“Mousse de châtaigne”, “crème de marron”… if you’ve been to France, you may have run in these delicacies and wonder: châtaigne or marron, what’s the difference ?
Let’s talk about French nuts.
Weâll start by going over the French nuts vocabulary, see how we say Iâm allergic to nuts in French, then dive into the French chestnut dilemma and illustrate it all with a fun âlive French practiceâ video I shot during one of my hikes as I was on vacation in the Ardèche region of France.
1 â French Nuts Vocabulary
First letâs see the names of the nuts in French. Iâm not going to get into the controversy to know if itâs a grain, a nut, a fruit⌠If it has the word ânutâ in it, Iâll list it there!
- Les noix â nuts as a family
- Une noix â a walnut
- We also say âles fruits Ă coqueâ but itâs a bit less common.
- Nuts are also part of the âolĂŠagineuxâ group: some grains and nuts rich in oil. Words are just complicated in French when it comes to nuts!!
- Une pistache â pistachio
- Une noisette â hazelnut
- Une amande â almond
- Une noix de cajou â cashew
- Une cacahuète â peanut. Yes, one of the most funny French word there is⌠sounds just like âcaca wetââŚ
- Une noix de macadamia â macadamia nut
- Une noix de pĂŠcan â pecan nut
- Une noix de coco â coconut.
- Un pignon â pine nut
- Une noix du brĂŠsil â Brazil nut
2 â How to Say âIâm Allergic To Nutsâ in French?
To say âIâm allergic to nutsâ in French, we say: âJe suis allergique aux noixâ, or âje suis allergique aux fruits Ă coqueâ â fruits with a shellâŚ
I know itâs weird, and âcoqueâ is not your favorite French word⌠But you need to get your point across. I would also suggest just naming a few nut names to make the message super clear: âje suis allergique aux fruits Ă coque comme les noix, les pistaches, les cacahuètesââŚ
If like me, you only have a problem with walnut, youâll have to be a bit creative : âje suis allergique aux noix⌠Enfin, seulement aux noix ânoixâ⌠les noix du noyer (walnut tree)⌠pas les pistaches ou autres noixâŚâ
Please be aware that nut allergy is much less common in France than it is in the US for example, so people are much less aware of this problem, and therefore less cautious.
3 â Nuts and Walnuts in French
Nuts as a family is âles noixâ. Then walnuts are âles noixâ as well⌠So how do you differenciate them?
Me for example, Iâm sensitive to walnuts, but not to other nuts. Iâd have to say something a bit complicated like âje nâaime pas les noix, enfin, les noix exactement : jâaime bien tous les autres types de noix comme les noisettes, les pistachesâŚ
Now letâs see another confusing French word: how to translate chestnut in French
4 â Chestnut in French
We use both âune châtaigneâ and âun marronâ to describe an edible kind of ânutâ: chestnutâŚ
Well, actually chestnuts are not nuts either : they are not part of the tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews) nor the peanuts family, so if you are allergic to nuts, you may not have problems with chestnuts.
Nuts right??
All this is very confusing indeed. So letâs dig deeper.

5 â Une Châtaigne = Chestnut
The chestnut tree produces a fruit which is edible. There are usually several little nuts in one pod.
You usually roast them and then carefully peel the steaming hot shell off and eat the inside. In French cities, especially around Christmas time, youâll sometimes still find people selling hot chestnuts out in the street. Itâs one of these very old traditions.
Now, chestnuts have been cultivated and selected to produce one single larger fruit. Itâs then called âun marronâ.
So both words âune châtaigneâ and âun marronâ are used for food, although âmarronâ seems to prevail a bit : âune dinde aux marronsâ, âdes marrons glacĂŠsâ, âde la crème de marronâ.
6 â Un Marron dâInde = Horse Chestnut
So now letâs complicate everything a bit⌠There is yet another kind of fruit, quite similar to the chestnut, but poisonous. Itâs called âa horse chestnutâ in English, âun marron dâindeâ in French, or âun marronâ for short.
And the plot thickens.
Imagine how confusing this is to French kids⌠They play with cute brown and round âmarronâ in the schoolyard (âles marronniersâ are very popular trees in France with their tall white or pink flowers) but then are told to be careful because they are poisonous. And then back home, for desert, they are handed âde la crème de marronââŚ

7 â âChâtaigne ou Marronâ Video
When I was on vacation in the Ardèche region of France, there were chestnut trees (âdes châtaignersâ) everywhere. This region is famous for them and produces a lot of chestnut products.
So during one of my walks, I improvised an âeveryday spoken Frenchâ video â check it out, turn the CC on if youâd like (bottom right CC option and then choose between French and English with the wheel).
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