This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
Rx
Droit social et du travail
Oct 7, 2022 10:46
1 yr ago
59 viewers *
French term

plaque à casser

French to English Other Food & Drink Chocolate
URGENT, please!
A certain chocolate manufacturer manufactures these — they are large 'sheets' of chocolate that are not scored like bars are, but designed to simply be broken up and sold in irregular pieces.
I've found 'break-up bars', but these are specifically smaller bars that are ready-scored to make them easier to break up; this is the opposite!

This website shows pictures of several examples — though I note here that these are still quite small bars, comparable to a 'normal' bar of chocolate:

https://diogovazchocolate.com/produit/plaque-a-casser-chocol...

Is this something peculiar to France and her neighbours? I've often seen 'broken bits' sold in sachets in chocolate shops.
Proposed translations (English)
4 -1 chocolate to break
3 +7 (breakable) chocolate bark
4 +1 smashable chocolate slab
4 Chocolat à casser
4 brisure(s) de chocolat
4 (bulk) chocolat bark slab
3 bar/slab
Change log

Oct 7, 2022 11:22: Tony M changed "Language pair" from "English to French" to "French to English"

Oct 7, 2022 12:57: Tony M changed "Language pair" from "French to English" to "English to French"

Oct 7, 2022 13:03: Tony M changed "Language pair" from "English to French" to "French to English"

Discussion

Debora Blake Oct 10, 2022:
Think thickness! The "marteau"-type slabs are a lot thicker than the bark slabs. Tony's description sounds more like a bark slab and his weights correspond to those given in the link I shared.
Tony M (asker) Oct 7, 2022:
@ mchd Thanks a lot, that's really helpful and provides reliable confirmation.
mchd Oct 7, 2022:
si cela peut vous mettre sur la voie également appelé "plaque chocolat marteau" en français

https://choco-france.com/gourmandes/207-32908-plaque-chocola...
philgoddard Oct 7, 2022:
I eat one of these every night, and now you're telling me it was intended for wholesale use?

If you do Google Images for the French term, most of the pictures show it ready broken like the one in your reference. Only a few are unbroken. If yours is, you could call it "unbroken bark" or "chocolate for bark".
Tony M (asker) Oct 7, 2022:
@ ALL Apologies for initially having confused everyone by setting the language pair the wrong way round! Now corrected.
Tony M (asker) Oct 7, 2022:
Additional context I probably should have said that the document I am translating is the manufacturer's catalogue, and that these particular 'plaques' are 900 g (so about 32 oz) — I think probably intended to be pre-broken up by retailers for onward sales to the public.

Proposed translations

-1
50 mins
Selected

chocolate to break

Désolé, voici la version anglaise.
Reference:

https://shop.labelgiquegourmande.com/gb/21-chocolate-to-break

Note from asker:
Thanks a lot, I think this is exactly the term I'm looking for!
Peer comment(s):
neutral MoiraB : Feels too much like a literal translation by this Belgian company. Absolutely no support on UK sites.
1 hr
disagree Thomas Miles : An unidiomatic calque.
2 days 20 hrs
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much! I did find several other makers using this term, and I don't think the concept really exists in the UK anyway. In the end, I went for 'chocolate for breaking', which fitted better with the local syntax and the style of my document"
5 mins

Chocolat à casser

This is a trend which is fast growing in France and also in the UK where I live. Thorntons, Hôtel Chocolat and any good chocolate manufacturer now offers such ranges.
Example sentence:

https://www.lecomptoirdemathilde.com/fr/11-tablette-a-casser-de-chocolat-a-partager

Note from asker:
Thanks! Yes, I know... but what is it called in EN?
Sorry, I had initially set the language pair the wrong way round!
Something went wrong...
12 mins

bar/slab

bar/slab seem to be rather interchangeable
Reference:

https://www.thecocoabeancompany.com/product-category/chocolate-slabs/?orderby=price-desc

Note from asker:
Thanks! The problem is, i have to differentiate it from their usuall 'bars of chocolate' — and unlike a catering context, for example, this is quite thin (like an ordinary bar), so can't really be called a 'slab'.
Something went wrong...
+7
31 mins

(breakable) chocolate bark

Hi Tony,

I think "chocolate bark" is US English - the Internet abounds with recipes for how to make your own.
Or you could for a jeu de mots such as "Smashing chocolate".



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 35 mins (2022-10-07 11:22:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Maybe "gourmet chocolate bark" to differentiate it from the home-made variety.
Note from asker:
Thanks for your contribution. I don't doubt this might work in the US, but I can find no confirmation of it as a term used this side of the Pond, and particularly, by comparable chocolate manufacturers
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard
36 mins
agree Cyril Tollari : écorces de chocolat
45 mins
agree James A. Walsh
53 mins
neutral Rachel Fell : "smashing chocolate" sounds like the type I'd like to eat!
1 hr
agree MoiraB : https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/chocolate-bar... I think you can do without "breakable" - unless you've got a very large mouth ;-)
2 hrs
I like those little wooden hammers they sell with it, but can't imagine lack of a hammer would stop anyone eating chocolate.
agree Yvonne Gallagher : Yep
9 hrs
agree Sabrina Dugast
11 hrs
agree Rafael Maia
2 days 10 hrs
disagree Thomas Miles : The connotations of 'bark' suggest particularly thin, possibly curved pieces of chocolate.
2 days 20 hrs
agree Wolf Draeger : Maybe 'whole' or 'unbroken' instead of breakable?
3 days 2 hrs
Something went wrong...
29 mins

brisure(s) de chocolat

-une certaine fabrication

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 36 mins (2022-10-07 11:23:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You should make it clear in your question what language pair and what term you are looking for.
Note from asker:
Danke Renate! The problem is, this is describing the bar BEFORE it has been broken into pieces — and I am looking for the EN term.
Something went wrong...
+1
2 hrs

smashable chocolate slab

I would refer to this as a chocolate slab - check out the links below:

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/ideas/how-to-make-chocolate-sla...
https://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/shop/collections/products/l...

The fact that these are sold intact would lead me to describe them as "smashable", indicating that these are intended to be smashed, rather than "breakable", which could imply their fragility (especially during delivery).
Note from asker:
Thanks, Sarah! Sadly, as I've already explained above, these are in no way "slabs" And also, "smashable" simply isn't register-appropriate for this manufacturer's trade catalogue — although it would be an appealing term if this was retail marketing!
I remember when I was little some kind relative gave me a HUGE slab of CDM — but it was SO big, I could neither get my teeth into it, nor find any way of breaking bits off it! My resourceful Dad resorted to using a hacksaw!
Peer comment(s):
agree Thomas Miles : Soundest reasoning.
2 days 18 hrs
Thank you, Thomas
Something went wrong...
3 days 5 hrs

(bulk) chocolat bark slab

"Our barks are slabs of fabulous chocolate that are filled with awesome things."


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days 5 hrs (2022-10-10 16:32:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Chocolate, with an e, obviously.
Sorry.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 days (2022-10-12 10:47:21 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

@Tony I don't think you looked hard enough.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/kerriharrisbray/chocolate-slabs/

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 days (2022-10-12 14:11:40 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Whatever, Tony. I did find UK sites using my term, which is why I proposed it! That Pinterest site was the quickest way to show you the term in action.
Reference:

https://b2b.newfarmconfectionery.com.au/collections/bulk-bark

Note from asker:
Thanks, Debora, for turning up this unexpected term. However, it does seem to be particularly US / AU, and I can find precious little reference to it here in Europe.
Thanks, Debora, but ïnterest is a fundamentally US-oriented platform, and all the posts I've looked at ultimately lead back to US recipes etc.
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search