Sunday, March 3, 2013

Condiments for meals

For a long time, it has really bugged me in restaurants when you see a description of an item served with au jus.  This is one of the French terms we use in English that just really irks me when it isn't used correctly.  Au jus is not a noun but an adjective in French and describes the way that a dish is served, usually some type of sandwich.  The juice itself is a beef-based juice, more like a broth, used for dipping your sandwich into, so on a menu, you could say "Sandwich au jus," and you should understand that your sandwich is coming with beef broth or juice.  That would be a more accurate description.  It would be like saying about pie a la mode that your pie is being served with a la mode.  It just wouldn't make sense because a la mode is not a noun but describes the way that a dessert is served, with ice cream.  Sadly, I don't think I have any hope of changing the world to fix this problem! ;o)

No comments:

Post a Comment