What the foreign press says ...

LA PRESSE, Montréal: “C’est un drôle de petit livre, à la fois sérieux et amusant. Un livre de renseignements pratiques, mais aussi de culture. Ecrit pour les anglophones, il dépannera plus d’un francophone”.

VOGUE, Australie: “This descriptive dictionary is the very best to come along. The 4.000-plus entries include many modern cuisine terms not found in other glossaries and is rich in historical explanations”.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: “Now English-speakers, too, can dine in French. The A-Z of French Food, a slim pocket-size book, is probably the most complete French menu translator available. Many entries – like the names of fish and shellfish and cuts of meat – are not found in typical pocket-size general dictionaries. They are particularly useful for tourists who want to know the difference between a Belon oyster and a Marennes when encountered on a menu. Accurate and concise culinary definitions are given, along with some historical information and anecdotes. Wine terms are included. Popular and slang expressions that include food terms have also been slipped in”.

THE WASHINGTON POST: “A help to anyone looking up perplexing culinary terms, whether encountered in a cookbook, in a gourmet food store, or on a menu”.

MIMI SHERATON’S TASTE: “A miracle of compact completeness”.

FRANCE-USA CONTACT: “Don’t enter a French restaurant without it !”.

BOSTON SUNDAY HERALD: “Those informal café-bars covering the sidewalks of France derived their name from the rumbling stomachs of Russian Cossacks who occupied Paris in 1814. They demanded speedy service by shouting ‘bistro!’ – the Russian word for quick. That is just one of many interesting nuggets of information in the 144-page pocket-size guide, The A-Z of French Food”.

THE HARTFORD COURANT: “For anyone who has ever struggled with the wording of a French menu, there is help”.

THE MORNING NEWS TRIBUNE, Chicago: “Eating out in French restaurants can be a challenge, especially if the owners have neglected to translate the menu to English. But now you can simply whip out The A-Z of French Food, a dictionary that is one of the most complete lists of French foods in a pocket-size. Leafing through the book, you will also learn the origin of Cordon-Bleu, the story of the homard thermidor or the use of a sauce Robert…”.

MDÜ (Mitteilungen für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer, Deutschland): “Das handliche Büchlein bringt in alphabetischer Ordnung ca. 4.000 Stichwörter von gastronomischen und küchentechnischen Begriffen. Die gebrachten Übersetzungen und Erklärungen lassen durchweg keine Wünsche offen. Sie sind richtig, exakt, kurz und bündig. Viele Fachbegriffe werden durch anekdotische Anmerkungen und Angaben über die Herkunft der Begriffe aufgelockert”.

Readers' comments