Of food, dinners and restaurants
Hi everyone, this is Owen and this is my podcast for Friday 15th January, 2016. First, I'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2016. I hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas holiday and a good start to the new year. I'm back in Kunming now after a short and fun visit to Beijing. I went there to celebrate Christmas and to catch up with [1] some friends. Lots of people have left, though, since I was last in Beijing. Only a couple of my expat [2] friends are still living there. The reason so many have left is the air pollution. It was particularly bad around Christmas. I'd forgotten how awful the air smells and tastes. Apart from that, it was great to be back. Walking around my old neighbourhood, I noticed a few things that have changed but most of it was just how I left it.
Today I'll be talking about food. First, I'll tell you about a dinner party at my house and then about my culinary [3] adventures in Beijing.
So, the other week, I invited some Chinese friends over for dinner. It was my turn to cook some Western food for them. I always get a bit nervous when I have to cook for Chinese people. I find them quite picky [4] when it comes to food. A lot of them only eat Chinese food and they don't know much about European food. So I had to think very carefully about what I should cook for them. I decided to buy lots of booze [5] just in case. I thought, if I they have enough to drink, they'll be happy with whatever I offer them to eat. They like to eat a lot, so I had to make sure I prepared enough food. I also wanted to give them a real experience, so I prepared three courses. The first course was more like finger food. I prepared hummus with homemade pitta bread, guacamole and bruschetta. I also made them strong mojitos to drink. We were sitting in the living room and it was all going well. They loved the mojitos and seemed to be enjoying the food. They especially liked the fresh bread and before long all the food was gone. I then stood up and asked them to sit at the dinner table for the main course. They all looked at me in shock and asked: ‘What do you mean, main course? ' They all thought that had been the whole dinner. Now, I was a little worried they were full [6]. The main course was spaghetti puttanesca. Most Chinese like strong flavours and I thought puttanesca with black olives, capers and anchovies would be something they would like. We opened a bottle of red wine to have with the pasta. They were having some problems using a fork and also I noticed they were chewing [7] a lot. I kept thinking: ‘Why are they chewing so much? It's just spaghetti. ' I realised then that it was too dry for them. Only one of them wanted dessert. I guess they were full at least. The dinner taught me a few lessons. First, Chinese have a large appetite when it comes to Chinese food but not when it comes to Western food. Second, always make a soup. And third, just invite them to a Chinese restaurant next time.
In Beijing I was very happy to see my old housemate Claude. He's French but he's been in Beijing for many years and he recently opened a restaurant there, where they serve a variety of different European food. It's located in the old part of Beijing, in the centre of the city. Over Christmas the restaurant was offering a special dinner. A couple of friends and I decided to go there on Christmas Eve. The restaurant was fully booked over Christmas, so naturally Claude was a little nervous. On Christmas Eve he was also expecting a group of journalists and food bloggers which added to the pressure [8]. Just before people started arriving he got a phone call from the restaurant's landlord [9]. The landlord wanted a table for a group of his friends. Claude explained that the restaurant was fully booked because it was Christmas Eve and that he was sorry but he didn't have a table available. The landlord, however, didn't stop insisting [10]. He said his friends just wanted to come for a drink, they didn't want to eat. Claude, of course, wants to keep him happy, not just because he's the landlord but because he apparently has links to the local mafia. Claude reluctantly [11] decided to give them a table on the second floor of the restaurant. The second floor is still under construction, so it's not officially open yet. Claude knew they were going to be loud, so he thought at least on the second floor they won't disturb [12] anyone. Little did he know. When six rather drunk middle-aged Chinese arrived, Claude quickly showed them upstairs. They ordered a bottle of vodka and tequila and before long they were making a lot of noise. Claude kept rushing upstairs to ask them to be quiet and to have a drink with them as is the custom here. Downstairs everything was going smoothly [13]. There were lots of Christmas decorations, Frank Sinatra was singing Christmas songs in the background and everyone was enjoying their Christmas Eve dinner. Then all of a sudden there was a very loud noise. We all turned our heads towards the stairs and watched as one very drunk Chinese man came crashing down the stairs and landed face down on the floor next to a big table of people enjoying their dinner. It suddenly went very quiet in the restaurant. The Chinese man groaned [14] loudly, passed out [15] and started snoring [16]. Claude and the waitresses quickly rushed over to see if he was ok. Two of the other men came down the stairs, saw their friend lying on the floor, laughed at him and then went back upstairs. The bartender called an ambulance but before it got there, the Chinese man woke up, shouted at everyone that he was ok and then vomited [17] all over the floor. Claude was in shock and very angry but immediately apologised to all his guests for the disturbance. The staff quickly cleaned up and carried the drunken man outside for some fresh air. The ambulance still hadn't found the restaurant at this point and the funniest part of the whole scene to me was that the hospital then called to ask whether we still needed an ambulance. The drunken man seemed to be ok and Claude was so angry, he told the hospital not to bother. What a great night! Not only was the food fantastic, we also got to enjoy a bit of unforgettable drunken behaviour.
As I'm sure I have told you before, Beijing is a great place for eating out. It's something I miss a lot. These days there is some very good non-Chinese food available. But it's the Chinese food in Beijing that I miss. You can find every type of Chinese cuisine and it's all just delicious. I was excited about going back to one of my favourite spots in Beijing. It's a tiny little family-run restaurant in the hutongs. Hutongs are the narrow streets that make up the old part of Beijing. The restaurant is very close to where I used to live and it was on my way to work. If I ever felt a little hungry on my way home, this is where I would go. The menu is very simple. Basically all they serve are steamed dumplings, soups and a few simple stir-fried dishes. The best Chinese comfort food [18] there is. So I couldn't wait to go back to order my favourite dishes: some steamed pork and leek dumplings and a plate of chao bing. To make chao bing they make a very thick pancake which they then cut into thin strips [19]. After that they stir-fry them with some cabbage and egg. So simple yet so delicious. When I walked into the restaurant I was happy to see that the same family was managing the place. It all looked the same, nothing had changed, the same tables and stools, the same old wooden counter where you can watch them making dumplings, the same bottles of vinegar and soy sauce on all the tables. It felt good to be back. I ordered my food. I sat down and prepared a little bowl with Chinese vinegar and chilli sauce for my dumplings. And then finally my food arrived. And what a disappointment it was! The chao bing was much too oily and salty and the dumplings tasted very different. I think they put some strange spices inside. To be honest I wish I had never gone back. It completely ruined all my good memories of the place.
That's all from me for today. Thank you very much for listening. You can listen to all our podcasts by visiting our website www.podclub.ch or by downloading our app. You can also download our vocabulary trainer to help you learn new words. Gerry will be back in two weeks. And my next podcast will be on February the 12th. Until then, goodbye!
Glossaire: Owen in China [1] to catch up with so. : to see so. you haven't seen in a long time
[2] expat: short for expatriate: so. who lives in a foreign country
[3] culinary: related to food
[4] picky: hard to please
[5] booze: alcohol
[6] full: here: not wanting to eat more after eating a lot
[7] to chew: to use your teeth to bite food in your mouth
[8] pressure: here: stress
[9] landlord: a person who rents out land or a building
[10] to insist: to not accept ‘no' as an answer
[11] reluctantly: hesitantly
[12] to disturb: here: to interrupt somebody's peace
[13] smoothly : without any problems
[14] to groan: here: to make a deep sound because of pain
[15] to pass out: to become unconscious
[16] to snore: to make a sound while asleep
[17] to vomit: to be sick, to throw up, to puke
[18] comfort food: food that makes you feel happy and at home
[19] strip: here: a long and thin piece