from pot au feu
TO classic onion soup
Learn The Foundations of French Soup-Making.
a journey through the origins and foundations of French soup-making
In this course, you'll discover how a simple pot over the fire evolved into one of France's most enduring culinary traditions - and then you'll cook it yourself.
You'll learn to make an authentic pot-au-feu: selecting the right cuts of beef, building layers of flavour with aromatics and gentle heat, and achieving a beautifully clear bouillon. From there, you'll transform that bouillon into a classic French onion soup with the traditional gratinée finish. And finally, you'll turn the leftover beef into a comforting hachis Parmentier (because in French cooking, nothing goes to waste).
This is how French technique works: one dish leads naturally to the next, each built on the foundation of what came before. By the end, you'll have made three classic French dishes and understood the principles behind all of them.
Three classic French dishes. One pot. Techniques you'll use forever.
Learn the history, the technique, and the cooking — all in one course. 12+ video lessons with step-by-step tutorials, downloadable recipe cards, and a cookware checklist included.
Start with the basics
Master the pot au feu
the dish that gave birth to french soups.
In the first part of the course, you'll discover how pot-au-feu - a dish that was once both the meal and the soup - evolved into the rich bouillon that became the foundation of all French soup-making.
You'll learn:
The origins of this iconic yet humble French dish
How to select the right cuts of beef, build layers of flavour with aromatics and gentle heat, and achieve a beautifully clear bouillon
How to prepare an authentic pot-au-feu and extract a rich, flavourful broth to use as the base for your next dishes
The classic gratinée, made the way it should becraft an authentic
classic french onion soup
Take the bouillon you've made from the pot-au-feu and transform it into what may well be the best French onion soup you'll ever taste - slowly caramelised onions, a deep golden broth, and the traditional gratinée finish with melted cheese and toasted bread.
You'll learn:
Why homemade bouillon is the foundation of great French soups and what makes it so different from shop-bought stock
The proper technique for making a classic French onion soup from scratch
How to serve it the right way, with the authentic gratinée finish the way it's done in French restaurants
The French cottage pie, made the traditional way
use the leftovers
to make the famous hachis parmentier
With your pot-au-feu complete, you'll discover how the leftover meat and bouillon can be repurposed into another French classic: the hachis Parmentier. This is French home cooking at its best - nothing wasted, everything transformed.
You'll learn:
The traditional technique for turning leftover braised beef into a refined, flavourful hachis
How to make a smooth, rich pommes purée topping and achieve the perfect golden gratin finish
The structure behind one of France's most beloved comfort dishes, giving you the confidence to adapt the method with different meats and variations
by the end of
the course, you’ll
Understand how and why French soups evolved from a humble pot over the fire into one of the pillars of French cuisine
Know how to make an authentic pot-au-feu from scratch, following the methods of Escoffier, and produce a beautifully clear bouillon that forms the backbone of French soup-making
Be able to transform that bouillon into a restaurant-worthy soupe à l'oignon gratinée, and turn the leftover meat into a golden-crusted hachis Parmentier
See first-hand how French cooking connects - one dish leading naturally to the next, with nothing wasted and every technique building on what came before
one timeless french dish turned into
three classic recipes
Escoffier style Pot au Feu
The foundation of French home cooking. Beef and vegetables gently simmered to produce a rich, clear bouillon and a deeply satisfying two-course meal. One dish that gives you three.
Classic French Onion Soup
The legendary comfort classic. Sweet, caramelized onions simmered in rich pot-au-feu bouillon, gratinated with cheese as they did at Les Halles in 19th century Paris. Simple, authentic, and deeply satisfying.
Authentic hachis parmentier
The French answer to the cottage pie. Leftover pot-au-feu beef given new life, layered with creamy pommes purée and baked until golden. Classic comfort, nothing wasted.
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Meet StéphaneYour cooking instructor.
With more than 10 years of teaching experience at the French Cooking Academy, Stéphane has cultivated extensive culinary knowledge encompassing both practical and theoretical elements of French cuisine. His accessible approach to decoding the complexities of French cuisine has attracted thousands of cooking enthusiasts worldwide, keen to learn under his guidance. Stéphane's teaching style is down-to-earth and engaging, communicating complex techniques in a way that everyone can understand.
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This course is for home cooks ready to take their first steps into French cooking with no long commitments, just real technique you can put to use straight away.
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No fancy equipment required. You likely already have everything in your kitchen: pots, pans, knives, chopping boards, ladles, and basic cookware.
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This course uses ingredients readily available at your local supermarket and butcher.
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Take as long as you like. This is a self-paced course with lifetime access, so there's no pressure. That said, most students finish it comfortably within a week.
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Due to the low price point of this mini course, we do not offer refunds. However, you're welcome to preview the course content on this page before you enroll so you know exactly what you're getting. At roughly the price of a good glass of wine we think you'll find it's well worth it.