Andreas THEODOROU (asker) Nov 20, 2012:

ignorance is (was) bliss.... :-) bonne soirée!

Tony M Nov 20, 2012:

In answer to several commenters below As someone professionally involved in restaurant catering here in France, I hate to disillusion you, but a very great deal of what you see on restaurant menus these days is NOT home-made! Of course I'm not talking about Michelin star restaurants and that sort of level of gastronomy; but in the ordinary, run-of-the-mill restaurants like Logis de France etc., some of which like to claim to be at least semi-gastro — that means that a great deal of what they serve you is out of a tin / packet, etc.

In one of our local resturants here, which has an excellent reputation, I asked which of their desserts was home-made; the embarrassed waitress replied "Only the apple tart!"

If you walk down the aisles of a catering wholesaler's here, you'd possibly be amazed at just what is available ready-made; the list reads like the standard menu of so very many restaurants. Dishes are even available individually portioned in vacuum packs so they can just be heated up to order. If a restaurant has a very extensive menu, you can be sure that some at least of it was not 'made on the premises'; the true gastronomic restaurant has a much more eclectic choice of dishes.

Tony M Nov 20, 2012:

Andreas Look at it this way: it would be a pretty sad restaurant if the only 'speciality' they judged worth of picking out was their... creamed potato! "Our signature dish is mash"

Andreas THEODOROU (asker) Nov 20, 2012:

Wow, thanks all for input and for the lively debate!
Perhaps there is a AE/BE difference as far as "home-made" is prepared. I consider that it's something made on the premises from scratch (note: I'm a native BE speaker). But surely it's a term open to abuse and perhaps French legislators should take note!
Given the context of the restaurant menu I am translating...
- the qualifier "maison" only appears next to a purée.
- the restaurant is a "mid-range" restaurant, where I for one would not expect to be served anything that had not been fully prepared on the premises.
...I chose the term "chef's recipe". "House specialty" seems too much.

Tony M Nov 19, 2012:

US vs GB English? This use of 'home-made' in a restaurant context is very common in the UK, and certainly has nothing to do with being literally made in someone's home; it just means 'made by our own chefs', and is often applied to things (like mashed potatoe) that might have otherwise been bought it; so you'd never say "bisque de homard maison", as clearly that would be expected to be home-made!

I'm wondering if this is an AE / BE thing; I note that all the disagreers are speakers of US English, or at least non-GB speakers.

While one certainly does find 'house wine' (which is most definitely not 'vin maison' in France, because that would mean home-made wine, which is rare!), there aren't many dishes in BE that would get described as 'house', unless it is 'house special'.

I think Asker may need to take into account the destination readership (European or Transatlantic) in order to select the most appropriate translation for their needs.

I should add that I have professional restaurant training in the UK and am currently involved in restaurant catering, and my partner is top chef with his own restaurant.