Lost in Translation
May 4th, 2004 | Posted by Shannon
At a cafe in Sevilla during Semana Santa, we sat down at a table and were given a menu that almost gave me a rupture then and still gives me fits of giggles now. The menu, clearly created and photocopied for the fiesta, came home with me in my journal.
Each menu item is offered in a full size portion (racion) and a half portion (media racion.)
Media racion in a straight translation = half racion. Media racion in screwed-up English translation: Stocking racion.
Hmmm. How does “half” become “stocking?”
But it gets better. Check out of some of these menu items.
Lom Lunny Dry
Cane Loin
Loin Flesh Oven
Tuna Pickles
Let’s try to break this down.
Lom Lunny Dry. The Spanish dish is called “Mojama.” This is a blue fin tuna prepared in some manner. Lom Lunny Dry? What Spanish-English dictionary is this? At least it was only 6 Euro for a Stocking racion!
Cane Loin. Probably Spaniards crack up when we say stuff like “Tender Loin.” They probably threw this one on the menu with a snicker. As far as I can tell, “Cana de lomo” is either a meat cone, a meat bone, or meat in a draft beer from Paraguay.
Loin Flesh Oven. Ahhh, my favorite. It sounds like the title of a porno movie! I about peed my pants when I read this one. This came from “Lomo Mechado” which according to my Eating and Drinking in Spain book, this can “mean any number of things, but most often refers to a roast.” Please, elaborate, what else can it mean? There has got to be something sick and twisted somewhere in the usage of this term.
Tuna Pickles. This is pretty tame compared to the others, but I bet one could get children to eat their fish by calling it a “pickle.” I, for one, am going to attempt this dish very soon, because anything that is pickled or is served with pickles rocks.
So on this day, we ordered a simple plate of “Prawa,” a Fino for me and a beer for mom. I wasn’t yet into my Fino phase, but that’s what I got and so that is what I drank. We peeled the little shrimps and watched all the locals celebrating the first day of the fiesta. Someday I will go back and order a Stocking Racion of Loin Flesh Oven. It will probably be on my mind until I do.
