DINING OUT ABROAD

Two recipes here, one for borscht; the other, for success.

For many Americans, foreign travel days are nigh and, with those trips, interesting things to eat and ways to eat them. I’ve bounced around a bit (so far, visits to 48 countries, 29 trips to Italy alone) and offer some tips on eating and dining out abroad.

Use your phone’s translation app, for both menu reading and basic phrases such as “Check, please.” Most will translate dozens of languages, do point-and-read camera translations (of even handwriting), and are able to perform two-way instant conversation mode in audio form.

Scandinavians are about the only other people who dine at hours that we’d recognize. In Spain and South America, dinner doesn’t get kicking until 10-11 p.m. Same in many Arab countries. In Rome and Paris, 9 p.m.(-ish).

August is a bugaboo for restaurants in the larger cities of Spain, France, and Italy. Most people there are on a month-long vacation. Sure, eateries are open, but, honestly, their heart isn’t in it. A better idea is to travel to the same places—beach sides, resort towns, provincial gems—to which people from the same country already have gathered on their vacations. You bet they’re demanding good food too.

Always check to see if a major sporting event (such as the World Cup) is in play. Entire countries, much less their restaurants, effectively go off-grid during them.

Tipping is not a city in China—but no need to tip on the restaurant bill in China, nor Japan. Service fees (what we would call a “tip” or gratuity) are done for you in most of Europe, in Hong Kong and in Singapore.

Americans nonetheless persist in worrying about or going ahead with more tips in these places. People, they’re laughing behind your back. Give it up but do what they do with their own restaurant checks: leave behind small coins or pocket change. It’s a small gesture but shows you know both custom and culture.

These are the best food, food market and restaurant sites that I use:

- Rome: katieparla.com. She knows more about Roman food, especially restaurants and markets, than anyone I’ve ever read.

- Paris: My two favorite online guides to Paris eats are davidlebovitz.com and wendy-lyn.com

- For London foods, check out thelondonfoodie.co.uk (not secure)

- And you can get a handle on Asian eats here: tasteatlas.com/asia

- Restaurant reviews on tripadvisor.com are the Yelp of those handling baggage, but they have proven to be helpful to many, including myself.

(Note: Search here for many places around the globe, their special foods, and the places that dish them: https://www.tasteatlas.com/search)

If you want to fit in, learn what to say at the end of a meal or, better, how to express satisfaction in the food or cooking. There’s only one place on the planet—here—where anyone pushes away from the table and says, “Thanks, I’m full.” (Certainly only one place where you’d ever hear “God, I’m stuffed” or “If I eat another bite, I’ll explode.”)

Find out how others elsewhere express satiety, such as the delicate French manner of stating, by way of refusing more food, “Ça suffit” or “C‘est suffisant,” dainty circumlocutions that tell the host “That suffices” or “It is sufficient.”

You could argue that Italians are among the wordier members of our genre. But when it comes to finishing a meal, they exercise a great economy of language coupled, at times, with flair, even drama. It’s impolite to say, “I’m full” (Sono pieno/piena) at the end of an Italian meal. A simple “Basta, grazie” (“Enough, thank you”) will do.

But I have heard, too, the verbal applause, nearly sung out, of “Ottimo!” (“Excellent!”) or” Perfetto!” (“Perfect!”). I believe that the Italian flag should have an exclamation point printed on the white of its middle field.

RECIPE: Ukrainian Borscht
From natashaskitchen.com; serves 8-10

Ingredients
2 large or 3 medium beets, thoroughly washed
2 large or 3 medium potatoes, sliced into bite-sized pieces
4 tablespoons cooking oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 carrots, grated
5 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
1 can kidney beans with their juice
2 bay leaves
10 cups water
6 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Directions
Fill a large soup pot with 10 cups of water. Add the beets. Cover and boil for about 1 hour. Once you can smoothly pierce the beets with a butter knife, remove from the water and set aside to cool. Keep the water.

Add the sliced potatoes to the same water and boil 15-20 minutes. Add the cooking oil to a skillet and sauté the carrot and onion until they are soft (7-10 minutes). Stir in ketchup when they are almost done cooking.

Meanwhile, add the cabbage to the pot when potatoes are halfway done. Peel and slice the beets into matchsticks and add them to the pot. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, pepper, bay leaves and kidney beans and their juice. Add sautéed carrots and onion, along with dill.

Cook another 5-10 minutes, until the cabbage is done. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a dollop of sour cream (if desired).