What does “barquette” mean in French?

A barquette is the small open tub or punnet fruit and other groceries are sold in: une barquette de fraises is a basket of strawberries. The word is the diminutive of barque, “small boat,” so the container is named for its boat-like shape. It is one of the everyday measure-words French uses instead of just counting: you buy a barquette of strawberries the way you buy a plaquette of butter or a pot of yoghurt.

French groups groceries into vivid little quantity words: une plaquette de beurre (a flat slab of butter), un pot de confiture (a jar of jam), une bouteille (a bottle). Watch for the same boat root in cooking: a barquette is also a small boat-shaped tart shell, so the word can land on your plate as dessert as well as in your fridge.