What was wrong with “les noix”?

BrianC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

What was wrong with “les noix”?

Were they under-cooked? Is this referring literally to nuts/walnuts as part of the meal - or is it a part of the scallop, or a reference to the scallop?

Asked 8 months ago
MaartenC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Brian, 

‘ Noix de Saint-Jacques ‘ refers specifically to the scallop (meat). ‘Noix’’ is used in many contexts other than just for walnuts/nuts. It is unlikely that a question would be asked about ‘undercooked walnuts/nuts’.

Something made with nuts as a complementary component would be ‘…  aux noix ‘. Think of ‘champignons or poulet à la crème’ etc

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/noix

CécileKwiziq team member

Hi Brian,

It is now confirmed that I need new glasses!

Just to add to Maarten's excellent culinary answer -

 

The 'noix de St Jacques is the white fleshy bit that you can buy frozen.

Not sure whether an equivalent exists in English.

Reminds me of the problem with translating the word 'mie de pain' in English as it is the white/ soft part of the bread without the crust.

Don't think there is an equivalent ...

BrianC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Hi Maarten, thanks, this makes perfect sense of the sentence in the exercise “Patrick a remarqué juste à temps que les noix étaient encore translucides !”. The translucent “noix” must be an abbreviation for “noix de Saint-Jacques”, i.e. scallops that were translucent due to them being under-cooked!

BrianC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Hi Cécile, no problem. 

Here we call the edible part “scallop”, but we call the creature itself that too. Probably similar to how “crab” might refer to crab meat (“I’m eating crab”), or to a whole animal (“I saw a crab”). 

I didn’t know about “mie de pain” - interesting! I don’t think we have an equivalent, although kids often ask with reference to their sandwiches “can you cut the crusts off please?”

MaartenC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Cécile, just to confuse everyone, the equivalent of ‘mie de pain’ in English is actually technically ‘crumb’. That is, bread has the exterior crust and the interior crumb. The crumb of the bread is not quite the same as ‘breadcrumbs’ !

CécileKwiziq team member

Hi Maarten,

Well I learnt something new, thank you.

I have never heard the term ‘crumb’ used for ‘mie de pain’ in all the years I have lived in the UK.
It appears that it is a term used by bakers and other culinary professionals but it is included in this Collins reference -

 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/crumb

Merci !

 

 

 

What was wrong with “les noix”?

Were they under-cooked? Is this referring literally to nuts/walnuts as part of the meal - or is it a part of the scallop, or a reference to the scallop?

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Getting that for you now...