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When you don’t speak the language
By Ann | March 11, 2008
I’m feeling a bit under the weather and not in a very posty or foody mood. But thanks to a recent comment from Emigre on my post Rome vs. Paris vs. New York, I’ve been thinking about language, travel and dining.
About my opinion of less-than-stellar food experiences in Italy, Emigre writes:
“If you don’t speak italian this is your problem. You cannot go yelling around that Italy cuisine is the “worst, tourist-trappy meals of my life” just because you can’t speak italian and find a way to get out of the touristic low-level restaurants!
French are know for being mono-language people. Please don’t let me think of you as of such a persone. I like people who travels, who learn foreigner languages and don’t limit themselves to speaking just english or french.”
First of all, let me say that I totally agree with Emigre — travel and dining are much, much better when you speak the local language! Aside from English, I am lucky enough to speak Mandarin Chinese, which greatly enriched my experiences of living and traveling in China.
Alas, I cannot learn the language of every country that I visit. But how much should speaking the language count? Do you need to be fluent in the local tongue to eat well?
Not so much in Tokyo, I’d argue, where my guidebook led me to a gem of a sushi restaurant (photo above) in the Tsukiji Fish Market, Daiwa Sushi, which was packed with locals and serving the most sparkling bits of fresh fish. I don’t speak a word of Japanese, but no one tried to rip me off, and people even pushed me to the front of the line when a spot for one opened up at the counter.
In Paris, New York, and, yes, Rome, I’d argue that speaking the local language is more essential. But as a tourist, how do you find your way out of the “touristic low-level restaurants” — particularly when you don’t speak the lingua franca?
Topics: Dining Out and About | 1 Comment »
One Response to “When you don’t speak the language”
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March 11th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Actually, one of my greatest guilty pleasures is finding funny translations to English on foreign menus, like the “fajitas with norks [I assume they meant 'the works']” in San Miguel de Allende and a host of hilarious menus I came across while living in Krakow in the late 1990′s (note: just b/c the menu was translated didn’t mean that anyone would understand a single word of what you were trying to say – in English or Polish!). I’m all for the tried and true method of finding a great reastaurant abroad, or at home, namely peek around until you find a place with a crowd. Still, it helps to have a sense of the culture. For example, in Poland, it’s all about home cooking, so find the places listed “u + name” as in “u Babcia Malinas.” Finally, no matter where I’ve been, I’ve always been able to find incredible Italian food. In fact, the best food I’ve ever had in Paris was at a small Italian Trattoria. Ditto for one of my favorites in Saigon and a few faves in Lima, and Bangkok is chok full of them.