Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

jus de crustacés

English translation:

shellfish jus

Added to glossary by Tony M
Mar 25, 2017 09:40
7 yrs ago
4 viewers *
French term

jus de crustacés

Non-PRO French to English Other Cooking / Culinary menu
Hello,

This is from a brasserie menu la carte in Brittany,

"Risotto de Gambas, jus de crustacés"

shellfish juice/sauce?

Thank you.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 shellfish jus
3 +1 seafood jus
Change log

Apr 3, 2017 15:41: Tony M Created KOG entry

Proposed translations

+5
35 mins
Selected

shellfish jus

The FR word 'jus' is widely accepted these days in 'posh' food circles — though I still put it in italics when I can.

Never 'juice' — unless it is a fruit juice or something; otherwise 'cooking juices' (but not really suitable for use on a menu).

Strictly speaking, technically, a 'jus' is not the same as a 'sauce', in culinary terms; however, in 'not-posh' EN, you might get away with that, in the simpler sense of 'something runny to accompany the other ingredients'. Though even that can be quite misleading, since often it is just three minuscule blobs decorating the plate!


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Note added at 6 heures (2017-03-25 16:11:49 GMT)
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Just to reassure Asker: although not zoologically accurate, 'shellfish' in EN and 'crustacés' in FR are both used in culinary contexts to refer to ALL types of 'seafood' — one of the problems being that there is no everyday word for the other non-crustacean type of seafood, so we can't say "seafood comprises 2 broad groups, shellfish and ????" Although technically accurate, 'crustaceans' is not commonly seen in culinary texts (certainly not on menus!)

After all, to the lay reader, even a crustacean has a 'shell', so it doesn't seem as shocking as it no doubt does to a zoologist!

The trouble with 'seafood' is that it is interpreted more or less widely by different people — if we want to be pedantic, even ordinary fish is strictly speaking 'seafood'!
Peer comment(s):

agree Carol Gullidge : Yep, and I don't think you need bother with italics, as it is so widespread nowadays. Cf countless recipes for jus, including shellfish jus!//nor me! But then, in my case, that was a long time ago!
11 mins
Thanks, Carol! OK, it's always a moot point, really, which words have been assimilated and which still haven't. When I started eating out in French restaurants back in the UK, you wouldn't have seen this word at all... but I know that has changed now!
agree Victoria Britten
2 hrs
Thanks, Victoria!
agree Mark Nathan : a jus is a specific kind of sauce
2 hrs
Thanks Mark! In fact, in FR terms, it's not even a sauce at all.
agree Sarah Bessioud
4 hrs
Merci, Sarah !
agree philgoddard : Here in the States they very often call it an "au jus", which is one of my pet hates. They also say "chaise lounge".
5 hrs
Thnaks, Phil! Quelle horreur !
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you all for the much appreciated help :)"
+1
4 hrs

seafood jus

Not being fussy, but strictly speaking crustacés are not shellfish (they are crustaceans, e.g. crabs, lobsters, prawns etc, not mussels, whelks, cockles etc)! So maybe "seafood" a better option - indeed this is what Larousse says - http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais-anglais/crusta...
Peer comment(s):

neutral Tony M : In culinary terms, 'shellfish' is commonly used to cover all of these categories, and is a safer word to use inasmuch as it may alert people to a potential allergy hazard; we don't know what was meant in FR, it's often used equally imprecisely
1 hr
agree philgoddard : Good point, though I think the question was more about "jus".
1 hr
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