Behind the French Menu

Ordering Eggs for Breakfast in France . My Personal Trials and Tribulations.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Eggs for breakfast

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Because of an egg, or rather because I was served six fried eggs for breakfast, I decided to take my notes that I hoped would one day become a book on French food and use it as a source for this blog’s posts. In these posts, I try to show the enjoyment that goes with authentic French cuisine, along with some of its history and the people involved. Of course, I have included translations and commentary for relevant French menu listings. In my posts, I also make occasional suggestions so that others may avoid similar distractions to those I occasionally encounter.

N.B. If you are looking at this post for tips on ordering breakfast in France, there is another post that is more to the point: Ordering Breakfast in France; the French Breakfast Menu.

As long as I can remember I have loved French cuisine and for even longer I have had a terrible memory for names; unfortunately, that includes the names of some outstanding French dishes. I partly solved that problem years ago by keeping notes with the names and translations of dishes that I had truly enjoyed. Later I would add comments on the way a dish was served along with any revelations encountered when ordering the dish a second time. I also kept notes on my experiences in the USA, Italy, Japan, China, and elsewhere. However, there was more than enough input for a book on my first love, French cuisine. A small part of that unpublished book is now accessible as posts in this blog.

A memorable, though less than world transforming confusion at breakfast, in a French café, brought about this blog on French foods, and specifically this post. I had ordered fried eggs many times in France. Now I learned, the hard way, that there is, in France, a right way and a wrong way to order two fried eggs.

Now to the story of what actually happened at breakfast:

Œuf au plat - One fried egg.

Photograph courtesy of Devika

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My French may be lacking, I may have ordered my breakfast incorrectly, but tell me what purpose does serving anyone six fried eggs for breakfast make? To read about my experience in ordering two fried eggs read on. Those six fried eggs were the raison d’être, the reason for, or the reason behind, this blog's existence.

Two fried eggs for breakfast in Paris.

Œufs au plat - Two fried eggs.

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I entered a small and seemingly charming Parisian side-street café while preparing myself mentally for my first breakfast on this trip to Paris. I knew that I would enjoy a mouthwatering breakfast of perfectly fried eggs accompanied by a fresh baguette and butter. All would be followed by a perfect croissant and a café au lait. I chose a table, sat down and without waiting a seemingly pleasant waitress appeared, said bonjour and presented a breakfast menu, with an English translation. What could go wrong? In many French cafés, I have ordered two fried eggs, they are almost always on French menus as Œufs au Plat, and, so they were in this café. Five minutes later the waitress reappeared, and without too much thought I ordered deux œufs au plat. I have made that same order many many times in France and have always been served two fried eggs. Now, however, was the time for my educational update on the correct usage of the French language. Within five, minutes I was served with two plates, each with three fried eggs?

Querying the serving of six fried eggs when I had ordered deux œufs au plat resulted in the following explanation from a suddenly stern waitress. Minutes before she had greeted me pleasantly enough; but now I realized that she had obviously got out of the wrong side of the bed that day: She said, in French:

Remember the waitress.

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"Œufs au plat translates as fried eggs, that is the plural, and everyone knows that. Œufs are the plural, œuf is the singular! Therefore, when you ordered deux œufs au plat that clearly showed me that you wanted two portions, four eggs in all. If all you had wanted was one portion, then you should have ordered the exact menu item, specifically Œufs au Plat, omitting the word deux which means two.”

Trois œufs au plat - Three fried eggs.

Photograph courtesy of Antti T. Nissinen

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What could I say? I said: " !&*#^#”," though I did say it under my breath. The stern waitress continued: “Everyone in Paris also knows that in this café when you order two fried eggs you will be served three eggs: that is three for the price of two. You have received two portions of three fried eggs, exactly as ordered.”

Here, I was in the center of Paris, in a small café that seemingly everyone in Paris, except me, knew? This café is obviously popular as it serves three fried eggs when two are ordered. However, here the waitress thinks an order for one person consisting of six fried eggs is normal and not to be questioned. That is as maybe, nevertheless, in this small café with maybe ten tables, at breakfast time only two other tables were occupied. Apparently, all the other citizens of Paris had early morning appointments elsewhere. There, at 8:30 in the morning, I was faced with the absolute clarity of the French language, and a decidedly stern waitress. I made the necessary mental adjustment and ate the six excellently fried eggs. She, the waitress, stood across the room with arms crossed. She was clearly ready to bring up the hundred year’s war, the martyrdom of Joan of Arc and several hundred other historical French-English grievances if I did not eat my eggs.

Maybe it was this café?

It is obviously popular and well known to all Parisians.

Photograph by courtesy of Let Ideas compete.

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On the up side, the eggs did come as I had expected, perfectly fried with two portions of freshly sliced baguette and butter on the side. The moral of this story is that if you are in France and watching your cholesterol.....be careful, learn better French, and think about counting your eggs before they are fried.

Eggs being fried for those who order their eggs in bad French.

Photograph courtesy of Rev Stan.

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My notes on menu translations and dining experiences had long been used to jog my memory when I recognized a dish but could not remember its translation. With my notes at the ready, I could translate any dish's name and note how it was served. I could offer my knowledge to friends, business colleagues, and family, or with whomever, I was dining. After this experience and a few others, I realized that out there in the world there may be others who might end up with six fried eggs for breakfast. I decided to make sure the news got out and so the process of writing a book began along with a blog on French cuisine.

A few examples of eggs on a French breakfast menu:

Œufs au Plat – Two fried eggs.

Œufs au Plat au Bacon – Two fried eggs with bacon.

Œuf au Plat Accompagnée de ses Frites Maison – A single fried egg accompanied by the house’s special French fries, chips.

Œufs Brouillés – Scrambled eggs.

Œufs Pochés, Lard Grillé – Two poached eggs and grilled bacon. (In French lard and bacon are used interchangeably and both mean bacon).

Œufs Sur le Plat – Two fried eggs; the same as œufs au plat.

Œufs au Plat au Bacon or Œufs au Plat au Lard

Two fried eggs with bacon.

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For the full breakfast menu see the post: Ordering Breakfast in France; the French Breakfast Menu.

Connected Posts:

Bacon in France. Bacon and Salted Pork on French Menus. Lard in French Means Bacon in English.

Beurre - Butter in French. Butter in French Cuisine.

Frites or Pomme Frites - French Fries in the USA and Chips in the UK. French Fries on French Menus.

Ordering Breakfast in France; the French Breakfast Menu.

Ordering Coffee in France, The A - Z of Ordering Coffee in France.

The Croissant and its History. The Croissant is France's Most Famous Pastry, but its Origins Come From Outside France.

The Types of French Bread and a Glossary for Buying French Bread. (Pain is pronounced pan).

Visiting a Cafe in France and the Story Behind Coffee.

Behind the French Menu’s links include hundreds of words, names, and phrases that are seen on French menus. There are over 400 articles that include over 2,500 French dishes with English translations and explanations. Just add the word, words or phrase that you are searching for to the words "Behind the French Menu" and search with Google or Bing.

Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman

behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Ordering Coffee in France. The A - Z of Ordering Coffee in France. France is a country made for coffee lovers.

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com

Grains de Café - Coffee Beans.

Photograph courtesy of Apple’s Eyes Studio through Freedigtalphotos.net

The A to Z for ordering French coffee begins six paragraphs below.

If you are looking in this post for more about the different types of French bread or more about French breakfast menus, click one of the links below:

French Bread – The Different Types of French Bread.

Ordering breakfast in France.

Some coffee history.

The packaging of most branded coffees will tell you the type of roast but little else; however, the amount of oil in the bean coffee affects the taste far more than the roast. The perfect roast cannot produce a great coffee flavor from dry, oil-less beans.

Picking ripe coffee cherries.

Coffee grows inside a coffee cherry, so coffee beans are really coffee seeds.

However, I will not let the facts confuse us. For this post, coffee comes from beans.

Photograph by courtesy of anankkml through Freedigitalphotos.net

It is the oil in the coffee bean that makes French and Italian coffees so special. The French use the oiliest beans, followed by the Italians. American and UK coffees were, until Starbucks, practically oil free! One of the most important parts of Starbucks’ early success was serving coffee with a high oil content. Then, at last, America could buy real coffee. Americans had always been starved for that real coffee taste. After experiencing the delights of coffee when traveling to Europe, they came back to practically tasteless coffee at home; Voila, in came Starbucks. Starbucks has expanded into so many niche areas that it is no longer considered the leader in providing the best coffees. Nevertheless, they were the first to bring real coffee to the masses and some of their coffees remain among the very best.

There are two types of coffee beans, Robusta and Arabica, and their quality depends on where they are grown, the amount of rain, the soil, and the climate. These factors will affect the amount of oil in the coffee bean. For each type of coffee, expert coffee blenders test the oil content; only then can the roast come into play.

For more about the history of coffee see the post:

Visiting a Cafe in France and the Story Behind Coffee.

French Coffee and Italy.

France, like other countries, has its own coffee traditions. Nevertheless, France began with Italian traditions as the espresso coffee machine was invented in Italy. Then, the French amended the original rules and changed them for French tastes; the most significant change was to use an oilier bean. In a French café, expect coffee from an espresso machine, and in a French home, from a cafetière, a French coffee press. (One secret: the cafetière, the French coffee press, like the espresso machine, was also an Italian invention).

A cafetière - a French coffee press.

Photograph courtesy of Steven Lilley.

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Ordering a coffee in France:

Ordering a coffee in France will not be a problem even if you know no French. From the North to the South of France, all the words you need to know are listed below.

To ensure good service.

When ordering coffee in France, use the words listed below with an added “please”. Please in French is S'il vous plait. (Pronounced sil vous play).

Extra milk please is "lait supplémentaire s'il vous plaît." (Pronounced: lay suplementair sil voo play).

Extra hot water is "supplément d'eau chaude s'il vous plaît.' (Pronounced: suplementair de oh show sil voo play).

The A - Z for ordering coffee in France.

Copy this lexicon and take it with you.

Now to order your coffee in France.

Café (Un)—Ordering un café in France will bring you a single black espresso coffee. Espresso cups are small cups called demitasses in French. A cup of black espresso coffee will be offered one-third full; it contains approximately 35 ml, just over one fluid ounce, of coffee.

A demitasse cup containing un café.

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Café Allongé, Café Allongé – A single espresso to which the same volume of water is added, no milk.

Café Américain or Américano – A double espresso coffee in a regular cup to which a large volume of hot water is added.Remember, when you order a coffee in a French cafe, it nearly always begins with espresso coffee. N.B. This is a black coffee; milk will only be added if requested.

Café Allongé with a croissant.

Photograph by courtesy of Paul through Freedigitalphotos.net

Café au Lait – Coffee with lots of milk; the traditional French breakfast drink, a very milky coffee. A café au lait is like a café latte but with more milk.

Café au Lait with a Croissant.

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For the French, café au lait is for breakfast and was originally only served in a large bowl, not a cup or glass. These bowls of coffee are still occasionally still seen in French homes and in a few traditional cafes. Then you will drink your coffee while holding the bowl with both hands.

Drinking with a bol de cafe.

A bol de café holds about 350 ml (12 liquid ounces) of milky coffee

Photograph courtesy of matt.wagers.

Café Blue Mountain - Blue Mountain coffee is considered one of the best coffees in the world. It is an Arabica coffee that comes from Jamaica, and it will not be inexpensive. This coffee is grown at heights between 1,800 feet (550 meters) and 5,500 feet (1,700 meters). According to coffee aficionados, the beans grown at heights over 4,500 feet (1400 meters) provide the best coffee in the world

Café (Bol de Cafe) - see Café au Lait.

Café Cappuccino or Capuccino –A French cappuccino is thirty percent espresso coffee, fifty percent milk, twenty percent froth, and no whipped cream. If the cafe you are in adds whipped cream, then you must be in a cafe catering to tourists.

A Cappuccino.

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What gave Cappucino its name?

The color of a perfect Cappuccino resembles the color of the hood of a Capuchin friar's robe. The Italian saw the resemblance and gave cappuccino coffee its name.

The word cappuccino has nothing to do with the coffee’s froth, but don’t let us get confused by the facts. Many chefs ignore the history behind a cappuccino’s name and have created dishes, mostly soups and desserts, and then the cappuccino in their dish’s name indicates froth.

Café Crème —Within France, café crème varies from the North to the South. In the North, espresso coffee is usually made with double the amount of water and a little fresh cream or cream and milk. In Northern Europe, but not in France, a café crème is usually a medium-sized coffee served with packaged coffee cream.

Café Calvados - A single espresso with a shot of Calvados. Calvados is France’s premier apple brandy.

Café Cognac – An espresso with a shot of cognac; similar to a café corretto in Italy. In Italy when you order a corretto a shot of “your favorite” is added, to the coffee, to “correct” it. In France, your addition will be Cognac.

A French Cafe.

Order your coffee in a café where you see many locals;

that café will have a knowledgeable barista.

Photograph courtesy of Pat Guiney.

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Café Complet—This is not a type of coffee; it is a French café menu shorthand for a set breakfast. A café complet will include coffee, croissants or rolls, and/or baguettes with butter and jam. Formal French for breakfast is petite déjeuner.

Café Déca – see Café Décaféiné.

Café Déshydraté or Café Soluble – Instant coffee.

Café Décaféiné - Decaffeinated coffee; referred to nearly everywhere as déca and pronounced DE-KA. If you order café décaféiné in France, occasionally it may produce blank looks as déca is the word that is mostly used. Say café DE-KA, like nearly everyone who wants a low-caffeine coffee. If that doesn’t work, then give them the two correct words slowly and clearly: café décaféiné, pronounced café dee kafinay. Then, the penny should drop.

Most town and city restaurants have decaffeinated coffee available, even if it only comes in a packet of instant coffee. Larger restaurants and most cafes will serve the real thing made with freshly ground decaffeinated espresso coffee beans. In cases of serious doubt as to whether the coffee is decaffeinated or not, you may always promise to come back the next day and demand justice and a meal on the house if you could not sleep!

Café Demitasse - Literally a half-cup, this is the name used for those small espresso coffee cups. When you order a café demitasse, you will receive a single shot of black espresso coffee, exactly the same as if you ordered Un Café.

Café Double - A double black, espresso; double the coffee in a standard small espresso cup with double the water. In Italy, this is a café dopio.

Café Express – Another way the French may order a regular single black espresso coffee.

Café Espresso - Yet another was to order a single black espresso coffee.

Café Espresso avec Creme Fouetté - This is Café con Panna in Italy; an espresso with a little whipped cream. Espresso con Panna will occasionally be on the menu in French coffee bars under the original Italian name. Some French cafes may offer Cafe Espresso avec Creme Chantilly. Click here for the post on the chef who created Chantilly Cream.

Café Filtré - Filtered coffee; the way most coffee is still made in the USA. Hot water poured through a paper or metal foil filter holding ground coffee. In France rarely seen and then only in private homes.

Café Hag - The first decaffeinated coffee was invented by employees of Ludwig Roselius, a German coffee merchant; Roselius introduced his product in France in 1923 under the name Café Sanka. Roselius created the name Sanka, especially for the French market. The French words for "without caffeine" are sans caffeine, ergo SAN-KA. In 1923, Roselius came to the USA and founded the Sanka Coffee Company. In 1932, the General Foods Corporation, later Kraft, bought his company. Then, in 1979, Kraft purchased the German company Kaffee Hag from Roselius's son. (See Café Décaféiné).

Café Instantané, Café soluble or Café Déshydraté - Instant coffee.

Café Java - Java coffee. Coffee from beans that are grown in Java, Indonesia; made from blended Robusta coffee beans.

Café Latte – The Italian name for an espresso coffee combined with a large amount of steam heated milk. In Europe, that will be about 20% espresso coffee and 80% milk. In Italy, a café latte is usually served in a glass. For the Italians cafe latte is a breakfast drink.

An Italian Caffe Latté

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In France ordering a café au lait is the nearest you will get to an Italian caffe latté. They are similar, but the café au lait is milkier. Despite that caveat, a number of French cafés have bowed to the demands of tourists and added caffe latté to their menus. So now even in France, when ordering coffee in the larger towns and cities you may be able to order a caffe latté; check the menu.

Café Liégeois – This is a cold dessert; it is not a variation on a cup of coffee. This is coffee, ice cream, and whipped cream, all made into a thick and creamy dessert. Sometimes it will come with added liquor for that extra punch. Your menu may also offer a chocolate-based version.

Café Moka, Mokha, Mukha, Mocha or Mocca – A variety of the Arabica coffee bean originally grown near to the Yemeni port named Moka, Mokha or Al Mukha; the correct English spelling depends on who translated the map. Today the Moka bean is grown all over the sub-tropical world, alongside other coffee beans.

Café Moka, Mocha, Moka and, of course, Mocaccino - A coffee drink with chocolate syrup added. Mixed coffee and chocolate drinks developed from the coffee and chocolate creations initially prepared for cakes and pastries in Paris and or Vienna. Both cities claim the honor, but it is probably due to Vienna, and many French chefs who know their history will second that. The first pastries made with both coffee and chocolate were called Moka and Mocha pastries. Whether those original pastries began using the Mokha coffee bean is disputed; however, it took only a short while before cafés began to offer a drink made with a mixture of coffee and chocolate called Café Mocha. With the advent of the cappuccino, the Mocaccino, froth and all, was also on its way.

Café Macchiato – Italian for an espresso with just a drop of milk added. The Italian word macchiato means marked. To the coffee, just enough milk is added to make a mark. To make that mark there is less milk than you will get in a soup spoon.

Café Moulu - Ground coffee. If you are buying pre-ground coffee for an espresso machine or for filter coffee this is what should be on the label.

Café Noir – A black coffee; another name for a small black espresso.

Café Noisette – An espresso coffee with some warm milk added. Noisette is French for a hazelnut, and a well-made Café Noisette will have the color of a hazelnut.

Café Ristretto –A small but extra-strong espresso; double the caffeine when you really need it!

Café Sanka - Decaffeinated coffee. (see Café Hag).

Café Savoyard – A specialty coffee from France’s région of Savoie, Savoy; it will be served in a wooden pot with an alcoholic eau-de-vie.

Café Serré – A strong, thick, black coffee. The same amount of coffee as a black expresso coffee but less water. The same as a café ristretto.

Café Soluble or Café Déshydraté - Instant coffee.

Cafetière – The coffee press most often used by most French citizens for their morning Café au Lait. Just to make sure that no one buys the wrong machine note that the words cafetière are also used for other coffee makers. e.g. An espresso coffee maker is a cafetière espresso.

A Cafetière

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Café Turc– Turkish coffee; the name given, originally, to any coffee. Initially, all coffee imports came to France from Turkey. Then and now, Turkish coffee is associated with finely ground coffee brewed with boiling water and traditionally served already sweetened.

A Turkish Coffee

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In Turkish coffee, the grounds are allowed to sink to the bottom, and since the coffee will be sweetened before serving, it will not be stirred. For two hundred years, this was the way all coffee was prepared.

Café Viennois – Viennese coffee developed during the Hapsburg Empire's wars with Turkey. A modern Café Viennois is espresso coffee with added whipped cream decorated with chocolate shaving or powder. In Austria, this coffee is called Franziskaner Kaffee.

Caféine –Caffeine. A decaffeinated coffee is a café décaféiné.

Édulcorant – Any artificial sweetener. Not every small French café will have artificial sweeteners, so take some with you; however, Sweet and Low, NutraSweet, and locally-made artificial sweeteners are available in all supermarkets.

Taking coffee home.

There are no restrictions on talking coffee at home, but pack the beans in your luggage, not your hand luggage. Buy beans in a supermarket, or if you wish to order your own blend to take home, go to a brûlerie, a professional coffee blender. All brûleries were originally importers and blenders, but be careful, as some cafes have now added the name to theirs. Ask at your hotel for the nearest real brûlerie and consider having a French blend made for you; brûleries will also roast to order. The makeup of your blend will be kept for future orders. Most brûleries have overseas customers and will ship when you cannot get back to France and need a refill.

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