017 Breaking bread



陈豪昨天晚上陪一位总裁去出席晚宴,可是他还个问题不太清楚。为了请教美籍华人Mary,他约她今晚一起去美国餐馆吃晚饭。

(Restaurant ambience)

M:嗨,陈豪,how's last night's dinner? Everything OK?

C:你告诉过我怎么喝汤,各种刀叉的用法。可是,It may sound silly,昨晚我发现我不太清楚该怎么吃面包。美国人好象跟我们的吃法不一样。

M:别着急。你看服务员给我们送面包来了。The first thing is that your bread goes on your bread and butter plate.

C:面包放在面包和黄油的盘上。Which one is my bread and butter plate?

M:It's the one on your left above the forks。

C:噢,就是这个。

M:Just remember: Bread and butter on the left; water or coffee on the right and meat goes in the middle. 你就记住德国的名牌汽车BMW就行了。

C:What has BMW to do with eating bread?

M:B代表bread, 在左边, M代表meat, 在中间,W代表water,在右边。

C:BMW!

******

C:Mary,你还没有告诉我究竟该怎么吃面包呐。我们中国人都是一口一口咬的,可是美国人好象是用手掰的。

M:Yes, I noticed that too. 我给你示范一下。Tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it. Then tear off another piece and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing。

C:That's the way I saw Americans eat their bread last night. 现在你证实了,我以后就没问题了。

M:So everything is clear? 没问题了吧?

C:等等,我还有一个问题。昨晚的面包很松,面包渣很多。我是不是应该把面包盘放到我面前。这样面包渣就不会撒在桌上。

M:No, the bread plate remains in its place. Just break the bread and butter it over the plate and let the crumbs fall where they may.

C:噢,面包盘是不能搬动的,一直放在左上方。然后掰面包,图黄油都在盘上面。So the bread crumbs would fall into the bread plate。

M:That's right. Now, let me sum up the main points: bread goes on your bread and butter plate which is on your left above the forks; to eat bread, don't bite, but tear off a small piece, butter it if you like and eat it and continue until you are satisfied or have eaten the whole thing.