128 - 11 Christmas Food in French
Wondering what's on the menu for a French Christmas? This episode covers all the classic French holiday foods. 🎄🍽️✨
After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library to practice!
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Transcript
Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!
Bonjour tout le monde! Hello everyone. Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode number 128, numéro 128!
Today, we're going to learn some vocabulary focused on traditional French Christmas food! Sp these are common food that French people tend to have for Christmas, but oviously not everyone will have them at Christmas. So I’ll share 11 words and example sentences with you.
As always, make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet ready to follow along. You can find the download link in the episode notes. No exercises today – we're taking it easy. But don’t worry, you’ll have some homework next week. I’ve created a new Christmas listening comprehension exercise, which I’ll tell you about next week.
Let’s get into it, with our French Christmas food expressions and examples. Don’t forget to repeat after me for pronunciation practice.
So we’re going to start with the very controversial, but also very French, so I have to include it in the list:
le foie gras 🦆
Les Français mangent souvent du foie gras en entrée à Noël. (The French often eat foie gras as a starter at Christmas.)
les huîtres (oysters) 🦪
Les huîtres sont un plat traditionnel pendant les fêtes en France. (Oysters are a traditional dish during the holidays in France.)
les escargots (snails) 🐌
(Ok, I can see the face that you're probably all making right now about eating snails, 😂 but it’s really good! If you’d eat it the way my grandpa does it, mon papy, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.)
Pour une touche française, on ajoute des escargots au menu de Noël. (For a French touch, we add snails to the Christmas menu.)
le saumon fumé (smoked salmon) 🐟
On adore le saumon fumé sur du pain grillé pour le soir de Noël. (We love smoked salmon on toasted bread for Christmas Eve.) Oops I meant to say « …pour le réveillon de Noël! »
les coquilles Saint-Jacques (scallops) 🌊
Les coquilles Saint-Jacques sont souvent servies comme entrée festive. (Scallops are often served as a festive starter.)
la dinde aux marrons (turkey with chestnuts) 🦃
La dinde aux marrons est un plat traditionnel en France pour Noël. (Turkey with chestnuts is a traditional dish in France for Christmas.)
le chapon (capon) 🍗
Cette année, on a opté pour un chapon au lieu de la dinde. (This year, we opted for a capon instead of a turkey.)
le magret de canard (duck breast) 🦆
Le magret de canard est souvent servi avec une sauce aux fruits. (Duck breast is often served with a fruit sauce.)
le gratin dauphinois (potato gratin) 🥔
Le gratin dauphinois accompagne bien le repas de Noël. (Potato gratin goes well with the Christmas meal.)
la bûche de Noël (Yule log cake) 🍰
La bûche de Noël est un dessert traditionnel que l'on savoure à Noël. (The Yule log cake is a traditional dessert enjoyed at Christmas.) Now, I’ve included a recipe for you from a French chef that you’ll find in the notes of this podcast episode. It’s in full french, but if you want to try and make it at home, feel free to let me know how it turned out. Recipe right here!
le pain d'épices (gingerbread) 🍞
On adore l'odeur du pain d'épices. (We love the smell of gingerbread.)
Let’s do a recap!
le foie gras 🦆
les huîtres (oysters) 🦪
les escargots (snails) 🐌
le saumon fumé (smoked salmon) 🐟
les coquilles Saint-Jacques (scallops) 🌊
la dinde aux marrons (turkey with chestnuts) 🦃
le chapon (capon) 🍗
le magret de canard (duck breast) 🦆
le gratin dauphinois (potato gratin) 🥔
la bûche de Noël (Yule log cake) 🍰
le pain d'épices (gingerbread) 🍞
And there you have it, a little festive Christmas food episode! That’s all for today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I’ll see you next week. 🤍
À la semaine prochaine!