This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
Hardoxstahl
Nadelbohnen

Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Bulette

English translation:

meatball

Added to glossary by urschrei
Sep 29, 2009 13:15
14 yrs ago
German term

Bulette

German to English Other Cooking / Culinary
On a restaurant menu. Considering: meatball(s), frikadeller, and perhaps leaving it in the original.
Proposed translations (English)
5 +3 meat ball
4 +3 frikadelle / frikadeller
5 +1 Pan-fried beef patty
5 Meat Patty
3 +1 rissole
4 so lassen: Bulette, a giant Berlin-style meat ball
4 burger
4 Meat patty
2 homemade beefburger

Discussion

Sarah Bessioud Sep 29, 2009:
Rissoles Rissoles seem to mean a variety of things, depending on where you come from. To set the record straight, they do not necessarily need to be rolled in breadcrumbs before they are cooked. Indeed, breadcrumbs are usually mixed in with the meat, together with an egg, to act as a binding agent. Believe me, it can get messy when your rissoles fall apart in the pan ;-)
lisa23 Sep 29, 2009:
Well out of interest I checked the "Image" search on Google and I think that "meat patties" or "fish patties" come closest to Bulette (colloquial for Frikadelle). We in Bavaria call it, e.g., "Fleischpflanzerl". But, as a non-native speaker, I cannot judge whether the term "patties" fits into a menu. It's definitily not "rissole", since German Buletten/Frikadellen are not rolled in breadcrumbs, they are in the meat ball or patty or whatever.
urschrei (asker) Sep 29, 2009:
Meat used is variously: stuffed liver, scallop, duck, beef

Proposed translations

+3
11 mins
Selected

meat ball

Bulette is obviously of French origin and used only regionally in Germany (dialect). So you better use the English version (maybe you want to use Bulette in brackets. You can also use "rissole".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 Min. (2009-09-29 13:31:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Rissole - to explain the word - is a mixture of minced cooked meat (whichever meat) coated in egg and breadcrumbs and fried.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 Stunde (2009-09-29 14:57:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Ooookay ... our Buletten are not really "coated in" egg and breadcrumbs - usually the meat is "mixed with" egg and breadcrumbs and then fried. I would definitely use meat balls because rissole is an expression mainly used by chefs etc and the average guest wouldn't know what's behind that expression. Although ... if it's a very exquisite restaurant ...
Buletten is mainly used in Northeast Germany (Berlin-Brandenburg area).
Peer comment(s):
neutral Lonnie Legg : Warning re "rissole"--the Buletten I know aren't coated in breadcrumbs...
20 mins
agree Stuart Dykes : I would prefer meatball over rissole, which usually seem to be covered in pastry or breadcrumbs.
39 mins
agree Clive Phillips : I came across Buletten while living in Berlin but not in Hannover or Murnau or Stuttgart. Is it not Berlin dialect - like Schusterjunge and Schrippe?
59 mins
agree Rolf Keiser
1 hr
neutral Andrea Black : The asker lists "scallops" as one of the versions available, so it's not really a meat ball...?
2 hrs
you are right - dependent on the type of ingredients I'd list various options ... re scallops I'd go with Jeux-de-Mots and use scallop fishcakes. The original question was simply "Bulette", and my (previous) answer is based on that.
neutral BrettMN : "meatball" is one word in English.
1 day 8 hrs
neutral Annett Brown, MBA, CT : Ein "meatball" (zumindest in den USA) ist viel kleiner als eine Bulette.
1 day 12 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks, this seems the most sensible answer."
7 mins

homemade beefburger

The Buletten I know are homemade beefburgers (admittedly a bit rounder but not as round as a meatball and certainly bigger). Obviously this doesn't work if they are not homemade! But it does get across the rough, rounded shape and texture of what I know as Buletten.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2009-09-29 13:32:05 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

As I thought, my family Buletten are not everyone's Buletten!
Peer comment(s):
neutral Anne-Katrin Grube : Buletten are also sold in restaurants or Imbissbuden in Germany - so not necessarily homemade. The word is used regionally.
7 mins
Something went wrong...
+1
43 mins

rissole

I would favour the term rissole over meatball, given that scallops are also used here as an ingredient.

How is the menu laid out? If Bulette is a heading with the types of meat listed afterwards I would use rissole as a general term. If the Bulettes are listed independently, I would consider using either rissole or meatball for the meaty versions and 'scallop fishcake' for the scallop variation.
Note from asker:
It's listed both as a heading, and the dishes are listed as buletten, e.g. Bulette | Fleisch Bulette von der geschmorten Lammhaxe Bulette von Stopfleber [Other meat dishes]
Peer comment(s):
agree Diana Loos : Definitely the right expression: rissoles are made exactly like Frikadellen/Buletten.
20 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
48 mins

Pan-fried beef patty

Bulette (term used mainly in Berlin) or Frikadelle is a home-made pan-fried beef patty.
Peer comment(s):
agree Annett Brown, MBA, CT : Ein "patty" ist scheibenartig geformt und nicht kugelfoermig wie eine Bulette..
1 day 11 hrs
Something went wrong...
+3
1 hr

frikadelle / frikadeller

Quite commonly understood in English culinary circles. Some overlap with same-type products from Denmark and S Africa, but they all seem to be the same sort of thing. Not out of place on a restaurant menu at all.

Oh and I've just seen you suggest these yourself, Uschi.

Peer comment(s):
agree Andrea Black : This sounds good. It obviously can't be meat ball or beef patty, as the ingredients listed also include other foods.
1 hr
Thanks
neutral Anne-Katrin Grube : frikadelle(r) = meat ball; re your objection to meat ball: frikadelle(r) is made of minced meat too and not of scallops etc
1 hr
? Well I didn't actually object to meatball as such: I do think meat ball implies something in a sauce and to me that's not so much of an association I make with Frikadellen
agree Sabine Akabayov, PhD
4 hrs
Thanks
agree Gudrun Dauner : Bulette is a regional use, the aequivalent to Frikadelle, Fleischpflanzerl etc. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frikadelle Burger would also be ok and the shape is more like crab cakes - considering the other ingrediens the asker lists here.
10 hrs
Thanks
Something went wrong...
12 hrs

so lassen: Bulette, a giant Berlin-style meat ball

Der Begriff wurde, genau wie der Muckefuck (d.h. mocca faux = Malzkaffee), von den Hugenotten nach Berlin gebracht und dort "einberlinert". Heute ist die Bulette in Berlin und Umgebung ein Standardgericht. Ein typischer "meat ball" (zumindest in den USA) ist viel kleiner als eine Bulette, und "patties" oder "burgers" sind nicht kugelfoermig.
Something went wrong...
17 hrs

burger

plain burger, that`s what I would say :)
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

Meat patty

Bulette:
The word-term-bulette is as most posters write a term mostly used in Berlin and Brandenburg! It is not a Hamburger! A Hamburger is thin. A bulette is like a large meatball!
It usually is about 3,5-5,0 thick, and has a diameter of about 8,00- 10,00cm!
It is made out of beef/pork or just pork, with eggs, sautéed onions and breadcrumbs!
For my understanding it is a BEEF PATTY or just MEAT PATTY! Depending on if it is just made out of beef, beef and pork or pork! In most cases it is made out of pork!
That it is pan fried is presupposed! If the patty is deep fat fried, it was precooked and frozen before and not "fresh"-as in homemade!
A meat ball usually has a diameter of 2,5cm ≈1 inch and a bulette is definitely larger!
Link: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulette
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frikadelle


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day3 hrs (2009-09-30 16:41:00 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

@ Anne Grube: You are right, there is no regulation on size of meatballs! However, a Fleischklöschen-meat ball, is definitely a small item and a small ball! Usually 2,5 cm (1 inch diameter) – not much larger! Small is relative! A bulette however is a bit larger and not a ball! A ball is round, and a bulette is a different item! As mentioned before, it is about 3,5-5,0 cm thick, and has a diameter of about 8,00- 10,00cm! A bulette is in most cases not round- such a hamburger, but oval in shape! It is not served in a "hamburger-style" with tomatoes, salad, pickels, etc… ! A bulette is thicker! It is usually served with a bun, slice of toast bread or potato salad and mustard! It is not served between two slices of bread-such as a hamburger!
@ asker: The term bulette is for my understanding a generic term! You would most likely not find the term "bulette" in a 3 Star restaurant! In a catering event however, you might find it, and if it was just for show and effect!
Question: What kind of restaurant are you translating for, and what does the original wording look like! Your question is very open! Please more info on original context!
Note from asker:
Interesting, but you wouldn't see the term "patty" on a restaurant menu (it's more of a hamburger/fast food-related term, I feel), and, as mentioned above, other types of meat are being used, apart from beef.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Anne-Katrin Grube : There are actually no regulations re the size of meat balls, Buletten, frikadelles etc! Size varies according to cook, region, hunger ...
1 hr
Something went wrong...
7 days

Meat Patty

I disagree with the term " meat ball"! It is out of context! A meatball as mentioned b-4 has a general height and diameter in general of 2,5 cm (about 1")! And bulette is def. larger than that! It is a "thick hamburger" with a height of about 2,5 cm and a diameter of about 10,00 cm!
A meat ball is a meat ball, and a boulette is def. something else - in this case : a meat patty!
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search