读到立法局议员吴霭仪圣诞节致法律界选举人的信，有趣得很。信是英文，有感而发，发为幽默。文字简练而清雅，可以观摩，殊难中译。第一段说圣诞节吃火鸡政治上不正确，人人改吃鹅，她於是做了一点关於鹅的研究工作：

In anticipation that some of us may consider forgoing the politically incorrect turkey （which reportedly still grows wild in parts of the American continent） for the more desirable goose, I have done some modest research on this latter bird.

生金蛋的鹅只有童话里有。食谱上只说鹅是喜欢移栖的候鸟，起初属猎鸟，后来驯为家禽。产蛋的鹅养到五六岁鹅肉甚乾硬，多半要炖或醃。

Firstly, I have to tell you that there is no evidence of the existence, let alone the longevity, of the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg, except in fairy tales. My Larousse Gastronomique says that the goose is" A migrating bird originally prized as a game bird and later domesticated... Laying birds may be kept until they are five or six years old; as their meat is by then very tough and dry it is usually stewed or preserved..."

烹食香港之鹅有两款基本法。中式方法是拔毛洗浸弃掉一切肮髒不纯的东西，过滚水，涂色酱，风乾，明火烧红。英式方法於鹅肚中塞满八宝，煮后封入烤箱密烤，熬炼出油，至骨肉分离为止：

There are, apparently, two Basic Laws or Methods for cooking the Hong Kong goose. The Chinese method calls for the bird to be plucked, drawn and removed of all alien impurities. Following which it is quickly immersed in boiling water, painted with a dark sauce, hanged up to dry in the wind, and finally roasted to a brilliant red over an open fire. The British method is more obscure. It seems that the goose is stuffed with sage and onion, and then cooked, covered up in a tightly shut oven, until all the fat is rendered, and the flesh falls away from the bones.

至於用哪一种方法去泡制，鹅通常是做不了主的（“Usually, the goose has no choice as to which method is used”）。

照英国食谱说，鹅未必是圣诞佳餚，倒是九月二十九日米迦勒节租客送给业主的礼品。那是英国四大结账日之一，租客恐怕租约续不了，非巴结一下地主不可。当然，这一类的奉献未必保得住权利；历来都是这样的：

You would be aware that according to Elizabeth Ayrton's Cookery of England, the goose is not necessarily a Christmas dish. It was a customary offering by the tenants to the landlord at Michaelmas （Which is, of course, in September） "For feare their lease flie loose". Of course, this, and other offerings made from time to time during the year, were no guarantee for anybody's rights, as history has shown.

英国人圣诞节作兴吃里脊牛排，殖民地香港自难免俗。可是，加官晋爵渐渐不利於政治生涯，有些餐馆善解人意，步步为营，菜单上里脊肉sirloin的sir字都删掉了：

You are also aware, of course, that the real British Christmas fare, which had become popular in Hong Kong through colonisation, is the roast sirloin. However, as knighthoods become politically dubious, you should be prepared to see it referred to in the bill of fare of the more cautious restaurants simply as "loin".

形势如此，聊颂圣诞尽量作乐（“Have the happiest Christmas possible in the circumstance!”）