Not terrible, or pas terrible?

Americans are often accused in French culture of taking thing too literally, at face value – premier degré. But how do you actually use second degree humor? One expression we use in the second degree is Ce n’est pas terrible or more often, it’s pronounced without the ne: C’est pas terrible. Literally, this means something’s not terrible, not bad.

But seen through the second degree lens, it’s not terrific, meaning it’s actually, truly terrible. People I know usually scrunch up their nose as they pronounce this expression, to show their dislike of whatever is pas terrible. There are plenty of other really great examples of French second-degree expressions, some of which you can find on this web site.

Scallops vs. St. Jacques

Well okay, so what if the French misuse English-language words and apostrophes? Maybe they think that using one will confer a sense of anglo “cool” on their brands, businesses, and other official names. But wait a minute… Don’t we also use French words to confer more panache or more cachet (hmmm…) to a product?

Take scallops for example. When did they become St. Jacques on American menus? Or en croute – why not just say in a pastry or a salt crust? Another example is velouté: it literally means something velvety, and in classic French cuisine refers to one of the five mother sauces. But it’s also used nowadays for any puréed, creamed soup. Does velouté look better on a menu than “puréed, creamed soup”? You bet.

Shan tee yee

There’s one word that I see almost universally misused on menus, no matter where I am: Chantilly. The word “Chantilly” is considered an appellation, or official name, and as far as classic French cuisine is concerned it means one thing, and one thing only: whipped cream with the addition of confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla beans scraped straight from the pod.

But this term has been hijacked and transformed to refer to savory whipped creams, which are a delicately pretty and delicious addition to soups or little aperitif toasts, like this recipe for Chantilly salée citron fines herbes. Or the herb Chantilly that accompanies the soup recipe below. And frankly, doesn’t Chantilly [shan tee yee] sound so much nicer than whipped cream?

Disc-eaters and bubble chairs

This Pumpkin Chestnut Soup recipe comes not from Jean-Paul Gaultier, but from my friend Jean. His affinity for Pumpkin Chestnut Soup could be explained by his love of monochromatic mid-century objects. The color? You guessed it: orange.

Jean has transformed his adventures in finding orange objects into an art form: in and around Paris, he scours junk shops, flea markets, and vide-greniers (literally attic-emptyings, or what we call yard sales). His sole aim is to unearth inexpensive orange objects like portable vinyl record players called mange-discs or bubble chairs. 

Oversize plastic dice, bar kits, and lampshades all fit the bill, as well as the occasional Eames shell chair, by American designing couple Charles and Ray Eames. (I saw this display recently at BHV Marais. Note the steel wire “Eiffel Tower” base of the chair in the middle!).

Autumn dinner parties or Thanksgiving

You can imagine why Pumpkin Chestnut Soup is Jean’s favorite: its gorgeous color. It announces autumn just as surely as the first snap of pleasant cold that grabs my gut on the way to the market – or was that a hunger pang?

When I get to the market, I buy is the small round variety of pumpkin known as potimarron, a mix of the two words potiron (pumpkin) and marron or chestnut. Its flesh is sweet and dense with starch, and tastes a little like chestnuts, hence the name. In English, the pumpkin is called Hokkaido or Red kuri squash.

I’ve dressed up this recipe with the addition of chestnuts, a very French ingredient, a bit of Cointreau (or use any orange-flavored liqueur), and yes, an herb Chantilly. These ingredients make this soup perfect for autumn dinner parties or even a festive fall occasion like Thanksgiving! And what’s great about most forms of pumpkin is that they’re economical vegetables – a hell of a lot more affordable than an Eames chair!