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23.1.13

BEST LAUGH I'VE HAD ALL WEEK

Having decided to unclog my brain by leaving the apartment, I headed for Iceland - the supermarket, that is, not the country. We do 99% of our shopping in Spanish shops, but there are times when we just have to have a taste of home, and as the OH has announced it's time to make his annual Steak and Kidney Pudding, we need suet.
Inside the shop I grabbed a basket and headed for the bargain freezers to see what's on offer this week. Birds Eye Frozen Fish Fillets in two varieties, reduced from 6 euros something to 2.95 - they'll do for an emergency, I thought, and then I looked at the notice on the freezer.
Perhaps I should explain that any imported goods are required by law to display their ingredients in Spanish, so the importers must get someone to translate and make stickers - (which they usually put right over the cooking instructions.)
Iceland go a step further for the sake of their Spanish customers, and  also label the freezer in two languages. This is a great idea as long as the person doing the translation actually speaks Spanish and isn't simply working from a dictionary.
"Fish in Breadcrumbs" becomes "Pescado Empanada" which is correct, but "Battered Cod" was translated as "Pescado Maltratada"! Ill-treated fish?
I giggled all the way to the suet shelf.

10 comments:

  1. This is truly funny--yet technically correct. Iceland's prices are working out the cheepest here in England at the moment.

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  2. Very funny. But who knows...the fish might agree!

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  3. Glad to hear that you've got a smile on your face once more. I shall think of you next time we eat ill treated fish!

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  4. Killing and eating it might well be considered ill treatment by the fish. Doesn't make it sound appetising though.

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  5. Lol... I love translations! Some of my Facebook friends are foreign and post in their native language too - even with the translate button they sometimes don't make any sense!

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  6. That is too funny. They must have been using some weird translating program.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote

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  7. Excellent, Liz. The French do the same. Some of the official translations are a little wide of the mark! We have to track down suet here,as it doesn't feature in French cookery (I blogged about this ages ago)and have English shops where you feel you should have your collar up and your trilby hat well down just to sidle through the door. Hope you enjoyed your pud!

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  8. Lovely! I wonder if McDonalds will someday label their fried fish as such? What was the photo?

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  9. I will never look at battered fish the same way!

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  10. Susan - the first photo was a Steak and Kidney pudding. If you've never had one your life has been sadly lacking!

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