No Language Barrier Here

I went to a Chinese restaurant with Laura for lunch today. Why did I go? I've complained about the food to friends and family but when it's convenient, cheap and quick, I can't do too much squealing. This time though I thought I do a bit of documentation.

While we were waiting for our food to arrive, the hostess comes over to our table and asks me if I am Chinese. I tell her "yes." She then asks me if I speak Chinese, I tell her "yes" but quickly interject that I speak Cantonese. I try to chat with her but there is a definite language barrier. She tried to understand me and repeats, in Cantonese, a few of the things I say like: "Oh, you speak Cantonese."

After the introduction we begin to talk about the differences between Cantonese food and other Chinese cuisines, except this time we are speaking in Italian. She asks me where I am from, about my parents, my siblings and my life in Italy. Then she started counting from one to ten in Cantonese, I obliged her and counted from one to ten in Mandarin. By the end of the meal, the language barrier was gone. Italian ruled over both Mandarin and Cantonese. I never thought the day would come in which for me Italian would be the bridge between two Chinese people. What an interesting day.

Here are some typical Chinese dishes, in Italy that is.



The spring rolls or involtini primavera were fried rolls with mostly cabbage, shredded carrots and a bit of either minced pork or chicken inside. They were quite large, thick and folded into a rectangular pillowish shape. I cut mine in half to let them cool, then ate them with sweet and sour sauce or salsa agrodolce.

This is hot and sour soup. It looked a bit dark and contained the following, wood ears, tofu, bamboo shoots, preserved Chinese cabbage aka zanzai, minced pork, and mushrooms.

Cantonese fried rice, with peas, diced ham and egg.

Mung bean threads aka spaghetti di soia, sauteed with red peppers in a spicy sauce.


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