Monday Morning Quarterbacking
Yesterday I reviewed Baltimore Pho, the new Vietnamese restaurant in Southwest Baltimore near the Hollins Market. In the review I told you that "pho" is pronounced "fuh," sort of; but after I wrote it, I read Richard Gorelick's review in the City Paper, and I thought he made a really good point. If you pronounce the first e in "crepes" as a long a (in other words, if you've anglicized the word), you might as well pronounce "pho" the way it looks.
I also had another thought about the restaurant that never made its way into the review. ...
I've heard some complaints on local message boards that the new restaurant's pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup, doesn't have intense enough flavor compared to that of the other Vietnamese places in the area. I've also heard Baltimore Pho's owner defend his restaurant's more delicate version by pointing out the chef is from a different region of Vietnam. But, he said, if they keep getting complaints they may change it.
I enjoyed Baltimore Pho's broth. It's worrisome that our idea of what pho "should" taste like, formed by other restaurants around here (or occasionally by a visit to a particular region in Vietnam), might cause all the pho to end up tasting the same way.
It's kind of like what happened with Chinese and Italian dishes in this country originally, but I thought Americans had gotten more sophisticated about their ethnic food. Maybe not.
(Kenneth K. Lam/Sun photographer)
Categories: Monday Morning Quarterbacking
Comments
See now I need to try Baltimore Pho because I'm used to a delicate kind of Pho that I would get in Texas and in the Bay Area, I've had some pho that is just too much cinnamon and too much other spices that seem to make it taste like dessert rather than perfumed beef broth with all those delicious nasty bits.
Keep in mind though, any pho is better than no pho.
Hrm.. I'm thinking we need Pho tounge twisters.
If you try it, please report back and tell us what you think. EL
Posted by: Francesca | April 21, 2008 6:45 AM
How to pronounce foreign words can be awkward. I have the same issue when I buy gyros from the cart outside the MVA. I know how to pronounce "gyro" (more or less), but somehow it doesn't seem quite right to pronounce it that way in Glen Burnie.
The gyro guy doesn't care how you pronounce it as long as you pay him for the gyro.
Posted by: Hal Laurent, VoR | April 21, 2008 8:25 AM
I haven't read Gorelick's take on Baltimore Pho (and to be honest, I haven't read yours either at this writing), but pronunciation of something is about respect (or lack thereof).
Certainly someone with a name like "Gorelick" can appreciate the pleasure of people having enough thoughtfulness and courtesy of pronouncing it correctly.
As one of the people who found Baltimore Pho's broth to be "less meaty" than other establishments, I would be disappointed if the owner forced his chefs' regional style towards something more "mainstream."
Posted by: jay C. | April 21, 2008 9:09 AM
I would suggest to the restaurant owner and the chefs to make both versions of broth available. It does not have to be one or the other. I also agree totally about pronunciation being a matter of courtesy and respect. I think we are doing a decent job of that in this country compared to, say, in the U.K. where most foreign derived words are anglicized.
Posted by: Dan D | April 21, 2008 6:20 PM
Back in college I had a literature professor who pronounced the name of Cervantes' errant knight as Don "Quick-sot" because he felt that we had americanized everything else, so why not that. It was in 1962.
Shouldn't the British version of "americanized" be "anglicised?" America and Great Britain, two countries separated by a common language.
Posted by: Mr. Old Fart | April 21, 2008 10:04 PM
Dan, do you know the story of how miffed Mark Twain was when he was in England, struggling with the pronunciation of English place names?
At one point someone asked him to suggest a picturesque place to visit in the U.S. and he said "Niffles." When there was puzzlement, he spelled it out--Niagara Falls.
Posted by: Dahlink | April 22, 2008 6:47 AM
In England Don Quixote is anglicised-- to "Don Quicksot" !
Posted by: Anonymous | April 22, 2008 12:44 PM
There's a place in Montgomery County (on Briggs Chaney Road near Burtonsville) called "Pho Real" which doesn't really help solve the pronunciation problem does it?
I love that. You've made my day. EL
Posted by: TJH | April 22, 2008 2:53 PM
Ah, the quirkiness of the English language. We have that here in Bawlmer, hon. Listen how the folks here pronounce Thames Street (site of Saturday's party) and Aliceanna with the "a." How about a Top Ten Restaurant Names Damn Near Impossible to Pronounce? I don't claim to know 10, but there's that Irish place at the Harbor.
Posted by: Piano Rob | April 22, 2008 3:44 PM