Vous pouvez utiliser cet ingrédient à condition que vous suiviez la recette de la cuisinière.

Ingrédient is a masculine singular noun, so the basic demonstrative would normally be ce.

However, before a vowel sound or a mute h, French uses cet instead of ce for easier pronunciation.

So:

• ce livre = this book
• cet ingrédient = this ingredient
• cette recette = this recipe

So cet does not mean the noun is feminine. It is still masculine.

Vous can mean either:

• you singular, in a formal/polite way
• you plural

So this sentence could be addressed to:

• one person politely
• several people

The form of the verb stays the same in both cases:

• vous pouvez
• vous suiviez

If you were speaking to one person informally, you would say:

Tu peux utiliser cet ingrédient à condition que tu suives la recette de la cuisinière.

Because pouvoir works like a modal verb, similar to can in English.

After pouvoir, French normally uses the infinitive directly:

• vous pouvez utiliser
• je peux venir
• nous pouvons essayer

So you do not add à or de after pouvoir in this structure.

À condition que means something like:

• provided that
• on condition that
• as long as

It introduces a condition that must be met.

It is a bit more specific and formal than just si. Compare:

• Si vous suivez la recette... = If you follow the recipe...
• À condition que vous suiviez la recette... = Provided that you follow the recipe...

So à condition que gives the idea of a requirement, not just a general possibility.

Because à condition que is one of the expressions that normally requires the subjunctive.

So after à condition que, you say:

• que vous suiviez

not

• que vous suivez

Here is the difference:

• vous suivez = present indicative
• que vous suiviez = present subjunctive

This is a very common pattern in French:

• Il faut que vous soyez prêts.
• Bien que vous ayez raison...
• À condition que vous suiviez la recette...

So the subjunctive is triggered by the expression before it, not by the meaning of suivre itself.

It is a genuinely different verb form: the present subjunctive of suivre for vous.

A quick comparison:

• Indicative: vous suivez
• Subjunctive: que vous suiviez

This matters because French often changes the verb form after certain expressions, especially ones involving:

• necessity
• emotion
• doubt
• condition
• judgment

So this is not just a stylistic spelling choice; it is a grammar rule.

Yes, absolutely.

Because the subject is the same in both parts of the sentence, French often allows an infinitive structure:

• Vous pouvez utiliser cet ingrédient à condition de suivre la recette de la cuisinière.

This is very natural.

A useful rule:

• If the subject changes, use à condition que + subjunctive
• If the subject stays the same, à condition de + infinitive is often possible

So both versions work here, but à condition de suivre is a little more compact.

Yes, cuisinière can mean two different things depending on context:

1. female cook
2. stove / cooker

In this sentence, it means female cook, because we are talking about a recipe. So:

• la recette de la cuisinière = the female cook’s recipe

In another context, cuisinière could mean an appliance:

• La cuisinière est en panne. = The stove is broken.

So context tells you which meaning is intended.

French often expresses possession with de:

• la recette de la cuisinière
• literally: the recipe of the cook
• naturally in English: the cook’s recipe

This is extremely common in French.

You can think of de here as showing a relationship similar to English ’s.

So even though the structure looks different from English, it is a normal and very common way to express possession in French.