‘What’s in a name?’ was first published on bee-bakes.com, September 1, 2014
The French language can be difficult for some people to learn—like me, for example. After a lifetime of love and interest in the English language: reading novels, reading about language, participating in grammar discussions, making mistakes and generally enjoying the workings of my own language, you would think that I’d pick up French easily, but nooo. My French tutor, Joëlle, assures me this is quite common, but I think she’s just trying to make me feel better!
As with most languages there are tiny differences that can make all the difference. Anyone who’s learnt a language will tell you that the slightest mispronunciation of a word, the change of a single letter, can mean that instead of asking for bread at the bakery, you’ve asked for something obscene. So, I just wanted to do a quick post on the words associated with my new career. So here goes and hopefully I’ll get it right!
Pâte [pat]
Pastry, as in I’m making pastry for the apple tart.
Pâtisserie [pat-iss-rie]
A cake shop, or in some places bakery covers it all, as in I’m going to the bakery to pick up a birthday cake for Mel.
Les pâtisseries [le pat-iss-rie]
Pastries, as in I really like baking cakes.
Boulangerie-pâtisserie [boo-lon-gher-rie / pat-iss-rie]
A bread bakery and cake shop in one, as in I’m going to the bakery to get some bread rolls and lamingtons.
Pâtissier [pat-iss-i-ye]
A male pastry chef.
Pâtissière [pat-iss-i-yair]
A female pastry chef.
As you can see there is a difference between the words Pâtisserie (shop) and Pâtissier/Pâtissière (chef)—very slight in writing, but very different in pronunciation.
So there you have it for today’s French lesson: I am going to be a pâtissière and one day I might work in a pâtisserie making lots of pâte.