English to French translation

Cookery terms

December 23, 2008

I love watching cookery programs, which are very popular in the UK. I particularly enjoy listening to the colourful language used by TV chefs and the way it is peppered with French words and expressions. I’ve picked three that I heard over the weekend and that I liked.

Bain-marie
The narrator said that a bain-marie was "a fancy word for a pan full of water". Which is exactly right. You then put a container with the food, which is heated gently and gradually. Who was Marie?
The device's invention is popularly attributed to Mary the Jewess, an ancient alchemist traditionally supposed to have been Miriam, a sister of Moses and who invented or improved this technique with a vase called κηροτακίς. The name comes from the medieval-Latin term balneum Mariae — literally, Mary's bath — from which the French bain de Marie, or bain-marie, is derived.

Cartouche
A cartouche is a circle of paper that is put on top of a sauce to stop a skin forming.
Borrowed from Italian cartoccio (carta "paper" and diminutive –occio) or "paper cornet")

Ballotine
A ballotine is a piece of meat that has been boned, stuffed and then rolled and tied into a bundle before being cooked.
Derived from ballot(t)e, a cookery term coming from ballot, derived from balle, "box of merchandise"

As I was looking for a good cookery glossary and failed, I came across this video, which shows us how things can go horribly wrong when American ladies don’t understand cooking terms like "stir" and "boil". Priceless.

I probably won’t be blogging till the new year now, but I’ll see you in January. Have a good break everyone!

Comments

Bonjour,
If you understand "l'accent québécois" I suggest this 3 min video by "les recycleurs". Very funny!
Enjoy :)
http://www.lesrecycleurs.com/clips.php?id=16&categorie=0&page=1&sort=0

(click on the green arrow to start movie)

Don't forget 'ramequin' (or little round bowl)

Thanks Celine, it's great!!!
By the way did you find the glossary?

No, but I'd love to. I might look for one in a good old-fashioned shop. You know, the ones that are too hot and full of people.

Yes, nice places, too :)

May I ask what kind of glossary are you looking for? (In english or french, about cooking in general or on an "ethnic" (read any) cuisine).

I might have/suggest a book or help with a specific term :)

Mara

Ideally, an English or French glossary of general cookery terms. Any ideas?

Hello Celine,
here you'll find a few food glossaries I use when translating: http://delicious.com/miciamara/food+glossari
They are far (quite far) from perfect (I use more than one together..).
On paper, glossaries are usually "technical" (like Glossary for the Food Industries). A general cookery glossary make me think of a very good cookbook :)
But check also: The Oxford Companion to Food (Oxford Companions, 2006.)

Hello Céline,

I really enjoy your blog: it's one of my favourite stops in cyberspace.

Here's a link to a fairly exhaustive French/English food glossary by cookbook writer and restaurant critic Patricia Wells:

http://www.patriciawells.com/glossary/atoz/glossary.htm

Lakshmi

Mara and Lakshmi, thanks a lot.

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