the basis of modern European cuisine, be that pastry making, baking bread or creating deliciously decadent sauces. In this article, we rank the top 10 best French cookbooks on Amazon and eBay. With tips from Michelin star chefs, rural recipes and much more, these books will introduce you to everything you need to know about French cuisine!
Quick List - Top French Cookbooks
Julia Child
Let Yourself Absorb the Enthusiasm for French Cooking
Michel Roux Jr.
Luxurious French Cuisine With a Lighter Twist
Rachel Khoo
A Book for Those With Limited Cooking Space
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Table of Contents
French cuisine is varied and places a lot of emphasis on technique. Once you have these techniques in your arsenal, you'll be able to cook up a storm, but it's important to find the book that suits your level, your facilities and your tastes.
While you'll find plenty of French cookbooks that offer a good overview as to what French food is all about, you may prefer to choose a book that focuses on a specific aspect of french cuisine instead. Whether it's once that caters to entry level cooks, or an exploration of a particular region or technique, each has their own spin to keep things interesting.
Although a lot of focus is put on the Parisian kitchen, there are plenty of dishes to explore from all across France. The French are very proud of their regional delicacies, and by finding a cookbook that focuses on a specific location, you might discover some lesser-know treasures.
Recipes don't even all need to be from a particular place. Some books collect together recipes from a number of rural areas across the country, or offer modern spins on Parisian classics.
To the novice cook, French cooking can seem a little complicated. So that you're not immediately put off, we recommend choosing a book that is specifically designed for beginners. These books will include simple recipes that normally don't require a huge amount of skill or equipment.
Alternatively, if you're already a bit pro in the kitchen who's in need of a challenge, opt for books that contain huge numbers of recipes or those that have been created by restaurants and fine dining experts. These more advanced books are sure to provide you with the level of difficulty you seek.
Perhaps you feel like you've got to grips with one area of French cooking and want to try something different. Many chefs, even professionals, neglect their pastry skills, so why not get a book on patisserie techniques to truly put your precision to the test?
To create the flawless creations one finds lining bakery windows across France takes time and patience, and a book by the experts in the field will help you get there. The only drawback of getting a book with such a specific purpose is that you won't get the same overview that others will give.
When investing in a cookbook, it's great to know that there's going to be some nice variety contained within the covers, and the more recipes there are, the more choice you'll have.
A more comprehensive cookbook also gives you the opportunity to expand your skill set. French cooking is technique-heavy, so the more chances you have to experiment with different components and ingredients, the more strings you'll add to you bow, helping you to become and all-round expert of French cuisine!
While the number of recipes is a good indicator of how much a cookbook has to offer, it's also wise to check how many pages it has in total. A longer book might not necessarily have the largest number of recipes, but could instead be filled with helpful tips and guides that will help to improve your kitchen know-how in a multitude of ways.
It is also good to check book length as sometimes cookbooks don't specify how many recipes they have. So you might need to use the length as a way of deducing how many there might be.
You'll want to think about whether you'd prefer a hardback or paperback cookbook. It should be noted that it's quite rare that you'll have a choice of covers, with the majority of recipe books available as one or the other.
More often than not, cookbooks are published in hardback. This makes them strong and durable, and it also means that they'll sit better on a shelf. However, paperbacks are lighter and easier to transport, so you can take your favourite recipes with you to share with family and friends.
There are always going to be those who prefer the feeling of flicking through a real book, but for those who enjoy the convenience of using an e-reader or tablet, it's worth considering the digital edition instead.
In general, eBooks are cheaper than print editions, and will be much easier to store. By going digital, you can have as many cookbooks as you like, all in one place - perfect for travelling around and cooking up a storm wherever you go!
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Key features | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | François-Régis Gaudry Let's Eat France! | ![]() | Explore Every Aspect of Eating the French Way | |
2 | Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 | ![]() | Let Yourself Absorb the Enthusiasm for French Cooking | |
3 | Michel Roux Jr. The French Revolution: 140 Classic Recipes | ![]() | Luxurious French Cuisine With a Lighter Twist | |
4 | Rachel Khoo The Little Paris Kitchen: Classic French recipes with a fresh and fun approach | ![]() | A Book for Those With Limited Cooking Space | |
5 | Hamlyn Larousse Gastronomique | ![]() | The Bible of French Cooking | |
6 | École Ferrandi French Pâtisserie: Master Recipes and Techniques from the Ferrandi School of Culinary Arts | ![]() | Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth With This Guide to Patisserie | |
7 | Caroline Rimbert Craig Provence: Recipes from the French Mediterranean | ![]() | Wind Your Way Through the South of France | |
8 | Rick Stein Rick Stein’s Secret France | ![]() | A TV Favourite Transformed into Book Form | |
9 | Thomas Keller The French Laundry Cookbook | ![]() | Re-create the Mastery of the French Restaurant at Home | |
10 | Francois de Melogue French Cooking for Beginners: 75+ Classic Recipes to Cook Like a Parisian | ![]() | A Great Place to Start Learning the Basics |
This cookbook includes plenty of recipes, 375 of them in fact, but it is its unique additions that really make it stand out. This book provides an education on every aspect of French cuisine, explaining speciality ingredients, topics and personalities that have helped make eating French what it is.
It could be said that this book is more of an encyclopaedia than a cookbook, which is one of the reasons it has received such rave reviews. With this book, you'll not just learn about French cuisine, but French culture too. Making it an excellent pick for any francophile!
This cookbook may be a number of years old now, but it's still well worth a read. Published in 1961, Julia Child brought French cooking to the masses with her revolutionary approach. In this book, she breaks down the components that are required to put a good French meal together, but never in a way that is inaccessible.
Julia Child charmed not just with her food, but with her attitude and view of the world. Her unique character traits come through the pages of this book and are a big reason that it continues to inspire today. Get ready to make some seriously tasty food!
Regarded as one of the main chefs to have brought the world of French cuisine to British shores, Michel Roux Jr. has changed the game when it comes to British people's attitudes toward French cooking. If you can't afford his restaurant's 2-Michelin-star prices, or perhaps just prefer simpler fare, this book will guide you through some basic recipes.
These French recipes aren't quite as decadent, but are still utterly delicious. This means they can be enjoyed everyday without piling on the pounds and allowing you to explore subtler, lighter flavour sensations too.
Only have a tiny kitchen to work with? That didn't stop Rachel Khoo, and it doesn't need to stop you either! From her little kitchen in Paris, she shows you how a little space can go a long way, and in this book you'll be taught how to whip up all the classics, from starters to desserts.
Like Rick Stein, Rachel Khoo garnered attention for her BBC series which uses the same principles as in this book. Each recipe takes its root from a traditional french recipe, with a twist to appeal to the modern-day home chef.
This mountain of a book is over 1000 pages long, packed full of everything you could ever need to know about French cooking. Recipes certainly feature heavily, but selling this as just a recipe book would be to do it a disservice. Containing over 900 photographs and pages of illustrations, this might be one of the most beautiful books on this list.
Its lengthy size is used to maximum effect, filled with must-know tips and cooking techniques. Both Gordon Ramsey and Heston Blumenthal have expressed how fundamental this book was to their knowledge, and you'd struggle to find higher praise than that.
When you think of French food, you may think of rich stews and smelly cheese, but what probably first comes to mind are baked goods and pastries. Patisserie is a fine art in France, as you can see from the beautiful creations adorned bakery windows.
The book is a guide on how to make picture-perfect cakes, croissants and tarts at home, going through the multitude of skills and techniques required. French patisserie looks complicated and, for the most part it is, so this is another book that will better suit the more advanced home cook.
Provence as a region is a fertile ground for discovering yummy, summery recipes. Known as the garden of France, its warm climate and Mediterranean location make it the perfect place for growing the best produce.
While you might not be able to source your ingredients directly from the fields of Provence, you can come close to recreating some of its most special dishes by using this book. While it's lovely to take a deep-dive into a certain area, if you're looking for a more complete guide to French cookery, this isn't the book for you.
A staple on our screen for decades now, Rick Stein has brought so many cuisines to mainstream audiences with his popular BBC shows. Now, you can experience some of his adventures in France by using this book to cook up your own lesser-known delights.
In this book, you'll discover how to make food that comes from the rural areas of France, dishes that are sometimes overlooked thanks to the overwhelming might of the Parisian kitchen. It's just a shame that it doesn't come in a digital edition.
From a much-loved French restaurant in California comes this book, which lets you in on all their secrets on how to create delicious food. With recipes taken directly from the restaurant, this book shares tips and tricks so that you can bring the magic into your own kitchen.
As is to be expected with restaurant-quality food, this book is not for beginners. Some of the techniques are very advanced and probably a bit too complicated for the average home cook, but if you're looking for a challenge, this could be it!
Want to try cooking French food, but feel intimidated by its reputation for being complicated and precise? This book is here to help ease you in gently, introducing 75 excellent recipe ideas for beginners. From bouillabaisse to coq au vin, you'll be able to find all of your favourites made simple.
75 recipes is a good amount to begin with, but after a while, you'll be looking to expand your repertoire even further. Unfortunately, this book doesn't give you the chance to fully explore what France has to offer.
Now that you know which books you need to enjoy French cuisine, why not branch out and delve into more cookbooks that will inspire you to get creative in the kitchen? We have guides to cookbooks for teens, plant-based cooking and more region cuisines, so click the links below to help you find your next signature dish!
French food is crowd-pleasing fare, and bringing out any one of the dishes featured in these books is sure to bring a smile to everyone's face. Cooking is a way of caring for yourself and for others, so whether you fancy a light salad or a decadent feast, French cookbooks will show you how to prepare the very best!
Author: Emma Cramp
No. 1: François-Régis Gaudry|Let's Eat France!
No. 2: Julia Child|Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1
No. 3: Michel Roux Jr.|The French Revolution: 140 Classic Recipes
No. 4: Rachel Khoo|The Little Paris Kitchen: Classic French recipes with a fresh and fun approach
No. 5: Hamlyn|Larousse Gastronomique
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