Translating an English menu

Question

I am getting married in a month's time and my Chinese-speaking father has invited some of his Chinese friends to my wedding. He is and his friends are elderly and their English is almost non-existent. I spent a week compiling Chinese wedding invitations to make it a little bit more personal and I was really proud of myself. However this next challenge has proven a bit too much for me: TRANSLATING THE MENU!!!! Can anyone help me with translating the menu please? I've put it all together the way that I think I would say it however I don't know how it sounds written down and to make things harder, I need the Cantonese phrases! T_T Thank you!

Starter 開胃菜*(I'm not entirely convinced this is right, 起頭菜 comes to mind but i might have completely fabricated that!)*

Oxtail in Madeira & horseradish broth & herb dumplings (gluten free without dumplings) 牛尾在馬德拉和辣根湯及圓子(免圓子為没麵筋)

Braised onion tart, Blacksticks blue cheese, pecans & dressed rocket (v) 紅燒洋蔥芝士撻及合桃沙律(齋)

Main Course 主菜

Confit duck leg with mustard mash, green beans & Savoy cabbage, with honey & clove sauce (gluten free) 煨鴨腿及芥菜mash*(嘛薯??? haha we call it that but is it right?)*，豆仔和savoy cabbage 及蜜糖丁香醬 (没麵筋)

Fillet of sea bass with pommes Anna, spinach and braised leeks with red wine & star anise sauce (gluten free) 鱸魚及安娜／牛油薯仔(?)，菠菜，燉韭蔥及紅酒和八角汁 (没麵筋)

Butternut squash brulee, black olive crumble, spinach & truffled potato dauphinoise (v) 南瓜布丁，烏欖, 菠菜，松露奶油薯仔 (齋)

Dessert 甜品

Baked lemon cheesecake with ginger & blackcurrant (v) 焗檸檬芝士蛋糕及薑和黑加侖子(齋)

Chocolate and orange parfait with orange compote & praline crunch (v) 朱古力和橙芭菲及橙果盤和果仁糖(齋)

Fruit salad (v) (gluten free) 水果沙律 (齋)(没麵筋)

Answer 1

First of all, Congratulations!

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Starter => 前菜

Oxtail in Madeira & horseradish broth & herb dumplings (gluten free without dumplings) => 馬德拉辣根清湯燴牛尾及香草雲吞 (麵筋/麩質敏感人士可免雲吞)

Braised onion tart, Blacksticks blue cheese, pecans & dressed rocket => 焗洋蔥撻伴藍芝士合桃火箭菜 (素菜) [I presume that it is one dish with tart, cheese and rocket, right?]

Confit duck leg with mustard mash, green beans & Savoy cabbage, with honey & clove sauce (gluten free) => 油封鴨伴芥末四季豆蓉，配蜂蜜丁香汁 (不含麵筋/麩質) [If the sauce is thick, say 蜂蜜丁香醬]

Fillet of sea bass with pommes Anna, spinach and braised leeks with red wine & star anise sauce (gluten free) => 海鱸魚柳伴牛油焗薄薯片、菠菜及燒韭蔥，配八角紅酒汁 (不含麵筋/麩質)

Butternut squash brulee, black olive crumble, spinach & truffled potato dauphinoise (v) => 南瓜布丁，黑橄欖鬆餅，菠菜，松露奶油焗薯 (素菜) [Hey, do you have a picture of the dish? I don't have any idea how to translate it.]

Dessert => 甜品

Baked lemon cheesecake with ginger & blackcurrant (v) => 黑加侖子檸檬芝士薑餅 (素菜) [Is ginger in the crust?]

Chocolate and orange parfait with orange compote & praline crunch (v) => 朱古力芭菲伴蜜餞香橙及碎果仁 (素菜) [I presume that the "orange compote" refer to the "orange" in the parfait"]

Fruit salad (v) (gluten free) => 鮮果沙律 (素菜, 不含麵筋/麩質)

Answer 2

To translate a menu, you may remember:

• Each one course is a noun or a phrase, avoid sentence or very long phrase;

• Avoid colloquial language, use formal written language.

  • For example: use "無" instead of "沒". use "開胃菜" but not "起頭菜".

Here are some my translations:

Oxtail in Madeira & horseradish broth & herb dumplings (gluten free without dumplings): 馬德拉（馬嗲利 in Cantonese）燴牛尾(or紅燴牛尾)配辣根素丸(除素丸外無谷蛋白)

mustard mash: 芥末薯蓉

Savoy cabbage: 高麗菜

It's likely that your language environment of Chinese is Cantonese, so I applied traditional Chinese as much as possible, but a few usage may not be the same since I speak Mandarin.