Match made in heaven?
Or why many things are lost in translation
A few year ago, I encountered a very unique dish. It was not what were the ingredients in the dish. There was nothing unique in its preparation as I understand many restaurants also carry this dish. It was with the name. It was called the wedding soup.
The dish was not advertised only to singles. It did not come with a side of bride or groom. It was not selling the benefits of marriage or baby making. It was sold as a single serving so I am not sure how who else was involved in this wedding. If it was the chef, I clearly did not want to be involved in a polygamous affair.
Truth
So the first myth. The actual name of the soup is minestra maritata. This is Italian for married soup. The marriage involves the ingredients and not the diner. It is also considered an Italian commoner’s meal which is why the ingredients are rather mundane. Coming from a culture where weddings are a major event, this “wedding” soup looked rather pathetic.
Name
The problem with the dish’s name was that it had a personal occasion involved. Imagine being asked by the waiter if I wanted to eat a birthday cake. And the waiter has a 1 in 365 chance of being correct. And his chances of being correct increases if I have invited friends or family members.
Not the only one
We have turkeys that never came from Turkey. Mother and child reunion that is not about human family. It is a nice song but it becomes pretty morbid when you realized what inspired the title. We have bedeviled eggs with no malice involved. No need to have a storm in a teacup.