Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
"île flottante"
English translation:
leave it in French, with a few words of explanation if absolutely necessary
French term
"ile flottante"
| 4 +13 | leave it in French, with a few words of explanation if absolutely necessary |
philgoddard
|
| 5 +2 | floating islands |
Noni Gilbert Riley
|
| 3 +1 | floating island |
Tristan Jimenez
|
Oct 18, 2012 17:36: philgoddard Created KOG entry
Non-PRO (1): cc in nyc
When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.
How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:
An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)
A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).
Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.
When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.
* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.
Proposed translations
United States
Six languages into flawless English
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 4 more.
leave it in French, with a few words of explanation if absolutely necessary
| I was rather leaning towards this myself -- and your answers confirmed my 'basic' instincts. No problem about the circumflex, that was a 'faute de frappe' (typo). Re giving a short explanation : not really possible on a menu, where dishes are by nature one-liners. We'll leave that to the waiter in a 2-star place! |
| I have tried to select this answer as the best one, several times, but cannot find the right box to click! So, until technical help arrives, this is my way of choosing phil goddard's answer as the best one. |
| agree |
Veronica Coquard
: Took the answer out of my mouth! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Île_flottante
0 min
|
|
Yes, and I think Wikipedia's definition, meringue floating on crème anglaise, would be a good explanation if needed.
|
|
| agree |
Tony M
: I agree: for a top-notch ** restaurant, it would be silly to translate, but an explanation is often welcome, if done tactfully and tastefully. For such up-market stuff, really need to agree this in advance with the customer.
6 mins
|
|
I quite agree.
|
|
| agree |
cc in nyc
10 mins
|
| agree |
Katie Moore
: "Îles flottantes (floating islands) are the perfect finish to any rich meal." is how the BBC food website describes them. The title of the recipe is just Iles Flottantes with the description underneath. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/les_flottantes_300
12 mins
|
| agree |
Kate Collyer
: Michelin-starred restaurants do tend to leave titles in French throughout.
15 mins
|
|
Maybe the asker shouldn't be translating it at all!
|
|
| agree |
JaneD
16 mins
|
| agree |
emiledgar
27 mins
|
| agree |
Noni Gilbert Riley
: Either French or English, but prob French best in this context.
1 hr
|
| agree |
sporran
1 hr
|
| agree |
S Kelly
2 hrs
|
| agree |
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
: French.
3 hrs
|
| agree |
Sarah Bessioud
5 hrs
|
| agree |
James Perry
5 hrs
|
floating island
"A floating island is a French dessert consisting of meringue floating on crème anglaise (a vanilla custard). The meringues are prepared from whipped egg whites, sugar and vanilla extract then quickly poached. The crème anglaise is prepared with the egg yolks, vanilla, and hot milk, briefly cooked."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_island_(dessert)
Spain
The translator people turn to
Native in: English (Variant: UK) 
Works in: Spanish to English, French to Spanish, English, and 1 more.
floating islands
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&biw=1517&bih=740&tbm=is...
| agree |
jmleger
: I vote for you, being understood that you invite me to try one of those floating islands. I know, I can't equal my mom's grilled pepper salad.
6 mins
|
|
Ha ha! Actually, my mother's are better than mine...
|
|
| agree |
Yolanda Broad
1 hr
|
|
Thanks Yolanda.
|
Discussion
Cf. also plenty of professional culinary textbooks here in France, where the meringue may not actually be 'cooked' at all, simply caramelized a bit with the blowlamp.
http://cookbkjj.com/bookhtml/001948.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq9qsSP0DrQ
http://cuisine.larousse.fr/recettes/detail/meringue-francais...
For the recipe of "île flottante" I add caramel topping to eggs beaten, but some could prefer to poach or grill them a bit but certainly not up to the dry solid that I call "meringue"
"meringue noun. an item of sweet food made from egg whites and sugar and baked until crisp." (COED 11th)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/dining/ile-flottante-with-...
A part ça je l'ai déjà vue sur des cartes de restaurant anglais ou américains en version originale