Robe des champs

Pommes de terre en robe des champs
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

French Expression

Meaning unpeeled
Literally field dress, dress from the fields
Register normal
Pronunciation French sound files [ruhb day sha(n)]
IPA   [ʁɔb de ʃã]

Usage notes: The French expression en robe des champs is a lovely way to describe potatoes cooked in their peels, whether baked, steamed, or boiled. There’s no real equivalent in American English. British English has the cute expression “jacket potatoes,” but that refers specifically to baked potatoes – and isn’t as poetic as en robe des champs anyway.

Par exemple…

Je n’aime pas les pommes de terre en robe des champs.   I don’t like unpeeled (cooked) potatoes.
Nous mangeons des pommes de terre cuites au four en robe des champs.   We’re eating baked potatoes / jacket potatoes.

 It’s most common with potatoes, but you can also use en robe des champs for other fruits and vegetables cooked with their skin on.

Old-fashioned variation: en robe de chambre – literally, “in a dressing gown”

Somewhat synonymous

  • cuit dans sa peau – “cooked in its skin”
  • non-épluché – “unpeeled”
  • en chemise (rare) – "in a shirt"

 Related lessons

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Robe des champs - French expression

Stay up to date with Lawless French

Questions about French?

 Visit the Progress with Lawless French Q+A forum to get help from native French speakers and fellow learners.

More Lawless French

 Subscribe to my twice-weekly newsletter.

Support Lawless French

  This free website is created with love and a great deal of work.

If you love it, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation.

Your support is entirely optional but tremendously appreciated.

Leave a Reply