Glossary of french menu and kitchen terms

Universal respect for French traditions of classical cookery has left a repertoire of French words and terms which are understood and accepted by most professionals. As Italian has been the traditional language for music so French has been the traditional international language for food, drink and writing menus. Current trends however indicate that the vast majority of menus are written in English. Because certain French words and terms remain and are in everyday use in many establishments, the following glossary is included. Some examples are given in brackets.

Vaile (f) a la

a lafrangaise a I 'anglaise a la broche a la diable a la carte Valoyau (m) en aspic (m) assorti au bleu an four an gratin

au vin blanc la blanquette

la bordure les bouchees bouilli le bouquet garni

braise

la braisiere

en branche

la brioche la broche la brochette brouille le buffet le canape

wing of poultry or game birds in the style of (a la mode) dishes prepared in the French way in the English style cooked on a spit (chicken) devilled, a highly seasoned dish (kidneys) dishes on a menu prepared to order and individually priced sirloin of beef (on the bone) in savoury jelly (breast of chicken) an assortment (fromages assortis) when applied to meat it means very underdone cooked in the oven (pomme aufour) sprinkled with breadcrumbs and/or cheese and browned (cauliflower) with white wine

a white stew cooked in stock from which the sauce is made (blanquette de veau)

a ring, sometimes of rice or potatoes

small puff-pastry cases

boiled

a faggot or bundle of herbs, usually parsley stalks, thyme and bay leaf, tied inside pieces of celery and leek

braised

braising pan

a term denoting vegetables, such as spinach, cooked and served as whole leaves

a light yeast cake

a roasting spit

a skewer

scrambled (ceufs brouilles)

a sideboard of food, or a self-service table

a cushion of toasted or fried bread on which are served various hot or cold foods (as a base for savouries); when served cold the base may be toast, biscuit or short or puff-paste with the food on top

la carte dujour en casserole la charlotte

le Chateaubriand

chaud

le chaud-froid

le civet clair la cloche

la cocotte

la compote

concasse

le consomme

le contrefllet

le cordon

la cote

la cotelette

coupe

le court-bouillon

la cremefouetee la creme Chantilly la crepe le croquette

la croute

le crouton

menu, or bill of fare for the day

in a fireproof dish

name given to various hot and cold sweet dishes which have a case of biscuits, bread, sponge, etc. (apple charlotte)

the head of the fillet of beef

hot

a creamed veloute or demi-glace with gelatine or aspic added, used for masking cold dishes

a brown stew of game, usually hare (jugged hare)

clear ,

a bell-shaped cover, used for special a la carte dishes (supreme de volaille sous cloche)

porcelain fireproof dish

stewed fruit (compote despoires)

coarsely chopped (parsley and tomatoes)

basic clear soup

boned sirloin of beef

a thread or thin line of sauce

rib (cote de boeuf)

cutlet (les cotelettes d'agneau)

cut; also dish m which ice-cream is served

a cooking liquor for certain foods (oily fish, calf s brains, etc.); it is water, containing vinegar, sliced onions, carrots, herbs and seasoning

whipped cream

sweetened, whipped vanilla-flavoured cream

pancake (crepes a Vorange) (orange pancakes)

cooked foods moulded cylinder shape, egg and crumbed and

deep fried (croquette de volaille or chicken croquettes)

a cushion of fried or toasted bread on which are served various

hot foods, (savouries, game stuffing, etc.)

cubes of fried bread served with soup, also triangular pieces

which may be served with spinach and heart-shaped ones which

may be served with certain braised vegetables and entrees

les crustaces (m) shellfish

la cuisse de poulet leg of chicken

la dame a slice of round fish cut through with the bone (darne de

saumon) le dejeuner lunch

le petit-dejeuner breakfast

le diner dinner

dujour (plat dujour) special dish of the day duxelles a basic preparation of finely chopped mushrooms cooked with

chopped shallots

emince	sliced
Ventrecote (f)	a steak from a boned sirloin
Vescalope (f)	thin slice of meat (escalope deveau)
etuvee	cooked in its own juice
lafarce	stuffing
farci	stuffed
	A
fecule	a thickening agent made from potato or rice
le feuilletage	puff paste
les fines herbes	chopped parsley, tarragon and chervil
flambe	flamed or lit (poire flambee)
leflan	open fruit tart
lefleuron	small crescent pieces of puff paste used for garnishing certain
	dishes (fish and vegetable)
lefoie	liver (foie de veau lyonnaise or calves' liver and onions)
lefoie gras	fat goose liver
lefondant	a soft icing for cakes
fondu	melted
lefour	oven
frappe	chilled (melon frappe)
les friandises	petits fours, sweetmeats, etc.
lafricassee	a white stew in which the poultry or meat is cooked in the
	sauce
frise	curled (endive frisee)
fume	smoked (saumon fume)
lefumet	a concentrated stock or essence
la garniture	the trimmings on the dish
le gateau	cake (of a number of portions)
la gelee	jelly (gelee des fruits)

le gibier la glace glace glacer gratiner

grille

hacher

les herbes (f)

hors-d'oeuvre

lejambonfroid

jardiniere julienne le jus-lie liaison

Her

la longe macedoine

macerer la marinade

marine la madere masquer medaillon

le menu mignonette les mille-feuilles (f) a la minute

mirepoix

mollet le moule

game (salmis de gibier)

ice or ice-cream

iced or with ice-cream (meringue glace)

to glaze under the salamander '

to colour or gratinate under the salamander or in a hot oven using grated cheese or breadcrumbs,

grilled

to chop finely or very finely dice; to mince

herbs

preliminary dishes of an appetising nature, served hot or cold

cold ham

cut into batons

cut into fine strips

gravy thickened with arrowroot or cornflour or fecule

yolks of eggs and cream when usea as a binding or a thickening (soup or sauce)

to thicken (jus-lie)

loin (longe de veau)

either a mixture of fruit or vegetables (macedoine de fruits), or cut into 6 mm (1/4 inch) dice

to steep, to soak, to macerate

a richly spiced pickling liquid for enriching the flavour and tenderness of meats before braising

pickled

Madeira wine

to mask or coat (with a sauce)

foodstuffs prepared in a round, flat shape (medaillon de veau)

bill of fare

coarse ground or crushed pepper

'thousand leaves', a puff-pastry cream slice

cooked to order

roughly cut onions, carrots, celery and a sprig of thyme and bay leaf

soft (ceuf mollet or soft boiled egg)

mould; also les moules, mussels

la mousse

la moutarde

moutarder

mur natives (f)

navarin

le nid

la noisette or noisette

la noix

les nouilles (f) ceufbrouille

ceufen cocotte

oeufa la coque

ceufdur

oeufmollet

aufpoche

ceujsurle plat

oeufa la poele

loignon. (m.)

Vorge (f)

oseille (f)

lespailles (f)

les paillettes defromage

CO

lepain

panache

pane

panier

papain papillote

la pate

la patisserie

a hot or cold dish of light consistency, sweet or savoury

mustard

to smear with mustard, or to add mustard to a sauce

ripe, mature '

a menu term denoting English oysters

a brown lamb or mutton stew

nest; imitation nest made from potatoes or sugar, etc.

a hazelnut used in confectionery; or small round potatoes cut with a special scoop; or as for noisette butter (nut-brown butter); or a cut of loin of lamb

nut, also the name given to the cushion piece of the leg of veal (noix de veau)

noodles, a flat Italian paste a scrambled egg

egg cooked in an egg cocotte

egg boiled and served in its shell

a hard-boiled egg

a soft-boiled shelled egg

a poached egg

egg cooked in an egg dish

a fried egg

onion

barley

sorrel

straws (pommes pailles or straw potatoes)

cheese straws

bread

mixed (salade panache) flour, egg and crumbed basket

a proteolytic enzyme sometimes called vegetable pepsin, used as a meat tenderiser

foods cooked en papillote are cooked in greased greaseproof paper in their own steam in the oven

a dough, paste, batter, pie or pastie

a pastry

lapaupiette

paysanne

lepilon

lepiment

piquant

pique

poivre

poele

les pointes d'asperges la praline

primeurs

printaniere

profiteroles

la puree la quennelle

la rdble le ragout le ravioli

le risotto le ris rissole roti le sabayon

saute soubise le souffle

le supreme

table d'hote

a strip offish, meat or poultry stuffed and rolled

cut into even thin triangles, round or square pieces

the drumstick of a leg of chicken ,

pimento

sharp flavour

studded (onion pique)

pepper

pot roasted

asparagus tips

chopped grilled almonds or hazelnuts or crushed almond

toffee

early vegetables (navarin aux primeurs)

garnish of spring vegojables

small balls of choux paste for garnishing soups or as a sweet

course

a smooth mixture obtained by passing food through a sieve

forcemeat of poultry or fish, pounded, sieved, creamed and shaped, then poached

the back (rdble de lievre or the saddle of a hare)

stew (ragout de boeuf)

an Italian paste, stuffed with various ingredients (meat, spinach,

brains, cheese, etc.)

Italian rice stewed in stock

sweetbread (ris de veau)

fry to a golden brown

roast

yolks of eggs and a little liquid cooked till creamy

tossed in fat or turned in fat; aiso a specific meat dish

an onion puree

a light dish, sweet or savoury, hot or cold; whites of eggs are added to the hot basic preparation and whipped cream to the cold

when applied to poultry it means whole wing and half the breast of the bird (there are two supremes to a bird); for other foods it is applied to a choice cut

a fixed price meal of several courses, which may have a limited choice

la terrine

tomate

tourne

la tranche

le trongon le veloute

vert

voiler

la volaille

le vol-au-vent

an earthenware utensil with a lid; a terrine also indicates a pate cooked and served in a terrine

preparations to which tomato puree has been added to dominate the flavour and colour /

turned, shaped (barrel or olive shape)

a slice

a slice of flat fish cut with the bone (trongon de turbot) basic sauce; or soup of velvet or cream consistency

green (sauce verte) sometimes served with cold salmon

to veil or cover with spun sugar

poultry

puff-pastry case

CHEF'S GUIDE

Nation

Ltke

Don't Like

Note

Americans (U.S.A.)

caviar, sardines, sprats, shash-lik, fruit salads, ice-

cream

fat meat, cabbage as a garnish

All drinks and water should

be iced. Serve cream

separately.

Bulgarian

s

Yugoslavs

mutton, vegetables,

seasoning, fish, brynza, wines, coffee, honey, almonds and nuts in pastry, pulpy Juices, pilau, casseroles (minced meat, eggs, potatoes and

tomatoes), stuffed paprika

old potatoes in summer, milk soups, borshch and s'chee, cutlets, cereal dishes

White bread only!

Set meat soups with eggs,

rice and little sour milk,