A few weeks ago, I had friends over for dinner. To have someone over means to invite that person to your home. Since I live alone and do not have a domestic helper, my friends said they would provide the food. I provided wine, whiskey, nuts, and cheese and crackers. When they arrived, I was shocked by the tons of food they had. The word “ton” used this way doesn’t mean a measure of weight. Tons of food means a lot food. Tons of money means a lot of money. My friends brought tons of raw oysters, lobster, smoked salmon, roasted chicken, and strawberries.
I don’t like oysters but opened a very unusual Belgian Chardonnay for them to pair（match） with the oysters and smoked salmon. Some put oysters into wine glasses and ate them mixed with white wine. I had never seen that before. I next provided a Gaja Barbaresco red wine from Italy and a Chateau La Tour Carnet Haut-Medoc French red wine, which they drank with chicken and lobster. Some preferred to eat their lobster with Japanese single malt whiskey. Finally, I provided a very expensive Chateau Haut Brion 1990 red wine from France. I had opened the wines before dinner to let them breathe.
My seven friends finished the tons of food except the smoked salmon and four large boxes of Japanese strawberrie, which they put in my refrigerator. I knew the smoked salmon would spoil （go bad） and the strawberries would get moldy （covered with fungus） if I kept them too long. I took the largest box of strawberries to TVB for my close colleagues. For the next three days I ate strawberries for breakfast and lunch, and smoked salmon for lunch and dinner！ I didn’t mind because strawberries are full of vitamins. I love smoked salmon but too much is not healthy because it has a lot of salt. It is a British tradition to eat strawberries with cream during the annual Wimbledon tennis competition in late June. I ate my strawberries with fat-free yogurt because it’s healthier.
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幾個(gè)星期前，我約了朋友上我家（had friends over）吃晚飯。To have someone over 意即邀請(qǐng)那人上你的家。因?yàn)槲乙粋€(gè)人住，又沒有家傭，朋友們說他們會(huì)預(yù)備食物。我則準(zhǔn)備了葡萄酒、威士忌、果仁和芝士與薄脆餅乾。他們來(lái)到時(shí)，帶來(lái)的許多食物（tons of food）令我大吃一驚。Ton在這裏並非指重量的單位噸，tons of food 是指很多很多的食物；Tons of money則指非常多的錢。我的朋友們帶來(lái)了大量的（tons of）生蠔、龍蝦、煙三文魚、烤雞及士多啤梨。
我不喜歡吃蠔，但也開了一支非常罕有的比利時(shí)莎當(dāng)妮白酒，讓他們用來(lái)搭配（pair）蠔和煙三文魚。有些人會(huì)將蠔放進(jìn)酒杯中，再混著白酒吃。我就從來(lái)沒有見過。之後我便拿出意大利嘉雅酒莊的巴巴萊斯科紅酒，以及法國(guó)拉圖嘉利莊園的上梅鐸紅酒，是他們吃雞和龍蝦時(shí)的佐酒。一些人吃龍蝦時(shí)會(huì)喜歡佐以日本純麥威士忌。最後，我預(yù)備了非常昂貴、來(lái)自法國(guó)的侯伯王莊園一九九○年紅酒。我在晚飯前已悉數(shù)開了酒，讓那些酒得以預(yù)先透氣。
我的七位朋友們吃掉了那大量的食物（tons of food），除了放在我雪櫃內(nèi)的煙三文魚和四大盒日本士多啤梨。我知道如果存放太久，煙三文魚會(huì)變壞（spoil），士多啤梨也會(huì)發(fā)霉（moldy）。我拿了最大盒的士多啤梨回?zé)o線請(qǐng)相熟的同事吃。接下來(lái)的三天，我早餐和午餐都在吃士多啤梨，午餐和晚餐也是煙三文魚！我也不介意，因?yàn)槭慷嗥±娓缓S他命；也愛吃煙三文魚，但吃太多也不健康，因?yàn)樗泻芨叩柠}份。在每年六月底的溫布頓網(wǎng)球錦標(biāo)賽期間，英國(guó)傳統(tǒng)會(huì)吃士多啤梨配忌廉，我就用脫脂乳酪配士多啤梨，這樣吃比較健康。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡(jiǎn)寧
