Savoury

French translation: umami

11:00 Jul 11, 2018
English to French translations [PRO]
Cooking / Culinary
English term or phrase: Savoury
How would you translate 'savoury' in the following.

Globally, there are three key flavours that stand out – salty (37%), savoury (20%) and spicy (11%). While salty flavours clearly rule the world when it comes to savoury snacks, they are most popular amongst Europeans, where over 44% state it as their preferred flavour, compared to only around 26% of consumers in Asia Pacific.

Thank you
Carine Desré-Crouch
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:11
French translation:umami
Explanation:
Pas beaucoup le choix ici... Ca ne peut guère être que ça.

Savoury = MSG = umami

"If you’re curious about what the true differences of salty vs savory are, you can put a little bit of salt on your tongue for a salty taste (obviously) followed by a little MSG for a savory taste."
https://www.msgdish.com/salty-vs-savory-how-do-your-tastebud...

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Note added at 15 hrs (2018-07-12 02:43:17 GMT)
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C'est peut-être mieux en gardant 'saveurs' (ou 'goût') dans l'énumération, avec ou sans guillemets pour 'umami', quelque chose comme
'...les saveurs salées (37 %), umami (20 %) et épicées (11 %)'
'...les saveurs salées (37 %), « umami » (20 %) et épicées (11 %)'
'...les saveurs « salé » (37 %), « umami » (20 %) et « épicé » (11 %)'

(avec 'flavours'='types de saveurs')

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Note added at 1 day 3 hrs (2018-07-12 14:44:17 GMT)
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Umami (/uˈmɑːmi/), or savory taste
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

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Note added at 1 day 5 hrs (2018-07-12 17:00:40 GMT)
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'Savory'='umami' is technically correct but it would be a mistranslation in this context. Please disregard.
Selected response from:

Cyril B.
France
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3umami
Cyril B.
3 +2aromatique / sucré-salé
Kevin Oheix
4 +1untranslatable - footnote
Cyril B.
5sapide
Christine Roffi
4savoureux
HERBET Abel
1piquant
Anne Bohy


Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


59 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 1/5Answerer confidence 1/5
savoury
piquant


Explanation:
Il me semble qu'il s'agit de ce qui est relevé par de la moutarde ou autres condiments.

Anne Bohy
France
Local time: 10:11
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 10

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: That would really more translate 'tart' or 'acid', which is a separate taste in its own right.
1 hr
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
savoury
aromatique / sucré-salé


Explanation:
C'est ce que je dirais pour parler des saveurs.

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Note added at 2 heures (2018-07-11 13:08:45 GMT)
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Parfois même "sapide" dans certains contextes où le sens est goûteux et mangeable.

Kevin Oheix
France
Local time: 10:11
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: 'aromatique' might be a contender, but I think 'sucré-salé' is definitely out, as this is clearly opposing both 'salé' and (by inference) 'sucré' as well.
36 mins

agree  GILOU: oui
1 hr

agree  writeaway
1 hr

neutral  Yvonne Gallagher: yes. with Tony. Possibly sapide or aromatique but not salé-sucré.
1 day 5 mins
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
savoury
savoureux


Explanation:
suggéré

HERBET Abel
Local time: 10:11
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 20

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Tony M: The trouble is, that's a bit of a faux ami, since it really translates 'flavoursome' / And that would translate 'tasty'! This is describing what TYPE of taste it is.
19 hrs
  -> Alors dire 'qui a dû goût'
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1 day 5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
savoury
untranslatable - footnote


Explanation:
Tough one...
After a bit of research I understand where that 'savoury' comes from, the bad news is it's untranslatable in FR, only way I see is an explanation in a NdT foot note... Maybe something like:

(...) salé 37 %, salé (savoury) 20 %*, spicy 11 %
*[Explanation]

In snacks, salty=savoury, 'savoury' being a marketing ploy to avoid saying 'salty' which has become a bad word. All descriptions of 'savoury snacks' found online show they're actually salty snacks, not a separate category (references below).

What happened here is that the question in the referenced study offered a distinction between 'salty' and 'savoury' and people would check either box. Something like 'Which snacks do you like ? Salty Savoury Sweet etc. In the results 'salty' and 'savoury' appear as different but in reality they're still the same category of snacks.

As we don't have that distinction in FR it's untranslatable as is.

Over the last 5 to 10 years in American English, makers of certain foods/snacks (and their marketing associates on Madison Avenue) have accomplished a brilliant “coup” by successfully replacing an adjective that is considered evil by the growing number of health-conscious people in the U.S.A, (i.e.. “salty”) with one that theretofore meant “having a pleasant taste or smell” to the vast majority of American consumers, (i.e., “savory”).
Salty snacks are now called savory snacks; salty crepes are now called savory crepes; essentially anything that isn’t “sugary” or “sweet” is now called “savory.”
https://french.stackexchange.com/questions/12292/is-the-fren...

What are savoury snacks?
a variety of products including potato crisps, corn chips/ tortillas, puffed and baked snacks, crackers, pretzels, savoury biscuits, popcorn, meat snacks, peanuts and other snack nuts.
http://www.esasnacks.eu/myths_fact_sheet_Jun2014.pdf

Cyril B.
France
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: All good points!
1 hr
  -> Thank you Tony ! This is actually one of the worst cases of untranslatable I've ever seen :)
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
savoury
umami


Explanation:
Pas beaucoup le choix ici... Ca ne peut guère être que ça.

Savoury = MSG = umami

"If you’re curious about what the true differences of salty vs savory are, you can put a little bit of salt on your tongue for a salty taste (obviously) followed by a little MSG for a savory taste."
https://www.msgdish.com/salty-vs-savory-how-do-your-tastebud...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 hrs (2018-07-12 02:43:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

C'est peut-être mieux en gardant 'saveurs' (ou 'goût') dans l'énumération, avec ou sans guillemets pour 'umami', quelque chose comme
'...les saveurs salées (37 %), umami (20 %) et épicées (11 %)'
'...les saveurs salées (37 %), « umami » (20 %) et épicées (11 %)'
'...les saveurs « salé » (37 %), « umami » (20 %) et « épicé » (11 %)'

(avec 'flavours'='types de saveurs')

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 3 hrs (2018-07-12 14:44:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Umami (/uˈmɑːmi/), or savory taste
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 5 hrs (2018-07-12 17:00:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

'Savory'='umami' is technically correct but it would be a mistranslation in this context. Please disregard.

Cyril B.
France
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: The whole way the s/t is expressed is pretty poor, but I can't really see anything else that could fit here.
12 mins
  -> Merci Tony... Indeed!

agree  Alex Grimaldi
15 mins
  -> Merci Alex

agree  Anne-Marie Laliberté (X)
2 hrs
  -> Merci Anne-Marie

agree  Elisabeth Gootjes: probablement le plus approprié, bien que "umami" soit également utilisé en EN-EN. Alternativement, "non sucré".
21 hrs
  -> Merci E :)

neutral  B D Finch: The word "savoury" predates MSG and I think that something can be savoury without being umami.
21 hrs
  -> Ok but 'umami' translating as 'pleasant savory taste', we might be close enough here. It's a tough one... :)

disagree  Yvonne Gallagher: it doesn't mean umami which is something else and is really not about MSG anyway// a blogger who advocates MSG is an expert on flavour? Really?!
23 hrs
  -> This might be a bit too categorical considering the number of sources - including wikipedia and various food blogs - who disagree with your disagree/There's nothing wrong with MSG, research it :)
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6 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
savoury
sapide


Explanation:
On parle de sapidité en gastronomie et en science. Des aliments sapides ou insipides.


    Reference: http://www.la-definition.fr/definition/sapide
Christine Roffi
United States
Local time: 05:11
Works in field
Native speaker of: French
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