Food Name annoyances

[Kungpao]

Don't you love to hate food names that are confusing... Like Gyro? You can never win!! You go to one place and ask for a Gyro (jeer-oh, zheer-oh; Gk. yee-raw) and they look at you like you have 3 heads. Vice versa with the "jahy-roh" pronounciation.

Course... I'm sure tourists botch common hawaiian food names hourly :D

What are some of your food name pet peves?

[Leo Lakio]

"Plate" lunch.

I've yet to find a plate that tastes anywhere near as good as the food piled on top of it.

(Well, if you're gonna ask that kind of question...):D

[Kungpao]

haha! true that!

[nikki]

'Chicken Fried Steak'.

I was an adult when I finally ordered it (can't remember where). I was served chicken breast, battered and deep fried, with gravy. For the longest time, I thought that was the way it was supposed to be!:p

[Pomai]

More a slight confusion than annoyance....

On the back label of POWERADE Sports Drinks, in bigger bold letters it clearly states NO FRUIT JUICES, followed by a list of ingredients fit more for a chemistry lab. Then below that in smaller bold letters it states NATURAL FLAVORS. Whuh?

I suppose that means the chemical additives such as citric acid make that orange flavor I drank only TASTE NATURAL, but not naturally-derived from real fruit juice. :confused:

[Adri]

My father went to the Bali counter at the Ala Moana Sears. He wanted to order their chicken pho but was curious about how "pho" should be pronounced. He asked the woman behind the counter if it was "pha", "phu", "pho" or what was it? She replied "chicken soup".

[Lei Liko]

Toss Salad.

Is "Toss" a verb? An adjective?

[please no gross connotations, thx]

[Adri]

I think it's both. I was going to make a joke out of your "no gross connotations" comment but there actually are gross connotations, as I found out with a quick google about tossed salads. and the connotation is not (just) what I might have thought it was. huh. I guess it's good to learn something new every day but I probably could have done without knowing the non-vegetable connotations. :p

[Lei Liko]

I think it is the same as "tossed" salad (that is, salad tossed or coated with dressing before being served as opposed to mac salad or pickled vegetables). I was going to make a joke out of your "no gross connotations" comment but there actually are gross connotations, as I found out with a quick google to check to see if I was right about the "tossed". and the connotation is not (just) what I might have thought it was. huh. I guess it's good to learn something new every day but I probably could have done without knowing the non-vegetable connotations. :p

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we have Mr. Chris Rock to thank. ;)

[Adri]

LOL! I didn't know where the connotations came from. Sorry, I just edited my post before your post posted to try to make my post sound less rambly. That's what I get for posting while on the telephone for work (at least I didn't get confused and say aloud anything I was reading about those connotations while I was still on the phone). ;)

[Pomai]

My father went to the Bali counter at the Ala Moana Sears. He wanted to order their chicken pho but was curious about how "pho" should be pronounced. He asked the woman behind the counter if it was "pha", "phu", "pho" or what was it? She replied "chicken soup".Imagine what the workers must hear over at PHUKET THAI in McCully Shopping Center. :eek:

There's a restaurant named PHO MAI on S. King Street. Always makes me chuckle whenever driving by.

[Paul Ogata]

'Chicken Fried Steak'. ...

Last night on Hell's Kitchen, one of the contestants made "Chicken Fried Chicken." Hah? Chicken that's fried like chicken is just chicken, stupidhead!


Also, can the Korean restaurants please get together and agree on how to spell their foods? I've seen bi bim bap spelled the following ways:
* Bi Bim Bap
* Bi Beem Bap
* Pi Pim Pap
* Bibimbap
* Bip Bop Bam Alakazam
* Bang Bang Boogie
* Mmm Bop

I'm sure there are more that I've missed.

[Karen]

LOL being a native Texan I can appreciate the plays on "chicken fried steak" which in the south is steak that's tenderized till it looks beat to death, and then fried with a thick crust till it's, I suppose fried like chicken is fried. The thick, breaded crust on that thing actually is the best part. I ain't that into steak, but I guess I better not tell the folks back home.

I'm eating salmon and tuna five and six days a week, and it ain't fried. :D

[buzz1941]

Imagine what the workers must hear over at PHUKET THAI in McCully Shopping Center.

Or the FOOK YUEN restaurant on Kapiolani...

[joshuatree]

Or the FOOK YUEN restaurant on Kapiolani...

Some non local restaurant names that crack me up, Pho King and What the Pho? :D

[cynsaligia]

My father went to the Bali counter at the Ala Moana Sears. He wanted to order their chicken pho but was curious about how "pho" should be pronounced. He asked the woman behind the counter if it was "pha", "phu", "pho" or what was it? She replied "chicken soup".

Imagine what the workers must hear over at PHUKET THAI in McCully Shopping Center. :eek:

There's a restaurant named PHO MAI on S. King Street. Always makes me chuckle whenever driving by.

Or the FOOK YUEN restaurant on Kapiolani...

i'm not vietnamese, but i used to have a best friend who was vietnamese and the beau dated a number of vietnamese ladies before meeting me, and we've been told "pho" is pronounced "fuh."

phuket thai (pronounced "poo-ket") and fook yuen are both in the mccully shopping center, which also houses two more restaurants with names that sound like unmentionables: so dong gong and tudo de bom.

[lavagal]

I think it's me, but my reaction to a certain item on the menu at Sweet Basil made me call it Pad Thai Fut from that point on. I plan to go back, but I think I'll go beyond that deLIGHTful noodle dish!

[Hilo Artist]

Go to an authentic Chinese Restaurant with a Chinese Waitress, with a Chinese accent and ask her to repeat your order of " Steamed Crab with Black Beans".... They often misplace the "b" with a "p"

[dakine]

Don't you love to hate food names that are confusing... Like Gyro?

or like Kung Pao. or is it Kung Po. or is it KungPao? or is it Kungpao?

[oceanpacific]

Korean BBQ beef: is it BUL GO GI, BUL KO KI, BUL KO GI, PUL KO GI, PUL GO GI? Inquiring minds want to know. :confused:

[Kungpao]

or like Kung Pao. or is it Kung Po. or is it KungPao? or is it Kungpao?

LOL Just call me KP!;) My nickname came about cause my first name is Paolo and my cousin used to, when we were kids, say "Pao Pao chicken Pao KungPao" To this day, some of them call me Pao or Pao Pao.

Speaking of Chinese food restaurants...

Anyone up for some General Tso, Zho, Tzo, Cho, Chicken?

Then there's the our resident moron here at work who orders General Toes and Sesame Street Chicken. Not because he's trying to be funny but because he's a moron:p

[oceanpacific]

General Toes???? That's a good one! :D

BTW, who was General Tso/Zho/Tzo/Cho? :confused: I've seen it in the frozen food section of the supermarkets.

[joshuatree]

General Toes???? That's a good one! :D

BTW, who was General Tso/Zho/Tzo/Cho? :confused: I've seen it in the frozen food section of the supermarkets.

At least it's not General's Toes, that be gross. :p

As for the general..... TSO T'sung-t'ang (1812-1885). Chinese statesman and general. Principal wars: Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864); Nien Rebellion (1851-1868); Muslim Rebellion (1867-1873); conquest of Sinkiang (1874-1878).

There's no record of him inventing or even eating the dish. But multiple theories abound as to who started calling the dish as such.

[TATTRAT]

I have fun with a lot of food names, but the thing that can drive me crazy is over pronunciation of an ethnic ingredient. Like Giada Delaurentis on Food Network, goes from speaking fine English to over pronouncing Italian words like mozzarella, she will bee like mootz-er- eLLLa, drives me bonkers sometimes.

I know that if I were in Italy, that would be perfectly acceptable.

[Lei K]

...but the thing that can drive me crazy is over pronunciation of an ethnic ingredient. Like Giada Delaurentis on Food Network, goes from speaking fine English to over pronouncing Italian words like mozzarella, she will bee like mootz-er- eLLLa, drives me bonkers sometimes.

This sort of thing drives me crazy too. My very Norwegian ex sister-in-law does the same thing but with only one word, tamale. I love her to pieces but ack, it drives me nutty. I seriously can't even begin to spell out how she says it. Like she tries to give the word a Mexican flair, which she does to no other Mexican food item, only tamale!

The way my ex-sis-in-law does that always reminded me of Rachel on Real World (San Francisco) when she would talk about Pedro. She'd be talking like normal Rachel, then she'd over pronounce Pedro, then revert back to her normal way of talking. If you watched the show you know what I mean.