Random Culture Thread

[azhong]

why is 飘香麻辣锅味 translated here as "numb and spicy hot pot flavor"?

My explanation, which also needs your check.
飄香：(literally flowing smell) emitting/flowing out a good smell (from a dish, for example)
[url=”https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing_hot_pot“]麻辣鍋[/url]：(literally numb-spicy pot) it's so spicy that will make your tongue numb.
味：flavour

[Linguaphile]

We could have a whole thread about international flavors of potato chips, by the way.

I bet you can't find these in too many countries:

Probably not!

Do you have these in Finland? (We don't have them here [western US, at least as far as I've seen].)


Found these in Estonia, I guess the one below is a Finnish brand?

why is 飘香麻辣锅味 translated here as "numb and spicy hot pot flavor"?

My explanation, which also needs your check.
飄香：(literally flowing smell) emitting/flowing out a good smell (from a dish, for example)
[url=”https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing_hot_pot“]麻辣鍋[/url]：(literally numb-spicy pot) it's so spicy that will make your tongue numb.
味：flavour

Thanks! That makes sense. I'd probably have said "numbing and spicy", since it is not the hot pot that is going to be numb, but instead the person's tongue. But the reason it says "numb" makes sense now.

[awrui]

The worst I have tasted, was chocolate + caramel chips. No wonder they removed them after one season Not chips covered with chocolate or something like that, but chips with chocolate and caramel flavour.
Then there was chips with champagne flavour, they were actually quite good!

[mōdgethanc]

There's a national hat?

Exactly.

It's a tuque

[Osias]

There's a national hat?

[azhong]

What's the typical workday lunch in your country?

According to what Osias told me here, a typical workday lunch for a Brazilian office worker is a "mamita". This Portuguese word seems to mean "a food container" originally, so "a lunch box" here. And then it refers to the (hot) lunch in the box.

If so, it's very similar to the situation in Taiwan. Also a hot one, we name it 飯盒(literally "rice box") or 便當,. The latter is transformed from Japanese 弁当; Taiwan was once governed by Japan for fifty years (1895-1945).

I'm somewhat surprised by the similarity between the form of “mamita" and "飯盒". Does anyone happens to know if there's any cultural connections?

Also, I'm interested to know a typical workday lunch in your country? I hear Americans seem eat only a cold sandwich (and coffee) ?

[md0]

I'd think that here (Berlin) it would be döner, or in my case, a surprisingly good vegan gyros.

But in more general terms, when we work from the office, we go at a sit-down restaurant in the proximity of work and order medium-speed food.

[linguoboy]

I'm somewhat surprised by the similarity between the form of “mamita" and "飯盒". Does anyone happens to know if there's any cultural connections?

The word is marmita and it comes from a French word for “cooking pot”.

Also, I'm interested to know a typical workday lunch in your country? I hear Americans seem eat only a cold sandwich (and coffee) ?

*laughs in American*

Yesterday I had pizza; today I’m having tacos.

[Linguaphile]

I hear Americans seem eat only a cold sandwich (and coffee) ?

That's a stereotypical American "brown bag lunch", yes, and a cold sandwich is often what I do have. (Peanut butter sandwich or cheese and salami.) But other days I have yoghurt (usually either Greek-style or kefir), or I make a burrito or tostada or some other Mexican-inspired thing that can be eaten as easily as a sandwich. Instant ramen is popular at my workplace too. Some people bring store-bought frozen entrees and some people daily bring something left over from the previous night's dinner. The advent of microwaves - many years ago now, of course - has changed what people bring for lunch because it's easier to heat or re-heat food at work. A lot of workplaces will have a refrigerator, freezer and microwave or employees may even bring their own mini-fridge and small microwave to keep in their office space. I think the stereotype of "brown-bagging it" with a cold sandwich comes from pre-microwave days, but it does still exist. (Like I mentioned, it's often what I have, and is still what I fall back on when I don't have any other ideas of what I want to bring that day. Plus, I always have bread, cheese, and peanut butter at home, so a cheese or peanut butter sandwich is always a quick and easy thing to make when I'm in a rush! I also always have canned beans and store-bought tortillas at home too, which is why burritos or other Mexican-inspired foods are my other go-to.)



Edit: on a related note, there's this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgZLPGT5llg
What's funny is that there are things that are very familiar in almost all of the lunches. I've probably taken most of these things for lunch at some point, except the radish sandwich and the meatloaf sandwich (I've had radishes and meatloaf, but not for lunch in a sandwich).

[linguoboy]

(I've had radishes and meatloaf, but not for lunch in a sandwich).

Mmm...meatloaf sandwich.

I don't think I've ever worked anywhere that didn't have a break room with a microwave. I rarely bring my lunch any more (I like getting a physical break from my workplace by walking to a nearby restaurant), but even when I did and it was a sandwich, I usually microwaved the insides so I could have a hot lunch.

[Naava]

What's the typical workday lunch in your country?

I think it depends on what kind of work you do: do you stay in the same building the entire day or do you have to move from place to place, do you work at a daycare, school, senior home, or similar place that serves lunch to the "customers" (if yes, the employees are typically allowed to eat there too), and so on and so on.

But a typical Finnish meal schedule has two big meals between 11-13 and 16-18, and then three smaller snack times (like bread) for morning, afternoon, and evening. Because of that, I'd expect most people to have what we'd consider a proper lunch: potatoes, rice, or pasta with some protein, salad, and bread. (Tbh, I actually googled this to be sure it's not just me and it seems to match how people described their workday lunches online. )

Many workplaces have what we call ruokala. I suppose cafeteria or lunch restaurant could be a good translation for that. They serve a full meal - like I described above - to the employees. Another option is that you get "lunch tickets" to get a discount in a nearby restaurant. People can (and do) also bring their own food to work. It's usually either leftovers from previous meals, a salad with protein, or ready meals. There's quite a nice selection available at shops - IMO it's gotten better during the last decade or so.

► Show Spoiler

Here's some photos of what a typical lunch would look like here; I found them all by searching workplace lunch, so I suppose they're accurate. I mean that's what my lunches have looked like but it's not like I had worked for every employer in Finland, you know.

► Show Spoiler

[md0]

Here's some photos of what a typical lunch would look like here; I found them all by searching workplace lunch, so I suppose they're accurate.

That boiled potato and beetroot patty dish triggered some nostalgia for the incredibly cheap and very nutritious (even if a bit unseasoned) meals from the university ravintola in Joensuu. Thank you Kela, you really took care of me those six months

[Naava]

Here's some photos of what a typical lunch would look like here; I found them all by searching workplace lunch, so I suppose they're accurate.

That boiled potato and beetroot patty dish triggered some nostalgia for the incredibly cheap and very nutritious (even if a bit unseasoned) meals from the university ravintola in Joensuu. Thank you Kela, you really took care of me those six months

You know, I started to miss my school & university lunches too when looking through the photos. All praise to Kela my beloved!

[md0]

As an aside, Finland/the uni restaurant is by where I was first exposed to the notion of adding fruits in lunches, like orange slices with e.g. rice, or apple slices in salad. Not sure if that's done only in school/uni lunches because they are promoting healthy eating or if it's something you generally do in Finland. Before that, I could never imagine combining those things. (Let's not go into the fruit status of tomato though )

[Naava]

It's a thing, but I don't think it's super common. There's some common combinations people do at least in these big kitchens, like grated carrot+pineapple, mango+chicken sauce, grapes+salad, and apple is a traditional part of rosolli, but I'd say majority of the recipes people use don't mix fruit with savoury dishes. I am biased though because I hate it!

Also, we're getting dangerously close to the pineapple pizza debate...

[Car]

I'd think that here (Berlin) it would be döner, or in my case, a surprisingly good vegan gyros.

But in more general terms, when we work from the office, we go at a sit-down restaurant in the proximity of work and order medium-speed food.

I think it depends. Some companies have cafeterias, other people might go to an eatery/ takeaway or restaurant, others use a microwave to eat ready-made meals or things they prepared the day before while others might just eat a sandwich.

[Linguaphile]

As an aside, Finland/the uni restaurant is by where I was first exposed to the notion of adding fruits in lunches, like orange slices with e.g. rice, or apple slices in salad.

It's common in salads here, too. Apple or dried cranberries or grapes in a vegetable salad (lettuce + carrot + tomato + something like that) or in a chicken salad, etc.
It's also extremely common to have fruit on the side with any lunch (apple, orange, etc). Schools do this as part of a nutrition program, but a lot of people do it outside of school, too.

(Let's not go into the fruit status of tomato though )

I once saw this posted on a sign:
"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit;
wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad."

[linguoboy]

As an aside, Finland/the uni restaurant is by where I was first exposed to the notion of adding fruits in lunches, like orange slices with e.g. rice, or apple slices in salad.

It's common in salads here, too. Apple or dried cranberries or grapes in a vegetable salad (lettuce + carrot + tomato + something like that) or in a chicken salad, etc.

And White people in America will put raisins into damn near anything. I grew up with a salad which was simply shredded carrots, raisins, and mayo. (I understand Southerners also add crushed pineapple but we never did.)

[Linguaphile]

As an aside, Finland/the uni restaurant is by where I was first exposed to the notion of adding fruits in lunches, like orange slices with e.g. rice, or apple slices in salad.

It's common in salads here, too. Apple or dried cranberries or grapes in a vegetable salad (lettuce + carrot + tomato + something like that) or in a chicken salad, etc.

And White people in America will put raisins into damn near anything. I grew up with a salad which was simply shredded carrots, raisins, and mayo. (I understand Southerners also add crushed pineapple but we never did.)

It's... not limited to white people though? I like carrot-raisin salad* (with or without crushed pineapple) though. Then there's cinnamon raisin bread, cinnamon raisin rolls, and oatmeal raisin cookies. You'd think I'd eat a lot of raisin-based foods; a relative of mine grows grapes to sell to one of the world's largest raisin producers... but no, just some raisin bakery items and carrot-raisin salad! And veggie biryani with golden raisins (which some of you may call sultanas). And there's Raisin Bran cereal, but I've never liked it. (Shh, don't tell my raisin-growing relatives.)

*carrot-raisin salad is kind of similar to cole slaw, except with carrots in place of cabbage, and, well, raisins of course. Carrot-raisin salad and cole slaw are often served side-by-side at potlucks and found ready-made side-by-side at the grocery store.
I forgot to mention earlier, grapes in potato salad!

[linguoboy]

I forgot to mention earlier, grapes in potato salad!

Now this I've never seen. Grapes in chicken salad--all the time. But all my potato salads (hot or cold) have been fruit-free.