Problem
I was sent details of a half price offer for The Don restaurant in London. I clicked on menu and although I speak fluent French, so I think, I found trouble translating a lot of terms. I'm fine with hors d'oevre for starters. I can tell you that the words are French and literally mean 'outside of (the main) work'.
But I was baffled by b a l l o t i n e. What is escabeche? Does broth mean soup, a clear soup, or meat soup, or what? And parfait - how thick is it. I recognize broth and parfait but, I would like to scan a menu and make a quick decision, or give a precise definition to help another diner make a quick choice when a waiter is hovering with a pencil ready to write your order. So what are they?
My family expert gives these definitions. I suggest you check online and ask the waiter.
Menu / French/Foreign word - English / Explanation (alphabetically - not in menu order)
B
b a l l o t i n e - pressed (meat) preserved with a seal of air proof and waterproof and fly proof cover on the top or outside, sealed with usually clear aspic, looks like gelatine
blini - Russian for thin pancake, often served wrapped into a long roll around soured cream
bouillabaisse - fish soup of the style served in the seaside city of Marseilles
broth - soup made with some meat and scraps of vegetables, not as much meat as a casserole
C
caramelised - sugar, cooked to turn brown
carpaccio - Italian sliced salami or thin meat, ham
chorizo - Spanish, the z pronounced like the English TH, col cut, sliced cold pork sausage
confit - pressed
consommé - clear soup
crème fraiche - literally cream fresh or fresh cream (the French put the adjective afterwards), a thick sour cream
E
endive - spiky lettuce
escabeche - from the Persian word, a sweet and sour sauce such as fish or meat marinated in vinegar with perhaps lemon, left overnight, served cold.
F
fillet - meat or fish with bone removed
foie gras - gras means grease, French, literally liver fat meaning fat liver,
G
girolle - type of mushroom with a long stem
J
jus - juice or sauce from the meat
L
langoustine - shellfish, a kind of prawn. smaller than a lobster but larger than a prawn
linguini - pasta
Manchego cheese - Spanish cheese from La Mancha, the big dry plain south of Madrid, may be a breed of sheep, cheese made from milk of ewes (the males do not produce milk); hot areas have more sheep, rather than cows
mousse - frothy and spongy with holes or bubbles like a whipped s o u f f l é, but cold, not cooked, can be savoury or sweet dessert
P
pain - bread
panna cotta - Italian for cooked cream, like a blancmange, usually made with gelatine
parfait - could be savoury such as a chicken liver parfait but usually a dessert of cooked cream, eggs sugar and syrup like a custard
pain perdu - literally bread lost, or lost bread, with the egg lost soaking into the bread before being cooked or the bread hidden under the egg, fried
poulet noir - breed of chicken with black skin
purée - liquidised
S
scallop - shellfish (Do not confuse scallop with shallot which is a mushroom SH in Shallot. I use the memory aid: S for shellfish C for can't. S C allop with a 'c' - means 'Can't' eat it, if allergic to shellfish.)
sorbet - water ice (as opposed to an ice cream which should have milk and/or cream)
soufflé - whipped up like a candy floss and cooked so it rises and looks solid on top but full of holes like a sponge or candy floss underneath, considered a challenge because you have to watch it to be sure it rises and sets without sinking again, generally a showpiece dish
supreme - in sauce
T
tartar / tartare - raw, uncooked (often minced or ground meat, but can be anything else)
Tickle more - place name of Dairy where it was first made, goat's English hard cheese, with small holes, Cheddar style - says my tame expert
V
velouté - French for velvety?, smooth texture sauce
veronique - white or lemon sauce? with grapes
vinaigrette - vinegar and oil mixed into a sauce or dressing, often for salad
Foreign Words, Spell Checker And Accents
On this website and in other places the spell checker changes a lot of words from foreign languages into the English equivalent. In Word you can have your computer set to more than one language. I shall try to fix this.
Tips
The Don Restaurant
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I have many more equally useful and entertaining posts on languages, restaurants and places to visit. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.
I was sent details of a half price offer for The Don restaurant in London. I clicked on menu and although I speak fluent French, so I think, I found trouble translating a lot of terms. I'm fine with hors d'oevre for starters. I can tell you that the words are French and literally mean 'outside of (the main) work'.
But I was baffled by b a l l o t i n e. What is escabeche? Does broth mean soup, a clear soup, or meat soup, or what? And parfait - how thick is it. I recognize broth and parfait but, I would like to scan a menu and make a quick decision, or give a precise definition to help another diner make a quick choice when a waiter is hovering with a pencil ready to write your order. So what are they?
My family expert gives these definitions. I suggest you check online and ask the waiter.
Menu / French/Foreign word - English / Explanation (alphabetically - not in menu order)
B
b a l l o t i n e - pressed (meat) preserved with a seal of air proof and waterproof and fly proof cover on the top or outside, sealed with usually clear aspic, looks like gelatine
blini - Russian for thin pancake, often served wrapped into a long roll around soured cream
bouillabaisse - fish soup of the style served in the seaside city of Marseilles
broth - soup made with some meat and scraps of vegetables, not as much meat as a casserole
C
caramelised - sugar, cooked to turn brown
carpaccio - Italian sliced salami or thin meat, ham
chorizo - Spanish, the z pronounced like the English TH, col cut, sliced cold pork sausage
confit - pressed
consommé - clear soup
crème fraiche - literally cream fresh or fresh cream (the French put the adjective afterwards), a thick sour cream
E
endive - spiky lettuce
escabeche - from the Persian word, a sweet and sour sauce such as fish or meat marinated in vinegar with perhaps lemon, left overnight, served cold.
F
fillet - meat or fish with bone removed
foie gras - gras means grease, French, literally liver fat meaning fat liver,
G
girolle - type of mushroom with a long stem
J
jus - juice or sauce from the meat
L
langoustine - shellfish, a kind of prawn. smaller than a lobster but larger than a prawn
linguini - pasta
Manchego cheese - Spanish cheese from La Mancha, the big dry plain south of Madrid, may be a breed of sheep, cheese made from milk of ewes (the males do not produce milk); hot areas have more sheep, rather than cows
mousse - frothy and spongy with holes or bubbles like a whipped s o u f f l é, but cold, not cooked, can be savoury or sweet dessert
P
pain - bread
panna cotta - Italian for cooked cream, like a blancmange, usually made with gelatine
parfait - could be savoury such as a chicken liver parfait but usually a dessert of cooked cream, eggs sugar and syrup like a custard
pain perdu - literally bread lost, or lost bread, with the egg lost soaking into the bread before being cooked or the bread hidden under the egg, fried
poulet noir - breed of chicken with black skin
purée - liquidised
S
scallop - shellfish (Do not confuse scallop with shallot which is a mushroom SH in Shallot. I use the memory aid: S for shellfish C for can't. S C allop with a 'c' - means 'Can't' eat it, if allergic to shellfish.)
sorbet - water ice (as opposed to an ice cream which should have milk and/or cream)
soufflé - whipped up like a candy floss and cooked so it rises and looks solid on top but full of holes like a sponge or candy floss underneath, considered a challenge because you have to watch it to be sure it rises and sets without sinking again, generally a showpiece dish
supreme - in sauce
T
tartar / tartare - raw, uncooked (often minced or ground meat, but can be anything else)
Tickle more - place name of Dairy where it was first made, goat's English hard cheese, with small holes, Cheddar style - says my tame expert
V
velouté - French for velvety?, smooth texture sauce
veronique - white or lemon sauce? with grapes
vinaigrette - vinegar and oil mixed into a sauce or dressing, often for salad
Foreign Words, Spell Checker And Accents
On this website and in other places the spell checker changes a lot of words from foreign languages into the English equivalent. In Word you can have your computer set to more than one language. I shall try to fix this.
Tips
The Don Restaurant
The Don,
20 St Swithin's Lane,
London EC4N 8AD.
Tel: 020 826 2606.
www.thedonrestaurant.com
A La Carte is currently (July 2017) 50% off to introduce their new chef.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I have many more equally useful and entertaining posts on languages, restaurants and places to visit. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment