293 replies to this topic

[Tri2Cook]

How is Mascarpone not on this list?

Ah, yes... good ol' "mars-capone". I wonder if it's related to Al?

[BarbaraY]

"But the one that really gets me is the "hal-a-PEE-no." It's such a common ingredient now. Seems like folks could have picked up on the correct pronunciation ages ago."

This is one of my pet peeves, too.

The other is calling Chiles Rellenos Chile Rellanos. I once pointed out the mistake to a young person. She got downright snotty about it and declared that that was the way her grandma said it. I think not.
Nearly everyone I know around says these words incorrectly.

[ruthcooks]

What about scone/skawn? When it seems everyone is saying things wrong, you might as well give up and join 'em, lest "they" make you feel stupid.

[cmling]

An English friend of mine who really should know told me "skawn" is the more posh pronunciation.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I learned scone as "skoon" from my Scots grannie. Skawn is the posh British pronunciation, and it was frowned upon in her kitchen (from whence fabulous scones often emanated).

[Hassouni]

Scone rhymes with gone

[MikeHartnett]

"But the one that really gets me is the "hal-a-PEE-no." It's such a common ingredient now. Seems like folks could have picked up on the correct pronunciation ages ago."

The one that gets me is pronouncing habanero as though there's a tilde over the "n" when there isn't. This one's to the point where you end up looking dumb if you pronounce it correctly.

[cmling]

Thanks for pointing out a mistake I have been guilty of making! Now that I understand the derivation as well, it won't happen again.

[teapot]

I was buying boots at Nordstrom's the other day and I requested seeing them in cognac. The salesperson said "oh, you mean the
cog-nack."

A waiter at a wine tasting restaurant served me, with great pomp, a billicart salmon (beyaCAR saMONE)and pronounced it "Billie cart salmon"

Two others that get horribly abused:
Haricot verts
Guacamole

[conifer]

For those who insist on pronouncing "chorizo" with the "z" sounding like the soft spanish "th", please be aware that it is only pronounced that way in Spain, and only in certain parts of spain at that. A non-native speaker using that soft "z" theta sound is amazingly grating to the ear of many native speakers from outside of Spain - and the majority of native speakers are NOT from Spain.
The amount of times I hear "pa - ell - a" instead of "pa - ay - ya" never ceases to amaze me. The English seem particularly prone to this, for some reason.

[Hassouni]

Regarding Noilly Prat, French orthography rules dictate and Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia....iki/Noilly_Prat) that it's nwa-yee praa.

[cmling]

As this thread is about accuracy with an occasional dash of pedantry (I am referring to myself, of course), I am constrained to state:

haricots verts
Billecart-Salmon

Edited by cmling, 04 December 2011 - 04:41 PM.

[BetD]

Meritage......

waiters love to "correct" this one, and, as Wiki puts it, "Frenchify the word"

( from Wikipedia - "Although many people, including many wine experts, have a tendency to Frenchify the word "Meritage" by pronouncing its last syllable with a "zh" sound, as in "garage," the Meritage Alliance specifically states that the word should be pronounced to rhyme with "heritage.")

[gfweb]

The French have a ministry to assure that foreign words are Frenchified. A non french food term would not be pronounced according to the language of its home, but rather in a frenchy way.

The consensus of this thread is that they are wrong to do this, no?

[Prawncrackers]

Regarding Noilly Prat, French orthography rules dictate and Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia....iki/Noilly_Prat) that it's nwa-yee praa.

This is absolutely wrong, it's as Blether pronounces it rhyming with oily cat. Dear old Rick Stein went to where they made it and got it straight from the horses mouth. He'd been using the stuff for decades and had been wondering how to pronounce it for that long too. So he was mightily relieved to find out from the actual head honcho.

[Hassouni]

According to this video, which is in French, it's nwayee praht with a hard T, which is unconventional for French. But it's not n-oily!

Edited by Hassouni, 04 December 2011 - 07:55 PM.

[nikkib]

Foie Gras
Brouilly
Onglet

Amongst many others - tortillas and fajitas used to be a big one 5-10 years ago too. Working in a restaurant I have to be honest, I try to ensure the staff don't correct the guests pronunciation unless they are struggling with it or ask. My feeling is that you should never embarrass a guest in this respect, as long as we serve the correct dish that's all that matters. Guests that are interested and want to know the correct pronunciation on the other hand are often few and far between.

[phatj]

According to this video, which is in French, it's nwayee praht with a hard T, which is unconventional for French. But it's not n-oily!

The Wikipedia article you cited earlier corroborates this, actually.

Perhaps the Prat name was not originally French.

[Hassouni]

According to this video, which is in French, it's nwayee praht with a hard T, which is unconventional for French. But it's not n-oily!

The Wikipedia article you cited earlier corroborates this, actually.

Perhaps the Prat name was not originally French.

Yeah I just noticed Wiki has a t. I suspect the name may be from Occitan/Provençal, the traditional language of that part of France, which is sort of an intermediary between French and Spanish (Catalan is closely related).



(by the way does anybody else think that sauce he makes in the video is a bit smothering for such nice looking steamed fish?)

Edited by Hassouni, 04 December 2011 - 09:32 PM.

[Hassouni]

Foie Gras
Brouilly
Onglet

Amongst many others - tortillas and fajitas used to be a big one 5-10 years ago too. Working in a restaurant I have to be honest, I try to ensure the staff don't correct the guests pronunciation unless they are struggling with it or ask. My feeling is that you should never embarrass a guest in this respect, as long as we serve the correct dish that's all that matters. Guests that are interested and want to know the correct pronunciation on the other hand are often few and far between.

Well, for those that may be wondering

Fwaa Graa (French guttural R again)
Broo-yee (see above re: R) (though I've never heard of this, I'm only basing it on how I'd say it in French)

As or onglet, the on- is the hard part to describe. The N, once again, is not a hard N, just a nasalization of the O, and the whole sound is like a very short "o" or a more rounded "aw"...really no equivalent in English that I can think of. The -glet rhymes with "gray"

so sort...oawn-glay

[Prawncrackers]

According to this video, which is in French, it's nwayee praht with a hard T, which is unconventional for French. But it's not n-oily!

So this is just another dude pronouncing a name incorrectly, he just happens to be French. I've heard the boss and employees of the company on two separate TV shows (one Rick Stein, the other James Martin) confirm that it does rhyme with oily cat. It could be that they have a particular habit of misinforming celebrity chefs from the UK but these shows, particularly Rick Steins, are watched by millions so they would be shooting themselves in the foot! They have a phone number 0033467777520, why don't you ask them yourself?

Going back to Parmigiana, how about dropping the last syllable - Parmagian, making it sound like Parma John. Most commonly heard on Top Chef - "So like I hit it up with a little Parma John!!".

[GlorifiedRice]

How is Mascarpone not on this list?

God, yes!

Caprial Pence says it MAR SKIP OHN.
Drove me nuts

[ChrisN]

The level of linguistic knowledge on this thread is disgraceful, but please go on...

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Enlighten us, oh great guru.

[olicollett]

I expect the pronounciation of Noilly Prat relates to the history of the Noilly name in a similar way to why the Moët in Moët & Chandon is pronounced with Mow-et, rather than Mow-ay. Just a guess though..

[Hassouni]

I expect the pronounciation of Noilly Prat relates to the history of the Noilly name in a similar way to why the Moët in Moët & Chandon is pronounced with Mow-et, rather than Mow-ay. Just a guess though..

Don't tell Freddie Mercury! "She keeps the Mow-ay & Chandon in a pretty cabinet...."

[KaffeeKlatsch]

Don't tell Freddie Mercury! "She keeps the Mow-ay & Chandon in a pretty cabinet...."

If you're talking to Freddie Mercury, I would be a little concerned.

[Jaymes]

The level of linguistic knowledge on this thread is disgraceful, but please go on...

I'm frankly not sure I even understand what this means. And am pretty sure that whatever it means, it's not helpful to the discussion.

I don't know which category - i.e. which level of "disgrace" - I was/am in, but I've learned a lot from this thread.

And I appreciate it.

[Hassouni]

The level of linguistic knowledge on this thread is disgraceful, but please go on...

I'm frankly not sure I even understand what this means. And am pretty sure that whatever it means, it's not helpful to the discussion.

I don't know which category - i.e. which level of "disgrace" - I was/am in, but I've learned a lot from this thread.

And I appreciate it.

Yeah I'm not sure what that means either...

[gfweb]

Eh. I think its not such a big deal if a proper Italian says "prosciutto" and my deli guy says "proshute". I think Giada's exaggerated Italian pronunciations are comical and past the point of proper diction eg her "maaas-car-pon-aay".

I'll take an honest "proshute" over a pretentious "maaas-car-pon-aaay" any day.

Edited by gfweb, 05 December 2011 - 10:48 AM.