The origins of cuillère and how to pronounce it

One of the most mind-bending differences between French and English culture – and one that they never forewarn you about in school – concerns the consumption of dessert at the French table.

This most startling of feasting gulfs does not concern the sweet treats served but, rather more prosaically, the size of the spoon. In France, only a little spoon (petite cuillère) is provided for eating a mousse au chocolat or crème brûlée. The British-style large dessert spoon – capable of holding three times the volume of a teaspoon – is unheard of à table.

For a long time, I presumed it was because French puds are more dainty or come in smaller portions, or that the French are more elegant, preferring to cherish every tiny mouthful – not like us Brits who shovel up large mouthfuls of sticky toffee pudding and custard.

But the reality is that the French traditionally, cunningly, employ a multi-purpose, versatile (polyvalent) small spoon – also called a cuillère à café – to stir sugar into their post-meal espresso.

What are the origins of cuillère?

Since this column is not concerned with judging which country’s manners are the most elegant, but rather with etymology, we can note that the word cuillère comes from the Imperial Latin cochlearium – in turn derived from cochlear (also meaning ‘spoon’) and originating from the word cochlea, meaning ‘snail’ or ‘snail shell’.

The word first appeared in the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française, the official French-language guide, in 1798.

One thing that the two countries agree on is the awarding of the notional wooden spoon (cuillère de bois) for the worst team in a rugby tournament.

How to pronounce cuillère?

Another thing about this French word is that some learners find it particularly tricky to say.

It has several vowels and a double 'l' which also creates an 'y' sound.

The word could be broken down phonetically as: [cwee-yer-uh]. Note that the final 'uh' should be breathy rather than vocal.