From the morning croissants to a three-course meal accompanied by wine, there are tons of meals to strive in France.
Consuming nicely in France is essential and meals is a giant a part of the tradition. For those who’re a foodie like most of the French are, enhancing your language abilities by studying some meals vocabulary is a superb thought.
So let’s study in regards to the French meals tradition and the most typical dishes in France.
“Meals” in French and Meals in France
This makes France a world chief in consuming: it’s the nation the place individuals spend the longest time on the desk.
La delicacies (“delicacies” or “meals”) is such an essential a part of French tradition! Let’s have a better take a look at what les repas (“meals”) appear to be whenever you exit in France.
If you wish to have a typical French breakfast, you must go to a bakery (boulangerie). For breakfast, it’s widespread to eat pastries comparable to croissants and ache au chocolat, or some contemporary baguette bread to unfold jam over it.
Le déjeuner (“lunch”) in France is often mild. For those who go to France, you could find many native eating places that serve a standard plat du jour (“dish of the day”) or menu du jour (“menu of the day”) for lunch.
High tip: Ensure that to verify the opening occasions. These locations are sometimes open from 12 pm to 2 pm, closed for the afternoon, and open once more for time for dinner, which is often round 7 pm.
French dîner (“dinners”) may be preceded by un apéro, which is brief for apéritif. That is the time when individuals take the time to speak, spend high quality time with one another, and have a cocktail and a few snacks.
Then comes l’entrée (“the starter”) and le plat (“the primary dish”). There could or might not be dessert (“dessert”), however there’s virtually all the time fromage (“cheese”) to eat after the primary dish.
For those who’re curious to know what French most important dishes may be like, stick round till the top! I’ve ready an entire bonus part for you on typical French dishes.
For now, let’s begin with the fundamental vocabulary you will want to speak about meals in France.
Important French Meals Vocabulary
Listed below are some French food and drinks vocabulary lists for the totally different meals of the day.
Additionally, you will study some sentences that you should use to order meals to eat sur place (on the restaurant) or à emporter (“to remove”).
High tip: Write the phrases you will want essentially the most in your personalised phrasebook!
Breakfast Meals in French
- Breakfast: petit-déjeuner
- Bread: ache
- Toast: ache grillé
- Jam: confiture
- Honey: miel
- Ham: jambon
- Butter: beurre
- Eggs: oeufs
- Céréale: cereal
- Croissant: croissant
- Sucre: sugar
Lunch and Dinner Meals in French
- Lunch: déjeuner
- Dinner: dîner
- Meals: nourriture
- Soup: soupe
- Salad: salade
- Pasta: pâtes
- French fries: frites
- Mashed potatoes: purée
- Greens: légumes
- Potato: pomme de terre or patate (casual)
- Tomato: tomate
- Bell pepper: poivron
- Onion: oignon
- Mushroom: champignon
- Carrot: carotte
- Courgette: courgette
- Aubergine: aubergine
- Rice: riz
- Bean: haricot
- Salt: sel
- Spices: épices
- Pepper: poivre
- Lemon: citron
- Olive oil: huile d’olive
- Vinegar: vinaigre
- Sauce/dressing: sauce
- Meat: viande
- Minced meat: viande hachée
- Beef: boeuf
- Pork: porc
- Rooster: poulet
- Fish: poisson
- Duck: canard
- Starter: entrée
- Predominant dish: plat
- Dessert: dessert
- Dish of the day: plat du jour
French Snacks and Dessert Vocabulary
- Snack: goûter
- Cheese: fromage
- Delicatessen: charcuterie
- Cake: gâteau
- Pie: tarte
- Crisps: chips
- Cookie: biscuit
- Fruit: fruit
- Apple: pomme
- Pear: poire
- Cherry: cerise
- Banana: banane
- Strawberry: fraise
- Blueberry: myrtille
- Orange: orange
- Ice cream: glace
- Chocolate: chocolat
- Vanilla: vanille
- Sweet: bonbon
French Drinks Vocabulary
- Drinks: boissons
- Water: eau
- Juice: jus
- Espresso: café
- Tea: thé
- Milk: lait
- Wine: vin
- Beer: bière
French Kitchen Vocabulary
- Kitchen: delicacies
- Desk: desk
- Chair: chaise
- Plate: assiette
- Bowl: bol
- Glass: verre
- Wine glass: verre à vin
- Cup: tasse
- Fork: fourchette
- Spoon: cuillère
- Teaspoon: cuillère à thé
- Frying pan: poêle
- Saucepan: casserole
- Knife: couteau
- Bottle: bouteille
- Oven: 4
- Fridge: réfrigérateur or frigo
- Microwave: micro-ondes
- Kettle: bouilloire
French Consuming and Cooking Verbs
- Eat: manger
- Drink: boire
- Cook dinner: cuisiner
- Take: prendre
- Need: vouloir
- Put together: préparer
- Add: ajouter
- Bake: faire cuire au 4
- Boil: bouillir
- Fry: frire
- Reduce: couper
- Combine: mélanger
- Order: commander
- Style: goûter
- Select: choisir
- Pay: payer
Ordering Meals in French: Sentence Templates and Helpful Vocabulary
- Restaurant: restaurant
- Brewery: brasserie
- Wine bar: bar à vin
- Waiter: serveur
- Waitress: serveuse
- I’ve a reservation for 2 individuals.: J’ai une réservation pour deux personnes.
- I would love…: je voudrais
- What’s going to you’ve gotten?: Que prenez-vous?
- I’ll have…: je vais prendre…
- What do you advocate?: Que recommandez-vous?
- I’m allergic to…: je suis allergique à…
- I don’t eat…: je ne mange pas…
- I don’t drink…: je ne bois pas…
- Have you ever chosen?: Avez-vous choisi?
- I’ve chosen.: J’ai choisi.
- Have you ever determined?: Avez-vous décidé?
- I’ve determined.: J’ai décidé.
- Do you’ve gotten a vegetarian choice?: Avez-vous une choice végétarienne?
- Can I’ve the invoice?: Est-ce que je peux avoir l’addition?
- Can I pay by card?: Est-ce que je peux payer par carte?
- Can I pay by money?: Est-ce que je peux payer en liquide?
- Uncommon/medium-rare/well-done (for steaks): saignant/à level/bien cuit
- Did you take pleasure in your meal?: Ça a été?
- Thanks, it was scrumptious.: Merci, c’était délicieux.
- Please (casual): s’il te plaît
- Please (formal): s’il vous plaît
- Take away: à emporter
- Outdoors: l’extérieur
- Inside: l’intérieur
- With: avec
- With out: sans
- Cheers!: Santé!
- That’s all: c’est tout
- Tip: pourboire
13 Most Frequent Dishes in France
As promised, right here is the bonus part the place you possibly can uncover some scrumptious (and typically shocking) French dishes!
France is a big nation and the tradition within the south and the north shouldn’t be the identical. What we name French delicacies is definitely an umbrella time period for the totally different meals in all 22 areas of the nation.
Listed below are a number of the commonest meals from totally different areas of France:
1. Boeuf Bourguignon
Boeuf bourguignon interprets as “Burgundy beef” in English because it comes from the Burgundy area of France. This area is understood for its crimson wine, and naturally, wine in France shouldn’t be just for ingesting: it’s additionally for cooking!
Getting ready boeuf bourguignon entails simmering beef shank in crimson wine for hours. The recipe additionally consists of carrots, onions, and mushrooms.
2. Quiche Lorraine
A conventional savory tart, la quiche Lorraine is ready with cream, eggs, and bacon or ham.
There are different forms of quiches, and you will get artistic whereas selecting the elements. For instance, salmon or spinach are fashionable elements for a quiche. They simply wouldn’t be the normal quiche Lorraine.
3. Ratatouille
This title would possibly remind you of a cooking rat however ratatouille is definitely a vegetable dish from the south of France.
The recipe incorporates stewed greens comparable to des tomates (“tomatoes”), de l’ail (“garlic”), des oignons (“onions”), des courgettes (“courgettes”), des aubergines (“eggplants”), des poivrons (“bell peppers”), and des herbes de Provence (“inexperienced herbs from the Provence area”).
It’s a scrumptious Mediterranean dish that’s appropriate for vegetarians as nicely!
4. Soupe à l’Oignon
Arguably one of the iconic soups of the world, la soupe à l’oignon, (“onion soup”) shouldn’t be a fast dish to make. If you wish to put together it, get able to slice and caramelise the onions, allow them to simmer in wine, toast some bread slices, and high the soup up with some parmesan cheese.
5. Galettes and Crêpes
For those who go to Brittany, the westernmost area of France, you must strive the normal galettes and crêpes, skinny pancakes that may be candy or savoury.
Galettes are savoury ones, and crêpes are candy ones, and it’s attainable to search out many alternative flavours for each of them.
6. Fromages Français
Brie, camembert, roquefort… France has a whole bunch of various kinds of cheese!
In France, individuals eat cheese after the primary meal, earlier than dessert, as a snack, or throughout l’apéro — principally, at any time. Good cheese is commonly paired with good wine, and you may make infinite cheese and wine combos within the nation of wine and cheese.
Whereas it’s widespread to eat cheese by itself or on high of a baguette, additionally it is the star ingredient of some iconic dishes, comparable to tartiflette which has cheese, bacon, and potatoes; fondue which entails dipping meals in melted cheese; and raclette, the place you place melted cheese on boiled potatoes and dried meat.
These are all typical winter dishes in Alpine international locations, particularly France and Switzerland.
7. Cassoulet
Right here’s one other stew from the south of France, this time with slow-cooked meat—often pork—and beans. It takes its title from the normal cooking pot it’s made in, the cassole d’Issel.
Cassoulet can assist you keep in mind the French phrase for this cooking pot, which is casserole.
8. Viennoiseries
Though the title means “from Vienna,” viennoiseries may be present in each bakery in France. The commonest ones are le croissant, le ache au chocolat, le chausson aux pommes, le ache suisse, le ache aux raisins and la brioche.
You may get some at a bakery or a restaurant, often for breakfast or a snack.
9. La Bouillabaisse
Initially made by fishers in Marseille, la bouillabaisse is a fish stew served in a bowl with a particular mayonnaise sauce, and bread. Its unique title is bolhabaissa in Occitan spoken within the south of France, and a few components of Spain and Italy.
10. Confit de Canard
One other basic French dish, le confit de canard interprets as “duck confit” in English. Like many different French dishes, le confit de canard is slow-cooked, to make it possible for the meat is delicate and tender.
11. Hachis Parmentier
You may have mashed potatoes and minced meat in the identical dish, and that dish is named hachis parmentier.
It’s named after AntoineAntoine-Augustin Parmentier, a French scientist who popularised potato within the French delicacies greater than 200 years in the past.
12. Gratins Dauphinois
You’ll discover this nice potato dish within the Dauphiné area of France.
Courting again to the 18th century, le gratin dauphinois consists of creamy potatoes, made utilizing the gratin method. Gratin implies that a dish is topped up with cheese or bread crumbs earlier than being put within the oven.
The French language actually has a phrase for all the things, doesn’t it? Though gratin may not be your on a regular basis phrase in French, be sure to begin talking as a lot as attainable so that you simply’ll apply your vocabulary.
13. Escargot
You’ve most likely heard that they eat snails in France. Properly, it’s true!
Les escargots, which is the French phrase for “snails,” may be discovered in lots of French eating places. They’re often ready with garlic, butter, and spices comparable to thyme and parsley.
Able to Order?
Now it’s time to go to a French-speaking nation or restaurant and check out all of your meals vocabulary!
For those who’re going to France, we advocate you strive one—if not all—of those iconic specialties.
Whether or not you’ve gotten a candy tooth, comply with a vegetarian eating regimen, or take pleasure in consuming meat, there’s one thing for you!
