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Tranche Board

post #1 of 7
8/11/08 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
I know that Tranche is a French term, but what, exactly, is a Tranche Board when it comes to making pastries. In a Napoleon recipe there was the following in the instructions...."Using a Tranche Board as a guide, trim very little off the edges". I think that "tranche" means to portion or segment in French, but exactly what is a "Tranche Board" when it comes to baking and pastries??
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post #2 of 7
8/11/08 at 2:06pm
From what I can tell tranche means slice. I am assuming a tranche board would be a cutting board or even a cake board.

In your recipe the tranche board is being used as a straight edge for which I would think a cutting board would be too heavy but a cake board would work just fine. I wonder iof the use of thranche board was a poor translation???
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post #3 of 7
8/12/08 at 7:59am
Thread Starter 

Tranche Board

jbd......Many thanks for your post. That explains it to me! Wasn't sure if I had been missing something, but now know that in France a Tranche Board is an ordinary cutting board.

Thanks again.....please know that you have made one more friend in this forum ! :)
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post #4 of 7
8/12/08 at 9:25am
Here is an example of a cake that used a tranche board...
Bill and Izzie: Proud parents of a soldier.
Looking back on all the mistakes I've made in my life, all I can say is I've gotten a lot of miles out of stupid.
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post #5 of 7
8/13/08 at 4:41am
Thread Starter 

Tranche Board Answer !

After searching all over, for two days, I finally got the "bright-idea" :blush: of Why Not Ask the French Chef ???? This is the answer I received:

Lexan or Plexiglas make a good tranche board. Very valuable tool in pastry
making. I made mine out of 1/4 inch thick Lexan, 4" x 14"

In a pinch you can cover a stiff piece of cardboard with foil or paper.

Hope this helps. Chef Blair
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post #6 of 7
8/13/08 at 6:44pm
As a French Canadian I can try to enlighten you on French wordings and translation but maybe not on pastry terminology:

<Tranche> is a noun that does indeed mean slice. <Trancher> is a verb which slicing is the English equivalent.

<Planche> means board. In French, <planche à trancher> translates to cutting board. Tranche board literally translated would be <slice board> not <slicing board>. For some reason the term you are using just seems like a bad translation but I am often amused how much French-like words are often woven into English cooking terminology.

regardless, Lisbet found the answer for you. I am inclined to believe that the explanation is correct (only as a French speaking individual not as a pastry chef)

Luc H.
I eat science everyday, do you?
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post #7 of 7
8/14/08 at 3:37am
Thread Starter 

Thank You for Responses

Thank You Everyone, for the responses to my query. Think anyone who likes French cooking and pastries needs to have a French dictionary on the shelf along with the cookbooks. Luc H is right....poor or very loose translation! The English language is a composite of many European words. I already have German and Italian, but not (as yet) French lexicons!

Thank Goodness for websites such as ChefTalk !!!!
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