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Jasmin’s experience n°4: Cooking à la Française

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Jasmin’s experience n°4: Cooking à la Française

Enjoy a great cooking course at ILA French immersion school

Hi Everybody

This week I have let myself in for a very special adventure: a cooking course with the star chef Armand Layachi! Known for his excellent cuisine, it is a great experience to enjoy some cooking lessons and to gain an insight into the French gastronomy during a French immersion program in Montpellier. Although in the historic center there are many particularly nice restaurants, where you can enjoy delicious food, I wanted to improve my own cooking skills. I have therefore opted for a cooking class and booked those through the ILA French language school.

Armand Layachi is a certified star chef who runs the restaurant “Le Jardin des Pâtes” in Montpellier. His passion is to share his French cuisine knowledge with interested French immersion students of all ages. I am admittedly not a born chef, but since I love to experience new things, I enrolled last Tuesday for a cooking class with him. And I can already tell you: I do not want to miss this experience!

At 3.3 pm all participants went to the restaurant “Le Jardin des Pâtes“. We were a total of 10 participants of all ages and different nationalities who are all visiting a French immersion programs at ILA in Montpellier: Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, USA, Ireland, Germany … just to name a few of the participants nationalities. The cooking classes are held in French, so you will not only improve your cooking skills – but you can simultaneously learn French. Armand Layachi also speaks English and German, to help his students in the best possible way. I personally liked the international and dynamic atmosphere very much. He began by presenting his recipe. The main course was fish pie with red pesto, broccoli and mashed potatoes, and for dessert was an apricot panna cotta. Any questions regarding allergies or intolerances were equally clarified and then it was it: off to the kitchen! Learn French and cooking at the same time – an ideal combination for a language immersion program in Montpellier!

Each participant received an apron and was guided to his own cooking area. Nevertheless, everything was prepared in teamwork, so no one was left alone. Each step was explained and demonstrated in detail by Armand Layachi. There was a lot of laughing! For refreshment, a peach syrup drink was offered, and during the preparation we always tasted what we cooked. I found the cooking of red pesto and the elegant set of fish pie on our plates most fascinating.

We ate at around 6 pm all together with Armand Layachis in his comfortably furnished restaurant, which was shut to clients during the cooking class. In a very harmonious atmosphere, we first enjoyed the fish pie with French white wine and then the apricot panna cotta. I took a lot of pictures as souvenir and exchanged phone numbers to stay in touch with the new friends in I made. So you can continue to learn and practice French, if you remain in contact after your language immersion program in Montpellier. Finally, each participant received a folder with the recipes of all the dishes prepared and information on the used ingredients, in our case apricots and cod fish.

I personally really enjoyed the cooking class and I would recommend booking it in addition to the French language course. Whether you are young or more mature, it is all cooked in a collaborative, harmonious atmosphere. People with allergies or vegetarians are catered for, if they announce it beforehand. It is also possible to participate in a series of cooking classes with Armand Layachi, built on each other, during your French language course. For detailed information please check the ILA website or come and see me at reception.

Please continue visiting the ILA blog – I am already writing the next great article about study abroad in Montpellier, surprise!

Yours Jasmin