Graded story

A2 French short story: two neighbours swap a recipe

Madame Ferrand, 82, and her young neighbour Inès trade recipes: a tarte aux pommes for a dal. An A2 story with glosses, translation and questions on ingredients and substitutions.

In short

An A2 story mixing present and past tenses. Two neighbours of different generations exchange recipes and adapt them. Read it, then note each ingredient and what replaced it.

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Two neighbours sharing an apple tart and lentil dal at a kitchen table.
The neighbours share une tarte aux pommes and a family dal. Illustration: Atelier

La recette échangée

Madame Ferrand a quatre-vingt-deux ans. Elle habite au troisième étage. Un soir, sa jeune voisine1 Inès a frappé2 à sa porte : « Vous pourriez me prêter de la farine3 ? Je veux faire votre fameuse tarte aux pommes ! »

Madame Ferrand a ri et lui a donné la recette. Mais il manquait4 du beurre à Inès : elle a mis de l'huile d'olive à la place5. « Ce n'est pas traditionnel, mais c'est bon », a dit Madame Ferrand en la goûtant.

La semaine suivante, Inès a apporté un plat de sa famille : un dal de lentilles aux épices6. Madame Ferrand n'aimait pas la cuisine très épicée, alors Inès a mis moins de piment et plus de crème.

Depuis, chaque mois, elles échangent une recette. Madame Ferrand dit qu'elle a goûté7 la cuisine du monde entier, sans quitter son appartement, et que rien n'est trop épicé8 pour elle maintenant.

Read it in English

Madame Ferrand is eighty-two. She lives on the third floor. One evening, her young neighbour Inès knocked on her door: "Could you lend me some flour? I want to make your famous apple tart!"

Madame Ferrand laughed and gave her the recipe. But Inès didn't have any butter: she used olive oil instead. "It's not traditional, but it's good," said Madame Ferrand when she tasted it.

The following week, Inès brought a dish from her family: a lentil dal with spices. Madame Ferrand didn't like very spicy food, so Inès put less chilli and more cream.

Since then, every month, they swap a recipe. Madame Ferrand says she has tasted food from all over the world without leaving her flat, and that nothing is too spicy for her now.

Substitutions
RecipeMissing / changedReplaced by
la tarte aux pommesle beurrel'huile d'olive
le dal de lentillesbeaucoup de pimentmoins de piment, plus de crème

To talk about substitutions, French uses à la place (instead), remplacer A par B (replace A with B) and mettre moins de / plus de (put less / more). Il manquait du beurre à Inès literally means "butter was missing for Inès": Inès had no butter.

Question 1No account needed
What did Inès use instead of butter?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

olive oil. Elle a mis de l'huile d'olive à la place.

Question 2No account needed
Why did Inès change the dal?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Madame Ferrand doesn't like very spicy food.. Madame Ferrand n'aimait pas la cuisine très épicée.

Question 3No account needed
"Replace the butter with oil."

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Remplacez le beurre par l'huile.. The pattern is remplacer A par B, never avec.