French to English Food Glossary - Patricia Wells

Soja, sauce de: soy sauce.
Solette: small sole.
Sommelier: wine waiter.
Sorbet: sherbet.
Soubise: onion sauce.
Soufflé: light, mixture of puréed ingredients, egg yolks, and whipped egg whites, which puffs up when baked; sweet or
savory, hot or cold.
Soumaintrain: a spicy, supple flat disc of cow's-milk cheese with a red-brown rind; from Burgundy.
Soupir de nonne: nun's sighs; fried choux pastry dusted with confectioners' sugar. Created by a nun in an Alsatian
abbey. Also called pet de nonne.
Souris: mouse; muscle that holds the leg of lamb to the bone; lamb shanks.
Spätzel, spaetzle, spetzli: noodle-like Alsatian egg and flour dumpling, served poached or fried.
Spoom: wine or fruit juice mixed with egg whites, whipped, and frozen to create a frothy iced dessert.
Steak-frites: classic French dish of grilled steak served with French-fried potatoes.
Stockfish, stocaficada, estoficada, estoficado, morue plate: flattened, dried cod found in southern France. Also, a
purée-like blend of dried codfish, olive oil, tomatoes, sweet peppers, black olives, potatoes, garlic, onions, and herbs;
specialty of Nice. Sometimes served with pistou.
Strasbourgeoise, à la: ingredients typical of Strasbourg including sauerkraut, foie gras, and salt pork.
Succès à la praline: cake made with praline meringue layers, frosted with meringue and butter cream.
Sucre: sugar.
Supion, supioun, suppion: cuttlefish.
Suprême: a veal- or chicken-based white sauce thickened with flour and cream. Also, a boneless breast of poultry or a
filet of fish.
T
Table d'hôte: open table or board. Often found in the countryside, these are private homes that serve fixed meals and
often have one or two guest rooms as well.
Tablette (de chocolat): bar (of chocolate).
Tablier de sapeur: fireman's apron; tripe that is marinated, breaded, and grilled; specialty of Lyon.
Tacaud: pour or whiting-pour, a small, inexpensive fish found in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, usually fried.
Tagine: spicy North African stew of veal, lamb, chicken, or pigeon, and vegetables.
Talmouse: savory pastry triangle of cheese-flavored choux dough baked in puff pastry.
Tamié: Flat disc of cheese, made of cow's milk at the Trappist monastery in the Savoie village of Tamié. Similar to
Reblochon.
Tanche: tench, a river fish with a mild, delicate flavor; often an ingredient in matelote and pauchouse, freshwater fish
stews.
Tapenade: a blend of black olives, anchovies, capers, olive oil, and lemon juice, sometimes with rum or canned tuna
added; specialty of Provence.
Tarama: carp roe, often made into a spread of the same name.
Tarbas: variety of large white bean, usually dried.
Tartare (de poisson): traditionally chopped raw beef, seasoned and garnished with raw egg, capers, chopped onion,
and parsley; (today, a popular highly seasoned raw fish dish).
Tarte: tart; open-face pie or flan, usually sweet.
Tarte encalat: name for cheesecake in the Auvergne.
Tarte flambée: thin-crusted savory tart, much like a rectangular pizza, covered with cream, onions, and bacon;
specialty of Alsace; also called Flamekueche.
Tarte Tatin: caramelized upside-down apple pie, made famous by the Tatin sisters in their hotel in Lamotte-Beuvron,
in the Sologne; a popular dessert, seen on menus all over France.
Tartine: open-face sandwich; buttered bread.
Tasse: cup; a coffee or tea cup.
Telline: a tiny violet-streaked clam, the size of a fingernail, seen in Provence and the Camargue; generally seared with
a bit of oil in a hot pan to open the shells and seasoned with parsley and garlic.
Tendre: tender.
Tendron: cartilaginous meat cut from beef or veal ribs.
Teurgoule: a sweet rice pudding with cinnamon; specialty of Normandy.
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