Basic Haute Cuisine Terms
The following list is only very basic, showing the most commonly used terms. As this Culinary Translator is built, so more names will appear. Names are applied to various courses, most often based upon either a place name, perhaps a ship's name or even the name of a famous chef or hotel.
The list of terms shown below describe a garnish, accompaniment or ingredient of a menu item.
For example…
- Velouté Dubarry will usually be Cream of Cauliflower Soup, and
- Fillets of Sole, Dubarry will have a cauliflower sauce
It's All French!
Several names appear to have origins beyond the borders of France. For example “À la Grecque” has little to do with Greece, other than perhaps the sourcing of most of the sauce ingredients. However, the origins of the terms below are all of French cuisine.
- Dish Name
- Accompaniment
- À la Grecque
- cooked in sauce of olive oil, lemon juice, and seasonings such as fennel, coriander, sage, and thyme (often served cold)
- Alsacienne
- Sauerkraut & Ham
- Argenteuil
- Asparagus garnish
- Bigarade
- Seville Oranges
- Bordelaise / Bourguignonne
- Red Wine
- Bretonne / Soissons
- Haricot beans
- Carmen
- Tomatoes
- Caroline
- Rice
- Célestine
- Julienne or shaped pancake
- Clamart / Longchamps
- Green peas
- Chantilly
- Lentils
- Chantilly (1)
- Piped whipped cream
- Chasseur
- Game
- Chasseur Sauce
- Mushrooms & tomatoes
- Colbert
- Poached eggs
- Crècy / Vichy
- Carrots
- Danoise
- Cucumber
- Diane or Diana
- Game
- Dieppoise
- Mussels & Oysters
- Dubarry
- Cauliflower
- Ecossaise
- Barley
- Espagnole / Portugaise
- Tomatoes
- Flamande
- Brussels Sprouts
- Florentine / Gentilhomme
- Spinach
- Grenobloise
- browned butter, capers, parsley, and pieces of lemon
- Hongroise
- Paprika
- Indienne
- Curry
- Ludic
- Lettuce
- Limousine
- Chestnuts
- Lyonnaise / Soubise
- Onions
- Marie Louise / Reine
- Chicken
- Melba
- Raspberry Purée
- Montmorency
- Cherries
- Mornay
- Hard Cheese / Parmesan sprinkle
- Niçoise
- Anchovy and Tomato
- Parmentier
- Potato
- Perigueux or Perigordine
- Foie Gras & Truffles
- Piedmont or Piedmontaise
- Foie Gras & Truffles
- Rachel
- Globe artichokes
- Saint Cloud / Saint Germain
- Green peas
- Singapore
- Pineapple
- Strasbourg
- Foie Gras
- Vaudoise
- Shallots, Herbs, Garlic hint
To try and keep things simple, several names like Américaine and Bonne Femme have been omitted from this list. This is because these names describe the method of preparation for an entire dish, the contents of which can include a whole variety of ingredients.
For example, Lobster Américaine is quite different to Hamburger Américaine in every way! These dish varieties will therefore be listed separately, usually with a longer description of the method of preparation.