Wanted: Translations

There has recently been a proliferation of imported food products, beyond the usual Japanese dips and sauces and Spanish paella seasoning. Today we find a lot more coming from different countries. The US products are not a problem, since we all speak and understand English. Spanish? Most of us have a very basic understanding of the language. The latest collection to enter the country is from France and their labels, details on ingredients and instructions to heat, are all in French.  How on earth will a housewife discern these? What we do is use our imagination and hope our own understanding of the terms is correct.

For instance, we bought a box of frozen lasagnes a la bolognaise, surgelees which of course is lasagna bolognese. The main label is easy, but what does “surgelees” mean? We could not even find this word in our Culinary Guide. We presumed “au four traditionnel” is for oven heating while “au four a micro-ondes” means put in a microwave oven. Choose the oven, so the topping will not turn stone hard as when done in the microwave.    

Our point is, why do the supermarkets and other sellers not endeavor to translate the foreign text to English? This is a massive task, we agree, but they will render a much appreciated service to their customers if they do. We know that in South Supermarket the bottles of Japanese sauces and mixes carry English translations. We commend them for this. Hopefully the rest will follow. In a Korean store, the owners are on hand to explain, and refer to the specific item one wants to buy. Is the staff of bigger stores able to do this?  Often we are met with blank stares when we ask them about the foreign labels. Help! If they want sales to increase, please make an effort to do some translations. Not many speak or read French.

Have you considered advancing your Christmas gift-giving? A few years back, we adopted a system to distribute our presents a few days before Christmas Day. It must first be considered which gifts are better handed over before the holidays.

Food is the most practical items to give, especially if the recipient “has everything.”  Thus, for the homemaker who loves to cook, send bottles of olive oil, maybe a big one of the pure variant for cooking and one small bottle of extra virgin for dips and salads. With your greeting card, add the info that this can be used to prepare their holiday food, hence open the package immediately. Olives and capers would be in the same category. The same goes for quezo de bola accompanied by a few grams of sun-dried tomatoes or a packet of paella seasoning with a bag of paella rice. 

Christmas decorations, hangings for trees especially, are perfect advance tokens. There is actually no limit to things you can put on a tree. National Book Store is one of the best sources of décor items, and of course there is Divisoria where these things abound. Personalized holiday gift tags (printed with greetings) will be very useful to label gifts. Spend time to think about this and you’ll find more presents you can give in advance.            

A long time ago, something funny happened to us on the way to Newton Center in Singapore, the original place for hawker food. Because we came from a very long meeting, we were starved. Wearing high-heeled shoes and dressed to the nines, we lost our balance and fell to the ground. Our companion laughed at us.

Before the arrival of Singaporean restaurants in the country, it was rare to have satay, etc. This month, at the Mandarin Oriental’s Paseo Uno, from Monday, Nov. 19, we can all have our fill of Singaporean dishes as the hotel mounts its Sensational Singapore Food Festival with “imported” chef Eric Cheam from the Lion City producing such favorites as chili crabs, beef rendang, fish head curry, satay, gula malaka sago, almond pudding, and more. Call the Mandarin at 750-8888. A cooking demo for those who want to learn the recipes is set for Saturday, Nov. 24, at 9 a.m.

Have a happy Sunday!

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