French cuisine/Catalogs

• Andouille, andouillette—sausages
• Baguette—typical French white bread of elongated shape
• Baeckeoffe—thick Alsatian stew with potatoes, meat, and vegetables
• Blanquette de veau—veal stew in a rich white sauce
• Boeuf bourguignon or boeuf à la bourguignonne—beef bourguignon, a rich, slowly simmered stew of browned beef cubes in red wine and aromatics, garnished with onions, mushrooms, and pork lardons
• Boudin—sausage that can be either white or black (blood pudding)
• Bouillabaisse—fish stew of the Mediterranean area
• Bourride—Provençal fish stew similar to bouillabaisse
• Camembert—soft cheese made from cow's milk
• Cassoulet—slow-cooked bean dish garnished with meats, poultry, and sausage
• Charcuterie—dressed meat and cooked meat dishes such as sausages, salamis, and other pork products
• Chateaubriand—a large piece of filet of beef from the thickest part of the tenderloin
• Civet—highly seasoned stew of wine and meat, classically made with "furred" game such as hare or rabbit; see salmi
• Choucroute—choucroute alsacienne—sauerkraut with sausage and meat; choucroute royale—made with champagne
• Confit—preserved meat, generally goose, duck, or pork, cooked slowly in a large quantity of fat
• Confit d'oie—preserved goose, a speciality of both Southwestern France and Alsace
• Coq au vin—chicken (originally rooster) prepared in wine in a method quite similar to that of boeuf bourguignon
• Cuisses de grenouille—frog legs, a specialty of both Provence and Alsace
• Cotriade—yet another type of fish stew, from Brittany
• Crème brûlée ("burnt cream")—dessert of a custard base with a hard caramel surface
• Crème Chantilly—whipped cream
• Crêpe—thin French pancake; crêpe de sarrasin or galette, with ham and cheese; crêpes de froment, crêpes Suzette
• Croissant (de beurre)—typical pastry (made with butter) often eaten for breakfast
• Demi-glace—brown sauce made by reducing an espagnole sauce until it becomes the basis for all the classic brown sauces in French cuisine
• Escargots de Bourgogne—snails prepared in the manner of Burgundy
• Foie gras—the liver of a goose or duck that has been specially reared and fed a carefully controlled diet using gavage (force feeding); prepared whole, it is more expensive than pâté de foie gras, with which it is frequently confused
• Gratin dauphinois—a baked preparation of potatoes and various cheeses
• Herbes de Provence—a mixture of several herbs the composition of which varies
• Homard à l'armoricaine (also called "à l'américaine"—the exact name is controversial)—lobster preparation in Brittany
• Île flottante (floating island)—rich dessert of island-like pieces of meringue floating on a dish of custard
• Jambon de Bayonne—the French equivalent of prosciutto, an air-dried salted ham from the area around the southwestern city of Bayonne
• Kir—cocktail made with crème de cassis and white wine, a specialty of Burgundy
• Kir royal—cocktail made with crème de cassis and Champagne
• Kirsch—a spirit made from fermented wild cherries, of which the best French distillers are in Alsace
• Kougelhoff—a cake speciality in Alsace
• Langue de chat (Cat's tongue)—thin, flat, narrow cookies or biscuits somewhat like the tongue of a cat in appearance
• Matelote—yet another fish stew, incorporating either white or red wine
• Mayonnaise—thick cold sauce or dressing made from egg yolks, oil, and seasonings
• Melon au jambon de Bayonne—melon with cold Bayonne ham
• Mousse au chocolat—cold dessert of chocolat mixed with eggs and often whipped cream
• Navarin à la printanière—mutton or lamb stew with spring vegetables
• Oeufs à la bourguignonne or oeufs en meurette—eggs poached in red wine and served on croutons with a rich sauce made from the wine
• Pâté de foie gras—a pâté (paste) made from ground or puréed foie gras; it is cheaper and less desirable than the whole foie gras.
• Pommes frites—french fries—probably originated in Belgium, but are generally considered by most people today to have been invented in France, where they were certainly popularized during the 19th century
• Pommes lyonnaise—a simple dish of fried potatoes and onions
• Quenelles de brochet
• Quiche lorraine
• Ragoût—catch-all term for most stews
• Ratatouille
• Rognons de veau—calf's kidneys
• Roquefort—semi-hard blue cheese made from sheep's milk
• Sauce béarnaise—most famous of French sauces, made from egg yolks, melted butter, and aromatics
• Sauce hollandaise—sauce similar to béarnaise but with a flavoring of lemon juice
• Salade niçoise—salad speciality of the Côte d'Azur
• Salmi or salmis—highly seasoned stew of wine and meat, classically made with "feathered" game such as partridge or pheasant; see civet
• Saucisson de Lyon
• Soufflé
• Soupe à l'oignon or soupe à l'oignon gratinée—French onion soup—old-fashioned onion soup poured over dried bread; frequently covered with a thick layer of gratinéed cheese
• Tarte à l'oignon
• Tarte flambée—a pizza-like specialty of Alsace
• Tarte Tatin—an apple tart
• Tartiflette—hearty cheese and potato dish from the Savoie region of eastern France
• Tête de veau—calf's head, a cold variety of head cheese, generally called "tete de veau" in English
• Tripes à la mode de Caen—tripe speciality of Normandy
• Uranoscope—mediocre Mediterranean fish used in bouillaisse
• Vacherin—soft cheese made from cow's milk; also a dessert made with meringues, pastry, and various fillings
• Verveine du Velay—liqueur from the Auvergne, made from the juices of 32 plants
• Walewski, à la—method of preparing sole with a rich garnish of lobster, truffles, and Mornay sauce
• Xérès, sauce au—uncomplicated sauce flavored with Xérès, the French spelling of sherry
• Yaourt (Yogurt)—relatively new to France, the French company Danone (Dannon), is now one of the world's largest producers
• Zeste—green, yellow, or orange exterior part of the peel of citrus fruits, frequently grated and used as a flavoring; ziste is the bitter white part just below the zeste and is generally avoided