Have you ever been challenged with recipes using Celsius and metric measurements? If you are an American, using international recipes for your supper club dinner party, you have been. Americans stand alone in sticking to Fahrenheit and non metric measurements.
It is like the old joke…
- What do you call someone that speaks many languages…MULTI-LINGUAL
- What do you call someone who speaks two languages…BI-LINGUAL
- What do you call someone who speaks one language…AMERICAN
It is an old joke and in many ways, a sad story. Americans traveling or doing business outside of the country have to learn Celsius/Fahrenheit and metric conversions. I am writing this blog from Ottawa Canada where my daughter lives and having to relearn conversions that became standard during my many years running an international business. The problem is that I still think in Fahrenheit.
Again an old joke…
The teacher tells her French class that you know that you really know French when you think in French.
The next day the class clown comes in and announces: “Teacher, teacher, I must really know French now because last night I dreamed and I was thinking in French. Didn’t understand a freaking word, but I was thinking in French.
Conversion between Fahrenheit and Celsius isn’t easy:
To convert degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius:
- You will need to subtract 32 to the Fahrenheit temperature, multiply by 5, then divide by 9.
- For example, to convert 350 degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius you would complete the following equation:
- 350 degrees Fahrenheit – 32 = 318
- 318 x 5 = 1590
- 1590 / 9 = 177 degrees Celsius
To convert degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit:
- You will need to multiply degrees Celsius by 9, divide by 5, then add 32.
- For example, to convert 177 degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit you would complete the following equation:
- 177 degrees Celsius X 9 =1593
- 1593 / 5 = 318.6
- 6 + 32 = 350
Using a conversion table is a lot easier
Just the standard Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on a package of Hershey Chocolate Chips gets complicated
Note: * R.O.W. equals Rest Of World
A buddy of mine in Holland once told me that his kids had to learn at least 3 languages in standard schools in the Netherlands. The problem is that very few people speak Dutch around the world. I told him that I thought his kids would be advantaged going forward because of their advanced communication skills versus American kids only learning one language. He disagreed with me. His theory was that Dutch children had to expend too much intellectual energy on language versus Americans that focused more on math and science.
To be honest, I don’t know who is right. One thing I do know is that around the world kids like, pizza, cheeseburgers and chocolate chip cookies. One thing I do not know, and that is, who the real joke is on.
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