freste grønsaker

06:13 Sep 30, 2009 

"searing" was that this used to be used more in association with meat, the purpose being to seal the surface to preserve the juices (and, optionally to brown). My well-used Good Housekeeping cookery book glossary does indeed give the definition: "Browning meat quickly in a little hot fat before grilling or roasting". Ingrid Espelid Hovig’s definition of “frese”: on the other hand, says ”varme en matvare is smør/marg/olje i en kjele eller stekepanne uten at matvaren for stekeskorpe eller brunfarge.” – which doesn’t tally with searing, to my mind, which must have an element of browning, however slight. 20-30 years ago we didn't sear veg, we cooked/boiled it until there were no nutrients left. Nowadays we treat them with more respect. Perhaps this is a case of a term, formerly used in one specific area, now having expanded its area of application? It’s obviously used a lot “out there” and I have encountered it on menus myself, but if it were me I would want to be sure that the veg was slightly browned or charred when served before I translated with “seared”.

06:08 Sep 30, 2009 

As far as I'm aware and from all the cheffy programmes I've seen, "seared" refers to meat to seal in the flavour rather than veg. The source text was very much thrown together and full of errors, so I wonder if they used an inappropriate word to start with.. I had a deadline with only small parts of an overall poor ST to translate, so "sautéed" is what I used.

17:46 Sep 29, 2009 

Per - tell the kelner that you want your vegg nesten ikke stekt (!), or else they will be killed and cremated (stekt). Do you see??

17:41 Sep 29, 2009 

Sautéed to me means cooked in a pan, apostrophe or no. Seasoned cynic that I am, I certainly do not expect the technique to be preserving texture, moisture and flavor. The Norwegian term for this would be 'stekte' or 'pannestekte' veggies. Having seen 'freste' on the meny, and then finding soggy pan-fried cabbage on my plate, I'd feel justified in complaining.

17:37 Sep 29, 2009 

Indeed it is Per. Det kan gå litt fort i svingene ser man.

17:33 Sep 29, 2009 

So this may be a cheap shot, but it's late, and we're all just having fun here, right? Burning/singing sounds like a chorus having a little Barbie, while I think the word you want is singeing.

17:18 Sep 29, 2009 

In response to Per Bergvall's comment on "sautéed vegetables"; I would think this word has been a part of the English language for some two centuries now. French cooking techniques have greatly influenced all Western cuisine; subsequently also the jargon used. "Freste" can in my opinion be translated into "seared", sautéed" or "pan-fried", depending on the actual technique used. I do not know if the distinction matters greatly in this translation case. I realize the vegetables might be seared, and they might be pan-fried; yet "sautéed" adds that "cultural culinary nuance", if you will. I suppose this would work best if the dish in question can be placed in Western cuisine.<br><br>It seems this is a translation of a menu entry, and "sautéed" would look a tad better on a menu than "seared" in my opinion. "Seared" to me conveys a more graphic image of burning/singeing. Of course, you might want to adjust the register in accordance with the type of restaurant.

Edit: thank you Per!

14:41 Sep 29, 2009 

"Sautéing is a method of cooking food that uses a small amount of fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Ingredients are usually cut into pieces or thinly sliced to facilitate fast cooking. Food that is sautéed is browned while preserving its texture, moisture and flavor. If meat, chicken, or fish are sautéed, the sauté is often finished with a sauce made from the pan's residual fond.

Sautéing is often confused with pan-frying, in which larger pieces of food (for example, chops or steaks) are cooked quickly, and flipped onto both sides. Some cooks make a distinction between the two based on the depth of the oil used, while others use the terms interchangeably.[1][2][3] Sautéing differs from searing in that searing only cooks the surface of the food. Sautéing is also different from stir-fry in that all the ingredients in the pan are cooked at once, instead of serially in a small pool of oil." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sautéing