Arroser

Does this also apply to spooning oil on a slice of fish to make the outer surface slightly crispy and to seal in the fish's moisture (while frying)?

Thanks to James Martin, the answer to this question is to 'nappe'. In cooking, nappe refers to either the ability of a liquid to "coat the back of a spoon" or the act of coating a food (e.g. to nappe a leg of lamb with glaze).

I've heard it called au Feuille, but that's in kitchens in the southeast US, so who knows if it is accurate. Seared, finished with whole thyme and basted with butter in the pan just for the last 5 min or so

Hope this helps:

Arroser (ah row zay) To baste; the wetting of meat or fish with a liquid or fat during or after cooking.

Poêler (po e lay) To pan-fry; to cook an element in a frying pan over high heat with minimal oil.

True indeed...darkly browned butter with acid (lemon juice, vinegar) added to finish.
I was playing on the noir/burned thing that sometimes happens when doing the basting technique discussed when your pan get too hot. :-)
I'm not sure that you'd baste anything with beurre noir.

FYI- There are classic dishes that call for "beurre noir" stage. Not sure what was meant just thought I would add that.

If your beurre is noir, you've burned it. :-)
Buerre Noisette (noir = black, noisette = hazelnut-colored), could be the fat with which you are basting...could also be olive oil, duck fat, etc...but the technique of washing it over the protein is "arroser" or "basting".

Aren't we talking about "brown butter" here? Beurre noir?

The French word for "to baste" is "arroser" (ah-roh-SAY). It more often means "to water" (as in a garden), but this is the word that is used. I'm pretty sure it is the same whether you are basting something roasting in an oven or in a pan.

Brandon-Glad your here-theres no shame in becomeing a foodpickle addict-congratulations on your new hobby! I think you'll find a lot of good advice and good people giving it as well as input from the food editors time to time-which is always good advice!

thanks guys, im dangerously close to becoming a food pickle addict

The term parle or parler- I've heard french chefs say many things to describe the art of saute. Sometimes they use passionate words like parler to refer to the sound of the sizzle. Or use the bizou or bisou bisou for basting as if thier saying kiss or small kiss and sometimes a reference to a kiss from the gods. But I do not think it is a culinary term you are looking for as the word for basting is baster. Just chiming in with my .02 cents.

I just had to google that . . . sorry I don't have an answer for your butter basting question
http://www.europeancuisines.com/France-Pets-De-Soeur-Pets-De-Nonne-Nun-Farts

Got it (nun farts? really?), and I tried finding it for you, but all I got was baste. Sorry.

yes I know that but I thought it might some crazy french thing like the butter is speaking to my steak like the little doughnuts pet de nonne are nun farts and vols au vent are windblown. ya know? ive been trying to find the answer to this question forever

Parler means "to speak" in French.