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ai ferri

kellytree

By kellytree
in Italy: Cooking & Baking

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kellytree

kellytree

Posted
Posted (edited)

Howdy. I am translating a menu from Italian to English.

One of the dishes is "Entrecote ai ferri ..... generally it seems that ai ferri is translated as grilled but that just seems wrong to me ( but what do I know??)

ai ferri should be when they just throw the meat in a very hot pan ... punto e basta...

What is the correct term in English?

Seared?

--- what about alle piastra?

One more thing - a lot of things, tagliolini for example are tagliolini in any language - do you think it is helpful or stupid to put in parenthesis (long thin strips of noodles) or do I just assume that EVERYONE knows what they are?

Edited by kellytree (log)
Maureen B. Fant

Maureen B. Fant

Posted
Posted (edited)
Howdy. I am translating a menu from Italian to English.

One of the dishes is "Entrecote ai ferri ..... generally it seems that ai ferri is translated as grilled but that just seems wrong to me ( but what do I know??)

ai ferri should be when they just throw the meat in a very hot pan ... punto e basta...

What is the correct term in English?

Seared?

--- what about alle piastra?

One more thing - a lot of things, tagliolini for example are tagliolini in any language - do you think it is helpful or stupid to put in parenthesis (long thin strips of noodles) or do I just assume that EVERYONE knows what they are?

For translation purposes both ai ferri and alla piastra are "grilled." I don't think everybody knows what tagliolini are, but I think they can ask a waiter. If translation were needed, "thin noodles" or even "narrow tagliatelle" would be sufficient.

Seared is scottato.

Edited by Maureen B. Fant (log)

Maureen B. Fant
www.maureenbfant.com

www.elifanttours.com

Maureen B. Fant

Maureen B. Fant

Posted
Posted (edited)
For translation purposes both ai ferri and alla piastra are "grilled."

Hm. I always thought ai ferri means "grilled", while alla piastra means "griddled" (as "a la plancha" in Spanish).

Now I know what a la plancha means!

Ferri, brace, piastra are indeed all different, but these terms (like many Italian food terms) can be thrown around sort of loosely, and for the purposes of translating a menu, "grilled" covers most eventualities. Piastra is also used for the ridged grill pan called bistecchiera. And I've found that "alla piastra" is an expression I hear more in home-cooking contexts than in restaurants, though an actual griddle is rarer at home. In any case, the question was about translating on a menu, and I've found, after decades of translating Italian -- and the same is true for any language -- that a Gordian-knot approach often works best where (as on a menu) space and reader attention span may be limited.

Edited by Maureen B. Fant (log)

Maureen B. Fant
www.maureenbfant.com

www.elifanttours.com

tupac17616

tupac17616

Posted
Posted
[...]I've found, after decades of translating Italian -- and the same is true for any language -- that a Gordian-knot approach often works best where (as on a menu) space and reader attention span may be limited.

well put

pocketfork
PaoloF

PaoloF

Posted
Posted

One more thing - a lot of things, tagliolini for example are tagliolini in any language - do you think it is helpful or stupid to put in parenthesis (long thin strips of noodles) or do I just assume that EVERYONE knows what they are?

Many restaurants here in Piemonte use the dialect term "tajarìn" instead of tagliolini, just to emphasize the local tradition that exiges tons of egg-yolks in your home-made dough to achieve the perfect tagliolini: thin but smooth to the palate, paired for example with butter and abundant white truffle or porcini sauce!

I've also eaten tagliolini made with "polenta" flour, delicious with sausage or rabbit livers ragout...

"Mi dispiace - esclamò un Italiano - che non sia peccato bere l'acqua: come sarebbe gustoso!" - "It's a shame -said an Italian- that drinking water isn't a sin: such a delight it should be!"

(G.C. Lichtenberg)

www.buongustotours.com

  • 2 weeks later...
markabauman

markabauman

Posted
Posted

My limited understanding was that "ai ferri" meant barbecued (which is actually grilling, or at least done on a barbecue) as opposed to "alla griglia"- which might refer to being cooked on something like a grill pan, or restaurant grill. What do you think?

Mark A. Bauman

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