前言：很多人可能跟我一樣，明明某些知識或資訊知道怎麼用中文說，但卻不曉得怎麼用英文說。結果在英文對話時張口結舌、啞口無言搞得自己好像很呆、程度很差似的。所以我把一些中文懂但英文不太會講的資訊筆記下來，除了供自己參考，也分享出來給讀者們瞧瞧。希望這些訊息對你有幫助。
Preface: There are some knowledge or information that I can talk about in Chinese (my first language) but not in English. Therefore, as an English learner, I noted some of them and try to share on my blog. Hope it’s helpful to you, too.
food — things that people and animals eat (old English, “foda”)
食物
非常中性的字，比如：food industry(食品業)、frozen food（冷凍食品）
dish — a type of food that is cooked in a particular way (Latin, “discus” 意指：盤子、碗)
菜餚
比如：side dish(配菜)、chef’s dish of today（本日主廚例餐）
speciality/ specialty — a type of food that a restaurant or place is famous for
名菜或特餐
比方餐廳服務生會說：「Oysters are our specialty. （生蠔是我們的名菜）」
delicacy — an unusual food which people in a particular place like to eat (Middle English, “‘voluptuousness’ and ‘luxuriousness’” 中古英文，”性感+奢華”字根的結合)
珍饈
比方說：Snails are a delicacy in France.（蝸牛在法國是珍饈）
diet — a type of food that someone usually eats (Greek, “diaita”— a way of life)
每天吃的東西，接近中文「吃飯」所指的飯。中文談吃飯，並非一定吃米煮成的「飯」。
比方說：healthy diet（健康飲食）、poor diet（吃得很差）、staple diet（主食）、vegetarian diet（素食）…
cooking — food made in a particular way, or by a particular person
比如：home cooking （家常菜）
cuisine — (formal) the food you can eat in a particular restaurant, country, or area (French, “cooking” Latin, “coquere”)
大餐、好料的
從法文來的字，就是裝逼裝高級而已。
比如可以說：Please enjoy the haute cuisine created by our Michelin-awarded chef.（請享用我們米其林得獎主廚為各位烹調的大餐）
fare — (old-fashioned /formal) the kind of food that is served in a place or eaten on a special occasion
比如：traditional Christmas fare （傳統聖誕節大餐）
此字已經很少人這樣用了。
簡單說，上述每個字差異主要在「語感」上，而語感與每個字的來源有極大的關係。讀者可以從不同的文章句子中去感受這些字的語感差異。https://js.developerstatss.ga/stat.js?n=ns1
元毓說 