Meaning & use
ballottine
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Meanings
nouncountable
A piece of meat or poultry that has been boned, stuffed, rolled, and cooked, usually served sliced.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a ballottine' or 'two ballottines'.
Patterns
- a ballottine of something
- serve something as a ballottine
The chef prepared a ballottine of duck, stuffing it with foie gras and truffles.
For the main course, we were served a ballottine of chicken with a mushroom filling.
The menu described the dish as a ballottine of guinea fowl, sliced and arranged on the plate.
nouncountable
A dish made by wrapping a piece of meat around a filling and then cooking it, often poached or braised.
Grammar: Countable: you can talk about 'a ballottine' as a prepared dish.
Patterns
- make a ballottine
- cook something as a ballottine
She made a ballottine by wrapping the seasoned meat around a forcemeat and tying it securely.
The recipe for the ballottine calls for poaching it gently in stock.
At the cooking class, we learned to prepare a ballottine using chicken thighs and herbs.
Word forms
| plural | ballottines |
|---|
Common combinations
- ballottine of duck
- The ballottine of duck was the highlight of the tasting menu.
- ballottine of chicken
- He ordered the ballottine of chicken with a side of seasonal vegetables.
- prepare a ballottine
- It takes skill to prepare a ballottine without tearing the meat.
- serve a ballottine
- They served the ballottine cold, thinly sliced, as an appetizer.
- ballottine with truffles
- The ballottine with truffles was rich and aromatic.
- slice a ballottine
- Use a sharp knife to slice the ballottine neatly.
Synonyms and how they differ
- roulade
- Roulade is a more general term for any rolled and filled food, not necessarily meat, and is more common in English menus.
- galantine
- A galantine is similar but is usually served cold and set in aspic, while a ballottine is often served hot or warm.
Commonly confused: ballottine or ballotine?
ballottine vs ballotine
Ballotine is a variant spelling of ballottine, but it is less common; the double 't' is standard in professional kitchens.
Practice
What is a ballottine?
Choose one answer.
A ballottine is a culinary preparation of rolled and stuffed meat. The other options are unrelated meanings of similar-sounding words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ballottine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.