Mislabeled food, odd translations?
Along the lines of food professions, I've found food items on occasion with that is mislabeled or has a funny or odd translation of the name. I frequently buy jalapenos from my local Asian market that are labeled "Hello Peno". What have you found?
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Asian & Indian grocery stores are a treasure trove of mis-spelt names & transalations! Franch beens', leman, laim, bale peper, pateto to name a few gems from my local Indian grocery. Its because English is not the native language of many of the people working there and they tend to spell it phonetically incorporating the accents of their mother tongues. You've inspired me to pay a visit for just cataloging these!!
I've come across so many of these, and can't think of a one right now. But the wheels are spinning.
I used to love reading the odd translations oin the take-out menus left in our building's lobby everyday. My all-time favorite: a Chinese restaurant's translation of a frogs' leg dish: Jumping Leggy in Spicy Garlic Sauce.
I was at the Farmer's Market on Sunday and my favorite Hmong owned stand had 'hot notles'. Very exciting - something to learn about! When I asked I was told they were hot weeds - we finally understood each other. The hot notles were stinging nettles.
It really adds a layer of delight to shopping and cooking with foods from other cuisines. And I can only guess at what hilarious translations I might inflict on their languages!
I love shopping at the Asian grocery, mainly for all the really cool food items, but also for the hilarious labeling. My kids love it - I think their favorite thus far is the "Collon Candy."
In China Town (Flushing, NY) a couple of New Years' ago, we got this enormous candy-filled lucky golden apple for Great Grandma, mostly for the amazing box:
In a similar vein, in 1967 I bought Japanese recipe cards in Hawaii. One phrase has stuck with me ever since: "The odor of scorching soy sauce"!
The Asian market I shop at continually labels broccoli as "broccori". Also, I saw this truck in Kilifi, Kenya - not exactly mislabeled, but I thought it was funny.