Speaking French

Question

Nancy Floyd

1Many Americans speak French words every day without even realizing it. Many French words and sayings are very common in the English language. Restaurants are good places to find frequently used French words.

2In America, the word cuisine is a synonym for food. It often is used to describe a specific type of food. For example, if you tried the cuisine in Italy, you might dine on spaghetti and lasagna. In Germany, typical cuisine might include bratwurst and strudel. Americans often eat their "cuisine" in the kitchen. In France, you'll find that people often eat their food in "la cuisine."

3Have you ever been to a café? In America, a café is a coffee shop or a small restaurant. In France, people drink café to help them wake up in the morning. Many cafés or coffee shops offer a drink called café au lait, which is a French term that means "coffee with milk." Another popular drink option is a frappé, which is a whipped frozen drink or thick milk shake, so it makes sense that in France, frappé means "to whip."

4A popular item on many restaurant menus is potatoes au gratin. In French, the phrase au gratin means “with gratings.” In English, we use the term au gratin to describe a food topped with grated cheese. Many restaurants also offer a soup du jour. The definition of the term du jour is “of the day.” That’s exactly what the soup du jour is: a special soup offering for the day. Before dinner, you might order hors d'oeuvres. Hors d'oeuvres is French for "outside of work," but Americans use the term to describe a food item that is separate from, or comes before, the entrée. The word entrée is also French. To Americans, an entrée is the main meal, but to the French, it means "entry."

5Many words used to describe ways of cooking foods also come from French words. For example, frying food in a pan is called sautéing. In French, the word sauté means "to jump." When chefs sauté foods, they often shake the pan quickly, which causes the contents of the pan to hop and flip.

6If you’re like many Americans, you might order dessert after dinner. A dessert found at many restaurants is pie à la mode, which is pie topped with ice cream. In France, à la mode means "in style." In America during the 1890s, people thought serving apple pie and ice cream together for dessert became a popular trend. A hotel employee nicknamed the dessert "pie à la mode," because it was "in style" at the time.
Question
Which sentence BEST explains how cooking and frying differ slightly in meaning?
Responses
A Cooking is making food to perfection; frying is slightly burning food.Cooking is making food to perfection; frying is slightly burning food.
B Cooking is preparing food for eating; frying is heating food in a pan.Cooking is preparing food for eating; frying is heating food in a pan.
C Cooking is heating food on a stove; frying is heating food in an oven.Cooking is heating food on a stove; frying is heating food in an oven.
D Cooking is creating food for a meal; frying is creating food for dessert.

Answer 1

The sentence that BEST explains how cooking and frying differ slightly in meaning is:

B Cooking is preparing food for eating; frying is heating food in a pan.