http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070606/od_nm/olympics_beijing_names_dc
So the Chinese decided to standardise the term and use toilet instead of the quaint WC ...
But there's more to go ...
But a rather more vexing question has been what to do about menus to help the hundreds of thousands of tourists, athletes and reporters expected to flood the city, many of whom will not speak a word of Chinese, let alone understand Chinese characters.
An initial list had been formulated and sent to experts for approval, the Beijing News said.
All restaurants and hotels rated three star and above will have to use the standard names once they come out, it added.
Linguists are struggling about the best way to translate popular dishes like "ants climbing the tree" -- spicy fried vermicelli with finely chopped pork -- into English accurately yet preserving the original meaning, officials have said.
They are hoping to avoid confusing visitors with the mish-mash of translations now on offer. One well-known Beijing restaurant chain has dishes called "It is small to fry the chicken miscellaneous" and "mixed elbow with garlic mud."
Man, I loved that dish 蚂蚁上树 ... unfortunately, the only place I knew it was served in Singapore was the Chinese restaurant that operated for decades on 2nd floor at Bras Basah Complex, then named Esquire Kitchen 大人餐厅.
Some years back, it changed name, owner and menu ... :-(
Hehe, Rectification of Names... 名不正則廁不上, or 名不正則飯不吃
ReplyDelete" 廁不上" - " 飯不吃 " ?
ReplyDeleteName translation could be a real pain. Sometimes though, I wonder if they should just render it into hanyupinyin, and then add a note of explanation instead.
ReplyDeleteNo harm getting the foreign visitors to learn to pronounce some Chinese terms.
I'm thinking of my own experience in European restaurants, particular in France and Italy.
Rather than rendering the names on the menu into mundane names in English terms like roast chicken, many restaurant simply give a short description in English.
Anglophones won't see Boeuf à la mode rendered as beef in the style, or even the American equivalent of Pot Roast, but rather see a short description of the the kitchen does to the chunk of meat.
Come to think of it, some food names are quite misnomer.
Neither sweetmeat nor mince(meat) pie contain any meat.
I favour keepiing the names. Roti Prata just doesn't sound as appetizing when you call it a pancake.
ReplyDeleteBut still even in Singapore, they do translation for the Chinese dishes but of course not all are perfect.
ReplyDeleteThen the worst came for the translation from Chinese to English in Singapore, some of the original meanings are gone and some they do a direct translation which is even worst.
I think I better watch out for these signboards and put it on my blog and see how good our translation really are.
My last trip to Xi'an, the signages inside the airport bus is very funny, Centaur took a picture of it.
Beijing should standardised all the communication signages and apply it to the whole of China or else you will keep on having funny signages now and then.
I always thought Prata is closer to crêpe than pancake ...
ReplyDeleteI unforunately have never eaten or seen what crêpe looks like, so went with pancake as the closest equivalent...
ReplyDeleteThink of crêpe as thinner version of pancakes, soft enough to be folded, but brittle enough to give a crunch on the edges.
ReplyDeletecrepes are nice with ice-cream of any flavour, with tuna especially, with cheeze... anything!
ReplyDeleteThe main difference between crepes and pancakes is that you add baking powder/yeast in the pancakes, whereas you don't in the crepes. Also, pancakes are usually made with pure milk, whereas with crepes you cut the milk with water (and a shot of beer if you want them lighter). Finally, it is better to let the crepe preparation wait for a long time at room temperature before cooking.
ReplyDeleteOhh, I love crepes! :D
ReplyDeleteOooh, sounds like Francois is an expert on making crepes ...
ReplyDeleteUr, you might get your chance at enjoying authentic French crepes when he comes ...
provided you're willing to open up your kitchen ...
I'll volunteer to buy the ingredients ...
Hahaha, a crepe party in the making... I would need to practice, though: I am a better eater than cook... But I suppose I can bring a pan (very important to have a flat pan). And, before, I'll ask Valérie for her recipe and post it on my blog, so that Moon can impress mr Moon, and treat the little ones... (and btw, crepes are best with just sugar on it, jam, chestnut mash or lemon juice will do too, but sugar is a must!)
ReplyDeleteplease please please... i volunteer to open up my kitchen.. so than mr francois has a chance to see what a HDB flat really is...
ReplyDeleteFrancois, are you really willing to cook ? What a surprise ? But Moon, you better be prepare that he might make a mess in your kitchen and you .. or your maid might have a hard time to clean up.
ReplyDeleteFrancois, am I correct?
i dont mind the clean up since i have all of you to help me.. ;-P
ReplyDeletecrepes party! that will be fun.
don't worry. everybody will have a share of cleaning up, agree?
ReplyDeleteOf course! I'll help if I get to try Papa's crepes. :P
ReplyDeletedo you think your Papa will help to clean up?
ReplyDeletehe is the shi-fu..cant expect the master to do clean up, or can we?
ReplyDeleteok, recipe posted... One very good thing with crepes is that they don't use a lot of bowls and pots, so the cleaning is pretty easy to do... So yeah, ok with the cleanup.
ReplyDeleteyes! since Francois said the whole thing will not use many bowls.......well, probably he can do all the cleaning.....isn't he???
ReplyDeleteHow wide a flat pan do you need?
ReplyDeleteI've got one just wider than my handpsan ... anyone objects to Teflon?
i never like teflon. but ok if its a once in a blue moon thing...
ReplyDeleteThe size of the pan varies depending on regions, most people use pans roughly 20 cm in diameter (ie one handspan), the one I have is like that. Some people do much smaller crepes, and people in britanny cook them on plates, or in huge pans... As for teflon, I think that's what we use here, just use a wooden spatula and not a knife to remove the crepe from the pan, or to flip it if you do it the safe way...
ReplyDeleteJust measured, mine is 10 inch outer diameter.
ReplyDeletepff 10 inches is a big crepe ! go for it snowy !
ReplyDelete