Bonus Unit 5 — Faisons des crêpes ! · A1

1

The setting

Where and who

Place: Sophie's kitchen, in Paris, on February 2nd (la Chandeleur).
Characters: Sophie (French, 25) is hosting two Chinese friends: 迪丽热巴 (Dilraba) and 白鹿 (Bailu, last seen in Strasbourg in Bonus 1). Sophie is teaching them to make French crêpes for the first time. Dilraba and Bailu are well-known Chinese actresses — recurring guest characters in the bonus chapters. As an English-speaking learner you don't need to know who they are; just enjoy the dialogue.

S

Sophie

French, 25. Loves traditional cooking.

迪

Dilraba · 迪丽热巴

Trying French food for the first time.

白

Bailu · 白鹿

Back in Paris from Strasbourg.

2

The dialogue

Read along

Sophie —Bonjour les filles ! Entrez, entrez ! Ça va ? Hi girls! Come in, come in! How are you?
Bailu —Salut Sophie ! Hum, ça sent bon ! Qu'est-ce que tu prépares ? Hi Sophie! Mmm, smells good! What are you making?
Sophie —Des crêpes ! C'est la Chandeleur aujourd'hui. Vous avez déjà mangé des crêpes françaises ? Crêpes! It's la Chandeleur today. Have you ever had French crêpes before?
Dilraba —Non, jamais ! En Chine, on a des 煎饼, mais c'est différent. No, never! In China we have jianbing, but they're different (savoury Chinese street pancakes).

Sophie explains the crêpe recipe to her friends — Scene 2 The recipe — "For the batter, you need flour, eggs, milk…" The recipe

Sophie —Très différent ! Vous voulez essayer ? Je vous montre la recette. Very different! Want to give it a try? I'll show you the recipe.
Bailu —Oui ! Qu'est-ce qu'il faut ? Yes! What do we need?
Sophie —Pour la pâte, il faut de la farine, des œufs, du lait, du beurre et un peu de sucre. Dilraba, tu as acheté du lait ? For the batter, we need flour, eggs, milk, butter and a bit of sugar. Dilraba, did you buy milk?
Dilraba —Oui, un litre. Et j'ai pris une bouteille de cidre aussi. Yes, a litre. And I also got a bottle of cider.
Sophie —Parfait ! Le cidre, c'est la boisson traditionnelle avec les crêpes. Perfect! Cider is the traditional drink with crêpes.

Mixing the batter and cooking the first crêpe — Scene 3 Making the batter — "Mix everything… crack the eggs!" Hands-on cooking

Bailu —Et maintenant ? And now?
Sophie —On mélange tout dans un grand bol… comme ça. Bailu, tu peux casser les œufs ? We mix everything in a big bowl… like that. Bailu, can you crack the eggs?
Bailu —D'accord ! Un, deux, trois œufs… Voilà ! OK! One, two, three eggs… done!
Sophie —Très bien. Maintenant, je fais cuire la première crêpe dans la poêle. Great. Now I'll cook the first crêpe in the pan.
Dilraba —Waouh ! Elle est très jolie ! Wow! It's gorgeous!
Sophie —Vous voulez avec du sucre, de la confiture ou du Nutella ? Do you want it with sugar, jam, or Nutella?
Bailu —Du Nutella ! J'adore ça. Hum… c'est délicieux ! Nutella! I love that stuff. Mmm… it's delicious!
Dilraba —Moi, avec de la confiture de fraises. Mmm, c'est très bon ! For me, strawberry jam. Mmm, it's really good!

The three friends raise a glass of cider over their crêpes — Scene 4 The toast — "Bonne Chandeleur! À nos crêpes!" Tasting time

Sophie —Bonne Chandeleur, mes amies ! À nos crêpes ! Happy Chandeleur, friends! Here's to our crêpes!
Bailu & Dilraba —Vive les crêpes ! Long live crêpes!

3

3 new words

Just three to learn

The rest of the vocabulary comes from Lessons 17 to 20.

une recette n.f. recipe A list of ingredients and instructions for cooking. Same Latin root as English "receipt", but the meanings split — don't confuse with un reçu (a receipt).
Ex.: Je vous montre la recette des crêpes.
la pâte n.f. batter; dough The mix of flour, water, eggs, etc. before cooking. La pâte à crêpes = crêpe batter, la pâte à pain = bread dough, la pâte à pizza = pizza dough.
Ex.: On mélange la pâte dans un grand bol.
mélanger v. to mix; to stir together Regular -er verb. Present: je mélange, tu mélanges, il mélange… (Watch out: nous mélangeons — keeps the soft g sound just like nous mangeons.)
Ex.: On mélange la farine et le lait.

💡 Bonus word: délicieux / délicieuse = "delicious" — very common food adjective. Stronger than bon. « C'est délicieux! »

4

Comprehension

Did you follow?

Pick the right answer

How many litres of milk did Dilraba buy?
What's the traditional drink with crêpes?
How many eggs does Bailu crack?
What does Dilraba have on her crêpe?
Which adjective does Bailu use about the crêpe?

5

La Chandeleur, the crêpe day

A French tradition

🥞 A holiday between religion and pleasure

La Chandeleur, celebrated on February 2nd, is a Christian religious feast — exactly 40 days after Christmas. But these days, it's mostly a culinary tradition: French families and friends make crêpes together.

For English speakers: la Chandeleur sits in roughly the same cultural slot as Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) in the UK, though the dates don't match up — Chandeleur is fixed on Feb 2, Pancake Day moves with Easter.

Legend says: if you flip the first crêpe with one hand, holding a coin in the other, you'll have luck all year long!
Savoury crêpes (with ham, cheese, an egg) are traditionally called galettes in Brittany — they're made with buckwheat flour and have a slightly nutty taste.
Sweet crêpes are eaten with sugar, jam, honey, Nutella, banana, lemon…
The traditional drink is Breton cider (a light alcoholic apple drink — not US-style sweet apple cider). Definitely not wine!

💡 Quick crêpe recipe:
• 250 g flour (≈ 2 cups) · 3 eggs · 500 ml milk (≈ 2 cups) · 50 g melted butter (≈ 3 Tbsp) · a pinch of salt · 1 Tbsp sugar
• Mix everything, let the batter rest 30 minutes, cook in a hot pan with a little butter.
• Eat with sugar, jam, honey, Nutella, cheese, ham… your choice!