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I’m
pretty sure the recently published European Menu Translator will
give the average restaurant patron a good level of comfort on a
trip to Europe.
This book is designed to be pulled out and used in
conjunction with a menu, as opposed to being able to start with
what you want to eat and find the words in the local language.
My personal preference is to have a good idea of what
words are linked to what I want to eat (or not) before I enter
the restaurant, so that when I hear the specials, I can figure
out whether it’s kidneys or guinea fowl on offer.
To
meet this requirement, the Menu Translator would have to be
considerably larger and more unwieldy.
The authors Whitney and Anne Galbraith, get points for
convenience – a mere 120 pages in a pocket-sized edition
covers the four main languages of Western Europe – French,
German, Spanish and Italian.
To
be sure, there are things the Galbraiths are probably shaking
their heads and wondering “How could we have missed that?”
Why, for example, are days of the week and numbers found
in some of the languages, but not all?
This sort of thing is not critical, being pretty easy to
use your fingers to indicate quantity of a food in a restaurant
– and if a restaurant is closed a particular day of the week,
well, you will have to find another one.
The typos seem most prevalent in the German section (Buttereig
instead of Butterteig, Weissbeir instead of Weissbier); however,
it’s unlikely to impair your dining experience.
No doubt, they’ll be corrected in the next edition.
The
book earns point points for size, price (a mere $8.95USD) and
usability, although it definitely feels as though it is geared
towards first-time American travelers to Europe.
The tips about eating in different countries at the
beginning of the book may seem basic, but the vocabulary meets
the mark. If it
helps you get eggs instead of grapes (uove / uve) in Italy or
flounder instead of peas (Scholle / Schoten) in Germany, then
hey, it’s worth the price.
Recommended:
For unilingual travelers who don’t relish going into
the kitchen to look at the type of fish on tonight’s feature
list. For more
experienced travelers, this book is useful if you are an
adventuresome eater, but have reasons for avoiding certain types
of food (allergies, food intolerances).
In the latter case, learn to explain the consequences of
consumption of problem foods (charades of choking and dying work
well); otherwise, staff may simply think you don’t care for
something.
Availability: http://www.beaglebay.com
Report
by Gael Arthur ©
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