French Podcast Transcripts

Summer Food and Drinks in French

by Sev

Summer Food and Drinks in French! Listen to this episode to know all about the food and drinks that French have during summer! Dream that are you are vacationing in France by listening to this episode!

If you have any feedback about the quality of the episode Summer Food and Drinks in French (sound, pace, transcripts) show, feel free to reach out!

Summer Food and Drinks in French

Alors, nous allons commencer par la nourriture et les plats de l’été en France.
Let’s start with the typical dishes and food you can eat in France during summer.

#1 Outdoor cooking and food in French

For the barbecue, French will often say “barbok’, people will grill sausages and meat on the stick. You will find them at the butcher store or at the supermarket.
Most French supermarket have an extensive meat counter, ready to pick up or made to order.

  • Brochette… brochette … with a sh sound…. It means little brooch…. La brochette is often made with meat, but you can also find some with seafood or vegetables.
    The meat is on a metal pin or a bamboo pin… La brochette
  • La brochette de dinde… la brochette de dinde … Turkey meat stick… la brochette de dinde
  • La brochette de boeuf… la brochette de boeuf.. Beef meat stick… la brochette de boeuf
  • La brochette de poisson…la brochette de poisson .. fish stick… la brochette de poisson
  • La brochette de légumes…la brochette de légumes… vegetables stick… la brochette de légumes

So whenever you see or read ‘Brochette’, it would imply food pinned on a stick and cook either on a grill or barbecue. They are hugely popular in summer

Now, sausages, in the summer, the code word is Chipolata… oui, chipolata.. with a ch sound… they are thin sausages, made with pork,
so if you don’t eat pork, stay away from them… chipolatas… they come in all kind of flavors. Now, most vFrench refer to them as ‘chipo’.. chipo, not cheapo….

  • Chipolata nature means plain, no extra flavors… chipolata nature
  • Chipolata aux piments d’Espelette… Let’s try Chipolata au piment d’Espelette…. Le piment d’Espelette is a mild dry pepper from the Southwest of France.
    Les chipolatas au piment d’Espelette will be slightly spicy.
  • Chipolata aux herbes… chipolatas aux herbes… don’t pronounce the H … make sure to ‘A” like in cake— aux herbes— and link with the Z sound and don’t pronounce
    the s at the end… aux herbes… Alors, c’est quoi la chipolata aux herbes.. well, herbes in this case is not weed, but herbes de Provence.

  • Let’s take a second to talk about ‘Les herbes de Provence’ with Provence as a ‘An” sound, you mouth is opened, and the tongue in the back and bottom of the throat..
    Les herbes de Provence is the seasoning made of dried thyme, oregano, rosemary, and sarriette (don’t know how to translate this one)..
    Les herbes de Provence… French will throw Herbes de Provence in every dishes during Summer!
  • For sausages, you will also find Merguez everywhere! Merguez are made with paprika, spices, and sheep meat, they can be really spicy!
    No pork meat inside of them, les merguez….

#2 Savory pies and salads in French

If you travel South, you cannot escape le tian de légumes et la pissaladière.
Le tian de légumes.. le tian with the sound ‘AN’ is a pie made mostly with sliced tomatoes. eggplants and zucchinis, and of course avec des herbes de Provence…
le tian de légumes ou le tian provençal.. le tian provençal…
La pissaladière … la pissaladière — ère with your mouth open…. The name comes from ‘Pissalat” (don’t pronounce the T at the end), which is anchovy paste.
La pissaladière is a French pizza (do you hear the similarity), it is really tasty, with a lot of umami, might be a little strong for children, it comes with anchovies,
tomato sauce, cooked onions and black olives… la pissaladière…

#3 French fruits in summer

And now for the fruits of summer in France, you will find le melon charentais… le melon charentais… le melon charentais…. With an orange flesh and a lot of seeds,
this is a real summer treat! Then, you will find la nectarine …. nectarine ….nectarine.. la nectarine is a cross between a plum and a peach..
meaning that the skin of la nectarine is smooth, and the flesh is similar to the peach….You will also find ‘Le brugnon’…
le brugnon.. le brugnon… This only difference entre brugnon et nectarine is the pit, but they are extremely similar!


#4 French Drinks and beverages in summer

I don’t know about you but I am getting thirsty!
I do miss Le sirop à la menthe… le sirop à la menthe… dont pronounce the P at the end, is a traditional non-alcoholic drink.
You will find sirop à la menthe in every grocery store.. mix it with water and some ice, and you have a really refreshing drink… some are sugar-free, and coloring-free…..
If you are sitting at a cafe, ask for ‘une menthe à l’eau’ … une menthe à l’eau, you will get a small bottle of water to mix with mint sirup and ice…..
or ask for ‘un diabolo-menthe‘… un diabolo-menthe…. Un diabolo-menthe, is a sparkling drink, you will get a little bottle of limonade (almost like sprite) to mix with you.
You will find la grenadine every where, la grenadine ou le sirop de grenadine is pomegranate syrup, non-alcoholic… you can use it the way that menthe à l’eau ou diabolo-menthe… Très rafraichissant !!!

#5 Summer French wines and liquor

Let’s finish with some iconic alcoholic drinks… The most ubiquitous is rosé… le rosé… the name of the wine comes from the color pink, rose, in French.. le rosé….
And then, I can already hear the cicadas, les cigales in French,…. Can you hear them…les cigales… Le Pastis, le Pastis…. This is an aniseed-flavored syrup that you
mix with water and ice. The name can be pastis or sometimes you have Ricard, le Ricard.. don’t pronounce the d at the end…..
You will find pastis or Ricard everywhere in France, in all stores, supermarkets, bars, and restaurants…
This drink is hugely popular…

There are two other drinks that you can try… le panaché… le panaché…. Le panaché is a mix between a draft beer and de la limonade (like sprite in France) or you can ask for Un Monaco … Un Monaco… many the most popular cocktail in France. Un Monaco is a mix between 2/3 beer, 1/3 French limonade and a teaspoon of grenadine….

Keep in mind that le rosé, le pastis, le panaché, and le Monaco have alcohol so please drink responsibly!

Voilà, you know the summer Food and Drinks in French!! How did you find this episode? I hope it was a five-start experience for you. I really want to be helpful and share my knowledge with you. So if you want to help other listeners to discover my podcast, go ahead an leave a five star rating on Spotify (only in the app), Apple podcast, Audible….

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Merci et à bientôt, Séverine