French food vocabulary
Understanding basic French vocabulary related to food is the obvious first step - there are dozens of common food terms and related vocabulary with sound files here: French food vocabulary
Food preparation
- affiné - aged
- artisanal - homemade, traditionally made
- à la broche - cooked on a skewer
- à la vapeur - steamed
- à l'etouffée - stewed
- au four - baked
- biologique, bio - organic
- bouilli - boiled
- brûlé - burnt
- coupé en dés - diced
- coupé en tranches / rondelles - sliced
- en croûte - in a crust
- en daube - in stew, casserole
- en gelée - in aspic/gelatin
- farci - stuffed
- fondu - melted
- frit - fried
- fumé - smoked
- glacé - frozen, icy, glazed
- grillé - grilled
- haché - minced, ground (meat)
- maison - homemade, in-house, chef's own
- relevé - highly seasoned, spicy
- séché - dried
Tastes
- aigre - sour
- amer - bitter
- piquant - spicy
- salé - salty, savory
- sucré - sweet(ened)
Portions, ingredients, and appearance
- aiguillettes - long, thin slices (of meat)
- aile - wing, white meat
- aromates - seasoning
- ___ à volonté (e.g., frites à volonté) - all-you-can-eat ___ (e.g., all-you-can-eat fries/chips)
- la choucroute - sauerkraut
- crudités - raw vegetables
- cuisse - thigh, dark meat
- émincé - thin slice (of meat)
- fines herbes - sweet herbs
- un méli-mélo - assortment
- un morceau - piece
- au pistou - with basil
- la purée - mashed potatoes
- une rondelle - slice (of fruit, vegetable, sausage)
- une tranche - slice (of bread, cake, meat)
- une truffe - truffle (very expensive and rare fungus)
Page 1: Menus, courses, special terms
Page 2: Food preparation, tastes, portions, ingredients, appearance
Page 3: Typical French and regional dishes, unusual foods
