Le Sud by Rebekah Peppler is filled with beautiful photos depicting the south of France. While the photos were lovely I was not all that inspired by the recipes. I did like some of the sauces and dessert recipes. The rest of the recipes were just okay. The strongest selling point of her cookbook are the photos.

Beautiful book. Some recipes are harder to source ingredients for where I live, but that's to be expected. All of the recipes I tried came out very well with varying levels of difficulty but none that left me stumped or frustrated. Recipes that were more of a process were all worth the extra effort.

Absolutely lovely cookbook the photography the gorgeous recipes.Im a lover of French food and looking forward to trying many of them.#netgalley #chroniclebooks.

I've made quite a few TikTok videos demonstrating a few of the recipes from "Le Sud". Since reading, all I can think of is how desperately I want my own Sapphic Côte d'Azur vacation; thankfully, eating the recipes from "Le Sud" helps feed that urge (pun intended). I enjoyed Rebekah's voice in the excerpts about the recipes and her travels, and Joann Pai's photography amplified the experience. I appreciated the section on picking a French wine, which I have slowly been requesting from my local distributor. I also enjoyed the very large tapenade section, which will be perfect for any future cocktail parties I may have.

The highlight of this cookbook is without a doubt the "Daube Provençale". I did adjust the recipe slightly, substituting the pancetta with pork belly and almost doubling the garlic amount, but for the most part, Peppler did an amazing job describing the necessary steps. I also highly recommend marinating overnight, as I didn't feel the marinade had soaked enough after 2 hours. This would adjust the recommended cook time from 2 days to 3 days, but it is well worth it. After day two, I served it with some pappardelle pasta, and while the flavor was still rich, on the third day (served over rice pilaf), the beef absolutely melted in my mouth. I also appreciated Peppler's recommendation to save the leftover jus and freeze it until needed. Two weeks later, I needed to quickly make a dish and remembered Peppler's "La Macaronade" excerpt.

I prepared "The Market Day Chicken and Potatoes" with the "grande aioli" on the side for my husband's 30th birthday dinner, and he was absolutely impressed. It was my first attempt at spatchcocking a chicken, and while I wish Peppler did a better job explaining HOW to actually spatchcock a chicken, I figured it out through YouTube videos.

Of the recipes I have attempted, the only one I didn't enjoy was the "Ratatouille". The recipe was still easy to follow, although it did take a very long time. However, my complaint was with the eggplant. I potentially salted it too much, didn't let it soak out enough, or used unripe eggplants without realizing; but they had an overwhelmingly bitter taste. It could also be that I am so used to eating the same Crock Pot Ratatouille since 2010, that since this didn't taste exactly the same, it seemed off.

This book is a treasure trove of authentic recipes from the South of France, curated with precision and expertise. From classic drinks to simple, delicious recipes, "Le Sud" guides you through the intricate and elegant world of French cooking. I think this would make a great gift for lovers of France!

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

Ok, so as a pretty book to have on display and a book more about lifestyle than practicality? Yeah, sure. The photography is nice and gives the vibe of the culture.

As a cookbook? Not so much. First of all, I was deeply offended that the first "recipe" was to put ice in sparkling wine. Just no. Do not ruin a good sparkling wine by watering it down with your lowly frozen water. Any self-respecting wine connoisseur would never contaminate their wine like that.

(Semi-) joking aside, there were no pictures of the food from the recipes. Sure, the vibe pictures are beautiful, but if I'm going to cook something, I'd like to see the finished result, for functionality as a cookbook if nothing else.

While there are many French cookbooks available, James Beard finalist and award winning author, Rebekah Pepplar has focused on one not so well-known region of France in her cookbook, Le Sud: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. While this cookbook has some classic French recipes, it has lots more unique and innovative recipes using the ingredients of the region. This cookbook is absolutely beautiful, and not only contains mouthwatering recipes that cooks will want to prepare, but also gorgeous photographs of the region, photographs of the food, and stories that will make everyone want to visit the area as soon as possible. This is one cookbook that is nice enough to be a coffee table book, and so well-written, most will want to curl up in a corner and read it cover to cover.

The recipes are written in the traditional manner with ingredients listed along with step-by-step instructions. But each recipe has stories or notes about the recipe which are worth reading and will make each dish seem more special. The book is well-written and definitely fun to read (not to mention the fact that the “must make soon” queue will grow longer every time the book is opened).

While I own dozens of good French cookbooks that I use often, none seem as wonderful after owning this one. It is fun to cook from and the recipes turn out beautifully. It will be the goal of every reader who cooks from this and reads this to visit the region and eat everything mentioned in the book.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

What a delicious book! While I have never been to the south of France, I felt transported by this book. I had the pleasure of reading this during a snow storm, and it was a wonderful escape from the cold. The recipes are delicious and it's a great way to have a casual but elevated evening with your friends, your partner, or yourself.

To paraphrase the author, “Shopping, prepping, and cooking are great to do if you have something to put off”. I far more enjoy reading and cooking from new cookbooks than most anything else. And so I found myself reading and cooking through a couple of bitter cold weeks to warm my soul and feel as if I was in the south of France. Peppler’s many chicken dishes were a joy to make especially the Market Day Roast Chicken and Potatoes. Her Candied Walnuts are to die for and the salads were wonderful with so many options also provided. I loved how she provided the everyday cook more typical ingredient options instead of making me guess. While I don’t often have a vanilla bean handy she was kind enough to let me know I could substitute 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Interesting that slot of sweet desserts also are finished with a sprinkling of flaky salt. Thank you Rebekah! The travels, the beaches and anecdotes were a wonderful accompaniment along with beautiful photos making me wish to try these dishes in France immédiatement!

Thank you #NetGalley for providing the advance digital review of #LeSud.

This cookbook is a fabulous gift and guide to the Southern France way of life. Delicious and easy to cook meals will transport you and your guests to the beautiful area of Le Sud. French staples such as frites, paella, and claufotis are included as well as other less well known dishes. And the photos are stunning. Beautiful book is like a plane ticket to France.

This book had very nice photography and a good variety of dishes that represented the food found in the south of France. I didn't find myself inspired to make any of the dishes presented though.

I love to cook, and I spent a half day in southern France this summer. I instantly fell in love with the people, the food, the atmosphere. This beautiful book is a trip to France and provides amazing recipes for bringing the French way of life into your kitchen.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

Incredible cookbook, I’ll purchasing this for myself along with her previous cookbook. I’ve been recommending this to all my friends. I cooked the Market Chicken and Potatoes and it was maybe the best thing I’ve cooked all year. What a book!

I unfortunately do not have a French restaurant near me but I love French food. I am not the best cook, and French cuisine can be a bit daunting but this cookbook makes it so easy! The directions for each recipe are easy to follow and I can definitely envision this book being used for years to come.

This lovely cookbook captures the essence of the sparkling shores of Southern France. The recipes showcase local, seasonal ingredients brought to life through the author's personal anecdotes and artsy flair. The book is sprinkled with stunning photos that evoke a strong sense of destination and a nostalgic farmhouse flavor, so it's easy to imagine myself with the sun on my face and the sand between my toes, soaking in the salty air.

Le Sud is perfection. The recipes will transport you to (or back to) the south of France. There’s an entertaining anecdote preceding each one. Rebekah Peppler is funny, relatable, and a great writer. The recipes and stories are only enhanced by the breathtaking photographs. I can’t wait to see the printed edition of Le Sud.

I enjoyed the photographs, I enjoyed the recipes. It was difficult to find the ingredients listed and the format just seemed off, making it difficult to read.

I didn't like most of the photos; the bikini and other photos of that nature felt inappropriate and awkward and made me rather uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to keep this cookbook out on my counter, that's for sure. I did think the food was good and on point with the south of france, where I have lived. I liked that the author used simple ingredients.

French food is a guilty pleasure of mine and one style of food I do not explore as often as others. I liked this cookbook, but was not a fan of the formatting. I kept going “where is the ingredients” only to find them at the way not left of the page that could be easily missed. Also, not a lot of pictures. I’m one who likes to see what I’m cooking and with a style of food I’m not familiar with, how do I know what it looks like or HOW it’s supposed to look if I don’t have any pictures?

This cookbook of French Cuisine has a nice variety of Cocktails/Snacks, delicious Meat and Seafood recipes, Pasta, Vegetables (Salt and Vinegar Potatoes-yum!), healthy salads and deliciously photographed Sweets section bring it all together!