"Cooking packages"... a money-saving phenomenon that is gaining popularity in France

Cook once a week to save time and money... A new phenomenon called "batch cooking" (" cooking packages ") is becoming increasingly popular in France with soaring inflation .

In the kitchen of her home in a small village in northeastern France, 30 kilometers from Strasbourg, Sandra Thomann prepares meals for the entire week in cooking processes that take about two hours.

"I love easy recipes, but at the same time unusual," says the forty-year-old, as she marinates the chicken in a soy-ginger sauce.
The dishes Thoman is preparing for next week are chickpea salad, spinach and goat cheese pie, and shrimp pasta. They often refrain from preparing dishes that contain meat and fish because of the possibility of preserving foods for longer periods.

These dishes are stored in the fridge and ready to be reheated and eaten during the week, and Thomann follows the "Batch Cooking" method of preparing the dishes that will be eaten during the week in order to better manage the amount allocated for cooking.

115,000 users follow Sandra's Instagram page called "Cuisine Addict". And every Friday, Sandra announces the dishes she will be preparing for the coming week, indicating the list of products she intends to buy to prepare the foods and the expiration date for each dish.

Sandra Thomann, a cooking blogger who has been cooking for about 15 years, began adopting this method in 2019, and has since gained wide popularity. She is currently living off this passion by cooking.

She says, "The French love to cook, and when we notice that the 'Batch Cooking' method helps us in our daily tasks, facilitates our lives, and through which we can save money, we stick to it," noting that the number of people who apply this method is increasing.

A large number of people are seeking advice to enable them to continue adopting a balanced diet at the lowest possible cost, at a time when most countries of the world are witnessing hyperinflation. In France, food prices rose in March by 15.8 percent year-on-year.

Julie Sling, 29, also began adopting the "batch cocking" method shortly after giving birth to her son. Through this phenomenon, she aims to reduce the "psychological burden" she faces and facilitate her daily life.

And she no longer visits the stores a lot, as she adopts a list of products similar to those suggested by Sandra.

"We only buy the very necessary products, and we avoid buying everything that is subject to rot or any commodity that we may not use," she says while shopping in a Strasbourg store.

The family's monthly budget amounts to about 100 euros per week, including purchases for children, while this budget previously amounted to about "150 euros."

Sandra Thomann confirms that the "Batch Cooking" method puts an end to food waste, eating fast food and ordering takeaway meals.

"When we are tired and come home late and do not have the desire to cook, we only have to heat up the pre-cooked dishes, which keeps us away from ordering expensive takeaway meals," she says.

The blogger notes that Patch Cooking always attracts new people, as its effect is "not fleeting". She says, "This method was created to be adopted always."