Culinary French

à l’Alsacienne: in the manner of Alsace, usually refers to German-influenced braised meat and charcuterie dishes containing choucroute and/or potatoes

à l’Amoricaine: seafood cooked with olive oil, onions, tomatoes and wine (typically, lobster)

à l’Andalouse: in the manner of Andalusia, in southern Spain, usually refers to dishes containing red peppers, tomatoes and sausage or rice (e.g., sauce Andalouse, mayonnaise flavored and colored with tomatoes and red peppers)

à l’Anglaise: English style, usually refers to poached or boiled dishes, but also fried foods (especially fish) that have been rolled in breadcrumbs

à l’Argenteuil: applied to dishes containing asperge, asparagus

à la bonne femme: cooked in a simple, home-style manner; usually refers to poached fish, often sauced with lemon juice and white wine

à la Bordelaise: in the style of Bordeaux (e.g., sauce Bordelaise, reduced wine and stock, herbs, shallots, and a garnish of marrow) à la broche: spit-roasted (en brochette, like shish kabob, cooked on a skewer)

à la carte: a style of meal selection in which the guests compose their own meals by selecting from the menu where each item is separately priced, or a menu of this type. (opposite of prix fixe)

à la clamart: applied to dishes garnished either with peas or with pea-sized potato balls

à la Conti: applied to dishes garnished with lentil purée, and, occasionally, with bacon

à la Crécy: applied to dishes garnished or prepared with carrots à la diable: in the style of the devil, that is, spicy (sauce Espagnole, shallots, wine, vinegar and pepper--either black or cayenne)

à la Dubarry: applied to dishes garnished or prepared with cauliflower (e.g., créme Dubarry, purèe of cauliflower soup à l’Espagnole: in the style of Spain (refers to dishes containing garlic, onions, tomatoes and sweet red peppers)

à la Flamande: in the Flemish style (refers to braised dishes containing cabbage, carrots, potatoes and turnips) à la Florentine: in the style of Florence (refers to dishes served on a bed of spinach)

à la forestiére: of the forest (usually refers to dishes garnished with wild mushrooms)

à la jardiniére: of the garden, garnished with a variety of vegetables

à la Grecque: in the style of Greece (refers to cold appetizers cooked with lemon juice, olive oil and herbs--such as oregano and thyme)

à la impériatrice: as the empress likes it, sweetened or enriched with cream or custard (e.g., riz à la impériatrice, a rich rice pudding)

à l’Indienne: in the Indian style, refers to dishes containing curry powder, accompanied by rice

à la Lyonnaise: in the style of Lyons, refers to dishes garnished with fried onions (e.g., sauce Lyonnaise, demi-glace and reduced white wine, flavored with sautèed onions)

à la Madrilène: in the style of Madrid, refers to dishes cooked with tomatoes (e.g., Madrilène, consommè colored and flavored with fresh tomato juice)

à la Marengo: a dish created, supposedly, for Napoleon after the battle of Marengo -- chicken or veal, browned in olive oil, then braised with garlic, olives, onions, tomatoes and wine (sometimes brandy)

à la marinière: in the style of mariners, refers to shellfish dishes made with herbs and white wine

à la meunière: in the style of the miller's wife, refers to dishes of fish lightly floured and sautéed in butter (e.g., beurre meunière, a simple sauce of beurre noisette, lemon and parsley)

à la Milanaise: in the style of Milan, pasta coated with butter and Parmesan cheese, then sauced with tomatoes, ham, mushrooms, tongue and truffles à la minute: cooked at the moment, prepared to order à la mode: in the manner of some person[s] or place (e.g., boeuf à la mode, beef, marinated in red wine, then braised; tripes

à la Montmorency: in the style of Montmorency, a suburb of Paris, refers to dishes made, or garnished, with sour cherries

à la Niçoise: in the style of Nice, refers to dishes made with anchovies, garlic, olives and tomatoes (e.g., salade Niçoise, salad dressed

à la Niçoise, containing haricot vert, hard-boiled eggs, onions and tuna)

à la Normande: in the style of Normandy, refers to seafood dishes garnished with mushrooms, shellfish and truffles (e.g., sauce Normande, veloutè enriched with butter, cream and egg yolk)

à la Périgourdine: in the style of Périgord, refers to dishes prepared or garnished with truffles

à la Polonaise: in the style of Poland, refers to dishes garnished with melted butter, browned breadcrumbs, chopped hard-boiled egg and mince parsley

à la Provençale: in the style of Provence, refers to dishes prepared with garlic, olive oil and tomatoes, and sometimes anchovies, olives and onions

à la Russe: Russian service, traditionally performed by setting an empty plate in front of each guest from their right side, then serving the food from platters from the guests' left side à la serviette: served on a fancy folded napkin on china

à la zingara: in the style of the gypsies, refers to dishes garnished with chopped ham, mushrooms, tongue and truffles--flavored with Madeira, tarragon and tomato.

a`point: perfectly cooked food (rare, when referring to steak) abaisse: a thin layer of pastry, undercrust abats: organ meats (other than poultry giblets); (also abattis, poultry giblets)

aboyeur: expediter, person who relays orders from front of the house to appropriate stations in the kitchen, then checks plates as they go out to dining room

acerbe: bitter; tart to the taste affiné: matured (applied to cheese)

aïgo bouido: Provençal garlic soup served over pieces of bread (e.g., aïgo-sau d'iou, Provençal fish soup made with water and salt)

aigre: sour (e.g., aigre-doux, sweet-and-sour, or bitter-sweet; aigrir, to sour, as wine or milk)

aiguillette: "like a needle, long slender slivers of meat ail: garlic (e.g., gousse d'ail, garlic clove; ail semoule, garlic ; aillè, flavoured with garlic) aïoli:

a Provençal garlic mayonnaise (served as part of the dish aïoli complet) alevin: tiny fish of any species

alumete: matchstick; classic cut (one-eighth inch square, by one to two inches long), refers either to very thin fried potatoes or filled strips of puff pastry served as savory

hors d'oeuvres alose: a type of shad, smaller than a herring, Alosa fallax amande: almond

amer: bitter (also acerbe) (e.g., amer picon, a vermouth-like digestif; amertume, bitterness)

Amoricaine: lobster butter added to tomato sauce (sometimes seen as Americaine)

amuse-gueule: cocktail snack (also amuse-bouche), a lagniappe given before the appetizer ananas: pineapple

anchois: anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus (e.g., anchoiade, anchovy purèe, Provençal purée made with garlic and olive oil, also known as anchoyade) andouillette: small unsmoked sausage from Normandy (not to be confused with the larger, spicier, smoked Cajun sausage,

Angelica offininalis anguille: eel anis étoilé: star anise (also badiane), Illicium verum aperitif: to open, the first drink offered

appareil: a prepared mixture, used on its own or as an ingredient in another preparation appellation: governmentally defined wine region of France apron: perch-like fish from the Rhône river, Zingel asper arôme: aroma, flavor (also aromate, aromatic plant; herb; spice)

asperge: asparagus (e.g., botte d'asperges, a bundle of asparagus; pointe d'asperges, asparagus tips) aspic: clear meat jelly

au gratin: refers to dishes topped with bread crumbs and/or grated cheese, and browned in the salamander or broiler

au plateau: served on a platter aubergine: eggplant (e.g., aubergine farcie, stuffed eggplant)

aurore: dawn; Bechamel sauce colored a rosy pink with tomato purèe avocat: avocado avoine: oats (e.g., flocon d'avoine, rolled oats; gruau d'avoine, oatmeal porridge)

badiane: star anise (also anis ètoilè), Illicium verum badigeonner: to coat, (with egg white, for example) baguette: a long slender bread weighing 250 grams; the classic French bread bain marie: a water bath, used to cook foods gently, by protecting from direct heat, either on the stove or in the oven ballotine: boned, stuffed, rolled, tied and roasted meat served hot (also ballottine) banane: banana Banon: goat cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves; from Banon, in Provence bar: seabass (also known as loup de mer), Dicentrarchus punctatus barbe-papa: cotton candy barbouillade: stuffed eggplant or eggplant stew from Provence barbue: brill (a flat fish, Scophthalmus rhombus) barquette: pastry shell in the form of a boat, used in hors d'oeurvres and patisserie basilic: basil, Ocimus basilicum bâtarde: French bread, a little bigger than a baguette bâtonnet: stick, a classic knife cut, from two to two-and-a half inches long, with a quarter-inch square cross-section, like a French fry (also baton); also a French bread, a little smaller than a baguette batterie de cuisine: the complete range of tools used in a French kitchen: pots, pans, knives, bowls, etc. bavette: minute steak; the top or skirt of beef baveux: moist, runny Beaufort: cow's milk Gruyére cheese from Savoie bécasse: woodcock, Scolopax rusticola becassine: snipe, Gallinago gallinago beignet: fried dough, a fritter Bercy: butter flavored with lemon, marrow, parsley, salt, shallots, pepper and wine (also sauce Bercy, a velouté made with fish stock and shallots) berlingot de Carpentras: candy bette: beet (also betterave, beetroot; betterave rouge de Gardanne, a regional red beet; blette, white beet) beurre: butter (e.g., beurre blanc, sauce made with reduced white wine and butter; beurre composé, compound butter; beurre manié, butter, worked together with flour, for used as a thickener by sauciers; beurre noir, browned butter, seasoned and used as a sauce; beurre rouge, sauce made with red wine and butter) biche: female deer bien cuit: cooked well done bien fait: matured (applied to cheese, e.g., bien persillé, mature blue cheese) bière: beer bigarade: bitter orange (e.g., sauce bigarade, classic brown sauce flavored with bitter orange, usually served with duck) bigarreau Pélissier: a regional cherry billi-bi: soup made with mussels steamed in white wine, strained, enriched with cream and egg yolks; originally served without the mussels, but more commonly garnished with the unshelled mussels today biscotin d'Aix: cookie blanc: white; (e.g., blanc d'blancs: white wine made from white grapes; blanc de noirs: white wine made from red; blanc d'oeuf: egg white; fromage blanc, white cheese; vin blanc, white wine) blanchaille: tiny fish, whitebait (like alevin or poutine, fry of any of a number of species) blanchir: to blanch blé: wheat; (e.g., germe de blé, wheat germ; blé noir, buckwheat) bleu: blue cheese; (e.g., bleu d'Auvergne, blue cow's milk cheese from Auvergne; bleu de Bresse, blue cow's milk cheese created to compete with gorgonzola; bleu de Quercy, blue cheese from Aquitaine) ; also refers to meat cooked rare, but not a rare as saignant blonde de Nice: a regional orange from Nice blondir: to cook onions until transparent, without browning them bocal: a deep narrow-topped bowl, made of glass or earthenware, used for canning preserves boeuf: beef (e.g., boeuf Bourguinon, braised beef, marinated in pinot noir, and garnished with tiny boiled onions and small mushrooms) boisson: beverage or drink bonne femme: "good wife," uncomplicated, home-style cooking Bordelaise: sauce made with demi-glace, red wine, shallots, butter and peppercorns; garnished with marrow boucher: butcher, part of Garde Manger, cuts meats, bones and poultry (also boucherie, butcher shop) bouchon: a cork (e.g., bouchonné, corked--spoiled--wine) boudin: a meat pudding, a forcemeat (e.g., boudin blanc, a light colored, and mildly-seasoned, sausage made of chicken or pork, often enriched with cream; boudin noir, a black pudding, sausage made of blood, often containing cereal products, such as rice or bread crumbs) bouilli: boiled (e.g., bouillabaisse, a fish soup, traditionally from Marseilles); (bouillon, a broth, made from meat--as opposed to stock, which is made from bones; bourride, a fish soup like bouillabaisse, but more highly seasoned and thickened with egg yolk) boulanger: baker (also boulangerie, bakery) boule: a round loaf of bread, like a miche (also a scoop of ice cream) bouquet garni: a small bunch of herbs, used to flavor sauces and stocks; often bay leaves, parsley and thyme--either tied together or in a sachet of cheesecloth, to make their removal easier (e.g., Bouquet de Marmite, a large bouquet made with leeks, celery and carrots, tied together and used in the marmite while making stocks Bourguignonne: sauce made with demi-glace, burgundy wine, shallots, butter and peppercorns boursault: triple cream cheese with a white rind, similar to boursin bouteille: bottle braisé: braised brassadeau: scalded ring cake brasserie: casual French eating establishment brebis: female sheep brie de Meaux: soft-ripened cow's milk cheese, from Ile de France brioche: small bread made with butter-enriched yeast dough (e.g., brioche à tête, classic form for brioche, muffin-sized with a tapered fluted bottom) brocoli: broccoli brosme: cusk, Brosme brosme brouillade: Provençal scrambled eggs brousse du Rove: fresh goat cheese, made with milk from a breed of goat intended for meat du Var: fresh sheep-milk cheese from Var broyé: crushed, ground or pounded brûlé: burned, singed (e.g., créme brûlé, custard with a burned topping of caramelized sugar; brûlot, burnt brandy) brunoise: fine dice brut: very dry sparkling wine büche de noël: Christmas cake in the form of a Yule log bûcheron: soft mild goat cheese