Author Topic: French phrase help please  (Read 13865 times)

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #25 on: 03 April, 2008, 10:56:47 am »
How prepared are you to turn a blind eye to, for example, what things have been cooked in?

not at all; animal fat is the worst crime imaginable IMO; when Mc Dogburgers announced they were going to continue frying chips fries (they can't be chips as they aren't potato) in lard there was an outcry by everyone apart from the hardened dead animal brigade and they eventually relented

Even Wimpy came in for stick for using the same (vegetable) oil to cook their beanburgers as the fish.

no idea about Harry Ramsdens who used to reckon chips aren't chips unless cooked in lard; wouldn't buy it anyway out of principal

I gave up eating in the PBP controls after about day 2 because of the appaling lack of anything useful for veggies.

Rancid boiling lard in chip shops makes me heave

As far as I can ascertain, McDogs use vegetable oil for frying.
This is not a recommendation.
http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/resources/img/sections/eatsmart/Nutrition.pdf

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #26 on: 03 April, 2008, 10:58:41 am »
Liz had it about right, but you might need to back it up when you say "pas de viande".

That means "pas de jambon, pas de poulet, pas de tous types de viande!!!"

Vegan is going to be pretty hard, since cheese will be out, you might survive on "salade, tomates, maïs, concombre, betterave" and of course "avec du pain", do you think you are ok with crossain and, pain au raison?

Lentiles? Though if you say that you will probably get jambon mixed in it.
Pomme de terre purré, but they put lots of butter in it.

In fact take food with you!

Don't croissants contain butter?

Really Ancien

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #27 on: 03 April, 2008, 10:58:56 am »
Frenchie of course gives us an insight into the ideal Gallic meal on his travels in Argentina. Argentinean delight

Sunflower oil is generally used for chips in Lancashire.

Damon.


Seineseeker

  • Biting the cherry of existential delight
    • The Art of Pleisure
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #28 on: 03 April, 2008, 11:06:55 am »
Liz had it about right, but you might need to back it up when you say "pas de viande".

That means "pas de jambon, pas de poulet, pas de tous types de viande!!!"

Vegan is going to be pretty hard, since cheese will be out, you might survive on "salade, tomates, maïs, concombre, betterave" and of course "avec du pain", do you think you are ok with crossain and, pain au raison?

Lentiles? Though if you say that you will probably get jambon mixed in it.
Pomme de terre purré, but they put lots of butter in it.

In fact take food with you!

Don't croissants contain butter?

A bit!

OK, a lot.

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #29 on: 03 April, 2008, 11:10:26 am »
As far as I can ascertain, McDogs use vegetable oil for frying.
This is not a recommendation.
http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/resources/img/sections/eatsmart/Nutrition.pdf

Except when, despite saying they use 100% Vegetable Oil, they actually use beef fat.

[EDIT] Proper link rather than the cBBC link!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1348296.stm

The initial blanching at the factory, before they are frozen and shipped, was done in beef fat.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #30 on: 03 April, 2008, 11:26:42 am »
As far as I can ascertain, McDogs use vegetable oil for frying.
This is not a recommendation.
http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/resources/img/sections/eatsmart/Nutrition.pdf

Except when, despite saying they use 100% Vegetable Oil, they actually use beef fat.

[EDIT] Proper link rather than the cBBC link!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1348296.stm

The initial blanching at the factory, before they are frozen and shipped, was done in beef fat.

That page is nearly 7 years old. Do they still do this?

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #31 on: 03 April, 2008, 11:42:04 am »
Liz puts it very well.

You could go down the (super)market, get some tinned lentils, tinned haricot beans in tomato sauce (like our baked beans but a bit nicer) and put together something with all the yummy fresh fruit, veg and bread that's around, then go to the restaurant and order salad, wine and coffee

Also, I noticed on my last ride across France (Oct-Nov 06) how many small towns now have vegan / organic / 'health food' shops. Not as amny as the UK but you've a better than evens chance I'd say. You could visit one and ask what local possibilities are for eating out. staff are likely to know of sympathetic local restaurants who'd understand and try to fix you up.

Hope this helps




Seineseeker

  • Biting the cherry of existential delight
    • The Art of Pleisure
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #32 on: 03 April, 2008, 11:46:56 am »
Liz puts it very well.

You could go down the (super)market, get some tinned lentils, tinned haricot beans in tomato sauce (like our baked beans but a bit nicer) and put together something with all the yummy fresh fruit, veg and bread that's around, then go to the restaurant and order salad, wine and coffee

Also, I noticed on my last ride across France (Oct-Nov 06) how many small towns now have vegan / organic / 'health food' shops. Not as amny as the UK but you've a better than evens chance I'd say. You could visit one and ask what local possibilities are for eating out. staff are likely to know of sympathetic local restaurants who'd understand and try to fix you up.

Hope this helps





Yes and those shops are known as "bio" shops in France, pronounced "byo", they are full of all that weird stuff that vegans and vegetarians eat, plus free-range meat and all that malarky. You would need to ask for a "magasin byo" or "alimentation byo".

Incidentally I don't eat meat either, but I think being vegan would be a challenge on holiday in lots of places.

LEE

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #33 on: 03 April, 2008, 11:54:45 am »

I'm off to Normandy for the weekend, courtesy of a birthday surprise from my wife.  The problem is I am vegan and I'm not terribly optimistic about getting anything to eat.


That's quite a surprise, taking a Vegan to France.  I assume you forgot her birthday or anniversary.

Most restaurants do amazing salads and can easily hold back on all the good stuff offending items or supplement it with other veggies.  Take a piece of paper with ALLERGIE written on it and list of things you don't want to eat underneath.  Present to Waiter.  It may work (listen for laughter from kitchen)

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #34 on: 03 April, 2008, 12:55:57 pm »
Touring with a vegetarian friend in France was difficult, particularly when trying to buy sandwiches from boulangeries.  A typical conversation would go (provided in English cause my french grammar is terrible):

'A vegetarian sandwich, please'
'Uh?'
'A sandwich with no meat in it, please'
'Of course! We have riettes.'
'I'm afraid my friend can't eat that.  It's made out of sheep'
'Yes, but it isn't meat'
'Still, he can't eat it'
'How about chicken then?'
'No, he can't eat that either.'

Then there would be a pensive silence, and the boulangier would lean over the counter, drop their voice conspiratorially, and nod at my friend (who is asian).  'Il est oriéntal?'

He ate a lot of camenbert sandwiches and omelettes that week. 

Gandalf

  • Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #35 on: 03 April, 2008, 05:27:16 pm »
OK folks, thank you for the mostly constructive replies.

I found the following from a vegetarian website, so unless anyone thinks it's wrong I'll try and use that

Je suis vegan (végétalienne). Je mange que des vegetables, cereals et grains. Je ne mange pas des produits animaux, ni du miel, ouefs ou laitage et ses dérivés. Pouvez-vouz m'aider à choisir dans votre menu ? S'il vous plaît, alertais-moi si un repas, sauce ou garniture à ces ingredients. - I'm vegan. I only eat vegetables, cereals and grains. I don't eat any animal products, neither honey, eggs nor dairy and its derivatives. Can you assist me in making my choice from your menu? Please, alert me if a food, sauce or garnish contains these ingredients.


Je suis un végétarien(ne). Je ne mange pas de viande, de porc ou de poulet - I am a vegetarian(female). I do not eat meat, pork or chicken

Je ne mange pas d'œufs, du lait ni de fromage - I do not eat eggs, milk or cheese
Végétalien(ne) - vegan

The bit I totally don't get is the masculine/feminine thing, but that's clearly going to be the least of my worries.

As for Muckdonald's it's academic, as I wouldn't be seen dead in there anyway.




Gandalf

  • Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #36 on: 03 April, 2008, 05:32:11 pm »

I'm off to Normandy for the weekend, courtesy of a birthday surprise from my wife.  The problem is I am vegan and I'm not terribly optimistic about getting anything to eat.


That's quite a surprise, taking a Vegan to France.  I assume you forgot her birthday or anniversary.

Most restaurants do amazing salads and can easily hold back on all the good stuff offending items or supplement it with other veggies.  Take a piece of paper with ALLERGIE written on it and list of things you don't want to eat underneath.  Present to Waiter.  It may work (listen for laughter from kitchen)

Oh well, I'ts only for a couple of days and I am taking some food with me.  To be blunt if they wan't me to grovel I'd rather go without and not give them my money.

BTW, my wife isn't even coming, it will just be me and my son

Martin

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #37 on: 03 April, 2008, 05:36:04 pm »

I'm off to Normandy for the weekend, courtesy of a birthday surprise from my wife.  The problem is I am vegan and I'm not terribly optimistic about getting anything to eat.


That's quite a surprise, taking a Vegan to France.  I assume you forgot her birthday or anniversary.

Librarian !!

border-rider

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #38 on: 03 April, 2008, 05:37:37 pm »
I think it should be easier than this thread indicates

I'm veggie -and  I travel a lot with work - and really, if you persevere, that's not an issue anywhere much anywhere in Europe anymore.

Veganism will be more tricky - but you can almost always get a  really good salad or a plate of vegetables.

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #39 on: 03 April, 2008, 06:11:51 pm »
just dont go to China - my vegetarian colleagues from India who were working there for about 3 months lived on rice and tea.  Vegetarian there seems to mean 'eats pork as long as it doesnt look like a lump of pig'


border-rider

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #40 on: 03 April, 2008, 06:16:58 pm »
I haven't been to China...

We were in Kuala Lumpur a few years ago and there we went to an ethnic Chinese restaurant hidden at the back of Chinatown.  Not the sort of place that got many tourists - a meal for 2 cost les than an orange juice cost in the bar of the hotel we were in :o

Anyway, their specialty was making food that looked exactly like meat and fish, but out of vegetables.  It really was disconcerting because it was amazingly realistic to look at but was def a vegetable when tasted.

Julian

  • samoture
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #41 on: 03 April, 2008, 08:12:03 pm »
There's a vegan Chinese buffet down the road from me, which does surprisingly realistic prawn toast.  :)

Hummers

  • It is all about the taste.
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #42 on: 03 April, 2008, 08:19:28 pm »
I am surprised that no one has offered Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?.

This always helped me speed through controls on my ride in France last year.

H

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #43 on: 03 April, 2008, 08:45:57 pm »
As one qui a couché avec Hummers, I can confirm that he is a master of the art :thumbsup:

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #44 on: 03 April, 2008, 10:00:34 pm »
Quote
Anyway, their specialty was making food that looked exactly like meat and fish, but out of vegetables

Yes, this is a well-known cuisine in China, from Buddhist tradition . Sure it's minority but most larger cities should have restaurants like this.
And in China you can always have them take you into the kitchen, point at veg and tofu and ask them to stir-fry it; things are less menu-based than in Europe

richie_b

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #45 on: 04 April, 2008, 08:55:25 am »
OK folks, thank you for the mostly constructive replies.

I found the following from a vegetarian website, so unless anyone thinks it's wrong I'll try and use that

Je suis vegan (végétalienne). Je mange que des vegetables, cereals et grains. Je ne mange pas des produits animaux, ni du miel, ouefs ou laitage et ses dérivés. Pouvez-vouz m'aider à choisir dans votre menu ? S'il vous plaît, alertais-moi si un repas, sauce ou garniture à ces ingredients. - I'm vegan. I only eat vegetables, cereals and grains. I don't eat any animal products, neither honey, eggs nor dairy and its derivatives. Can you assist me in making my choice from your menu? Please, alert me if a food, sauce or garnish contains these ingredients.


Je suis un végétarien(ne). Je ne mange pas de viande, de porc ou de poulet - I am a vegetarian(female). I do not eat meat, pork or chicken

Je ne mange pas d'œufs, du lait ni de fromage - I do not eat eggs, milk or cheese
Végétalien(ne) - vegan

The bit I totally don't get is the masculine/feminine thing, but that's clearly going to be the least of my worries.

As for Muckdonald's it's academic, as I wouldn't be seen dead in there anyway.




Gandalf,
the above is fine, but a wee bit long winded & that it has "vegetalienne" in the feminine, which could cause some amusement (& it's dropped the odd "ne" & "ni," but it's too early to be correcting stuff just now).
I'm vegan & have spent time in France & am heading to Provence later in the year (which will be really interesting) & it's a long way from impossible.  As stated above, "les magasins bio," are useful for finding stuff in & pasta arrabiata in Italian restaurants is usually a good fall-back option.
How you explain your diet is really about how you feel comfortable to do it.  I find that in the France, where folk from the UK would ask, "why?" the French are more likely to ask, "what?"  I'll prob be explaining that I'm vegetarian with a dairy allergy & egg allergy, cos it's far simpler & generates less debate/strange looks/disbelief etc...
I found a couple of potentially useful links for you:
http://www.happycow.net/europe/france/region_notes.htm
http://www.happycow.net/europe/france/normandy/index.html
There's a fair amount in French also, which I'm sure I (or a number of other folks here) would be happy to translate for you if you struggle.
I'll be taking a list of restaurants/shops from the internet with me when I go, then play it by ear.
A friend of mine took his son (who is vegan) to Normandy 3 years ago & the whole family has terrible French & they survived with no bother.
If you were going to Portugal, then that would be a different story....

Gandalf

  • Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #46 on: 08 April, 2008, 09:02:59 am »
Oh well , it wasn't too bad in the end and it was only for the weekend anyway.

I had already paid for meals in the hotel and told them well in advance of my dietary requirements.  Only one waiter raised a quizzical eye and  said "you can live like this?".  Sadly my lack of French prevented me from remarking that yes he was quite right, I actually died months ago and he was now looking at a hologram.

Breakfast was a self service buffet affair and I had plenty of good stuff  to choose from.

I just find it odd that a country which prides itself on matters culinary should find providing  imaginative and wholesome vegan meals so difficult, you would think they would relish the challenge. 

Surely a plate of vegetables and a plain jacket potato still in the tinfoil is hardly the pinnacle of culinary excellence is it?

I wouldn't mind but on the second evening they asked if I wanted the same again!

Normandy is a lovely place, doing a Battlefield tour it was so hard to associate the place with the horrors of sixty odd years ago.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #47 on: 08 April, 2008, 10:17:14 am »
If you were going to Portugal, then that would be a different story....

Or Serbia - when I was last there it was suggested my colleague visited if we got the order.

"But he is vegetarian"
cue a big smile from my host and:
"He can watch!"
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #48 on: 08 April, 2008, 10:40:40 am »
Or Serbia - when I was last there it was suggested my colleague visited if we got the order.

"But he is vegetarian"
cue a big smile from my host and:
"He can watch!"

I went to Serbia for a friends wedding.

Death by a thousand cuts (of meat).
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: French phrase help please
« Reply #49 on: 08 April, 2008, 07:06:50 pm »
Je suis végétalien

Je suis végétarien strict

both mean "I'm a vegan."

Whether the person you're talking to will understand what veganism is, I can't tell you.

Je ne mange ni la viande, ni du lait, ni le fromage, ni les oeufs

might suit better.

Might not really work unless you are in a large town!!  ;D

Vegetarianism to most places which enjoy food and have a tradition of "the table" are a real challenge IME. Look at the latin countries in Europe as an example. Furthermore in many latin countries, with a Spanish/Portuguese connection in particular, meat = beef, and chicken and other hams may end up in one's plate if you say you do not eat "meat".

For what it's worth my grand mother, a great cook, used to say that vegetarians do not enjoy food (it might be better translated as cannot as it was said with such a surprise in her voice and ended with a sigh of disbelief).  ;)
Frenchie - Train à Grande Vitesse