Produits

English translation: vary the translations

14:14 Jan 31, 2008

French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Cooking / Culinary

French term or phrase: Produits

Translating a restaurant guide

I need to know what your opinion is on the translation of

produits de la mer
produits de la region
produits du terroir

In the culinary/gastronomic sense
If a restaurant states that their menu consits of "produits de la mer" would you translate this into

Products from the sea?
To me it sounds a bit rusty...but I cannot think of any other expression!

What would you say, to make it a bit more appetizing?

Thanks

Allison Lenchantin (X) KudoZ activity Questions: 12 (none open) Answers: 3 France
Local time: 19:56

English translation:vary the translations

Explanation:
for example:

produits de la mer -> seafood
produits de la region -> regional dishes
produits du terroir -> local specialties

Many possible variations, obviously.

Selected response from:

Expialidocio (X)
France
Local time: 19:56

Grading comment

Great...
Seafood however, I know the restaurant offers fish specialties, so I guess I will translate it into Seafood and Fish dishes.
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +6

vary the translations

Expialidocio (X)

4 +2

Produce (but see comment below)

B D Finch

4 +1

Fish and seafood

Philippa Smith

depends...

cmwilliams (X)

seafood, regional foods, countryside food

Nina Iordache

seafood

roctor

3 +1

Seafood

Mark Nathan

sea-produce

Caroline Vignard (X)

3 -1

marine products

Dolores Vázquez

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

marine products

Explanation:
region products, local products

Reference: http://iate.europa.eu/iatediff/SearchByQuery.do

Dolores Vázquez
Native speaker of:

Galician,

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 12

8 mins confidence:

sea-produce

Explanation:
a suggestion

Caroline Vignard (X)
France
Local time: 19:56
Native speaker of:

English

11 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

vary the translations

Explanation:
for example:

produits de la mer -> seafood
produits de la region -> regional dishes
produits du terroir -> local specialties

Many possible variations, obviously.

Expialidocio (X)
France
Local time: 19:56
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 6

Grading comment

Great...
Seafood however, I know the restaurant offers fish specialties, so I guess I will translate it into Seafood and Fish dishes.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

cmwilliams (X): yes, definitely

1 min

-> :)

agree

Claire Cox: Absolutely

4 mins

-> Thanks!

agree

Julie Barber

6 mins

-> Thank you.

agree

French Foodie: excellent

12 mins

-> TY

neutral

B D Finch: You don't call yourself CherryPie for nothing! We are clearly on the same wavelength and I like -> better than =, but think seafood needs fish added and terroir has overtones of heritage, the local soil, great grandad's friend farmer Giles and la chasse.

12 mins

-> Good comment on "terroir." The word "seafood," however, does include fish in English (unlike "fruits de mer" in French, which isn't the source term anyway). :)

agree

Tony M: The varied solution is essential, I agree, though I tend to echo the comments from BDF; and please note, these are probably not 'dishes', but simply the use of local produce etc.

14 mins

-> Right you are on "terroir."

agree

Victoria Porter-Burns: very nice

57 mins

12 mins confidence:

depends...

Explanation:
I don't think it necessarily needs to be translated in the same way in all three cases.

You could say something like fish and seafood (dishes) for the first one.... and perhaps products or produce would work for the other two, but more context would help.

cmwilliams (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:56
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 28

13 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Fish and seafood

Explanation:
I'd say:

Fish and seafood
Regional and local produce

and avoid using the word "products" to make it, like you say, sound more appetizing.

Philippa Smith
Local time: 19:56
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 16

14 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

Produce (but see comment below)

Explanation:
This is one of the occasions when you have to accept that a feature of the original just cannot be retained in English:
produits de la mer = Fish and Seafood
produits de la region = Regional Produce
produits du terroir = Traditional Local Delicacies

B D Finch
France
Local time: 19:56
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 43

14 mins confidence:

seafood, regional foods, countryside food

Explanation:
IMO

Nina Iordache
Romania
Local time: 20:56
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Romanian
PRO pts in category: 3

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

neutral

Tony M: 'countryside' doesn't work here, I'm afraid. / Too little space to explain properly, but 'terroir' is a difficult concept, means 'REALLY local flavours', i.e. not JUST regional things that might come from aywhere around.

13 mins

-> It is alright, Tony. I am not sure though what terroir means then and what is the difference between regional and traditional, since if they are not traditional they cannot be special for a region, or am I mistaken?

neutral

B D Finch: Cadarache is a regional nuclear facility in Provence; lavender, olive oil and truffles are traditional products of Provence. I hope that helps communicate the difference between regional and traditional.

36 mins

-> Thank you, I get the meaning better now!

17 mins confidence:

seafood

Explanation:
I would translate the words "produits" differently in each case, going by appropriate expressions used in menus (at least for North America):

Produits de la mer = seafood
Produits de la region and produits du terroir = local/regional pruduce/products.

I find PRODUCTS of the sea awkward and have never seen that on a menu. In the case of regional you can use produce or products.

Best of luck!

roctor
Local time: 13:56
Native speaker of:

English,

Slovenian

13 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Produits de la mer Seafood

Explanation:
A supermarket sells seafood products, but a restaurant menu simply offers seafood.

I usually translate "produits du terroir/region" as local/regional products but, again, this would probably not be quite right on a restaurant menu, which is more likely to say something like "our menu is prepared using locally grown produce."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 mins (2008-01-31 14:32:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Local specialities is a good one because it can mean local dishes (e.g. bouillabaise) and also ingredients that an area/region is famous for producing/growing (e.g. Agen prunes).

Mark Nathan
France
Local time: 19:56
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 188

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

Produits

English translation: vary the translations

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

Produits

English translation: vary the translations

Answers

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language