Réchauffé

Word of the Day

réchauffé \ ray-shoh-FAY \ noun

 

1a: something presented in a new form without change of substance

1b: rehash

 

2: a warmed-over dish of food

 

EXAMPLES

The day after the holiday, it was traditional to serve réchauffés and snacks rather than cook a full meal.

"[It] is a réchauffé, … lifted and stitched from 'The Gastronomical Me' and other books."

— Victoria Glendinning, New York Times Book Review, June 9, 1991

 

DID YOU KNOW?

We borrowed réchauffé in the early 19th century from the French; it is the past participle of their verb réchauffer, which means "to reheat." Nineteenth-century French speakers were using it figuratively to designate something that was already old hat—you might say, "warmed over."

English speakers adopted that same meaning, which is still our most common. But within decades someone had apparently decided that leftovers would seem more appealing with a French name. The notion caught on. A recipe for "Réchauffé of Beef a la Jardiniere," for example, instructs the cook to reheat "yesterday's piece of meat" in a little water with some tomatoes added, and serve it on a platter with peas and carrots and potatoes. Réchauffé shares its root with another English word, chafing dish, the name of a receptacle for keeping food warm at the table.