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In the Qing dynasty novel 官場現形記, there is this passage:

三荷包接過看時,只見上面開的是:清牛湯、炙鰣魚、冰蠶阿、丁灣羊肉、漢巴德、牛排、凍豬腳、橙子冰忌廉、澳洲翠鳥雞、龜仔蘆筍、生菜英腿、加利蛋飯、白浪布丁(10300620)、濱格、豬古辣冰忌廉、葡萄乾、香蕉、咖啡。另外幾樣酒是:勃蘭地、魏司格、紅酒、巴德、香檳,外帶甜水、鹹水。

which is a menu for a Western-style banquet. It seems that many items are based on older styles of transcription, for example 豬古辣冰忌廉 (chocolate ice-cream) would be 巧克力冰激凌 in Mandarin today.

What kind of food is 漢巴德 referring to? It seems vaguely similar to "hamburger", and this article thinks so too - "估计是汉堡", but I'm not sure. Can anyone confirm, or find another source?

congusbongus
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1 Answers1

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A hilarious passage. My edition says 漢巴德牛排 (no comma), if that's correct it's some kind of beefsteak; in the wine list there's a 巴德, could be related, beef steak with a wine based sauce? The article suggests port for 巴德, why not bordeaux? All guesses on my part.

Some of the other dishes also look mangled: 澳洲翠鳥雞 the Australian kingfisher chicken surely should have a comma before chicken.

If you get a complete translation, please put it up here!

wpt
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