If you enter a French supermarket, you may be overwhelmed by the quantity and variety of dairy products available. In France, dairy products are commonly described by their fat content, texture, salt content, flavor, or the milk used to make them. You will see these descriptions on labels and packaging, as well as in recipes and on menus.
For cheese vocabulary, see Cheese.
Types of dairy products
Dairy products are easy to recognize when you know the basic French terms:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le lait | milk |
| le beurre | butter |
| la crème | cream |
| la crème fraîche | crème fraîche |
| le yaourt | yogurt |
| le fromage blanc | fresh soft dairy product similar to thick yogurt |
La crème is cream in general. Crème fraîche refers to a particular type of cream. Le fromage blanc is also a distinct dairy product. It has a soft, creamy texture and is often eaten plain or served with sugar, fruit, or other accompaniments.
Dairy products can be described in several ways:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| lait entier | whole milk |
| beurre doux | unsalted butter |
| yaourt nature | plain yogurt |
| lait de chèvre | goat's milk |
| yaourt à la fraise | strawberry yogurt |
The words added to the basic product tell you different things. Entier describes fat content, doux describes the salt content of butter, and nature means plain. Other descriptions can identify the type of milk, as in lait de chèvre, or a flavor, as in yaourt à la fraise.
Different kinds of milk
Milk is sold according to its fat content. You will see these descriptions often:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le lait entier | whole milk |
| le lait demi-écrémé | semi-skimmed milk |
| le lait écrémé | skim milk |
| le lait UHT | UHT / shelf-stable milk |
Entier means "whole" or "entire." With milk, it indicates the full-fat variety. Écrémé refers to milk from which some or all of the fat has been removed, while demi-écrémé falls between whole and skim milk.
You may also see milk sold unrefrigerated. This is usually lait UHT, milk that has been treated at a very high temperature so it can be stored at room temperature before opening. After opening, it needs to be refrigerated.
Milk can also be identified by the animal it comes from:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le lait de vache | cow's milk |
| le lait de chèvre | goat's milk |
| le lait de brebis | sheep's milk |
This pattern is useful beyond milk itself. Vache, chèvre, and brebis also appear in descriptions of cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products.
Cream and butter
Cream is commonly described by its fat content or texture:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| la crème fraîche | crème fraîche |
| la crème entière | full-fat cream |
| la crème liquide | liquid cream |
| la crème épaisse | thick cream |
Entière indicates full fat, while liquide and épaisse describe texture. Notice that the adjectives are feminine because crème is feminine.
Butter is distinguished mainly by its salt content:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le beurre doux | unsalted butter |
| le beurre demi-sel | lightly salted butter |
| le beurre salé | salted butter |
Doux usually carries meanings such as "mild" or "gentle," but beurre doux is the standard expression for unsalted butter. Demi-sel and salé distinguish butter by the amount of salt it contains.
Yogurt and fromage blanc
In France, yaourt is the usual word for yogurt. There are different ways to describe its flavor, texture, style, or other characteristics:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un yaourt nature | plain yogurt |
| un yaourt aux fruits | fruit yogurt |
| un yaourt à la fraise | strawberry yogurt |
| un yaourt à la vanille | vanilla yogurt |
| un yaourt au citron | lemon yogurt |
| un yaourt grec | Greek yogurt |
| un yaourt brassé | stirred yogurt |
On food labels, nature means plain or unflavored. The word is not limited to yogurt, so you may also encounter expressions such as fromage blanc nature.
Describing flavors
The form of à depends on the gender and number of the flavor that follows. Use à la with a feminine noun, au with a masculine noun, and aux with a plural noun:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un yaourt à la fraise | strawberry yogurt |
| un yaourt au citron | lemon yogurt |
| un yaourt aux fruits | fruit yogurt |
Fraise is feminine, so you see à la fraise. Citron is masculine, so à + le becomes au citron. With the plural fruits, à + les becomes aux fruits.
From learning to practice
When you are choosing a dairy product, the description often tells you what you need to know. Look for words such as entier, doux, or nature, as well as expressions such as de chèvre or à la fraise. These can help you identify the product even when the packaging or brand is unfamiliar.