Query under-"Un dîner d'automne au restaurant' The correct response is below

Andrea N.B2Kwiziq community member

Query under-"Un dîner d'automne au restaurant' The correct response is below

The difference is the same as in English: une glace de marrons -- an ice cream made from chestnuts (the main ingredient is chestnuts)

une glace aux marrons -- an ice cream made with chestnuts (chestnuts are not the main ingredient)    

This nuance wasn't clear from the lesson above. How does one distinguish 'from' versus 'with' in such cases?

 

Asked 1 year ago
CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour à tous,

After discussing "une glace de marrons" vs "une glace aux marrons" we decided to change it to "une glace aux marrons" as "une glace de marrons" is not really used in French.

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Andrea, technically the difference in French is as noted by Chris in the previous response. 

I will restrict to just foodstuffs here in general before repeating comments on the use in the lesson.

Foods/drinks that are predominantly or entirely made from 1 main ‘ingredient/substance’ will usually be ‘ … de main ingredient’, eg ‘jus d’orange’.  There are exceptions - ‘ sauce tomate ‘ is just that, although ‘coulis de tomate’ or ‘jus de tomate’ are usual.

On the other hand, something made with several ingredients/substances where 1 (or more) are flavourings or accompaniments will generally be ‘ name of dish’ … à la/au/aux (flavouring/accompaniment) eg poulet à la crème et (aux) champignons

 Compound nouns formed with prepositions à/de/en in French

The problem in the use in the exercise referenced previously is that a true ‘glace’ is not made entirely, or predominantly,  of chestnuts so ‘glace de marrons’ is an unusual description. (Maybe it is meant to be a modern vegan/vegetarian ‘glace’ - if so, that context would be useful, and I would expect that to be described as ‘glace de crème de marrons’).

As I noted under the previous question, my wife (French) has never heard the term abbreviated to ‘glace de marrons’ to refer to "marron" ice cream, and immediately said ‘ glace aux marrons ‘’ when asked for a translation. 

Additionally, searching many French recipe sites returned no recipe ‘glace de marron(s)’ but many of the type ‘ glace à la crème de marrons’ or ‘glace aux marrons’. 

https://www.marmiton.org/recettes/recette_glace-aux-marrons-sans-sorbetiere_19469.aspx 

https://www.cuisineaz.com/recettes/glace-a-la-creme-de-marrons-facile-60425.aspx

Finally, none of these should be confused with the very common ‘Marrons glacés’ .

 https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/marrons-glaces-candied-chestnuts/

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I would almost translate glace de marrons as "iced chestnuts", noting, however, that "iced chestnuts" would rather be "marrons glacés". So glace de marrons is a weird one. Maqybe it is a new creation which uses a chestnut base for the ice cream rather than a milk base? One has to be prepared for everything in this vegan day and age. ;)

mo a.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

It seems to me that there are exception to the rules: for example when describing Gaviscon ( medication for stomach) I find it said and written in two ways. the first is Gaviscon en bouteille and the other Gaviscon suspension flacon and/or en flacon. Any ideas/explanations please, with thanks.

Andrea N. asked:

Query under-"Un dîner d'automne au restaurant' The correct response is below

The difference is the same as in English: une glace de marrons -- an ice cream made from chestnuts (the main ingredient is chestnuts)

une glace aux marrons -- an ice cream made with chestnuts (chestnuts are not the main ingredient)    

This nuance wasn't clear from the lesson above. How does one distinguish 'from' versus 'with' in such cases?

 

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