100 French Food/Drink Words and Phrases
Drinking
Avec des glaçons: On the rocks
La biére: Beer
Une bouteille: A bottle
Le café: Coffee (typically Espresso)
Une crafe: A glass bottle (usually of wine)
La carte de vins: The wine list
Le cidre: Cider
Le jus: Juice
Le Kir: White wine with cassis or blackberry syrup
Un pichet: A small pitcher (usually of wine)
Things that are potentially disgusting (but are usually delicious)
Les cuisses de grenouille: Frogs’ legs
Les escargots: Snails served in-shell with garlic-parsley butter
Le foie: Liver
Le pâté: Liver mousse
Le steak tartare: Seasoned, finely chopped raw beef
Les rognons de veaux: Veal kidneys
Le tête de veau: Veal head
Know your meat
À point: Medium rare
Bien cuit: Well done
Bleu, saignant: Rare (“blue” or “bleeding”)
Le bifteck: Steak
À la broche: Cooked on a skewer
Carbonnisée: Burned to a crisp
La charcuterie: An assortment of cured and dried meats
Le porc: Pork
Une saucisse/Saucisson: Sausage
Une tranche: A slice
Le veau: Veal
La viande: Meat
All about chicken:
Les ailes de poulet: Chicken wings
Le blanc de poulet: Chicken breast
Le consommé du volaille: Chicken broth
Le coquelet: Young male chicken
La cuisse: Dark meat
La poulard: Young female chicken
Le poulet/poule: Chicken
Le poulet rôti: Roast chicken
La volaille: White meat
Great dishes
Aïoli: Garlic mayonnaise *try it on fries
Aligot: Fondue-like mix of mashed potatoes and sharp cheese
Le cassoulet: Rich meat and bean casserole
La choucroute: Sauerkraut (expect various kinds of pork)
Le coq au vin: Chicken in red wine sauce
La crêpe: A very thin pancake, sweet or savory
La galette: A savory crepe
Les huitres: Oysters
Le parmentier: Like shephard’s pie, ground meat covered with mashed potatoes
Les moules: Mussels
Le vol-au-vent: A small, light, savory pastry
Menu Mainstays
L’amuse-bouche: A bite-sized hors d’oeuvre, compliments of the chef
Le beurre: Butter
Les coquilles Saint-Jacques: Scallops
Les oeufs: Eggs
Le pain: Bread
Les pâtes: Pasta
How’s it cooked?
Au gratin: Baked with cheese and breadcrumbs
À votre goût: To your liking
En cocotte: Cooked in a covered baking dish
Confit: Cooked in fat (either its own or the fat of something else)
En croute: Wrapped in pastry
Farci: Stuffed
Frit(e): Fried
Fumé: Smoked
Haché: Ground (meat)
Un méli-mélo: An assortment
Un morceau: A piece
Piquant: Spicy
Au pistou: With basil
Provençal: Cooked with tomatoes, anchovies and olives
Rôti: Roasted
À la vapeur: Steamed
Good to know
L’addition: The check (must be requested)
Allérgique à: Allergic to
And for the Mrs./Miss: Et pour la madame/mademoiselle…
L’assiette: Plate
La carte/le ménu: The menu
Les champignons: Mushrooms
Compris/Inclus: Included
Le cornichon: The tiniest pickle you’ve ever seen, accompanies charcuterie
La cuisine: The kitchen
La dégustation: Tasting menu
Le déjeuner: Lunch
Délicieux: Delicious
Le dîner: Dinner
Du jour: Of the day
Le fromage: Cheese
Garçon: What NOT to call the waiter, no matter how many times you’ve seen it in movies. Instead, signal the waiter with “Monsieur/Madame/Mademoiselle, s’il vous plait.”
Je voudrais: I would like…
Le petit déjeuner: Breakfast
Le poisson: Fish
Les pommes de terre: Potatoes
Le pourboire: Tip (basic gratuity is almost always included in French restaurants, listed as servis compris)
Le serveur/la serveuse: Waiter/waitress
Végétarien: Vegetarian
Végétalien: Vegan
French cooking terms
A la Meuniere
This translates as "in the style of the millers wife", and refers to fish that is floured, sautéed in butter, and then served up with the butter, lemon juice and some parsley.
Allumette
The allumette measures approximately ⅛ in/2 mm by ⅛ in/2 mm by 2½ in/6 cm inches. It's also the starting point for the brunoise.
Bain-marie
A roasting pan or baking dish partially filled with water to allow food to cook more slowly and be protected from direct high heat. Used for custards and terrines.
Batonnet
Batonnet translates to "little stick". The batonnet measures approximately ¼in/5 mm by ¼in/½ mm x 2½-3 inches or about 8cm. It is also the starting point for the small dice.
Bavarois
A creamy pudding made with cream and eggs, then set using gelatin.
Béchamel
A classic french white sauce, made with milk, flour and butter and then flavoured with bay leaves, and nutmeg. You can read more about the french mother sauces here.
Beignets
Small dollops of dough that are fried — very much like fritters.
Beurre Manié
Butter and flour mixed together in equal parts and used to thicken stews, soups, and casseroles.
Beurre Noisette
Browned butter.
Bisque
A smooth, creamy soup made from a base of shellfish stock.
Blanch
To place fruit or vegetables in boiling water so the skin can be removed more easily.
Blanquette
A stew made from meat that has not been browned or fried. Usually refers to stews made of lamb, chicken or veal.
Bouchées
Small puff pastry cases with a savoury filling, usually served as an Hors d'Oeuvre.
Bouillon
A broth or stock, usually a meat, some vegetables and a bouquet garni boiled in water.
Bouquet Garni
A mixture of fresh herbs tied together with string and used to flavour stews, soups etc. It refers to a mix of parsley, bay leaf, thyme (and sometimes celery stalk). The bouquet is removed before serving.
Brule
To burn a food to caramelize the sugar on a foods surface.
Brunoise
Vegetables cut into very small diced pieces, based on a julienne cut, but just turned 90° and diced.
Canapé
An appetizer consisting of a small bread or biscuit base covered with a flavoured topping such as Pâté.
Carafe
The carafe is a container without handles used for serving wine and other drinks. Unlike a decanter, a carafes does not have a stopper at the top either.
Cartouche
Cartouche is a French term which basically means "scroll" or "packet." It's a paper lid that is used to slow down the reduction of moisture in cooking. A lid only lets a little moisture escape, whereas using no lid lets lots of moisture escape.
Charcuterie
Charcuterie refers to cooked meats or patés.
Chapelux
Browned breadcrumbs.
Chaud-froid
A French term describing a dish that is first cooked and then chilled for service.
Chauffoir
A chauffoir is warming pan or stove.
Chiffonade
Rolling up herbs, or leafy greens like spinach and cutting them into very fine shreds.
Chine
To remove the backbone from a rack of ribs.
Choucroute garnie
Choucroute garnie is French for dressed sauerkraut, and is finely cut cabbage that has fermented and is served with sausages or fresh meats.
Choux
Choux Pastry, or Pâte à Choux, is a light pastry dough made from butter, water, flour, and eggs. Instead of a raising agent its high moisture content creates steam during cooking to puff the pastry. Amongst others, choux pastry is used make profiteroles, croquembouches, and éclairs.
Compote
A dessert consisting of fruit stewed in a sugar syrup, originates from the 17th century.
Confit
The process of cooking a meat in its own fats, and sometimes then storing that meat covered in those fats.
Concassé
A French term for rough chopping ingredients — usually referring to tomatoes.
Consommé
A richly flavoured, clear soup. To achieve this, egg whites are added and the soup is simmered to allow the inpurities to be skimmed off.
Coulis
A thick sauce usually made from one main ingredient, such as raspberry coulis.
Court Bouillon
Flavoured liquid used for cooking fish.
Crème brulée
A rich egg custard, which is them topped with sugar, and then under heat (like a blowtorch or grill) to caramelise the sugars into a crisp layer.
Crêpes
Very thin pancakes.
Croquettes
A mixture of potato with ground cooked meat, fish or poultry formed into balls, patties or other shapes and coated with a breading before frying.
Croustade
Bread piece dipped in butter and baked until it is crisp.
Croûte
Crust. Sometimes refers to a pastry crust, sometimes to toasted or fried bread.
Croûtons
Small cubes of fried, or recooked bread used as a garnish in salads and soups.
Dariole
A small cylindrical mold used for the creation of baked desserts.
Déglacer
To deglaze, or loosen the browned juices and fats from the bottom of a frying pan or saucepan by adding liquid, then bringing to a boil and stirring. The liquid is usually water, wine or stock.
Dégorger
To extract juices from meat, fish or vegetables, usually by salting them, then soaking or washing. It is usually done to remove a strong taste.
Demi-glace
The process of reducing a stock down to a very concentrated form.
Dépouiller
To skim off the skin that accumulates at the top of a stock or sauce.
Duxelles
Finely chopped raw mushrooms, used as a stuffing. Sometimes combined with chopped ham or scallops.
En croute
Wrapped in pastry and then baked in an oven.
Entrecôte
Sirloin steak.
Entrée
The term used to refer to something served before the main course but is used now to refer to the actual main course.
Entremet
A dessert or sweet – but does not include pastries.
Escalope
A thin, boneless slice of meat.
Farce
Stuffing.
Flamber or Flambé
To set an alcohol — usually brandy — on fire.
Fond
The french word for a stock.
Frappé
Something that is iced, or set on or in a bed of ice.
Fricassé
A stew made from poultry, meat or rabbit that has a white sauce.
Glace de Viande
Reduced brown stock used to add color and flavour to sauces.
Gratiner or Au Gratin
To sprinkle the surface of a cooked food with breadcrumbs and butter, and sometimes cheese and left brown under heat. The finished food is referred to as au gratin as in au gratin potatoes.
Hors d'Oeuvre
The first course or appetiser.
Jardiniere
Vegetables cut into batons — similar to julienne but thicker.
Julienne
A standard Julienne cut is 4mm x 4mm x 5cm, or ⅛ x ⅛ x 2 inches. ⅛th of an inch is approx. 3mm, but these sizes do vary.
Jus or Jus de Viande
A French word loosely translated into “juice”, but has a more specific meaning than the translation. In French cookery it is primarily a sauce made by diluting the pan juices of a roast with liquid then boiling it in the roasting pan until all of the sediment has absorbed into the stock. Also used to describe thickened or clear brown stock, especially veal. The juices squeezed from raw vegetables or fruits are also referred to as “jus.”
Jus Lié
Thickened gravy.
Liaison
Ingredients used for thickening sauces, soups or other liquids.
Macédoine
A salad of small pieces of mixed vegetables or fruit.
Marmite
French word for a covered earthenware container for soup. The soup is both cooked and served in it. Not to be confused with the product Marmite!
Mesclum
A mix of lettuce leaves and herbs.
Mirepoix
A mixture of braising vegetables, usually celery, carrots and onions.
Mise en place
Mise en place is translates as "putting in place", as in getting all your preparation in place – tasks like washing mussels, peeling and preparing vegetables or weighing out some of the ingredients in advance.
Moulè-â-manqué
A cake tin that is wider at the base than at the top and only about 2cm or 1inch in depth.
Napper
To coat, mask or cover with something.
Noisette
The word literally means " hazelnuts ", but can also refer to something being nut brown in colour. For example, beurre noisette is butter browned over heat until it becomes a nut brown color. It can also refer to boneless rack of lamb that is rolled, tied and cut into rounds.
Nouvelle Cuisine
A term that refers to the style of cooking that features lighter dishes with lighter sauces and very fresh ingredients.
Panade
A very thick mixture usually made from a combination of flour, butter, and milk that is used as a base for dishes such as soufflés and fish cakes.
Papillote
Papillote is a wrapping of parchment paper around fish or meat used for cooking. The paper is used to retain moisture.
Parisienne
Refers to potatoes molded into balls with a melon scoop, and fried or roasted.
Pâte
A basic mixture or paste – often refers to uncooked dough, or pastry.
Pâté
A paste made of liver, pork or game.
Paysanne
Vegetables cut into thin slices.
Pâtisserie
A sweet or pastry, it also refers to a cake shop.
Persillade
A mixture of chopped garlic, shallots, parsley – sometimes breadcrumbs are added too.
Piquer
To insert fat, such as bacon into meat or poultry.
Portefeuille
A French term describing dishes in which the food is stuffed, folded, or placed in layers. Common preparations of this type are omelets, gratins, or stuffed chicken breast.
Poussin
A young chicken.
Quadrillage
To sear the crosshatched grill lines onto food.
Quenelle
Quenelle is a minced fish or meat mixture that is formed into small shapes and then poached. It also refers to the shape that the minced mixture is made into.
Ragoût
A stew
Réchauffée
Reheated food.
Repere
Flour mixed with water or egg white and used to seal pans when cooking food slowly. Often used when cooking a ragoût.
Revenir
To quickly fry meats or vegetables in hot fat to warm them through.
Rocher
A rocher, or one-handed quenelle, is a way to give a beautiful oval shape to a homogenous mass of food — like ice cream, sorbet or even beef tartare. The shape is formed by scooping with one spoon and smoothing it with the other (usually the spoons are warm if its a cold mass).
Roux
Melted butter to which flour has been added - used as a thickener for sauces or soups.
Rouille
A garlic and oil emulsion used as flavouring.
Sauté
To cook a food quickly in a hot fat.
Sautoir
A deep frying pan with a lid – used for recipes that require fast frying then slow cooking.
Terrine
A Pâté or similar mixture of minced ingredients is baked or steamed in a loaf shaped container.
Timbale
A dish cooked in a mold that is higher than it is wide and has sloping sides. You can read a recipe for an asparagus and ham timbale.
Velouté
A type of sauce made from butter, flour, cream and stock. Click here to read more about sauces on Kitchen Geekery.
Vol-au-vent
A large pastry case made of puff pastry that is usually used as a container for creamed dishes, such as creamed chicken.