Delicious UK - (01)January 2020

58 deliciousmagazine.co.uk

I

foneofyourNewYear’s

resolutionsfor 2020 is tolearn

a newlanguage,prepare

tofeastona newfoodlexicon.

A Norwegian-Americanfood

writerlivingintheUK,I speak

fivelanguages.Learninga new

languageflexesyourbrainand

allowsyoutoconnectwithpeople,

andenjoyingfoodwhenyoutravel

is a handywayin.Pickingupnew

wordsfroma menuina caféis an

easywaytostart,asis tryinga new,

unfamiliardish.Andwhenit comes

tothevocabularyoffood,every

languageI’velearnedhasoffered

a cornucopia of enchantments.

A WAYINTOA NEWCULTURE

Oneofthedelightsoflearning

a newlanguageis thatit givesyou

aninsightintoanotherculture,

including its eating culture. For

instance,theFrenchwordgoût,

ortaste,is morethanjusta word;

it reflectsa wayoflife.AsLauren

Collins,a Paris-basedwriterat

TheNewYorkermagazine,explains,

“TheFrenchhabitof‘legoûter’,the

lateafternoonpainauchocolat,

crêpe,pieceoffruitorwhatever,

is a snackthat’smeanttoprevent

snacking.It’sconsideredoneof

thefourmealsoftheday,while

snackingis sofrowned-uponthat

it’sincludedasfineprintatthe

bottomoffoodadvertsasa health

warning.”Inotherwords,theFrench

havegotroundtheideaofsnacking

beingbadbyelevatingit tothe

statusofa legitimatemeal.

Anyonewho’sgrownuphearing

Yiddishwillknowthelanguageis

allaboutfood.AccordingtoNina

Caplan,authorofTheWandering

Vine: Wine, the Romans andMe,

“Yiddishis allabouteating,both

literallyandlaterally.Younosh

(nibble,snack)if you’renothungry

or,if you’reoverdoingit,youfress

(gorge– it’sfromtheverb‘toeat’in

thecontextofananimaleating,

andthat’sstillwhatfressenmeans

inGerman).Inwhichcase,you’re

a fresser.Yiddishdoesnot waste

time on politeness.”

THEWONDERFULWORLDOFWORDS

AnotherpleasureforEnglish-

speakingfoodloverslearning

a newlanguageis thatyougetto

discoversomewonderfulwords

andphrasesthathavenoequivalent

inEnglish.InScandinavia,there

aresomegreatones,manyofwhich

seemtoinvolvedrinking.The

famedFinnishtermkalsarikännit

describesdrinkingbyyourself

at home in your pants. The

WHY DON’T WE HAVE A

MultilingualfoodwriterSigneJohansenisa lover

oflanguages.Notonlyhavetheyconnectedher

todifferentpeopleandcultures,they’vealsogiven

her a passport to an exotic new world of culinary vocabulary

ish d Norwe ) PLOV Tra nal Uzbek rice emblematic o

rm ho lity a inship he locals exten strangers SKI Scots Gaelic f

that skirle und t pan ( ks to od wr Rachel Corm for thi

SOBR MESA ‘T e talk nd di ons t t take e afte meal n i s h)

MMES onounce seem it’s h for fuss. so a h of r eg ste

prun or other dried itBOU E Old ench grand ast K ERSPE

f bac n’ or weig t gain throu otion overeating (Ger )MAT he sil

eating a meal, speci a fis h (No egian) PLOV Tr onal U r ic e

emblemat of the wa hospit and k ship the loca nd to n ge r s

IE Scots elic for o hat g rled r nd th an (t to fo r it e r

McCorm k for thi ) SOB SA ‘T le tal nd di ions t ake p

meal ( nish) TZ ES Pr ced ‘s mez’, Yiddis r a fu t’s als

root v ewed w unes o other d d fru U FFAG ld Fr h for a

east K ERSPE ef bacon’ or w ht gai ou h o onal overeat

n)MAT he sile le eating a m , espec i

FOR THAT?