Hi.
Welcome to www.engvid.com.
I'm Adam.
In today's video, I want to look at ten words
and expressions from the French culinary world.
Okay?
These are French culinary words; means they're
talking about cooking, and eating, etc.
But the reason that I chose these ten is because
they are very commonly used in everyday English,
and not only to talk about food; they have
very different contexts... excuse me.
Very different contexts as well.
So, we're going to look at "� la carte".
Oh, and by the way, for the French speakers
watching this video, if I butcher the language,
I apologize in advance.
Okay?
"� la carte", "piquant", "prix fixe", "savour/savor".
Now, we have with the "u" and without the
"u", so British Canadian spelling, American
spelling.
"Menu", which a lot of you already know.
"Du jour", "� la mode", "pi�ce de r�sistance",
"caf�", and "cuisine".
Okay?
Now, we're going to go one by one, and I'll
show you in what other contexts they can be
used.
Now, "� la carte" basically means according
to the menu, but what it does is it allows
you to order things individually as opposed
to a set or a package.
Okay?
So, if you go to a restaurant, they have a
meal plan, like a set meal; all these things
are included.
For example, you have appetizer, main course,
dessert.
You can also order other items on the menu
individually and pay for them separately.
So, whatever is in the menu...
In the set, in the dinner set, for example,
comes with it.
If you want to add anything, you order it
separately and pay for it on top of the meal
set.
But we also use this to talk about any package
deal.
Okay?
So, for example, you go buy a smartphone,
a mobile phone and the company offers you
a full package with all the features that
are available for this phone.
Now, you don't need all...
For example, if you don't need all these features,
you can buy a basic plan and then choose your...
The features you want � la carte.
Okay?
So, we don't only use it for food; we use
it for any situation where you can pick individual
features to...
And pay for each one separately.
Okay?
"Piquant".
"Piquant" means spicy, but not spicy like
burn your head off; spicy in a good way, like,
just enough of a sting on the tongue to make
it enjoyable.
Okay?
So that's when we're talking about food.
We can also use "piquant" to talk about a
person.
You could say: "The woman is dressed in a
piquant way."
Or somebody speaks with a little bit of a
piquant attitude.
Basically, he means with a little bit of attitude;
a little bit risky, a little bit racy, but
in a way that has a good effect.
It's a bit charming, you could even say.
It's piquant; it's not...
It's not bland, it's not boring.
It has a little bit of flavour, even though
you're talking about a person or something
a person says or does, etc.
"Prix fixe", so again, let's go back to the
restaurant.
You go to a restaurant and they have a prix
fixe - means they have a set price.
It means fixed price and you pay this much...
You pay $50 and these are all the things you
get.
Okay?
You don't...
You can't add anything; there's no � la
carte menu.
There's one set, one price - that's what you
pay.
Again, going back to the mobile phone, you
can buy a package and it's a fixed price;
you can't make any changes to it, no substitutions,
no add-ons, no extra features, etc.
Or you can just buy the � la carte items
as you need them.
Okay?
"Savour".
Now, "savour" basically means to really feel
or really enjoy the flavour of something.
Okay?
And when you talk about "savour" as a noun,
it has that special flavour that makes a dish
really good.
And many of you might know "savoury".
Savoury or sweet.
You can have, like, a savoury crepe or a sweet
crepe.
"Savoury" means more of the salty flavour.
But when we savour something...
We can savour anything.
You can savour the sunset, you can savour
a book, you can savour a good wine or food,
and you can savour something.
It means you take the time to really, really
enjoy it, and appreciate everything that it
has to offer.
Okay?
I think everybody...
Well, most people know "menu", but "menu"
is not only in a restaurant.
You can go into a store and you want to buy
something, and you want to know all the products
they have available - they show you a menu
of items.
So, basically, a "menu" is just a list of
available products for purchase, or available
services for purchase.
So, many companies just use the word "menu"
because everybody understands it; they know
it's a list of available things to buy, and
you choose your items.
Now, "du jour".
Some of you may have seen my older video about
foreign words commonly used in English, and
I already spoke about "du jour", but again,
it's very relevant to this lesson, but you
can also watch that lesson to get other foreign
words that are used in English.
"Du jour" means "of the day".
So, the most common use is "soup du jour",
"soup of the day".
But we talk about all kinds of other kinds.
So, anything that is du jour is what is popular
today.
You can talk about general things.
So, for example, even in politics, the scandal
du jour.
There are so many scandals lately that you
don't know how to keep up, so the scandal
du jour is what is happening today.
Tomorrow there'll be a new scandal, last week
there was a new scandal.
Today's scandal, the one that is most popular,
the one that is on the news is the scandal
du jour.
Okay?
Of the day.
Related, but different: "� la mode" means
of the fashion.
"Mode" is fashion.
So, something that is � la mode is what
is fashionable today.
And, again, it doesn't have to be food.
Now, if you go to the US, for example, or
even in Canada, and you go to a restaurant
and you order pie � la mode, for some reason,
that means pie with ice cream.
"� la mode" has been...
Somehow translated into "with ice cream",
if you go to a restaurant.
But "� la mode" means of the fashion.
So, basically, what is trendy.
Right?
So, you're going to wear something, like if
you're talking about clothes...
It could be food, whatever is trendy in food,
or it could be fashion.
You have to dress � la mode; you have to
dress according to the fashion.
You have to speak according to the fashion.
You have to write books � la mode; according
to the fashion, according to what is popular
and trendy today.
"Pi�ce de r�sistance", so this is the
main feature, like, when you're talking about
food, you have your appetizer, your salad,
your soup, your entr�e, your dessert, but
then the pi�ce de r�sistance usually is
the one dish that is the most amazing; the
most beautiful, the most delicious.
Right?
But we also use this for anything that is
the main feature.
So, if you go to a conference and there's
a...
You know, a whole list of speakers giving
speeches or keynote addresses, and then you
have the pi�ce de r�sistance; like, the
main speaker.
The main event of the night, we also call
it the pi�ce de r�sistance.
"The thing that is hard to resist", you can
say it in that way.
Everybody knows "caf�".
You go to a caf�, you have a coffee.
Right?
Or you go to a caf� and you have...
You sit down, you order something to eat and
a little coffee, but this word has become
so common in so many different contexts; we
have internet caf�s, we have...
Sorry, we have a fly in my face.
That's not in a caf�, though.
Internet caf�s.
We have all kinds of caf�s that specialize
in something.
So, a caf� used to specialize in coffee;
now you have caf�s for anything...
Any boutique store.
And "boutique" is also a French word, by the
way.
So, anything that is boutique, anything that
is specialized, we just call it a caf� these
days.
Now, "cuisine".
In French, "cuisine" means kitchen, but now
"cuisine" basically means anything to do with
cooking or food.
All right?
So we...
If you like to eat French cuisine, you like
to eat French dishes; if you like Italian
cuisine, Chinese cuisine, if you like Portuguese
cuisine...
We use "cuisine" for anything to do with cooking
and the style of cooking.
So, it's not only French anymore; it belongs
to everybody.
It's a very common word in English.
Okay?
So, there you go.
This...
You've learned more vocabulary.
Even though you didn't learn English words,
you learned French words, but again, used
in everyday English as well, and not only
about food, lots of different contexts.
So, if you want to make sure you understand
all these words, go to www.engvid.com and
take the quiz, test your knowledge of these
words.
If you have any questions, ask in the comments
section below.
And please subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Don't forget that in engVid, you can go to
the search box, you can click on my name there
as well.
I have lots of different videos; lots of other
teachers with lots of other videos to help
you improve your English.
Don't be shy, look around, watch the videos,
come back for even more videos to help you
improve your English.
I'll see you again very soon with something
new.
Bye-bye.
