Naming Of Food

Drinking

• Avec des glaçons: On the rocks
• La bière: 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
• La 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

Any other French words or phrases you need to know? Post it to  JohnWell Science Forum  and our Frenchie experts will get back to ya.