Here is a glossary, pages 4 to 19. http://www.intimatefrance.com/glossarypag.pdf
Occasionally I have been in restaurants with young French friends who did not know what some menu items were either. That led to my one and only encounter with brain, cooked I mean. Or maybe it was intestine. Can't be sure and haven't sought out an encore.
Restaurant French is its own language. Supreme de volaille is a common dish, for instance. Taken literally it means a good part of a flying creature. Not much help there (it's usually a breast of chicken with sauce.) There are lots of things with different names depending on the region or on the chef's whimsy. But relax; there are also plenty of English menus, posted outside. I enjoy not knowing what comes next and often buy the chef's expensive surprise menu to guess what I am putting in my mouth. This is France and cooking matters.

Part of the adventure is not knowing exactly what you are going to eat. Okay, I'm a bit adventurous, but I often order dishes precisely because I don't know what they are. I don't like to ask either because if the waiter says "it's braised beef" I lose all interest in it.

"Suprême" means the best part of something. "Volaille" means fowl, generally chicken or turkey. So "suprême de volaille" is not exactly the most adventurous thing that someone could order. In fact, that almost certainly makes it the most boring thing on the menu.

I would amend that statement to say "This is France, where cooking matters." In Paris, this is not always the case.

The kind of places that have pictures of the food outside might give you some vocabulary - but eat elsewhere.

Good point, kerouac. I ate thymus because I didn't know that's what it was when I ordered it. It was quite good.

There is a book better than Marling: Eating and Drinking in Paris.

Les sauteuses des pres dans leur piscine Provencale might means frogs with garlic.
So what.

Lanejohann, if your mince was very far red, tending toward maroon, it may have been horse. Horseburgers look like that inside,even when thoroughly cooked.

Good point, kerouac. I ate thymus because I didn't know that's what it was when I ordered it. It was quite good.

MOre than good--a bit of deliciousness AKA sweetbreads. Went to Frank Stitt's restaurant in Birmingham to eat it his way.

BUT the point is--a food dictionary/glossary will really give you an idea of what the dish is. You can still be "adventurous". Most of us don't have too many meals in France--make them really count on the food scale!!

I was quite surprised when in France last month to be asked how I wanted my duck cooked. Here in San Francisco the chef will come out and glare at you if requested to cook it past bloody. Nor will he comply.

<i>Lanejohann, if your mince was very far red, tending toward maroon, it may have been horse. Horseburgers look like that inside,even when thoroughly cooked.</i>

In the 21st century, you have about a 0.01% chance of being served a "horseburger" without your knowledge. Horse is more expensive than beef now and has lost all popularity in urban areas. Some visitors are still confused by the term "hamburger à cheval" thinking that it means "horse." In fact it just means a hamburger with a fried egg on top ("riding horseback"). In the unlikely event that it would be horsemeat, it would be "hamburger <b>de</b> cheval in which case almost nobody would order it.

pigs in europe do not have trichinosis - so eating pork rare is not an issue. Not sure how common trichinosis is in the US but still would not eat pork here unless well done (and that's all I ever see in restaurants). Agree that I prefer lamb rare (US rare not europe rare, which is still cool in the middle).

Veal liver (foie de veau) is often sliced very, very thick and is normally cooked "rosee" - extremely pink, if not red in the middle.

I like "steak hache a cheval", but have never ever seen horse meat (cheval) on any menu.
I have seen it for sale at specialized butchers. There's normally a stand in the open air markets for people who like to buy it.

My favorite thing to do in Paris is to order the chef's menu. Learn about new, seasonal and local foods.

pigs in europe do not have trichinosis - so eating pork rare is not an issue. Not sure how common trichinosis is in the US but still would not eat pork here unless well done (and that's all I ever see in restaurants).

Pigs in the US also do not have trichinosis any longer. Pork cooked well done these days in the US is shoe leather. Try it at 145* (rosy) and you will have a revelation of taste.

Paris is a really nice destaintion for having fun and enjoying the holidays for having fun and enjoying my time of holidays there. So sure that I will again to go there and enjoy Paris' local food with my best friend.