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Hello, this is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Beth.
Do you enjoy eating noodles, Beth?
I love noodles, yes.
I think my favourite are udon –
the big thick ones.
Mmm, they're so good!
Well, some people buy them dried
in a packet,
others make them fresh
from wheat or rice,
but there is little doubt that
noodles are popular around the world.
From their origins,
probably somewhere in China,
noodle recipes were spread by traders
on the ancient Silk Road.
At each destination along the road,
people gave noodles a twist,
adding different flavours
and ingredients to create a new dish.
In this programme, we'll visit
the United States and Japan,
two countries which have taken noodles
and created exciting new varieties.
As usual, we'll learn
some useful new vocabulary
and remember – you can read along
with the transcript of this programme,
available now on our website,
bbclearningenglish.com
But first,
Neil, I have a question for you.
As well as different shapes
and ingredients,
noodles come
in many different flavours.
So, which region of China is famous
for its spicy flavours?
Is it: a) Shanghai, b) Sichuan,
or c) Guangzhou?
Well, I think actually,
Beth, I know the answer to this.
I've been lucky enough to have been
to this place.
I think it's b) Sichuan.
OK. Well, you sound confident.
I will reveal the answer later
in the programme.
BBC World Service programme,
The Food Chain,
investigated how noodles spread
from Asia through Europe to America.
They uncovered a surprising story
that pasta comes
from noodles brought back to Italy
by Marco Polo in the 13th century.
Jen Lin-Liu, author of the book,
On the Noodle Road,
doesn't believe this story.
So, noodles were very exotic in the
1920s and 30s in the United States,
and there was a new
pasta association in America
that wanted to promote
the manufacturing of dried pasta.
And so they came up with a story
about how Marco Polo went to China
and found the noodle there,
and brought it all the way to Italy.
In the 1920s, noodles were popular
because they were exotic,
meaning foreign,
unusual and exciting.
At that time, pasta companies were
promoting a new invention, dried pasta,
so they came up with a story
about Marco Polo to sell more pasta.
If you come up with something
you suggest or think up an idea.
And it worked –
sales of pasta jumped as a result!
Now, our second destination, Japan,
also has a history of eating noodles.
One of the most famous
Japanese noodle dishes is ramen,
and Frank Striegl, a blogger living
in Tokyo, knows all about it.
He eats over 300 bowls
of ramen a year!
He explained to BBC World Service's
The Food Chain how Chinese immigrants
to Japan in the late 1800s
influenced this Japanese dish.
And at one point or another, different
chefs decided to localise these dishes.
They said,
We love these Chinese noodle dishes.
However, why don't we tweak them?
Why don't we make
them a little bit more Japanese?
Frank says that at one point
or another, chefs started to make
noodle dishes more Japanese.
Here, the phrase,
at one point or another,
means at some
unspecified time in the past.
They did this by tweaking
Chinese noodles – in other words,
by changing them slightly
to make them better, different,
or in this case, more Japanese.
By making these tweaks, adding new
toppings and slices of beef or chicken,
Japanese chefs created the
noodle dish we know today as ramen.
Here's Frank Striegl again, talking with
BBC World Service's The Food Chain.
And what I find fascinating
about ramen,
compared to perhaps other wonderful
noodle dishes around the world,
is that ramen continues to evolve.
Unlike other Japanese foods,
it's OK to push the boundaries.
Frank thinks that Japanese ramen
continues to evolve –
to develop and change gradually
in response
to new developments and ideas.
Unlike other traditional foods
such as sushi,
modern versions of ramen
push the boundaries.
If you push the boundaries,
you act in a way which challenges
normal, acceptable behaviour.
Yes, noodles have changed so much
since ancient times
that today you can buy them dried
in a packet and simply add hot water.
But the flavours and the noodles
themselves maintain a link to the past.
Now, speaking of flavours, what was
the answer to your question, Beth?
Well, I asked you which region of China
is famous for its spicy flavours.
You were very confident with saying
Sichuan and that is the correct answer.
Sichuan is a place that is famous
for spicy food,
such as the Sichuan pepper
and Sichuan hotpot.
OK. It's time to recap the vocabulary
we've learnt.
If you give something a twist,
you change it in some small way
to create something new and exciting.
The adjective exotic means unusual
and exciting
because of coming from far away.
The phrase at one point or another means
at some unspecified time in the past.
If you tweak something, you alter it
slightly in order to improve it.
Something which evolves,
develops and changes gradually.
And finally,
the idiom to push the boundaries
means to do things which challenge
normal, acceptable behaviour.
Once again, our six minutes are up.
If you enjoyed the programme, why not
visit our website and check out all
of the different podcasts
that we have at BBC Learning English.
There's something there for everyone.
Thanks for joining us and goodbye.
Bye!
Vocabulary
Word 1 of 15origins
word
0:33
"the place or way in which something first began."
More Listening Practice
About this lesson
Explore the rich world of noodles from around the globe and the culture behind them in this 6 Minute English episode.