Fun for Language Learners #3 - Marmiton and French recipes
In the francophone blogosphere (I mostly read CanalBlog), I keep hearing about Marmiton.org, a site where users submit and comment recipes. It's not quite as photo-filled and flashy as some of its English-language competitors, but you're not here to learn English, right? And it's pretty good nonetheless, with features about seasonal recipes, categorized recipes, and versions in Spanish, Italian, and English (the English one is called "Let's Cook French"). Because it's all about user-submitted content, the four sites are probably rather different, but if I was studying those languages I might give them a whirl.

There are a few things to know when using French recipes - they (the French) use the metric system, and measure most dry ingredients (sugar, flour, etc.) by weight, not volume, though liquids are usually in mL and cL. The exception is for small quantities, which I'll explain below. All temperaures will be in celcius or (occasionally) refer to the settings on old French ovens.


I have missed some things, please ask. Also, there are many that I don't know yet. I'm also assuming you already know most of the basics - couteau, cuillère, assiette, bol, four, etc..

Quantities:
CàC, càc, cuillère à café - a teaspoon. Like CàS, an approximate measurement.
CàS, càs, cuillère à soupe - a soup spoon, a tablespoon. An approximate measurement taken using silverware, unlike the American tablespoon (15 mL!)
une goutte - a drop
une pincée, une bonne pincée - a pinch, a generous pinch

Tools:
une casserole - a saucepan. Apparently the source of the English "casserole dish".
un fouet - a whisk. The verb is fouetter. The same words can also mean a whip and to whip, respectively.
une gazinière - synonym of une cuinière (a stove)
une louche - a ladle
un moule - a mold or a pan, in the form moule à... muffins, tarte, cake, etc.
une poêle - A frying pan/skillet. Pronounced the same as poil (a body hair, masculine).
une spatule - a spatula

Verbs:
ajouter - to add
arroser - to sprinkle a liquid
battre - to beat (an egg. also means to beat in the sense of to defeat)
couper - to cut
découper - to cut off, as in «découper les bords» (to cut off the edges)
enfourner - to put in the oven (le four)
fouetter - to whisk, to whip, to beat
malaxer - to knead (often malaxer à la main (to knead by hand)
mélanger - to mix
parsemer - to sprinkle, to spread
peler - to peel
saupoudrer - to sprinkle. Note that the construction is different than in English - you'll see something like et saupoudrer le tout avec du sucre et de la cannelle (and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on everything)

Ingredients: (I'm keeping this short because for the most part, it's easy to figure out what these are... and there are tons of 'em)
la farine - flour. It comes in a great many types - la farine or la farine de blé is basic white flour, while la farine complète is whole wheat flour. There are also flours made from other sources. For example, la farine de blé noir or de sarrasin is buckwheat flour (note that sarrasin is also means Saracen, or in other words the Muslims who fought the crusaders in the middle ages).
la fécule - a thickening agent, often some form of vegetable starch. Most commonly la fécule de maïs or maïzena which is apparently a brand name but is used to mean the product generally.
la levure chimique - baking powder (baking soda is le bicarbonate de soude)
la levure de boulanger - bread yeast