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■咖啡是全球流行的飲品之一，意大利人喜歡在飯後喝一杯特濃咖啡。 資料圖片
Lily Poon
Gary has been working for an Italian company for a few years and was recently promoted(升職) to Assistant Manager in January. He spent the last few months traveling from Hong Kong to Italy for work. His Italian colleagues(同事) are nice enough to introduce him to the Italian culture by taking him to restaurants, bars and concerts.
Coffee bars are one of the most impressive(印象深刻) places in Italy that Gary has visited. He thinks that Italy is a country of great variety (多元化) and coffee is an important aspect of the diversity (多方面的) of its culture. He is determined (下定決心) to bring the Italian coffee culture to Hong Kong and be a qualified(合資格) barista(咖啡師) one day. He understands that transplanting(引入) the Italian coffee bar culture to Hong Kong is a big challenge(挑戰) as the local market is dominated(被支配) by a few American brands. In order to minimize the risk of starting a small business, he has been going to different coffee shops in Hong Kong to understand the market before taking any further steps. His research has been aided(協助) immeasurably(不能計算地) by his friends who are coffee lovers. They keep sending him information about the latest coffee–industry trends in the world.
One day, while he was looking for the right equipment to brew(泡) coffee at home with his friend Louise, a sign(招牌) of a caf?caught their attention. Gary and Louise decided to have a coffee in this caf?.
A young and polite waitress greeted Gary and Louise.
Waitress：Welcome. How many of you please?
歡迎，你們多少人?
Gary：Two please. (兩位。)
Gary：Do you have coffee and cakes?
你們有咖啡和蛋糕嗎?
Waitress：Yes. We serve a large variety of coffee and cakes here.
有的。我們有很多不同種類的咖啡和蛋糕。
Louise was a big fan of cakes. They ordered a piece of cheese cake and a cool, refreshing(提神的) Italian dessert called tiramisu(一種著名意大利甜點). She saw a customer having a British breakfast in the caf?and told Gary that full breakfast was traditionally served at breakfast time but it was also popular at other times.
Louise had never been to Italy and was very curious about Gary's experience there. Gary introduced the most common types of Italian coffee to her. They were:
Caff?/ Espresso – a small cup of very strong coffee. The foam topped on the coffee is called "crema".
Caff?/ latte – coffee with hot milk.
Cappuccino – a shot of espresso in a larger cup with steamed milk and foam.
Caff?macchiato – also known as espresso macchiato, is espresso marked with a little milk.
The history of coffee in Italy dated back to the 1600s. Coffee was exported from Turkey to Europe, landing for the first time in Venice(威尼斯). The first coffee shop in Venice was opened in 1683. During the latter half of the 17th century, coffee consumption spread to Italy, France, England and Germany. Coffee is now one of the most popular beverages in the world. The Italians like to follow their meals with a dessert and ended with a strong espresso.
Needless to say, Louise was very impressed with Gary's profound(深入) knowledge(知識) of the Italian coffee culture. Louise told Gary that she saw a wide variety of tea types and flavours in London. The English enjoyed tea with milk and Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka was one of the most popular kinds of tea in England. She was surprised to know that this caf? served eight different kinds of tea including the Hong Kong–style milk tea!
It's almost 5 o'clock......
Gary：Can I have the bill please?
我們要結帳。(即廣東話「埋單」)
Waitress：Sure.(沒問題。)
Gary not only paid the bill, but he also gave Louise a gift from Italy. She was very surprised and said, 偲hank you! You have become as romantic as the Italians!'
Questions：
1. Can you name some popular Italian coffee drinks?
2. Where is Ceylon tea from?
3. After a meal, what do you say to the waitor when you want to pay?
Answers：
1. Caff?Latte, Cappuccino and espresso
2. Sri Lanka
3. Can I have the bill please? / Check please.
(Special thanks to Min+ caf?as our venue provider)
Please visit http://wwpenglishcolumn.blogspot.com to watch the video about Gary and Louise's eating experience and learn some common phrases in English.
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