Kitchens have their own set of appliances, cookware, and tools. In French, some of their names may not mean what you expect.
Une casserole, for example, is a saucepan, while une cuisinière can mean a stove or a female cook.
This lesson focuses on the kitchen and its equipment. To learn about preparing food in French, see Cooking and preparing food.
In the kitchen
Start with the room itself and the large appliances you use to store and cook food:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| la cuisine | kitchen |
| le réfrigérateur | refrigerator |
| le frigo | fridge |
| le congélateur | freezer |
| le four | oven |
| le four à micro-ondes | microwave oven |
| la cuisinière | stove / range |
| l'évier | sink |
| le lave-vaisselle | dishwasher |
Le frigo is the everyday word for a refrigerator. Le réfrigérateur means the same thing, but is more formal.
La cuisine can refer to the room where you cook or to cooking more generally. La cuisine française, for example, means French cooking or French cuisine.
Une cuisinière is a stove or range. The same word can also refer to a female cook.
Pots, pans, and cookware
French has different words for the pots, pans, and dishes you cook with:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| une casserole | saucepan |
| une poêle | frying pan |
| une marmite | large cooking pot |
| un faitout | cooking pot |
| un couvercle | lid |
| un plat | dish |
| un plat à gratin | baking dish |
Une casserole is a saucepan in French, not the baked dish called a casserole in American English.
Un plat can be an object used for cooking or serving food. It can also mean the prepared food itself or a course of a meal.
Some cookware names tell you what the object is for. Un plat à gratin is a dish used for making a gratin.
Tools for preparing food
These are common tools for cutting, peeling, grating, mixing, and draining food:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un couteau | knife |
| une planche à découper | cutting board |
| un éplucheur | vegetable peeler |
| une râpe | grater |
| un fouet | whisk |
| une spatule | spatula |
| une cuillère en bois | wooden spoon |
| un saladier | mixing bowl |
| une passoire | colander / strainer |
A saladier is not only for salad. In the kitchen, it can be a large bowl used for mixing ingredients.
Some tools are closely related to the action you perform with them. Une râpe is used to râper, or grate, and un fouet is used to fouetter, or whisk. You can learn these and other actions in Cooking and preparing food.
Other names describe the purpose or material of the tool. Une planche à découper is a cutting board, while une cuillère en bois is a wooden spoon.
From learning to practice
Practice with the objects in your own kitchen. As you use them, try to remember their French names. You will also encounter the same words when you read recipes.