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French recipe language: à feu doux, doré, fondant and other cooking cues

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Read French heat settings and cooking results, from à feu doux to doré and fondant, with food picturecards and questions on recipe instructions.

In short

À feu doux tells you to use low heat; doré tells you to look for a golden colour; fondant describes a soft, melting texture. A recipe can name both the heat setting and the result you should check.

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A simple frying pan holds golden onion slices over a small low gas flame in a quiet French kitchen.
Golden onions show the result of cooking à feu doux. Illustration: Atelier

Chaleur, couleur et texture

1 · À feu doux: low heat

This describes the heat under the pan. It is useful for gentle cooking. It gives a relative setting, rather than one universal temperature.

Faites cuire les oignons à feu doux pendant dix minutes.Cook the onions over low heat for ten minutes.

2 · À feu moyen or à feu vif

Feu moyen is medium heat; feu vif is high heat. Baissez le feu means turn the heat down. The setting can change during a single recipe.

Faites chauffer la poêle à feu vif, puis baissez le feu.Heat the frying pan over high heat, then turn the heat down.

3 · Préchauffez le four: heat the oven first

Oven instructions commonly give a number in degrees Celsius. Keep the temperature separate from the time: à 180 °C tells you how hot; pendant vingt minutes tells you how long.

Préchauffez le four à 180 °C.Preheat the oven to 180°C.

4 · Doré: check the colour

Faire dorer means to brown or turn golden. Agree the result adjective with the food: doré, dorée, dorés, dorées. Golden colour and soft texture are separate observations.

Retirez les tranches quand elles sont dorées.Remove the slices when they are golden.

5 · Fondant: soft and melting

As a texture adjective, fondant describes food that feels very soft or melts in the mouth. Here des pommes de terre fondantes describes the result you want.

Les pommes de terre doivent être fondantes.The potatoes should be soft and melting.

6 · Croquant: a firm bite

A légume croquant retains a firm bite. Encore légèrement croquants can tell you to stop before the vegetables become completely soft.

Gardez les légumes légèrement croquants.Keep the vegetables slightly crunchy.

7 · Croustillant: a crisp surface

Croustillant often describes a crisp crust or surface. It can occur alongside moelleux, soft and tender, when the outside and inside have different textures.

Le pain est croustillant dehors et moelleux dedans.The bread is crisp outside and soft inside.

8 · Mijoter: simmer gently

Laissez mijoter asks for gentle simmering. À petits bouillons describes small, gentle bubbles. Read any instruction about the lid separately: à couvert means covered.

Laissez mijoter la sauce à couvert pendant quinze minutes.Let the sauce simmer, covered, for fifteen minutes.

See the result named in the recipe

Question 1No account needed
Which instruction asks for golden colour?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Faites dorer les oignons.. Faire dorer names the golden colour you want to achieve.

Question 2No account needed
The potatoes should be soft and melting. Which phrase fits?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Des pommes de terre fondantes. Fondantes describes the desired soft texture and agrees with the feminine plural noun.

Question 3No account needed
Which phrase tells you to reduce the heat?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Baissez le feu.. Baisser means lower: baissez le feu asks you to turn the heat down.

Question 4No account needed
What does à couvert add to a simmering instruction?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Use a lid.. À couvert concerns the lid; mijoter concerns gentle simmering.

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