Pears in red wine and cassis

"Poires à la Beaujolaise"
French B2 writing exercise

Here's chef Paul Bocuse's famous (and delicious) "Poires à la Beaujolaise" recipe.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "to peel (fruit)", "to dry [something]", "a cloth (kitchen)", "a stem (fruit)", "freshly squeezed lemon juice", "a vanilla bean", "lengthwise", "wild thyme", "peppercorns", "a clove", "blackcurrant liqueur (French)", "on low heat", "to cool down", "a compote dish".

I’ll give you some sentences to translate into French

  • I’ll show you where you make mistakes
  • I’ll keep track of what you need to practise
  • Change my choices if you want
Start the exercise
How the test works

Here's a preview of the text for the writing challenge, when you're ready click the start button above:

Select small, slightly green pears and make sure they have smooth skin. Don't peel them, simply rinse them then dry them with a thin, clean cloth. In a saucepan, place the pears with their stems up before adding the freshly squeezed lemon juice, (the) sugar, (the) red wine, the half vanilla bean that you'll have cut lengthwise, the wild thyme, (the) peppercorns, (the) clove and the blackcurrant liqueur. Put your pan on low heat, cover it and leave to simmer for about thirty minutes. Once they're done cooking, let the pears cool down, if possible for twenty-four hours. Present your dessert in a glass compote dish.

Clever stuff happening!