plats

Plats is the plural form of the French noun plat. In culinary usage, a plat refers to a prepared dish served as part of a meal, and it can also denote a plate or serving dish. The plural plats is therefore used for multiple dishes or types of dishes, and is commonly seen on menus and in cookbooks.

On restaurant menus, the term is often used to categorize courses. A typical layout distinguishes entrées (starters) from plats (main courses), with further designations such as plat principal (the main course) and plats du jour (dishes of the day). The phrase plat de résistance is used to describe the principal or most substantial course in a meal.

The sense of plat as dishware is distinct but related, since a plat can refer to a serving or baking dish made of ceramic, metal, or other material. Context usually clarifies whether the reference is to food or to cookware, as in un plat — a prepared dish; un plat en porcelaine — a porcelain serving dish.

The word plat has broad use in French-speaking regions and appears in culinary writing and menus worldwide, especially in discussions of traditional French cuisine. In English-language contexts, plats is most often encountered when describing French dishes or in translations of French menus, rather than as a general term in everyday English.