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Restaurant/Bar Annoyances

Rosie

By Rosie
in Food Traditions & Culture

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evongvisith

evongvisith

Posted
Posted

I've heard the "au jus" one before, but it was the Arby's chain that was perpetrating it. I'd groan every time I heard their radio commercials for the French Dip sandwich that came "with a cup of hot au jus."

There is no sincerer love than the love of food. -- George Bernard Shaw
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anzu

anzu

Posted
Posted

A North America-wide usage:

entree

It comes from French, is related to the English words entry and enter, and this indicates where it comes in the order of serving. That is: before or while 'entering' the meal. Before the main course, not the main course itself. Think appetizers...

So how to refer to what is termed 'entree' in America? Well, a lot of menus in other English speaking parts of the world will simply call it 'main course'.

Anyone know when and where this started?

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Pan

Pan

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[...]I imagine "au jus" will eventually make it into Webster's as "gravy," the same way "bedroom soot" is now an accepted prononciation for bedroom suite, etc.[...]

It is? I wouldn't have understood the intended meaning of that pronunciation!

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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afn33282

afn33282

Posted
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the same way "bedroom soot" is now an accepted prononciation for bedroom suite, etc.

It is? I wouldn't have understood the intended meaning of that pronunciation!

Believe that. It's on Webster's Online, as, well, 'süt, "a matched set of furniture." But here in the Southeast, we don't quibble about umlauts and such, and "soot" it is. Though I wouldn't be caught dead......

Frau Farbissma: "It's a television commercial! With this cartoon leprechaun! And all of these children are trying to chase him...Hey leprechaun! Leprechaun! We want to get your lucky charms! Haha! Oh, and there's all these little tiny bits of marshmallow just stuck right in the cereal so that when the kids eat them, they think, 'Oh this is candy! I'm having fun!'"
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Carlovski

Carlovski

Posted
Posted
I've heard the "au jus" one before, but it was the Arby's chain that was perpetrating it.  I'd groan every time I heard their radio commercials for the French Dip sandwich that came "with a cup of hot au jus."

Yep, I've seen this in two places now in the UK - one place had of all things a baked potato serverd with 'au jus'.

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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Smithy

Smithy

Posted
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It is very common in the Upper Midwest to see it written thus in the menu:

"Hot French Dip sandwich with au jus"

Until now, I thought that linguistic sin was peculiar to this part of the country.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
Host, eG Forums - nsmith@egstaff.org

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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misstenacity

misstenacity

Posted
Posted

Another linguistic sin is the use of the word "off" in cooking action sentences.

A hilarious rant about it on Fire and Knives.... (scroll down to Frying "off")

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

"You can't taste the beauty and energy of the Earth in a Twinkie." - Astrid Alauda

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Food Lovers' Guide to Santa Fe, Albuquerque & Taos: OMG I wrote a book. Woo!

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afn33282

afn33282

Posted
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Good ones.  I like "shrimp scampi".  isn't scampi well...shrimp?

Actually, I have heard that scampi are actually langoustines, sometimes cooked with garlic, oil/butter, herbs, and maybe wine. "Shrimp scampi" is actually shrimp cooked in the style scampi are typically (?) cooked in. Can any eGullet fact-checkers confirm this one? I should Google, but it's late and I'm tired......... Will edit this embarrassing admission tomorrow after I Google.

Frau Farbissma: "It's a television commercial! With this cartoon leprechaun! And all of these children are trying to chase him...Hey leprechaun! Leprechaun! We want to get your lucky charms! Haha! Oh, and there's all these little tiny bits of marshmallow just stuck right in the cereal so that when the kids eat them, they think, 'Oh this is candy! I'm having fun!'"
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bergerka

bergerka

Posted
Posted

Does it count if I walked past a French place in my neighborhood that shall go unnamed (but is run by actual French people), took a peek at their newly posted menus and noted that they have a $23 "pre-fixe?"

ARRRRRRGH! :angry: :angry: :angry: That one really gets to me.

Yes, I went in and gently informed them they'd spelled it wrong. :blink:

K

Basil endive parmesan shrimp live

Lobster hamster worchester muenster

Caviar radicchio snow pea scampi

Roquefort meat squirt blue beef red alert

Pork hocs side flank cantaloupe sheep shanks

Provolone flatbread goat's head soup

Gruyere cheese angelhair please

And a vichyssoise and a cabbage and a crawfish claws.

--"Johnny Saucep'n," by Moxy Früvous

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Tess

Tess

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Actually, I have heard that scampi are actually langoustines, sometimes cooked with garlic, oil/butter, herbs, and maybe wine.  "Shrimp scampi" is actually shrimp cooked in the style scampi are typically (?) cooked in.  Can any eGullet fact-checkers confirm this one?  I should Google, but it's late and I'm tired.........  Will edit this embarrassing admission tomorrow after I Google.

Steingarten (whom I tend to trust on matters of fact) said something to the effect of scampi actually being langoustines in his recent essay on raw fish in Vogue. I don't have the copy here so I can't give you an exact quotation. It's the issue with Salma Hayek on the cover.

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Nick Soapdish

Nick Soapdish

Posted
Posted
This phenomenon made me start my wee company (see my sig).

"With au jus" "grilled to perfection" and "chipolte" are my biggest peeves.

those are big ones for me too. I hate it when I hear people and especially chefs say chipolte. I've even had people try to correct me when I say it right.

I hear lot of people say "harbaneros" and "marscapone" and "parpadelle", all pretty annoying too.

ns

There's nothing like a pork belly to steady the nerves - Fergus Henderson

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Matthew Grant

Matthew Grant

Posted
Posted
Hey eGullet,

I have heard a few funnies in restaurants..........Another one was a go-getter restauranteur who went on and on ...........

While we're talking about pronunciation and spelling I think you'll find that's restaurateur

:raz::biggrin:

"Why would we want Children? What do they know about food?"

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Tess

Tess

Posted
Posted
Oh, and did I mention the same fellow kept talking about his restaurant's "steak ah pwah?"  Webster's again:  O-'pwäv(r&) 

I'm not a French speaker even though I was married to one-- I just find that language impossible to pronounce. Still, I find it very funny that people think the way to pronounce it is invariably to chop off the last few letters, as in "vichyswah." OK, if you don't know how to pronounce something, take a stab at it, but if you have to say it ten times a day, you might as well figure out how it's pronounced. And the absolute worst is if you say, "I'll have the vichyssoise [approximately right pronunciation]" and they say, "vichySWAH," like they're correcting you.

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Arey

Arey

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Early this Spring, the California Asparagus I bought had a recipe attached, for "Spring Primavera". You really have to overcook the asparagus to coil it properly and even then it tends to spring open and send the fusilli bouncing all over the place.

"A fool", he said, "would have swallowed it". Samuel Johnson

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*Deborah*

*Deborah*

Posted
Posted
Actually, I have heard that scampi are actually langoustines, sometimes cooked with garlic, oil/butter, herbs, and maybe wine.  "Shrimp scampi" is actually shrimp cooked in the style scampi are typically (?) cooked in.  Can any eGullet fact-checkers confirm this one?  I should Google, but it's late and I'm tired.........  Will edit this embarrassing admission tomorrow after I Google.

Steingarten (whom I tend to trust on matters of fact) said something to the effect of scampi actually being langoustines in his recent essay on raw fish in Vogue. I don't have the copy here so I can't give you an exact quotation. It's the issue with Salma Hayek on the cover.

That's my understanding, that scampi refers to the method of preparation in most cases. This is something I've learned over the years, though, and I have no source to cite.

Agenda-free since 1966.

Foodblog: Power, Convection and Lies

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Daddy-A

Daddy-A

Posted
Posted
Ah, but we Israelis have probably topped it off with the by now famous story of the cabinet minister who, when dining at the well known French restaurant "Casbah" (now defunct) ordered his steak tartare "well done"!!!

That reminds me of an early episode of the series "Red Dwarf" where Rimmer sends his gazpacho to the kitchen because it's "bloddy stone cold!"

How about "forno oven"? Doesn't that mean oven-oven?

A.

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afn33282

afn33282

Posted
Posted
While we're talking about pronunciation and spelling I think you'll find that's restaurateur

:raz:  :biggrin:

Whew! Checked Webster's Online and got this, Apparently, both are acceptable variations, though I couldn't say if my spelling is a modern interloper, a la "soot." Ah...yes...as I am now reading that it says this English word is from the French "restaurateur," it looks as though that is the case. Thanks for the heads-up.

Frau Farbissma: "It's a television commercial! With this cartoon leprechaun! And all of these children are trying to chase him...Hey leprechaun! Leprechaun! We want to get your lucky charms! Haha! Oh, and there's all these little tiny bits of marshmallow just stuck right in the cereal so that when the kids eat them, they think, 'Oh this is candy! I'm having fun!'"
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chile_peppa

chile_peppa

Posted
Posted

I've seen al'fredo, allfreddo, al'freddo, al Fredo, al'Fredo, and other variations of alfredo. I'm expecting to come across "al Frodo" next.

"It is a fact that he once made a tray of spanakopita using Pam rather than melted butter. Still, though, at least he tries." -- David Sedaris
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