POEM TRANSLATION ECHOES 497 WITH NOTES
COUNTRY CUISINE
(家鄉美食)
creative cuisine
創意的菜式
cordon bleu for all dishes
蓝带手艺的菜肴
culinary art
烹调的艺术

cook with loving heart
用爱心做饭
fine portions pleases palate
细膩部份滿口感
tongue tangle in taste
舌头上缠结

home hummus to whet
欲风格豆泥
fresh, grilled salads with yogurt
鲜烤沙律及酸奶
baked meat pies as main
烘肉餅为主

relaxed ambience
轻松的气氛
décor of bygone era
舊時年代的裝飾
ravishing review
精彩的回顧

Note:
As a lay “connoisseur”, I appreciate not too much on food in fine cuisine, but expert home cuisine taste as good. There are lots of snobbishness and hassle in fine dining, besides the high cost and excess time spent in the pursuit. However, we cannot deny that culinary skill and taste are better in fine dining, subject to individual preferences. Fine cuisine is a culinary art, and all art needs skill training, knowledge (in sourcing produce, preparation etc.) and patience. In a modern age, home cooking is losing out to market forces; house wives (or husbands, for political sake) are no longer that capable any more. I have often told many house wives to hone their domestic skills, as job opportunities are getting scare and home cooking may face commercial market in a new way. One needs to be creative to cook well. Cordon beau is blue ribbons for the best in things. I love this Albanian restaurant, for they cook ordinary dishes into extra ordinary cuisine. And the chef must have love in their work to do well.