Trabajo Empleo

WITH ayam percik, roti jala, nasi kerabu, ikan bakar, lotus paste mooncakes with golden egg yolks, murukku, vadai, laddu, thosai with tomato chutney still fresh on my tastebuds (and thoughts), various food-related phrases come to my mind.

The English language has sprinkles and dashes of foodie phrases which may or may not be related to food at all. As a firm believer in a balanced diet, I would like to share with readers some morsels (or metaphors) for you to chew on.

Juegos

Bread and butter

Bread is a staple food in the West while in in our region, rice is the grain of choice.

Bread and butter refers to the way one earns a living (similar to the phrase one’s rice bowl) and a breadwinner is the one who supports the family.

Bread and water means “the plainest and cheapest possible food”, which has its origins in the way Christians observe a fast in imitation of Jesus surviving in the desert. To know which side one’s bread is buttered is to know “what will be to one’s advantage”.

For example: “Leela’s family was living on bread and water when their father, the breadwinner, died in a car accident. Although selling fresh cow’s milk was his bread and butter, her mother has now started a small business offering tailoring services. While she appreciates friends and family dropping by for a chat, she knows which side her bread is buttered and attends to her customers promptly.”

Potato is a staple food in South America. A common phrase that incorporates this root vegetable is a hot potato - a “thing or situation that is difficult or unpleasant to deal with”.

For example: “The issue of whether to teach Mathematics and Science in English is such a hot potato, I wonder if we’ll ever hear the end of it.”

A couch potato is simply a lazy person whose life is confined to the couch.

Butter-fingers

While bread has positive meanings, butter is very much like its greasy and oily properties. If you have butter-fingers, you are likely to drop anything you hold. If you tend to be extremely pleasant to someone in order to get something from them, you’re buttering somebody up. Worst of all, if you look as if butter would not melt in your mouth, you’re acting innocent, kind and gentle when you may be the total opposite!

Trabajar

The whole enchilada

An enchilada is a popular Mexican dish, which is a tortilla (corn pancake) filled with a meat, chicken or tomato-based sauce (or salsa), rolled and topped with sour cream, guacamole (avocado sauce), grated cheese and peppers.

The whole enchilada, much like the dish, refers to something impressive or outstanding e.g. “Did you know that Becky is a celebrity now? She’s got a blog, an agent, a chauffeur, a personal assistant, a personal shopper, endorsements, VIP invitations, speaking engagements - the whole enchilada!”

In the soup

The ultimate comfort food, soups are associated with warmth and tender loving care. However, you would not want to be in the soup because it means “being in trouble” in informal British slang as defined by the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

In hot soup seems to be the popular phrase now especially in newspaper headlines highlighting the misdeeds of politicians.

Letting someone stew in his or her own juice means you let someone suffer the unpleasant consequences of their own actions without helping them.

The worlds largest producer of sugar is Brazil, followed by the European Union plus in third place lies India. Forty percent of the worlds sugar is sourced from these three areas. The richest man in South East Asia, the Malaysian Robert Kuok made his first millions on the substance. He was responsible for eighty percent of all sugar produced from Malaysia in the 1970’s.

Prepare Multiple Items

A great way to reduce food costs is to prepare items in bulk. Not only does this allow you to buy the larger food containers at a fraction of the cost, but you can reduce your energy bills as well since you prepare once and eat twice! It’s quite easy to buy extra ground beef while it’s on sale and form hamburgers for the freezer. Meals such as lasagna and chili freeze very well. Ideas for make-ahead meals can be found in the frozen meals section of the grocery store. Even cookies can be made ahead and frozen. All this preparation can be made easier with a stand mixer such as the KitchenAid Artisan Mixer. Not only can it make large batches of baked goods, you can use it to mix ground meat dishes, and prepare other meals. It’s an investment that will help reduce food costs for many years to come you can be published without charge. You can to republish this article in your website or blog. Please provide links Active.