又中又英｜French delicacy

Many years ago, a Japanese diplomat invited me to lunch in an upscale (expensive) restaurant in Central. I ate something without knowing what it was. The taste didn’t agree with me at all. I asked my host what it was. He said it was a piece of frog leg. It made my stomach turn when I heard it. I had never eaten frogs’ legs before and had carefully avoided this French delicacy. But the conversation between my host and I was so animated that I ate whatever was being served. I tried to get rid of the taste with water, but it was mission impossible.

If food doesn’t agree with you, it means it makes you feel slightly ill. If food makes your stomach turn, it means it makes you sick. Spoiled food can also make your stomach turn. The word “delicacy” when referring to food means something that is rare, expensive, and tastes good. I have a weak stomach and avoid delicacies except truffle, which is a kind of underground edible fungus. An animated conversation is a lively and interesting conversation. Experts recently warned that Europe’s love of eating frogs is endangering certain frog species in Asia and south-east Europe.

Those news reports reminded me of mistakenly eating frogs’ legs many years ago. More than 500 experts have urged French President Emmanuel Macron to end the overexploitation of frogs and to give them special protection. The European Union imports up to 200 million frogs a year, which are mostly eaten in France. Everyone should cut back or stop eating delicacies such as frogs’ legs and shark-fin soup to save such species.

许多年前，一位日本外交官邀请我到中环一间高档（upscale）餐厅共晋午膳。我吃了些东西，却不知道是甚么。那味道令我有点不适（didn’t agree with you），于是我问做东的人那是甚么，他说是一块蛙腿，我一听到就感到反胃（stomach turn）。我从未吃过蛙腿，也努力避开这道法国佳肴（delicacy）。但当时我跟做东的人谈得正兴高采烈（animated），甚么食物奉上来我都照吃如仪。我尝试喝水冲走那个味道，但那是不可能的任务。

若食物 doesn’t agree with you，那意思即是它令你感到轻微不适；若食物令你 stomach turn，即令你恶心、倒胃。当用 delicacy一字谈食物时，它的意思是稀有、昂贵和味美的山珍海错。我的胃很弱，尽量避免吃珍馐（delicacies），除了松露（truffle），即那种生长在地底的食用菌。An animated conversation就是热烈且有趣的交谈。最近有一些专家警告，欧洲热爱吃青蛙正在危及某些亚洲和欧洲东南部的青蛙物种。

这些新闻报道令我想到了许多年前误吃蛙腿的事来。超过500名专家促请法国总统伊曼努尔‧马克龙终止过度开采青蛙，给它们特别的保护。欧盟每年进口的青蛙达2亿只，大部分都是给法国食用的。人人都该削减或罢吃蛙腿和鱼翅这类珍馐（delicacies），以救救这些濒危物种。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻