In a "snarky" mood

Just saw these on the menu of a new restaurant in Vegas.

“Black Jack” of Cod Brandade
Osetra Caviar, Tomato Diamond and Cucumber “Gelée”
Ocean “Baeckeoffe” with Maine Lobster
Artisan Foie Gras “Au Torchon” with Grilled Foie Gras

What is with all this hemorrhaging of quotation marks? The "Black Jack" of Cod Brandade is a proper use alright, but what's with the cucumber “Gelée”? Is it really Gelée or is it some other coagulated substances?

What about the Foie Gras "Au Torchon"? Which bit of that phrase was really in question I wonder: the "Au Torchon" or the "Artisan"? And what of the accompaniment, could we really be sure it's "grilled"?

If you ask me, the thing that truly deserves quotation marks on any menu is the dodgy "Kobe" beef everyone seems to be so enamored of these days.

heh,
Pim--in a snarky mood "apparently"

Comments

[Dr. Biggles]

Snark on sister. I've been noticing the same for a while. As near as I can tell people's cutsy little ways in email and forums are reaching far beyond. It isn't appropriate and I don't like it. Not one bit.

Senior Biggles

[Derrick Schneider]

sniff, sniff

Foie gras being mentioned on a blog? Must go comment!

But seriously, Artisan foie gras is a second label from Sonoma Foie Gras. For Artisan they use cooked corn not raw for the force-feeding and they cold eviscerate the ducks (slaughter, chill overnight, remove the liver) instead of doing the slaughter/liver extraction in one step.

And to actually be relevant to your post, the little quotes everywhere on menus drive me crazy, too.

[Sam]

there is a place where I eat lunch sometimes. Because it is close.
the menu drives me crazy because every other item is
"cooked to perfection"
the quote marks are mine, but the phrase drives me dotty.

[ExtraMSG]

Grammar's gone to hell. Quote marks have been increasingly used poorly over the last decade. I love it when I see an ad that says something like:

"$5 LUNCH SPECIAL"

Um, well is it $5 or isn't it? Is that just something people call it? Is it like the $6 burger at Carl's Jr which is actually only about half that?

It appears on the menu you cite that they're using quotes for several things, one of them being italics. The French phrases should be in italics, not quotes.

We don't get as much of this up in Portland as you guys probably do in the Bay Area with influences from The French Laundry and such. But with the growing trend towards cleverness, you'll probably see the quotes more and more often, and then menus, like the one you cite above, mimicking the proper uses incorrectly.

[Laurent]

Most of the quotes in this menu seem to relate to French words. Sorry fellows but I also do that myself when I blog in English. Should I stop (if yes, press 1 ; if no press 2) ;-)

More seriously (foie gras does not stand amateurism ;-), as you may know there are several ways to cook a foie gras. Le torchon en est une. My dad who is one of the best foie gras specialist I know (despite living in Drome which is quand même the truffle region together with Périgord) used to cook it this way. Actually he did not use a torchon but a cellophane film in which he wrapped the unnerved liver very tightly (to avoid leaks of fat when cooked in boiling water).

Voilà ! (sans guillemets ;-)

PS : I will give some foie gras recipes on my blog next.

[Pim]

C'est foie gras cuit en sous vide! That's all the rage over on this side of the pond. Manresa does one which foie gras is first lightly cooked sous vide then seared. Very yum indeed.

And, yes, a foie gras recipe would be lovely.

[Ryan]

Artisan Foie Gras “Au Torchon” is simply to say that it is foie gras (probably rancid from emaciated Californian ducks) poached in cello-foil with a little bit of port. I worked at a place where they found that they could increase the price (at least five dollars) and find more bull-shit american "gourmands" to waste their money on it. The foie gras was absolute shit and had most likely been sitting around in a freezer for several months. I can't say that I've developed a taste for the stuff, but I know when I see crap food peddled to stuck-up morons.

The double mention is a complete menu faux pas.

[Derek]

The French Laundry is pretty notorious for doing this. Check out this example menu from August 17, 2003. Quotes abound.

http://www.rampant.org/blaufrankish/food/frenchlaundry-menu.htm

Summer Vine Ripe Tomato "Petal" Salad,
"Gazpacho Gelée", Beefsteak Tomato "Parfait"
and Sweet Garlic "Melba"

[anthony]

The long term look for italics is good. Once recent instability in key italic producing areas can be subdued and contol of supply lines maintained. Whether we'll return to previous supply levels is uncertain. Go short on air quotes for now. That is all.

[ex culina]

As long as we're being snarky and pendantic, isn't 'cod brandade' redundant?

Quotes (and italics) are usually employed to designate a foreign word or a proper name, but since so much of the cooking done in restaurants that devise these menus is based on foreign foods and techniques (some of which may have been appropriated long ago, some more recently), it becomes futile and silly to try to determine which terms are worthy of special designation.

I've seen so many typos and so much annoying punctuation on high-end menus I've considered starting a side business just in copyediting menus.