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Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

finger

English translation:

boudoir biscuit / sponge finger

Added to glossary by GillW (MCIL)
Mar 15, 2011 18:38
13 yrs ago
2 viewers *
French term

finger

French to English Other Cooking / Culinary list of foods
Aujourd’hui, les
dieux ont exigé sorbet, finger, crème légère au chocolat et coulis de fruits rouges pour
apaiser leur immense faim
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 boudoir biscuit / sponge finger
2 +8 sponge fingers
4 finger
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): cc in nyc

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Discussion

Rachel Fell Mar 18, 2011:
@Sandra: see added notes/findings.
@GillW: hello, any more info. or anything?
Sandra Mouton Mar 18, 2011:
Tony M is right (as always ;-)) In French "fingers" (there should be an s, by the way) always are, in my experience, Cadbury's Dairy Fingers and never, again in my experience, ladyfingers "boudoirs" or sponge fingers.
The term isn't vague at all in French. On the contrary it points at a very specific recipe.
Sheila Wilson Mar 15, 2011:
@ Tony OK, I accept your point, Tony. Yes, it was the cuillère ones I was thinking of. Still, unless the client can come up with a definite term then I'd be reluctant to plump for any one thing. Apart from "fingers de St Moritz" which is unlikely here, check out these refs: http://www.ideemag.com/id-recettes/recettes-de-chefs/finger-... http://lolotteetcflexis.canalblog.com/archives/2010/09/26/19... http://www.linternaute.com/femmes/cuisine/recette/309458/136...
Tony M Mar 15, 2011:
@ Sheila I agree with you up to a point, Sheila — except that the degree of vagueness is different! 'Finger' is a very broad term in EN: a finger of land, a contact finger on a piece of electrical equipment, ..., whereas the franglais 'finger' in FR has a much more restricted meaning. AFAIK, it is only used for Cadbury's Dairy Fingers (where it is really a part of a proper name — and note that other brands seem to be obliged to fudge around the term) and this kind of ladyfinger biscuit. AFAIK, it's not used for wafer fingers as in the UK, for example.

By the way, the two other types of (often softer) biscuits I know in FR (and have in my cupboard!) are 'biscuits à la cuillère' and 'langue de chat' — then of course there are the famous 'biscuits roses de Reims'... and so on and on...
Sheila Wilson Mar 15, 2011:
The source term is vague - why not the target? There's the boudoir then there's another (cheaper and softer) version in France whose name escapes me, there are also wafer fingers and chocolate fingers (Cadbury's ones are on sale everywhere in France). Why insist on an exact target term when the French term is so vague - and not even in French?
Tony M Mar 15, 2011:
Well, Colin... As it seems to be a dessert, I think we can rule out finger sandwiches!

As for chocloate fingers, well, if this were for kids, that would probably be likely; however, otherwise, I'd have thought they'd have been a bit out of place here.

It would help if Asker could give us a bit more context — like just who these 'dieux' in fact are?!
Colin Morley (X) Mar 15, 2011:
Many fingers in the pie! I've seen the English "fingers" used to represent chocolate fingers and finger sandwiches (thin with crust off) so I would advise questioning the client if at all possible. Could easily drop a clanger!
Tony M Mar 15, 2011:
Aren't these... ...lady's finger biscuits? Something along the lines of boudoir biscuits, perhaps... seems a logical accompaniment to the other items in your dessert.

Proposed translations

+3
9 mins
Selected

boudoir biscuit / sponge finger

Peer comment(s):
agree Rachel Fell : like the new pic. :-)
33 mins
Thanks, Rachel! Hot off the press, this one...
agree silvester55
36 mins
Thanks, Silvester!
agree cc in nyc : ladyfingers (AmE) as in the Wiki you posted
2 hrs
Thanks, C! That's the term in the US, but means something different in the UK, as others have already pointed out.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "this is the most likely term in the context I put forward, but there are several types of finger, as pointed out."
6 mins

finger

After all, it is an English word :-)

It's referring to the shape of the biscuit
Something went wrong...
+8
6 mins

sponge fingers

I wonder if they mean sponge fingers, as I would call them in the UK:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladyfinger_(biscuit)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2011-03-15 18:47:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

yes, was about to add, a.k.a. boudoir biscuits -

http://www.britstore.co.uk/Marks-and-Spencer-Food-Marks-and-...


http://www.frenchclick.co.uk/p-44-brossard-boudoir-biscuits-...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days38 mins (2011-03-18 19:17:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

If not sponge fingers, as apparently they aren't, they could perhaps be of various types/recipes (and BTW, will the Cadbury ones keep their name or be Kraft chocolate fingers?).
e.g. this recipe:
Ingrédients (2 personnes):

100 g de chocolat de couverture
75g de sucre en poudre
75 g de poudre d'amandes
35 g de farine
4 blancs d'oeufs
sucre glace

Préparation:...
http://www.lesfoodies.com/rebecca/recette/fingers-au-chocola...

I doubt they'd be using Cadbury's ones here:

La pallette de Kiirwan
(Service de dessert sur une palette de peintre)
Finger au chocolat, coulis de poire en tube de peinture, verrine de Panacotta,
caramel de vin et poire au vin, sucette sorbet cassis

http://www.chateau-kirwan.com/upload/documents-pdf/PDFpoursi...

and check out the 6 instances of "finger" in this illustrated doc.:
Finger citron : glaçage chocolat, mousse ganache
citron, feuillantine
Finger pamplemousse : glaçage chocolat, mousse
chocolat pamplemousse, feuillantine
Finger yuzu : glaçage chocolat, mousse ganache
yuzu, feuillantine
Fiche technique :
Température de conservation : -20°C
Température de service : Décongélation 2h
au réfrigérateur (0 à 4°C)
Conditionnement : 81g x 18 (trio de fingers soit 54 pièces)
DLUO : 12 mois

http://www.compagniedesdesserts.com/tele_web/presse/55/DP-AH...
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M
3 mins
Thank you Tony - snap ;-)
agree Joan Berglund : or ladyfingers in the US (a popular Halloween party treat"
11 mins
Yes, thank you Joan (in the UK "ladies' fingers/lady's fingers" is a name for okra/gumbo)
agree Lara Barnett
25 mins
Thank you Lara
agree silvester55
40 mins
Thank you silvester55:-)
agree Mark Nathan : just "fingers" sounds too naked
1 hr
Does rather - thanks Mark!
agree cc in nyc : ladyfingers (AmE) as in the Wiki you posted
2 hrs
Thank you cc :-)
agree Yvonne Gallagher
6 hrs
Thak you gallagy2 :-)
agree La Classe
12 hrs
Thank you La Classe :-)
neutral Sandra Mouton : I never saw "boudoirs" called "finger" in French. See Tony's dicussion entry
3 days 5 mins
Well, I only gave it a 2 of confidence;-)
Something went wrong...
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