plat fait maison
The English phrase "home cooked meal" can be translated into French as plat fait maison.
This phrase is used to describe a meal that has been prepared at home rather than being purchased pre-made or eaten in a restaurant. In the context of French restaurants, you will often see the adjective fait maison used on menus to indicate that a dish is prepared from scratch on the premises.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "dish made house".
Which one should you use?
While plat fait maison refers to a specific dish, repas fait maison is a more common way to refer to the entire meal itself.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase plat fait maison is masculine and singular. If you are referring to multiple homemade dishes, use plats faits maison.
Did you know?
- In France, the label fait maison is legally protected. Restaurants can only use it if they prepared the dish from scratch using raw ingredients and not from a pre-prepared industrial base.
- While fait maison is used for food, French people use the term fait main (made by hand) for crafts or clothing. You cannot use fait maison to describe a hand-knitted sweater.
- When French speakers want to emphasize that a meal is truly home-cooked and rustic, they might use the expression cuisine grand-mère, referring to the cooking style of a grandmother.
Examples in context
- Rien ne vaut un plat fait maison.Nothing beats a home cooked meal.
- Ce plat fait maison est délicieux.This home cooked meal is delicious.
Example conversation
Hugo and Manon are discussing what to eat for dinner.
- HugoOn commande une pizza ce soir ?Shall we order a pizza tonight?
- ManonNon, j'ai envie d'un plat fait maison.No, I feel like having a home cooked meal.
- HugoD'accord, qu'est-ce que tu veux cuisiner ?Okay, what do you want to cook?
- ManonJe vais préparer un plat fait maison pour nous.I will prepare a home cooked meal for us.
