Snacké vs. Planché

There is what I perceive to be a new word in French cuisine: snacké. It usually appears in a menu or recipe title as an adjective describing the way a meat or fish has been cooked, such as "Filet de bouef snacké et son condiment cranberry, herbed olives" or "Filet de thon "snacké" au poivre, haricots coco de Paimpol au basilic, jus réduit." It appears gramatically in the place where we would see the words "steamed", "grilled" or "roasted"; it is describing a process of cooking. I have no direct translations of "snacker" or its adjectives "snacké", but I will attempt to piece together its meaning from experience, hearsay and suggested synonyms.

In one recipe, "poêler dans une poêle anti-adhésive" appeared paranthetically after the reader was imperatively directed to "snacker" the beef. The suggests to me that snacker means "to panfry in a non-stick pan," and also suggests to me that it is a word not yet familiar to the general public. Why not just say "poêlé" or even a la plancha, a Spanish term embraced by the Frenching meaning grilled (but not necessarily over an open flame inthe French use of the word)? One reader of the recipe responded to the use of the word by saying, " 'snacké', du verbe sacker? je snacke, nous snackons, etc??? Pourquoi pas "planché" de plancha? alors qu'il s'agit de saisir sur une plaque de cuisson. Merci d'écrire Français." In effect, this Frenchman is questioning the validity of this word, especially in that it is taking the liberty to turn a noun into a verb and then an adjective.

Finally, I have eaten "St. Jacques snackés" and they were cooked to the extent of being what I would consider, "seared," that is lightly browned or crisped but not fully cooked. I associate searing with things like scallops, tuna, and filet mignon, things that are especially tasty when not overcooked. I don't think you would "snacké" a chicken breast. The direct translation of "to sear" in my dictionary is "dessécher." I then looked up "dessécher," which didn't give me "sear," but rather, "to dry or harden." That doesn't sound very appetizing, but in English, "sear" does. Maybe the French are trying to fill a gap in their culinary vocabulary, creating a word that also references not just the cooking vessel and the amount of heat, but also the length of cooking, lending a temporal dimension. Using the English word "snack" is perhaps apropos, as it implies a quick bite something.

I will discuss this further with some of my fellow cuisinéres, but for now I will define snacké as follows: cooked quickly in a frying pan on high heat with or without a small amount of fat so as to brown the exterior but not cook through. syn: seared.