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#7852 10/24/00 04:37 PM
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well, black pudding--which is blood sausage, is one of those don't think about it foods.
A lovely concoction of pig blood and pig fat!
I've always thought the english dessert of "Spotted Dick" was not something i would want to eat in the dining room-- or any room.


#7853 10/24/00 04:48 PM
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I liked the episode of "Friends" where Rachael had two pages of her recipe book stuck together. She mixed up English trifle with shepherds pie and served it as a dessert. When she was asked why she hadn't noticed, she said that all traditional English recipes have strange combinations so it didn't occur to her that it was wrong.

I have some great Mrs Beaton recipes for "Lark Pie", take several larks, Mince Pice with real mince, so I see the point that the scriptwriters were trying to make!


#7854 10/24/00 08:33 PM
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She mixed up English trifle with shepherds pie and served it as a dessert

Reminds me of another language-based food mix-up (try neat url au Poisson here to pomme de terre story http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=6596), and yes, it again involved my wife's French (and no, she's not). At a dinner party she served a beautiful dessert with "crème fraiche" as a topping. This time, of course, her translation to "fresh cream" was impeccable. The dessert, unfortunately, was unpeckable. Or do I mean unspeakable? Impeachable?


#7855 10/25/00 07:25 AM
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. The dessert, unfortunately, was unpeckable. Or do I mean unspeakable? Impeachable?


This translation problem reminds me of the story of the French Ambassador in the late C19 who was trying to explain to the British Foreign Minister that his (the Ambassador's) wife was unable to have children, but couldn't think of the correct English word. His aides came to his aid - the first said, "His Excellency is trying to say that his wife is impregnable." The second, sensing that this was not quite le mot juste, said, "No, he means she is unbearable." The third, seeing the look of incomprehension on the Foreign Minster's face, exclaimed, "Ah, non! She is inconceivable."



#7856 10/25/00 02:35 PM
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impregnable unbearable inconceivable

Soooo good.

At the risk of causing a few s, my admiration is almost boundless for bilinguists (?) who can not only handle such potential petards, but can also deliver appreciable wit in more than one tongue.

You know who you are, Awadeers and Awadettes!



#7857 10/25/00 02:42 PM
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the english dessert of "Spotted Dick"

Oh, I should have thought of that one, Helen!
Definitely a pudding rather than a dessert in this case, methinks. But, like treacle spong [sic], an absolute delight which has to be served with custard. (Creme anglaise, belM?)

Another English "Food for Thought" is, of course, Toad in the Hole. I'd be interested to hear guesses by non-Brits as to the essential ingredients!



#7858 10/25/00 03:00 PM
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, Toad in the Hole

My goodness! that does bring back memories of School Dinners! Invariably, the dinner ladies served Frog Spawn as a pudding when T in H was on.


#7859 10/25/00 03:07 PM
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School Dinners

We just used to get a couple of blackened Toads without the Hole at my school.

Still had Frog Spawn for afters, though. Yuk!


#7860 10/25/00 03:26 PM
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>Still had Frog Spawn for afters, though. Yuk!

Particularly unpleasant when little people added jam and swirled it around in streaks .


#7861 10/25/00 04:28 PM
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swirled it around

I once got the undivided attention of the 'Dinner Ladies' at my primary school. Dinner it may have nearly been, but ladies they were not! Picture a line of dragons, whose sole purpose in life was to stand talking to each other in shrill voices without pause. Faced with a particularly foul concoction of custard, as a very polite seven year old, I simply said in a clear voice:
"No custard, thank you"
and turned away down the aisle.

I had travelled several paces before the custard hit the deck with a resounding splat.

The dinner dragons were completely hushed in a single instant!

No, not all food needs to have a vile name to conjure strong responses.


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