Eva at [EMAIL PROTECTED],Internet writes:
>Personally, I'd go for hamburger steak with fries ...
>a) because chips has a different meaning in the US whereas fries can't >be
misunderstood by anyone
>b) because if you decide on that, putting minced beef would sound >extremely
strange
>c) because I've never heard 'chopped steak' before and
>d) because 'hamburger' should bring up the right kind of association in
>anyone's mind given that certain horrific fast-food restaurants are >coming
up all over the place ...
I really must disagree!
1) "Hamburger steak" is an oxymoron: either it's hamburger (even if it's
served in a big lump) or it's minced steak (which means a better quality of
meat which happens to be ground or chopped up). An American "hamburger
steak is an attempt to dignify inferior meat by serving on a plate with
vegetables rather than shoving it into a bun. British "minced beef" is
pretty much the same thing. But "chopped steak" is a different thing
entirely and is sold at quite different prices, so you'd better not call it
"hamburger" if you want anyone to order it.
2) Only Americans and their repellent "fast food" chains use the
term "fries". Admittedly, those franchised purveyors of inferior
forms of nourishment are proliferating outside the U.S. but we
certainly are not not obliged to adopt their terminology. The
correct term is "french fried potatoes" -- "chips" and "fries"
are both regional slang terms.
3) I don't really understand why a menu for an Alsace brasserie
should have a problem here. French IS the international culinary
language, after all, and it is common practice almost everywhere
to list the French name for a dish and provide the specifics in
other languages underneath:
"Biftek hache, pommes de terre frites
--chopped steak with french fried potatoes"
should work. If the beef in question is not really steak, the menu
should say what it IS.
4) Finally, if the brasserie in question makes any effort at all
to provide real, properly cooked foos, it will DEFINITELY NOT
want its cuisine confused with the output of grease-permeated
dives with bad chairs, repulsive decor, and exploited staff with
phony smiles and the instruction to respond to any request with
"You want fries with that?"
Harrumph!
Judyth la pomme
(Vegetarian since 1970; objector to bad food and sloppy
language since 1949)
