Customer Reviews

The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mireille Guilian shares stories of her family meals and even her secret family recipe for breakfast that she says will melt pounds away.
The recipes she gives are not that hard, there are good explanations that an organized determined beginning cook could complete. Recipes are different but interesting, for example: endive with green tomato jam, chicken with spinach en papillote, of course crepes, sardines tartines, simple ratatouille.
The sample menus tell the philosophy of how the French eat. There is even a chapter on champagne and cooking with it
The book contains: breakfast and le brunch, lunch, dinner, fish, vegetables, desserts.
This is not a basic cookbook. It is a lesson on a way of life, the more continental, European way of eating. If you want to learn how, this will accomplish that.

As with the other French Women books, this cookbook delivers wonderful recipes to produce foods with clean, simple, beautiful tastes. Wonderful, wonderful cookbook!

The cookbook contains 162 recipes, but unfortunately there are no photos of the food. Some dishes, like Cream of Wheat with Cranberries and Walnuts are profoundly easy, some recipes, like Bouillabaisse Twenty-First Century are more complex. The book is user friendly with recipes clearly printed in black ink - reasonably easy to read, with the only negative being the lack of photos which diminishes an otherwise high quality book. The hardback edition stays open on the counter when turned to most sections of the book, but the paper will absorb spills, so to protect the pages, it would be wise to use a cookbook holder.

The chapters are organized by meals - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Fish and Vegetables, Sweets, Putting it all together -- planning basic and fancy menus, recipes, food shopping etc., and a chapter devoted to Champagne.

The dishes are generally simple and tasty, not requiring advanced cooking skills. Fat, usually butter or olive oil is kept to a minimum and as always with good cooking, the freshness of the ingredients used in the dishes is crucial. I prepared and enjoyed Tilapia with Cumin and Mushrooms. The Lentil, Fennel and Orange Salad was also delicious.

Interspersed with the recipes, are stories the author shares along with hints and advice about health and life that add a depth to the book that recipes alone wouldn't. Some of the areas she discusses are label reading, walking and water, detoxing, health, dealing with a husband who eats like a pig, eating organic, items she keeps in her kitchen and more.

The book puts the "French Women Don't Get Fat" philosophy into action with some good ideas and solid recipes.

Highly delicious food that is simple to prepare. A delight for the palate the book offers a wide variety if dishes using seasonal, fresh ingredients. Guiliano's prose is poetic as well as helpful and she provides constructive advice on how to eat well and revel in food and life.

What I like about this book is the simplicity of the recipes. They are all made with just a few ingredients. The style of cooking is easy, and the combinations of ingredients are atypical. I made the pasta with anchovies, spinach and pine nuts. It was fantastic and the entire meal took less than 15 minutes to put together. I'll try the pasta with eggplant and fresh tuna next. These recipes are so delicious that I can invite friends over and cook something so straightforward, perhaps open a bottle of wine, and have a lovely evening together. This is the French way to do things, at least according to her books. Eating for pleasure. I highly recommend this book for its healthy and delicious recipes.

I have all of the Mireille Guiliano's books and love them all. The recipes in here are really great, I was a little dissappointed though that some of my favorite recipes from her website were not included. The recipes are all fairly easy and are homemade and fresh! Its a good way to eat.

This cookbook is a kitchen staple.
I'm a baker by trade, so I'm not too keen on cooking from scratch, but Mireille makes it fun! And easy!
As wonderful as the recipes are, my favorite parts are the stories; she is an amazing storyteller.
I may not use this book every day, but when I have fresh produce from the farmers' market, this is the cookbook I reach for every time. Try also: Fresh from the Farmers' Market (Reissue): Year-Round Recipes for the Pick of the Crop.

I hate to cook, and I hate to grocery shop and I'm too busy to do either. So in an effort to create a healthier lifestyle for myself I picked up this book at the library. Needless to say, I needed to purchase a copy immediately thereafter. Even for a novice like myself, these recipes are easy to prepare. I've enjoyed all the recipes I've cooked so far and it hasn't taken me nearly HALF the time so many other recipe books promise to save you! A very worthy purchase!

I am a pretty good cook - not a chef, but not a beginner either. I also have several French cookbooks and thought of adding this one to my collection because the other FWDGF books are quite enjoyable. After trying about 4 different recipes from this book, my description of the recipes is "blah". The food is just "blah". It lacks depth and flavor.

I am not one to cook with excessive amounts of fat and I do not eat pre-packaged food - I know the true flavors of foods. But after cooking an entire dish for an extended period of time, I keep finding myself having to return to the kitchen to add ingredients to round the flavors out - to make it taste like something - to make it good.

The written portion of this book is great - similar to the other books, but the recipes are very un-satisfying. I may end up re-selling my copy.

This is very much a book for American women who have never been to French but who want to incorporate some French style into their lives. Overall its a decent book. Great recipes. Especially the fish and vegetable sections where she has a lovely recipe for Salmon with Endives and Orange En Papillote. Fish baked in parchment paper envelopes are a favorite in our family and have proven to be a great way to get children to eat fish and even vegetables, since opening up a paper envelope and smelling the delicious food is like an adventure to them.

Liked her Ratatouille recipe on page 80. As she notes there are variations on the number of ingredients but she prefers to keep hers simple. Her Italian style Fennel and Apple Salad on page 75 made me do a double take since this is a French food book not an Italian one. But its a lovely salad. But her Shaved Fennel and Citrus Salad on the previous page is utterly divine.

Also loved Chapter 7 Once In A While A Little Champagne! She writes well about the history of champagne (sparkling wine here in California) as well as how to open a bottle, since it seems some people don't know how.

Enlightening is how I describe her later part of the book (pages 270+) where she tackles the subject of men/boys who inhale their food and are as she notes 'pigs'. Having raised our own pork animals I smiled and winced since our swine ate more quietly and slower than many humans I have encountered.

And on page 276 I agree 100% with her that if you are not connected to the food you eat and cook you will have less of a balance, harmony and even pleasure. Simply because food encompasses all the senses. Sight, smell, taste, touch and even audio. Watch the movie Like Water For Chocolate and listen to how the food sounds as they are preparing it. As she notes on page 209, 'planning and making a dish amd planning a menu can be highly satisfying activities. Almost instant gratification.' Which is so opposite of what I see/hear so many American women say. In my view its all about having good priorities and being more organized. Baffles me how so many Americans have state of the art kitchens but dont use them or use them wisely.

In our home since I bought, prepared the food, what was in the home was what we ate. Thus I suggest don't have junk in the home in the first place and within two weeks everyone will adapt to having healthy delicious food vs junk, soda etc. Something all French know from early on in their life per common sense or what my Mother would say was Bon sens. Manger bien et juste as in Eat well and eat right.