meat en français
How do you say chicken in French? Want to know how to say beef tongue or what the hell they call ribeye in France? Then you're in the right place.
bœuf (beef)
| French Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Bifteck | Steak |
| Bavette | Undercut – from the skirt, textured with long muscle fibres |
| Filet/Faux-filet | Filet |
| Steak à hacher | Used for steak tartare and steak haché. Steak haché looks like a burger, but is simply this high quality steak minced up and pressed together. It is usually freshly done, which is why people are happy to eat them rare. Not comparable to a beef hamburger |
| Romsteak/Rumsteak | Rump steak |
| Aloyau | Sirloin |
| Entrecôte | Ribeye/NY Strip |
| Tournedos/Filet Mignon | Tenderloin steak usually cut almost as high as it is wide. basically a chunk of tender steak, usually served quite rare unless otherwise requested |
| Tête de veau | Head |
| Langue de bœuf | Beef Tongue |
| Gîte (à la noix) | Topside |
| Queue | Tail |
| Cou | Neck |
| Tranche | ‘Slice’, implies a steak of any meat other than beef. |
| Filet/Longue/Aloyau | All words for loin. Loin chop is ‘côte première’ |
| Veau | Veal |
volaille (poultry)
| French Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Poulet........................ | Chicken |
| Poulette | Young Chicken |
| Canard | Duck |
| Coq | Cockerel |
| Pintade | Guinea Fowl |
| Dinde | Turkey |
| Cuisses | Thighs |
| Magret | Breast |
| Carcasse | Carcass for making stocks and soups ................................. |
| Œuf | Egg |
porc (pork)
| French Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Poitrine | Belly |
| Lardons........................ | Diced poitrine |
| Echine | Shoulder, encompasses the blade bone and spare ribs. |
| Plat de côtes | Hand and belly meet |
| Côtes | Where the carré comes from, and is made up of loin chops. Basically, rack of pork. |
| Filet | In France, is from the hind loin area. The English fillet is from the part which the French call jambon, or ‘ham’. |
| Joues | Cheeks |
Bacon if thinly sliced is poitrine, or belly, preserved with salt. The French tend to slice their poitrine fairly thick, in order to make lardons, so you need to ask for the slices to be ‘fine’ (pronounced ‘feen’). Bacon is rarely injected with water in France, so you get more for your money, it tastes better and crisps-up easily. Not the same as the packets called ‘bacon’ – these are brined, trimmed pork.
agneau et de chèvre (Lamb and Goat)
| French Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Gigot d’agneau................. | Leg of lamb |
| Echine | Shoulder |
| Côtes | Chump |
| Collet | Scrag (end) |
| Poitrine/Poitrail | Breast |
| Côtelette | Chop, usually from the rack of lamb, where the British cutlet comes from |
| Jarret | Can mean shank or shin |
| Selle d’agneau | Saddle |
The info on this page comes from my experiences in France and also from this awesome website.