A new year calls for a new list of 9 French food bloggers to bookmark, in 2019!
Above all else for me, 2018 focused on making French food more fun and accessible to anyone worldwide (especially English speakers)– with great book releases like “In The French Kitchen With Kids” (by Mardi Michels) and “French Pastry 101” (by Betty Hung), debunking the myth of unapproachable French cuisine.
So for this year, I wanted to honor all my fellow bloggers who embrace French food in the English language. Beyond making French recipes and the French food culture accessible to a wider audience, they also show us that anyone can embrace, master and/or enjoy French cuisine – no, you don’t need to be French for that, and you don’t necessarily need to be living in France, either. As a French now living in a predominantly English-speaking region (Ontario, Canada), I couldn’t be happier about this trend, and am very excited about this 2019 list.
Note: The following list is non-exhaustive and simply the humble reflection of my daily readings and tastes. All photos are not my property and belong to the stated bloggers’ names. Bloggers are listed here in no particular order – they are all equally great! And I should also mention that I always have a hard time narrowing down my list to only 9 bloggers… so this year I added 4 blogs/websites with honorary mentions (and I already have a few more names ready for 2020!).
If you know of any other blogs or websites that deserve to be mentioned, please leave a comment, I’d love to know more about them.
Eat Live Travel Write, by Mardi Michels
Mardi is a full-time French teacher in Toronto and runs cooking classes twice a week for 7-12 yr old boys, Les Petits Chefs. Her blog is full of scrumptious French recipes, with some fun weekly rendez-vous for her readers: “Tuesdays with Dorie” (where she always shares a recipe from Dorie Greenspan) or “French Fridays”. Her blog, recipes, Instagram feed and stories… everything about Mardi’s posts feels authentic, and it is just so easy to connect with her and her cooking. She has a great talent for making French cooking accesible and fun. Speaking of which, Mardi most certainly had a big 2018 with the release of her book “In The French Kitchen With Kids”. I just can’t wait to see what she will bring in 2019.
Must-try recipe: A basic, virtually no-fail macaron recipe
Chocolate & Zuchinni, by Clotilde Dusoulier
Clotilde Dusoulier, founder of the very successful blog Chocolate & Zuchinni, is a French food writer based in Paris and author of several books (Tasting Paris:100 Recipes to Eat Like a Local is her latest one, which I highly recommend – read my review here). Clotilde is one of the pioneers of French food blogging (she created her blog in 2003). Her tone is real, honest and she has a great talent for getting you excited to go into the kitchen and start cooking. I love how her blog blends tasty, simple French recipes and bits of French culture and Parisian lifestyle. Prior to creating her blog, Clotilde had lived in the US for a bit, and she translates this with her great understanding of her American audience’s needs in a blog – for instance by offering 25 French recipes for Thanksgiving (although the French don’t celebrate it).
Must-try recipe: Yogurt Cake
David Lebovitz, living the sweet life in Paris
David is a world-renowned chef, who worked as a talented baker and cook (including at famed Californian restaurant Chez Panisse) before moving to Paris and launching his blog in 1999, initially to promote his first book, Room for Dessert. Since then, David has established himself as one of the most popular and influencial French food bloggers, sharing in his blog for the past 20 years an impressive collection of recipes and food-focused stories, with a signature sense of humor. Being an American, David knows what American readers want. He offers French recipes accessible to American households, with some quirky insights into French culture that surely delights his readers. His Instagram posts and stories also offer a real and honest outlook on his Parisian life (be it the good, or the bad), in a relishing ever-perplexed tone. To sum things up, he is a great chef, with a great voice too – something he explored a little bit further in his latest book, “L’Appart: The Delight and Disasters of Making Paris My Home”.
Must-try recipe: Salted Butter Caramel Ice-cream
Manger, by Mimi Thorisson
After a life of fashion and television and several years in Paris, beautiful Mimi Thorisson moved to Medoc to a grandiose 19th century house with her husband Oddur, and their many kids and many dogs. She started her blog to share her culinary experiences, along with glimpses into her dreamy life of chateaux, vineyards and amazing family feasts. Her two first books, “A Kitchen in France” and “French Country Cooking”, are just like her blog: exquisite, full of deliciously retro recipes and beautifully photographed by her husband Oddur. Sharing her family life and cooking tribulations in Medoc, Mimi plays a big part in putting regional french cooking on the map (something I couldn’t be happier about). Lately, Mimi and her family have been spending a lot of time in Italy to curate and prepare for her upcoming book, focusing on Italian cuisine.
Must-try recipe: Roast Duck with apples and port gravy
The Pineapple Chef, by Elise Dumas
A French native, Elise Dumas has lived abroad for many years (Africa, Holland, United States…) before settling down in Paris. Having been diagnosed in 2012 with food intolerances, she started her blog to create and share her recipes while balancing her new diet. But frankly, what really hooked me to her blog is not only her simple, high-quality recipes but also her love for food, and beautiful foods per say, that she shares through her breathtaking photos. The seasonality, colors, textures and flavours of the food she selects are all magnificently showcased in her bold photographic style.
This February, she will be hosting a food and floral styling and photography workshop in Paris with the talented Betty Binon (from Stems and Forks).
Must-try recipe: Stuffed Cabbage Leaves
Food Nouveau, by Marie Asselin
She might hail from Canada, but Marie sure knows a thing or two about French food! Her blog Food Nouveau is a collection of delicious recipes, including many French staples like macarons, madeleines and lemon pie. As has already mentioned here, I have been following Marie’s blog for a while now and I simply love her approachable tone and easy-to-follow recipes. So far, I haven’t tried one of her recipes that did not turn out absolutely perfect (which is a huge positive for me – one that makes me want to revisit one’s blog over and over again). Marie is set for an exciting year as her second cookbook “French Appetizers” will be released in the Spring.
Must-see page: All about Macarons
Yummy Workshop, by Betty Hung
I recently discovered Betty Hung with the release of her book “French Pastry 101”, a genius step-by-step recipe book, making French baking more approachable than ever. Betty is co-owner of Beaucoup Bakery, in Vancouver, and also shares her love (or obsession, as she says) for baking in her blog. And for anyone who enjoys baking, and French baking in particular, her blog is an incredible cornucopia of recipes that are clear and precise, along with bright, crisp photos.
Must-try recipe: Pumpkin Gateau Basque
La Tartine Gourmande, by Beatrice Peltre
Beatrice Peltre is a Boston-based food writer (author or two books, here and here), stylist and photographer who grew up in the countryside in northeastern France. Her blog La Tartine Gourmande focuses on gluten free recipes to accommodate with her family’s needs, mostly inspired by her Native France. The recipes are vibrant, fresh and health focused, blended into sweet story telling that makes her blog so unique and inspiring. Beatrice brings us into farms, apple orchards and shares her tricks to acquiring good food habits with her children. Beatrice is the perfect example of the French expat who built an inspired life across the sea, with a positive food philosohpy at the center of it. Her food photography style is amazing (very colorful, like her recipes) and she sometimes gives workshops too – so keep an eye on her blog for those.
Must-try recipe: Gluten-Free Marbled Cake
Chasing Cloudberries, by Fanny Zanotti
Fanny Zanotti is a French pastry chef (trained at Pierre Herme’s), born and raised in the South of France, who lived and worked in London before settling in Sweden a few years ago with her young family. She is the author of a great book “Paris Pastry Club” where she shares some of the most essential recipes that every French baking devotee should have up their sleeve. Her blog is a collection of sweet-focused recipes, including some French staples (madeleines, chouquettes, glazed eclairs, etc.) and lately some Swedish treats too (mazariners, lussekatter and buns of all sorts). She has a very whimsical world to her, mixing her scribbles, doodles and photos to create enticing and light-hearted recipe posts.
Must-try recipe: Chouquettes
(… and because they’re not really recipe blogs, but I couldn’t NOT mention them!). Honorable mentions to:
Lost in Cheeseland, by Lindsey Tramuta
For any French food devotees, French culture curious or Parisian wannabes, Lindsey’s blog Lost in Cheeseland in a must. A Paris-based journalist hailing from Philadelphia, Lindsey shares on her blog the new must-sees, must-visits and must-eats from Paris – mostly food-focused, but not only. Whenever I plan a trip to Paris, I always make sure to check her blog and instagram for inspiration. Having been in Paris for 12 years now, she shares her photos and stories from the mind of a true Parisian, but still with a certain American candor that makes her relatable, and perfectly in-tune for the American audience. Her first book “The New Paris” is a regular on my coffee table, and I can’t wait to see what she is preparing for us with her second cookbook, coming soon.
The Cook’s Atelier
A French cooking school, culinary boutique, online store, and wine shop in Beaune (Burgundy). Cookbook released in 2018: The Cook’s Atelier.
Slice of Pai
Joann Pai’s website features a handy and extremely well-curated Paris Guide including her favorite restaurants, breakfast spots, coffee shops, pastry shops, food shops and markets, etc.
Rebekah Peppler
Rebekah Peppler is a Los Angeles and Paris based writer and food stylist. Her book APÉRITIF: Cocktail Hour the French Way was published by Clarkson Potter in October 2018.
2 comments
Thank you for listing all the great blogs!
Christa
You’re welcome!