Literal translation
soup and love, the first ones are the best
Meaning
of soups and loves, the first are the best
Explanation
This saying compares the freshness of a new romance to that of a soup just served. Soupo (soup) and amour (love) are joined by e (and) in a surprising pairing whose comic effect comes from the gap between a noble feeling and a humble dish. Lei proumiero (the first ones) soun (are) lei meiouro (the best, from meiour, better) applies the same culinary truth to both : just as a soup loses flavour as it cools or gets reheated, love, in this jaded view, reaches its greatest intensity at the start and fades afterward. Its register is one of popular wisdom tinged with gentle irony, which readily brings great feelings down to the most everyday realities to deflate them. The saying is quoted, with a smile, to comment on the excitement of a relationship's early days, or slyly to suggest that duration is no measure of the quality of an attachment.