zéphire

English

Dish 4 is four zéphires of duck.

Etymology

From French zéphire. So named because the dish was considered light like a zephyr breeze or cloth. Compare Russian зефи́р (zefír, “marshmallow”), another light food named for the breeze. Doublet of zefir, Zephyr, zephyr, and Zephyrus.

Noun

zéphire (plural zéphires)

1. (cooking, now uncommon) A small dish of forcemeat, typically cooked in a mold and served with a rich sauce.

   Coordinate term: quenelle

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:zéphires.

Further reading

• 1904, S. Beaty-Pownall, The "Queen" Cookery Books ..., page 64:

  Mousses, like soufflés, may be served in small portions instead of one whole dish, and make delicious entrées; in such cases they are frequently called zéphyres, from their fragility.

• 1898, Charles Herman Senn, Culinary Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Technical Terms, page 96:

  Zéphire, f. Name of small oval-shaped forcemeat dumplings, a kind of quenelles, which are poached and served with a rich sauce.

French

Noun

zéphire m (plural zéphires)

1. Alternative form of zéphyr

Further reading

• “zéphire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.