A Travellerspoint blog

Names of Fish in French - not always found in dictionaries

Most food names, including fish, are not included in dictionaries. Here are some we have collected over the years. Feel free to copy, paste, print and take to France with you.

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Names of Fish in French (difficult to find in dictionaries)
Please feel free to copy, paste and print these to take with you to France. Even English speakers in France don't always know the translations of the various fish so you can't rely on the waiter to help you all the time. We have a couple fish we don't care for and were careful to learn their names. You may want to do that too.

aiglefin, aigrefin, eglefin are haddock
aiguille is needlefish, garfish
allache is large sardine
ange de mer, angelot are angelfish (like skate, a very stringy fish and not a favorite of ours)
anguille is freshwater eel
araignée de mer is spider crab
à l’Arlésienne is with tomatoes, onions and olives
à l’Armoricaine is with brandy, white wine, herbs, tomatoes and onions
badèche is sea bass
bar, badèche, cernier, bézuque, loup de mer are sea bass
barbue is brill (turbot, a flatfish like flounder)
barbue de rivière is catfish
baudroie or lotte de mer is monkfish (texture & taste like lobster)
belon is breton oyster
bézuque is sea bass
blanchaille is whitebait
bonite is bonito (like tuna)
bouillabaisse is a fish stew
bourride is a white fish stew
brandade de morue is salt cod mousse
Bretonneau is turbot
brochet is pike
brochet de mer is barracuda
cabillaud is cod
canneberge is sardine (and are usually fresh, not canned or dried)
cardeau, celan is plaice (flounder)
cernier is sea bass
colimaçon is snail (escargot is also snail)
colin is hake (a firm, tasty white fish) Delicious . . .
coquillages is shellfish
Coquille St.-Jacques are scallops
cotriade is a fish stew w/ onions, potatoes and cream
crevette is shrimp, prawns
cuisses de grenouille are frog legs
darne is a thick fish steak
daurade, dorade are sea bream (another firm, tasty white fish)
à la Dieppoise is fish, often sole, in white wine sauce
eglefin is haddock
ecrevisse is crayfish, crawdads
encornet is squid
escargot is snail
espadon is swordfish
esprot is sprat (a species of herring / small oily fish)
esquinade is spider crab
exocet (poisson volant) is flying fish
flétan is halibut
grenouille are frog legs
hareng is herring
homard is lobster
hûitre is oyster
lotte de mer, baudroie are monkfish
loup de mer is sea bass
maquereau is mackerel
merlan is whiting
merlu is hake or whiting
merluche is hake
mouclade is mussel stew
moules are mussels
palourde is clam or cockles
plaice is flounder
plie is plaice (flounder)
pochade is a freshwater fish stew with carrots and raisins
pouple is octopus
praire is clam
quenelle is a poached, chopped fish or white meat fixed like dumplings
raie or ray is skate, a very stringy fish; you like it or you don't (we don't)
rouget is red mullet
silure is catfish (also barbue de rivière)
sprat is a species of herring (small, oily fish)
thon is tuna
truite is trout

Posted by Beausoleil 20:46 Archived in France

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Comments

Did you also have this list on VT? I don't remember it, but in any case I have copied it now for future reference. My big problem is that I don't even know the names of most fish in English, much less in French. But maybe I can learn some on my next trip to France.

by Nemorino

Yes, Don. The list was on VT. There was so much information there it was hard to find something specific. We really like fish and have found many waiters who don't know what the fish are in English so the burden was on us to find out. Hence, this list and it continues to grow. It's been a tasty research project.

by Beausoleil

Wonderful. Thanks!

by ADAMYAMEY

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