If one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2020 is to learn a new language, prepare to feast on a new food lexicon. A Norwegian-American food writer living in the UK, I speak five languages. Learning a new language flexes your brain and allows you to connect with people, and enjoying food when you travel is a handy way in. Picking up new words from a menu in a café is an easy way to start, as is trying a new, unfamiliar dish. And when it comes to the vocabulary of food, every language I’ve learned has offered a cornucopia of enchantments.
A WAY INTO A NEW CULTURE
One of the delights of learning a new language is that it gives you an insight into another culture, including its eating culture. For instance, the French word goût, or taste, is more than just a word; it reflects a way of life. As Lauren Collins, a Paris-based writer at The New Yorker magazine, explains, “The French habit of ‘le goûter’, the late afternoon pain au chocolat, crêpe, piece of fruit or whatever, is a snack that’s meant to prevent snacking. It’s considered one of the four meals of the day, while snacking is so frowned-upon that it’s included as fine print at the bottom of food adverts as a health warning.” In other words, the French have got round the idea of snacking being bad by elevating it to the status of a legitimate meal.
Anyone who’s grown up hearing Yiddish will know the language is all about food. According to Nina Caplan, author of The Wandering Vine: Wine, the Romans and Me, “Yiddish is all about eating, both literally and laterally. You nosh (nibble, snack) if you’re not hungry or, if you’re overdoing it, you fress (gorge – it’s from the verb ‘to eat’ in the context of an animal eating, and that’s still what fressen means in German). In which case, you’re a fresser. Yiddish does not waste time on politeness.”
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WORDS
Another pleasure for Englishspeaking food lovers learning a new language is that you get to discover some wonderful words and phrases that have no equivalent in English. In Scandinavia, there are some great ones, many of which seem to involve drinking. The famed Finnish term kalsarikännit describes drinking by yourself at home in your pants. The Norwegians even have a word for drinking a beer outside: utepils.