sucré

Sucré is a French adjective meaning "sweet." It describes flavors, scents, or textures that contain sugar or convey a sugary impression. In culinary and sensory contexts, it is used to denote the sweet aspect of a product and contrasts with other tastes such as acide (sour), amer (bitter), salé (salty), and umami. The feminine form is sucrée and the plural sucrés, as in une saveur sucrée and des aliments sucrés.

Étymologie: The adjective derives from the noun sucre (sugar), itself from Latin saccharum and ultimately from Greek sakkharon. The modern form sucré arose in Old French and entered standard French to describe the quality of sweetness.

Usage in cuisine and labeling: In recipes and menus, sucré describes the level of sweetness; chefs balance le sucré with acide or amer. In nutrition labeling and sensory analysis, the term is used in phrases like goût sucré or teneur en sucres, indicating sweetness or sugar content.

Physiology: Sweet taste is detected by taste receptor proteins, notably T1R2/T1R3, on the tongue, triggering the perception of sweetness.

In culture, sucré can appear as a metaphor for indulgence or pleasant, dessert-like experiences, and it may appear in poetry or branding contexts as a stylistic reference to sweetness.