Mine is very old. Published in 1971. I am trying to read the menu from LaChaine d'or and having trouble. I looked at Amazon and the table of contents for the Marling Menu Master looks the same as mine.. Amazon gives no pub date.... would the content be different if were published at a later date. Meanwhile my mouth is watering. Thanks

Mine has a copyright date of 1971 but has been reprinted every couple of years, last time 1998. Would think the terminology would be updated w/reprinting, but do cuisine terms change that much?...

Also have a "Bon Appétit" by Judith A White from 1998 - it is in straight alpha order rather than in a menu-sectional style..easier to look up things but it is a couple of inches bigger than the very-pocketsized Marling...

89Hi9
I went to the website

Menu, 55.50 euro
Terrine of duck liver
roasted langoustines (crayfish-like,lobster-like creatures but they are not quite either)
Rouget is Red Mullet (fish)
Cider sorbet
Veal filet mignon with truffles
cheeses
Brochette (skewer) of fruits with honey sauce and apricot sorbet

a la carte
firsts include--
Almost-raw lobster on tarragon salad with a grapefruit vinaigrette, or in a terrine with its coral

uncooked langoutine with a sauce of pear and melon

duck foie gras

escargots, sauteed with parsley and preserved tomatoes

Fish mains include
Red Mullet
St Pierre/John Dory
Langoustine roasted with lime
I don't know what 'sandre' is
Bar is bass, roasted in its skin with sesame vinaigrette

Meats include veal kidneys, lamb, sweetbreads, beef with a scotch and tarragon sauce, and chicken with mushrooms and a sauce of vanilla and cinnamon

I don't know what Colvert is,sounds gamey possibly, but here its breast is cooked on the bone, and the leg cooked with figs

desserts include apple tarte, grand marnier souffle, a special chocolate desssert with jasmine syrup, seasonal fruits with sorbets

just looked up colvert, it's 'dove'

Think of the times you were in a restaurant and saw menu items, in your own language, that needed explaining. This suggests a potential "shortfall" of the "menu master" -- in spades. But that doesn't preclude the possibility that if you transcribe a few of the things you're having trouble with on that menu, some bold, more-or-less bilingual person might try to help.

and, sandre seems to be variously translated as pike or perch

I see that Elaine is way ahead of me. Bravo to her!

loisco,

Compare the ISBN of the Amazon offering with the ISBN on your copy to see if the Amazon book is an updated version.

Marling is great but you might also take a look at the Berlitz "French for Travelers."

Elaine...you are wonderful!! You helped a lot. I tried to look up some of the words in my small French dictionary and they weren't there and easily found. If it takes me that long to translate things, we would be eating breakfast and not dinner.


I will get the updated version....perhaps the French have some more Americanized dishes.

I also heard P. Welles has a glossary in her book..not sure if it's too long to copy.

Thanks

Hi lois,

If you go to http://www.chainedor.fr/ and click on that thingy that looks sort of like a British flag, you can forget the menu book. (except for the student menus)

Hi Ira...that "thingy" doesn't work..!! Can't get the English version up on my computer..and neither can some others who don't have Macs.

There are several on line you can print out but they will not comletely explain how it's prepared with other foods.

By far, the best menu translation (IMHO) is from the back of the two Patricia Wells books. She not only describes each selection, she says how it is prepared differently in various regions of France.

On the Sandre thing - a friend in the Roussillon region says that Lotte (for example) is a different fish in Roussillon than in other areas of France. In most regions it is an ocean monkfish, but in others it is a lake fish - not related to a monkfish. The Patricia Wells books describe this difference also.

Stu Dudley

Patricia Wells has it on line at her site.
www.patriciawells.com

sandre is a light, delicate fish from the loire; it's marvelous.

we had the almost-raw langoustines, like a seviche--excellent.

the apple tarte is out of this world! warm, carmel sauce, calvados: best i've ever had.

pick up a copy of "what kind of food am I?," available from amazon. witty little book with great descriptions of french food.

Hi Lois,

If you click on the above mentioned thingy, you will see that the menus change from French to English, except for the student menu.

Well Ira I will try the thingy again...I just reserved a new book at the library.. called, French Women Don't Get Fat.

Provacative title, n'est ce pas (did I say that right?)

loisco
there was a recent thread that included comments on that book, maybe if you search you can find it

The book was reviewed in this Sundays times and has been discussed on several forums.

Oh interesting. You talked about it when I had the flu..that's why I missed it (for a minute there I was worried that I was not seeing things).

The friend who told me about it says it was anti-American!! Well I have reserved it at the library.