like a turkey voting for an early Christmas
2018/12/20 04:12:26 網誌分類: 生活
The idiom’s origin comes from the tradition of eating turkey on Christmas day. Why would turkeys vote for Christmas or for an early Christmas when Christmas will be bad for them because they will be eaten? If you are a smoker who opposes higher cigarette taxes but vote for a politician who supports higher taxes, then you are like a turkey voting for an early Christmas. Although Christmas day hasn’t arrived yet, I was invited to a turkey dinner last week. That turkey must have voted for an early Christmas! It was an excellent dinner perfectly paired with champagne, a white wine, and a light red wine. The word “pairing” means choosing the types of wine and food that will taste best with each other. Celebrity chef Charmaine Cheung prepared the meal and wine expert Nelson Siu selected the wines.
We had dinner at the luxurious clubhouse of the Monterey, a new development by Wheelock Properties in Tseung Kwan O. I couldn’t resist having a quick look inside the waterfront villas of the Monterey. The spacious (large, a lot of space) two-floor villas with a garden and rooftop made me wish I was still living in my former Washington DC house. Wheelock invited Charmaine and Nelson to pair the food and wine. Charmaine prepared several seafood dishes, including lobster, as our first course. Nelson paired this with a Chardonnay. He paired the turkey with a Pinot Noir. We had several types of dessert, including sweet and sour lemon tart.
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每年到了這個時候，其中一樣我喜愛做的事就是聽聽聖誕頌歌（carols）。我獨個兒住，因此可以隨時聽我最愛的聖誕頌歌（carols），也不怕打擾到誰。在英語國家，傳統會在聖誕節那一餐的主菜吃火雞。有時候，當我在聖誕大餐吃着火雞時，我就會想起一句有關火雞的英文成語，令我開懷大笑。那句成語是：“Like turkeys voting for Christmas”或“Like turkeys voting for an early Christmas”，它的意思是，為自己的將來選擇或接受了一個非常差的情況。
這句成語的來源是在聖誕節當日吃火雞的傳統。聖誕對於火雞來說是噩耗，因為牠們將會被吃掉，牠們又怎麼可能投票想要聖誕，甚或希望聖誕提早到來？若你是吸煙人士，反對更高昂的煙草稅，卻投了票給一個支持增加煙草稅的政客，那無疑你就是搬石頭砸自己的腳（like a turkey voting for an early Christmas）。雖然聖誕節尚未來臨，但我上周已獲邀去了個火雞晚宴。那隻火雞必定是投了票要聖誕提早來臨了（turkey must have voted for an early Christmas）！那頓飯完美地配搭（paired）了香檳、白酒和一支薄紅酒。Pairing一字是指選擇哪一款酒配搭哪一樣食物是最美味的。名廚張倩敏為我們預備了晚宴，酒則由品酒專家蕭乃新所選。
我們於會德豐物業在將軍澳的新建屋苑Monterey的豪華會所共進晚膳。我實在難以抗拒要去瞧瞧Monterey的臨海別墅。那寬敞偌大的（spacious）兩層高別墅有花園和天台，令我不禁想到，要是我仍住在從前於華盛頓的故居就好了。會德豐邀請了張倩敏和蕭乃新去配搭（pair）食物與美酒。張預備了幾道海鮮，包括我們的頭盤龍蝦，而蕭則以莎當妮配襯（paired）之。他其後用了黑皮諾配搭（paired）火雞。我們也有幾款甜品，包括甜和酸的檸檬撻。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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