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Haricots verts persillésGreen beans with garlic and parsley

Haricots verts persillés are the green beans that sit beside roast chicken, an omelette or a plate of potatoes in homes all over France, especially in June and July when fine beans are at their best. They are blanched until just tender, then tossed in foaming butter with a little garlic and lots of chopped parsley, so they stay bright green with a slight snap. Using olive oil instead of butter makes them vegan. The most common mistake is cooking the beans in too little water, so it stops boiling and they turn olive-grey; use a big pot of well-salted water. Chef's tip: cool the beans in iced water after blanching if you want to make them ahead, then warm them in the butter just before serving.

15 min

French Sides

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Œuf et mouillettes (egg and soldiers for toddlers)

In France, l'œuf à la coque with mouillettes, buttered bread fingers, is the gentle supper or Sunday breakfast every child knows. For babies and toddlers the egg is boiled a little longer, until the white is firm and the yolk is set but still soft and fudgy, so little ones can scoop and spread it rather than dip into a runny centre. It contains egg, gluten (wheat) and milk (butter). Chef's tip: start with eggs at room temperature so they don't crack in the hot water, and lower them in gently on a spoon.

11 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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Bouillie (French baby cereal porridge)

In France, la bouillie is the warm cereal porridge that joins a baby's morning or evening milk at around six months. It is simply the baby's usual milk, breast milk or formula, thickened with plain infant cereal or fine oat or rice flour, and given from a spoon, or thinner from a bottle as many French families do at bedtime. It is creamy and mild. It contains milk from the formula, and gluten if you use oat or wheat cereal; there is no egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: choose a cereal with no added sugar or flavourings; you can add a spoon of fruit purée for sweetness later.

7 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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AnchoïadeAnchovy dip

Anchoïade is the anchovy dip of Provence, pounded with garlic and olive oil and served at the apéro or as a summer starter with a big basket of raw vegetables, celery, fennel, radishes, peppers and cauliflower, for everyone to dip; in Marseille and Nice it is also spread on toast. It uses salted (cured) anchovies, which are not cooked: cured fish is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; for a safer version, warm the finished anchoïade gently in a small pan for 3–4 minutes until steaming hot before serving. The common mistake is adding the oil too fast, so it splits. Chef's tip: soak the salted anchovies in milk or water for 10 minutes to soften their saltiness.

15 min

French Chutneys & Dips

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Carottes râpéesGrated carrot salad

Carottes râpées is the everyday starter of French school canteens, bistro crudité plates and family lunches all over the country, a heap of finely grated carrots in a bright lemon dressing that wakes up any meal. It is sweet, juicy and crunchy, and takes ten minutes. The secret is grating the carrots on the fine side of the grater, so they release some juice into the dressing. The common mistake is using the coarse holes, which gives dry, chewy strands that do not take the dressing. Chef's tip: dress the carrots 20 minutes before serving and toss again just before the table; they soften slightly and taste much sweeter.

10 min

French Salads

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Olives marinéesMarinated olives

Marinated olives are on every Provençal table at the apéro, set out in little bowls with pastis or a cold rosé for the grown-ups and lemonade for the children, and they are sold by the scoop at the markets of Nyons, Aix and Nice. Mixed olives are tossed in olive oil with herbes de Provence, garlic, orange zest and a little chilli, and left for a day to soak up the flavours. The common mistake is serving them fridge-cold, which dulls the taste and sets the oil. Chef's tip: warm them very gently in a pan for 2 minutes before serving.

10 min

French Snacks & Starters

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Sauce viergeRaw tomato and olive oil sauce

Sauce vierge is the fresh summer sauce of Provence, made popular by chefs on the Côte d'Azur in the 1980s and now spooned over grilled fish, vegetables and pasta in homes from July to September. Diced ripe tomato, shallot and basil are gently warmed in good olive oil with lemon and coriander seed, just enough to release the flavours without cooking them. The common mistake is heating it too much, which turns it into a cooked tomato sauce. Chef's tip: use the ripest tomatoes you can find and leave the sauce to infuse for 20 minutes before serving.

12 min

French Basics

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Radis beurreRadishes with butter

Radis beurre is the simplest and most French of apéro snacks and bistro starters: crisp pink French breakfast radishes from the spring market, served with cold, good butter and flaky salt, often with a baguette. It is how Parisians welcome the first radishes in April. The common mistake is using old, woolly radishes; they must be firm and peppery. Chef's tip: soak the radishes in iced water for 30 minutes to make them extra crisp, and leave a little of the green tops on to hold them by.

10 min

French Snacks & Starters

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Omelette aux fines herbesHerb omelette

Every French home cook learns the omelette aux fines herbes, the quick lunch or late supper served all over the country with a green salad and a glass of water or cider, and the test dish of every cookery school from Paris to Lyon. The eggs are stirred over a gentle heat so they set into soft, creamy curds, then rolled into a pale, smooth cigar with no brown colour at all. The four fines herbes, chives, parsley, chervil and tarragon, go in raw at the last minute so they stay bright. The usual mistake is a pan that is too hot, which browns and toughens the outside before the middle sets. Chef's tip: take the omelette off the heat while the centre still looks a little runny; it finishes cooking on the plate.

10 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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Vinaigrette à la moutardeMustard vinaigrette

The mustard vinaigrette is made fresh in every French kitchen before dinner, often right in the bottom of the salad bowl, and spooned over butter lettuce served after the main course and before the cheese. The classic ratio is one part vinegar to three of oil, with a spoonful of Dijon mustard to hold it together into a thick emulsion. The common mistake is dissolving the salt in the oil, where it stays gritty; it must go in the vinegar first. Chef's tip: dress the leaves just before serving and toss with your hands, so every leaf is coated but not soggy.

5 min

French Basics

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Sauce ravigoteHerb and caper vinaigrette

Ravigote, from the French for "to revive", is a sharp, herby vinaigrette from the old Paris bistro kitchen, spooned over warm potatoes, poached leeks, beans and boiled meats to wake them up. Shallots, capers, gherkins and a whole handful of chopped herbs are stirred into a mustard vinaigrette until it is more herb than oil. The common mistake is chopping the herbs too early, so they bruise and darken. Chef's tip: let the chopped shallot sit in the vinegar for 10 minutes first; it softens its raw bite.

10 min

French Basics

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Crème d'amandeAlmond cream

Crème d'amande is the rich almond cream French pastry cooks bake inside the galette des rois at Epiphany, under the pears of a Bourdaloue tart and inside almond croissants. Soft butter, sugar, ground almonds and egg are beaten together into a thick paste that puffs and turns golden and moist in the oven. Mixed with a little pastry cream it becomes frangipane. The common mistake is whisking too much air into it, which makes it rise and then sink in the oven. Chef's tip: use butter that is soft but not melted, and beat with a spatula rather than a whisk.

10 min

French Basics

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Crème chantillySweetened whipped cream

Crème chantilly is named after the Château de Chantilly north of Paris, where the 17th-century steward Vatel is said to have served it, and today it crowns waffles, crêpes, fruit tarts and hot chocolate in cafés across France. Cold cream is whipped with a little icing sugar and vanilla to soft, billowy peaks, light rather than stiff. The common mistake is over-whipping, which turns the cream grainy and then into butter. Chef's tip: chill the bowl and whisk for 15 minutes first, and stop as soon as the cream holds soft peaks that just flop over.

10 min

French Basics

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Beurre maître d'hôtelParsley and lemon butter

Beurre maître d'hôtel is the simplest of the French flavoured butters, a roll of soft butter beaten with parsley and lemon that every bistro keeps in the fridge to slice on to steak frites, grilled fish and baked potatoes, where it melts into a fresh, green sauce. It takes ten minutes and freezes beautifully. The common mistake is using butter straight from the fridge, which will not take the lemon juice and turns lumpy. Chef's tip: roll it into a log in baking paper, chill and slice coins as you need them; it keeps a month in the freezer.

10 min

French Basics

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Pisco sour

Lima drinks its pisco sour as the aperitif before a long ceviche lunch, and celebrates it every year on the first Saturday of February; the recipe took shape in the city's bars in the 1920s. It is for adults only and stronger than its pillowy look suggests. Underneath a thick white foam you get sharp Peruvian lime, a clean sweetness and the floral, grapey warmth of quebranta pisco, with the bitters adding a spicy smell to every sip. The texture should be silky, almost creamy, never thin. The classic mistake is squeezing the limes too hard or too early: the oil from the pith turns the drink bitter within half an hour. Halve the limes, press each half gently by hand just before mixing and stop when the juice slows. The egg white is raw, so use pasteurised egg white for anyone pregnant, for babies, older people or anyone unwell, or swap in 30 ml aquafaba. It is ready when the foam stands about 1 cm high and is firm enough to hold the drops of bitters on its surface. Sip one slowly and drink responsibly. Chef's tip: shake once without ice first to whip the egg white, then again with ice; the foam will be twice as thick.

5 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Chilcano de piscoPisco and ginger ale highball

When Lima's grey winter finally lifts and summer reaches the beaches south of the city, the chilcano takes over from the pisco sour: lighter, longer and made for an afternoon. Peru even gives it a Semana del Chilcano each January, and it is poured at weekend lunches with chifa or fried fish. This is a highball for adults only: pisco poured over a tall glass of ice with fresh lime and ginger ale, finished with a few drops of bitters. It should taste crisp and fizzy, with the ginger and lime lifting the floral grape notes of the pisco rather than hiding them. The common mistake is using too little ice and warm ginger ale, which gives a sweet, diluted drink that goes flat in minutes. Fill the glass to the top with ice and keep the ginger ale in the fridge until the last second. It is ready when the glass is frosty, the bubbles race up the sides and the bitters drift through the top as a pink haze. Light it may be, but drink responsibly. Chef's tip: try a fruit-infused pisco, made by steeping passion fruit or mandarin peel in the bottle for a few days; Limeños love a chilcano de maracuyá.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Citron presséFresh lemon drink

Order a citron pressé on a Paris terrace in July, or at a café in Nice after the beach, and the waiter brings a tall glass with an inch of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a carafe of iced water, a sugar bowl or a little jug of syrup and a long spoon. You build the drink yourself, as sharp or as sweet as you like, which is half the pleasure; French children learn to drink it with plenty of sugar, grown-ups often with almost none. It is bright, sour and cleansing, nothing like bottled lemonade, and best in the late afternoon heat. The common mistake is stirring granulated sugar straight into cold lemon water: it sinks and never dissolves, so the first sips are sour and the last a sludge. Dissolve the sugar in the juice first, or use a quick syrup. It is ready when the sugar has vanished, the drink tastes balanced to you and the glass is beaded with cold. Unwaxed lemons matter if you add a twist of peel. Chef's tip: pour the water over ice slowly and taste after half the carafe; most people find they need less water than they expect.

5 min

French Drinks

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French 75

The French 75 took its name from the light field gun of the First World War, because Parisian bartenders of the late 1910s and 1920s said it hit you just as hard. It has stayed a celebration drink in Paris and beyond: raised at weddings, New Year's Eve and long weekend brunches. It is for adults only and stronger than it tastes, so drink responsibly. A good one is bright and lemony with gin botanicals underneath, then a fine, persistent Champagne fizz that makes it feel light and dry. The common mistake is putting the sparkling wine in the shaker, which either blows the lid off or leaves the drink completely flat. Shake only the gin, lemon and syrup with ice, strain them into the glass and top with Champagne there. It is ready when the shaker is frosted, the foam has risen and fallen once, and a steady stream of small bubbles runs up the flute. Any dry traditional-method sparkling wine such as crémant works in place of Champagne; check the label if vegan matters. Chef's tip: twist the lemon peel over the glass, not into the shaker; the oil on the surface is the first thing you smell.

5 min

French Drinks

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Jambon-beurreHam and butter baguette

France sells millions of jambon-beurre every working day: half a crusty baguette, split, spread with good salted butter and filled with thin slices of jambon de Paris, the delicate cooked pork ham. Parisians eat it at the office, on a park bench or on the train. The common mistake is a stingy smear of hard butter; the butter is a filling, not a glue, so spread it soft and generous. Some add cornichons, which purists call a different sandwich. Chef's tip: fold each slice of ham loosely in half rather than laying it flat, so the sandwich is airy and every bite has ham.

5 min

French Fast Food

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Kir

Dijon's own aperitif carries the name of Canon Félix Kir, the priest who became the city's mayor after the war and poured blanc-cassis at every reception to show off two Burgundy products at once: the sharp white Aligoté grape and the blackcurrant liqueur made around the city. It is still what you are offered before a family Sunday lunch in Burgundy, with a warm plate of gougères. It is a drink for adults only, low-key and refreshing: tart, mineral white wine with a dark, jammy blackcurrant note, deep ruby-violet in the glass, served cold with no ice. The usual mistake is too much cassis, which makes a sticky, syrupy drink that hides the wine. Keep to about one part cassis to five or six parts wine. It is ready when the colour is a clear, deep pink-purple you can still see light through and the glass mists with cold. Enjoy one before the meal and drink responsibly. If you cannot find Aligoté, use any dry, unoaked, high-acid white. Swap the wine for Champagne or crémant and you have a kir royal. Chef's tip: pour the cassis in first and the wine on top; it mixes itself and you need not stir.

3 min

French Drinks

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Tisane de tilleul (linden tea)

Carpentras, at the foot of Mont Ventoux, has been France's linden capital for over a century. In late June the flowering lime trees are harvested by hand, the blossoms and their pale papery bracts dried in the shade, and in July the town's linden market sells them by the sack. In French homes a tisane de tilleul is what you drink after dinner, at the end of a long day or before bed, often with a slice of lemon or a little honey; Proust's famous madeleine was dipped in one. It tastes softly floral and sweet, a little like honey and fresh hay, with a smooth, almost silky feel. The common mistake is using fully boiling water and steeping for fifteen minutes: the tea turns dull brown and slightly astringent. Let the kettle settle to about 90 °C and steep for 5–7 minutes, covered. It is ready when the infusion is pale gold and smells of a summer garden. It is traditionally drunk to unwind; if you take regular medication, have a heart condition, or want to give it to young children, check with a doctor first. Chef's tip: keep the pot covered while it steeps so the scented oils stay in the tea instead of the kitchen.

10 min

French Drinks

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Diabolo mentheMint syrup and lemonade

Ask anyone who grew up in France about diabolo menthe and they will remember sitting on a café terrace after school, or on holiday in Brittany or the Vendée, with a tall glass of startling green fizz and a straw. It is simply sirop de menthe, the sweet mint syrup sold in every French supermarket, topped up with limonade, which in France means a clear, lightly sweet, lemony fizzy drink. Grenadine makes a diabolo grenadine, lemon syrup a diabolo citron. It tastes cool, minty and sweet, like a liquid mint sweet, with a sharp sparkle. The common mistake is pouring the syrup on top of the lemonade: it sinks in a dense layer and you drink plain fizz followed by pure syrup. Put the syrup in the glass first and pour the lemonade down the side so it mixes as it rises. It is ready when the glass is an even mint-green from bottom to top and still fizzing hard. Café ratio is about one part syrup to seven parts lemonade. Chef's tip: for a homemade syrup, steep a big handful of fresh mint in hot sugar syrup for 30 minutes and strain; it will be pale gold-green rather than emerald, and tastes fresher.

3 min

French Drinks

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PersilladeParsley and garlic mix

Persillade is the parsley-and-garlic mixture French cooks keep at hand, from Provence to the Périgord, to throw over sautéed potatoes, mushrooms, green beans, grilled fish or a lamb chop in the last minute of cooking. The heat just softens the raw garlic and releases the parsley's fresh, green flavour, so a dish tastes finished with far less salt. About 0.0 g salt per portion. The usual mistake is adding it too early: a persillade fried for more than a minute turns bitter and brown. A little olive oil helps it spread. Chef's tip: dry the parsley thoroughly before chopping, so it chops into fine, fluffy flecks instead of a wet green paste.

5 min

French Chutneys & Dips

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Jugo de macaWarm maca drink

Before dawn at markets in Huancayo, Cusco and Lima, juice ladies ladle hot jugo de maca from big pots for workers on their way in: maca root, a turnip relative grown above 4,000 metres in the Junín highlands, simmered with milk, cinnamon and cloves and sweetened with honey or sugar. It tastes malty and toasty, a bit like butterscotch. The common mistake is stirring the powder straight into hot milk, which leaves gritty lumps; whisk it into a little cold milk first. Maca is not usually advised in pregnancy, so ask your doctor first if you are pregnant. Chef's tip: use gelatinised (cooked) maca powder if you can find it; it dissolves smoothly and is gentler on the stomach.

10 min

Peruvian Drinks

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