It's difficult to explain what I eat.

"What have you eaten today?"

It's easy to answer unless you are senile.

But when we use the phrase with foreign people, it becomes far more difficult to answer the question.

Of course we remember what we ate and know the name of food.
But we eat different things if we live different places.

Recently I want to say "I ate Korokke.". That's all if conversational partner was also a Japanese.

"Korokke" is a Japanese food that is made by mixing cooked chopped meat, seafood, or vegetables with mashed potato or white sauce, rolling it in wheat flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs, then deep frying this until brown on the outside.

Honestly said, I copied and pasted this sentence from wikipedia article. :P
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korokke

It's almost impossible to say the sentence it impromptu, even if I speak in my native language.(Needless to say, if I speak in English)

Besides even if I can explain like this, the partner can not imagine how is like Korokke accurately.

The most effective way to explain a food is make him it eat.
And that is the only way, I think.

「今日、何食べた？」

ボケてなかったら答えるのは簡単な質問だ。

でも、外国人との会話で使うと途端に答えるのが難しくなる。

もちろん何を食べたかは覚えてるし、名前もわかる。
だけど住む場所が違えば食べるものも違うのだ。

この前「コロッケを食べたよ」と言いたかったんだけど、相手が日本人じゃなかったのでそうもいかなかった。


「コロッケ」は日本の食べ物で、ミンチ肉や魚肉、野菜などと砕いたジャガイモかホワイトソースを小麦粉と卵とパン粉で固めて外側が茶色くなるまで揚げたもの。

正直に言うと上の文はWikipediaからのコピペ。
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korokke

日本語でもすぐにこんなこと言えやしない。(英語なら尚更だ)

もし仮に言えたとしても話し相手はコロッケがどういうものか正確にはわからないだろう。

効果的に食べ物を説明する方法なんて食べさせてみるしか無いだろう。