Pièce de résistance- the most
important dish of a meal
Restaurant- A restaurant prepares and serves food, drink and
dessert to customers.
Café- a small restaurant where drinks and snacks are sold.
Filet- a boneless steak cut from the tenderloin of beef.
Terrine- Usually describes a kind of pâté made of pieces of meat in a deep dish with straight sides. Can also be used to describe the dish itself.
Gratinée- Cooked so as to form the gratin- with a melted
cheese top layer
Julienne-a vegetable cut into thin strips
Meringue- A preparation of
sugar and the beaten whites of eggs, spread upon pastry, and slightly browned.
Pâté- a mixture of meat or seafood ingredients to create a spread
Potage- strong broth; a sort of liquid food prepared generally by boiling flesh of
some kind.
Etiquette- the standards of proper social manners.
Chef (cuisinier)-a person who cooks professionally in a professional
kitchen setting
Soufflé- light fluffy dish of egg yolks and stiffly beaten egg whites mixed with
e.g. cheese or fish or fruit
Foie Gras- a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has
been specially fattened.
Sorbet- Ice cream made of fruit, sugar, and water.
Fondue- dish of melted cheese or chocolate in which you dip croutons or
fruit.
Champagne- a sparkling, clear, celebration wine.
Escargots- a dish of cooked land snails, usually served as an appetizer.
Éclair- a long, thin pastry made with choux dough and filled with a crème.
Praline- sugared almond
Bisque- a thick cream soup made from shellfish
Crème Brulée- crème and egg dessert with sugary crust.
Filet mignon- delicate piece of meat
Biscuit- piece of bread served with dinner
Caramel- firm chewy candy made from caramelized sugar and butter and
milk
Rôtisserie- a small broiller with a motor- driven spit, for barbecueing fowl,
beef, etc.
Frappé- a fruit juice mixture frozen to a mush consisting of a liqueur, as crème de menthe, poured or cracked or shaved
ice.
Flambé- served in flaming liqueur, esp. brandy.
Entrée- The main dish of a meal
A la Carte- With a separate price for each item on the menu
Buffet- Self service to a spread of food
Banquet- A fancy reception dinner
Maître d’- a dining-room attendant who is in charge of the waiters and the seating of customers
A Votre Santé- “To your health”/ “cheers”- used as a toast
Gourmet- A person who enjoys good quality food
Gourmand- A person who loves to eat
Bon Vivant- A person having cultivated, refined, and sociable tastes
especially with respect to food and drink.
Dessert- Last sweet course of a meal
Cordon Bleu- 1. A skilled Chef
2. thin slices of chicken stuffed with cheese and ham and then sauteed
Connoisseur- A person who knows a lot about an area
Apéritif- alcoholic beverage taken before a meal as an appetizer
Hors d’ oeuvres- Appetizers
Amuse- gueule- a small
appetizer that is served before a main meal begins
Table d’ hôtes- a meal, usually of several preselected and fixed courses, in a
restaurant, hotel, or the like, for which one pays a fixed price- all guests sit at a long table.
Dinette- A nook or alcove located in or near a kitchen and used for informal meals.
Canapé- a small, prepared and usually decorative food, held in the fingers
and often eaten in one bite.
Crudités- traditional French appetizers comprising sliced or whole raw
vegetables which are dipped in a vinaigrette or another dipping sauce.
Café au lait- coffe with milk
Petits fours- a small confection generally eaten at the end of a meal (e.g. with coffee) or served as part of
dessert.
Omelette- a dish made from beaten eggs quickly cooked with butter or
oil in a frying pan, sometimes folded around a filling such as cheese,
vegetables, meat (often ham), or some combination of the above.
Bouillion- a clear seasoned broth
Cognac- high quality grape brandy distilled in the Cognac district of France
Mayonnaise- a spread used on sandwiches
Soupe du jour- A soup featured by a restaurant on a given day
Vinaigrette- is a mixture of salad oil and vinegar, often flavored with herbs, spices, and other ingredients, most commonly used as
a salad dressing.
Consommé- clear soup usually of beef or veal or chicken
Beignet-French fritter: a deep-fried, yeast-raised doughnut dusted with
confectioners' sugar
Profiterole- a small hollow pastry that is typically filled with cream and
covered with chocolate
Andouille- A spiced, heavily smoked, Cajun pork sausage, often made from the entire gastrointestinal system of the pig
Croûtons- Small toasted squares of bread, used to top salads.
Légumes-plants of the pea or pod family, including peas, beans and lentils.
Croque- Monsieur- a hot ham and cheese grilled sandwich
Petit beurre- a small, usually oblong butter cookie.
Mousse- Mousse is a form of light and creamy dessert typically made from
egg and cream, usually in combination with other flavors such as chocolate or pureed
fruit
(sauce) Hollandaise- eggs and butter with lemon juice
Baguette- a specific shape of bread, commonly made from basic lean dough, distinguishable by its length, very
crisp crust, and slits cut into it
Bombe Glacée- an ice-cream dessert frozen in a spherical mould
Bonbons- a candy that usually has a center of fondant or fruit or nuts
coated in chocolate
Crêpes- Thin, French pancakes used in desserts or savory dishes
Quiche- unsweetened custard in a pie shell with spinach, mushrooms, or
ham.
Sirop- sweet fruit and sugar mix used to top foods or mix in with water
Coq au vin- chicken and onions and mushrooms braised in red
wine and seasonings
Savarin- a sponge cake baked in a ring mold
Sauce (béarnaise)-Classic French sauce made with a
reduction of vinegar, wine, tarragon and shallots and finished with egg yolks and butter. Served with meat, fish, eggs, and
vegetables.
Sauté- to lightly fry in butter
Au gratin- vegetables covered with cheese and roasted in the oven
Provençal- prepared in the style of Provence, in south of France, usually, with olive oil, garlic, thyme, rosemary
A la…- in the style of
Emincé- a term used to describe meat, vegetables, or fish sliced very thinly,
placed in an earthenware dish and simmered in added sauce.
Nouvelle cuisine- a school of French cooking that uses light sauces and tries to bring out the natural flavors of foods instead of making heavy
use of butter and cream
Brut- extremely dry
Feuilleté- served in a puff pastry in many thin flaky layers
Casserole- dish of several ingredients put to cook in the oven
together in one pot
A la mode- with ice cream on top or on the side
Au jus- served in its natural juices or gravy
Au naturel- dishes cooked as simply as possible and served with a
minimum of accompaniments