美麗心靈晨讀英語(yǔ)美文31: American Cook 美式烹飪
31 美式烹飪
At a local supermarket, two women push half-lilted grocery cart. The ladies are good friends, but they couldn't be more different. One is a stay-at-home housewife who loves to create culinary masterpieces from scratch. The other is a training supervisor at a prestigious advertising agency. Household chores particularly those in the kitchen, are not her idea of fun. The two ladies stop for a moment in the frozen foods section. "I'm so tired," sighs the professional woman. "I don't know what to do about supper. Her friend suggests, "What about a microwave dinner?" The weary professional sighs，I don't feel like cooking tonight. "
在一間本地的超市里，兩位女士推著半滿的購(gòu)物車。這兩位女士是好朋友，但兩人之間的差異是大得不能再大了。一位是持家的主婦，她喜歡大展廚藝，從全生的作料，一步一步創(chuàng)造佳肴杰作。另一位是在一家頗具聲望的廣告公司任職人事訓(xùn)練主管。家務(wù)瑣事，特別是廚房事，并非她樂(lè)趣所在。二位女士在冷凍食物區(qū)前停了一會(huì)兒。職業(yè)婦女嘆道我好累，我不知晚餐要作什么好。"她的朋友建議說(shuō)何不來(lái)一頓微波爐晚餐。"這位疲憊的職業(yè)婦女又嘆道："不，我今晚不想做飯。"
If you think American cooking means opening a package and tossing the contents into the microwave, think again. On the one hand, it's but that Americans thrive on cold cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and instant dinners From busy homemakers to professional people, many Americans enjoy the convenience of prepackaged meals that can be ready to serve in 10 minutes or less. On the other hand, many Americans recognize the value of cooking skills. Parents -especially mothers -see the importance of training their children -especially daughters- in the culinary arts. Most Americans will admit that there's nothing better than a good home-cooked meal. But with cooking, as with any other skill, good results don't happen by accident.
假如您以為美式烹飪就是打開一個(gè)料理金而將里頭的東西放進(jìn)微波爐加熱，那你得改變想法了。從某一方面來(lái)說(shuō)，美國(guó)人以早餐的冷麥片，午餐的三明治及快餐晚餐而發(fā)育健壯，這倒是真的。從忙碌的家庭主婦到上班族，許多美國(guó)人喜歡享受事先包裝好的便餐所帶來(lái)的方便，這些速餐在不到 10分鐘內(nèi)就可上桌。從另一個(gè)角度來(lái)看，許多美國(guó)人都認(rèn)同廚藝的價(jià)值。父母親——特別是媽媽看到訓(xùn)練孩子，尤其是女兒，烹飪藝術(shù)的重要性。大多數(shù)的美國(guó)人都承認(rèn)沒(méi)有什么比得上一頓自家傲的餐點(diǎn)。而談到烹飪，一如其它的技巧，好的成果并非偶然天成的。
For those who need guidance in their working，or for those who have just run out of ideas, recipes are lifesavers. Recipes list all the ingredients for a dish (generally in the order used), the amount of each to use, and a description of how to put them together. Finding recipes in America is as easy as pie. Most good cooks have a shelf full of cookbooks ranging from locally published recipe collections to national bestsellers like the Betty Croeker cookbook. Magazines devoted to home management, such as Good Housekeeping and Family Circle , are chock-full of scrumptious selections. Friends often augment their recipe collection by passing around their favorites written on cards.
對(duì)于那些在烹飪方面需妥指導(dǎo)、或已江郎才盡的人，食譜就是救星。食譜列出做每一道菜所需要的所有材料(通常是依照使用的順序列出)，每一種的用量以及如何將它們搭配的說(shuō)明。在美國(guó)尋找食譜可謂易如反掌。大多數(shù)的好廚師們都有一架子的食譜，從本地出版的各式食譜到像"貝蒂·克勞克"的全國(guó)暢銷食譜。一般理家雜志，如"好管家"及"家庭圈"都滿滿地刊載很多美味的精選食譜。朋友們經(jīng)常把自己最愛(ài)的食譜寫在卡片上，相互傳閱，來(lái)增加自己的食譜收藏。
For experienced cooks, true arlists that they are, recipes are merely reference points. They often make adjustments as they go along, depending on the quantity of people they need to serve，the ingredients they have available and their personal taste. Some cooks use recipes very little， preferring instead to depend on their inluiliun as they add a pinch of this and a dash of that to create just the right fla vors.
對(duì)于經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的廚師，他們是真正的藝術(shù)家，食譜僅僅是作為參考，他們常常一邊做菜，一邊依照他們宴請(qǐng)的人數(shù)，現(xiàn)有的作料以及個(gè)人的口味，來(lái)調(diào)整食譜。有些廚師們很少參照食譜，反而比較喜歡憑自己的直覺(jué)加一點(diǎn)這個(gè)，加一點(diǎn)那個(gè)，來(lái)做出剛好的味道。
Of course, Americans don't have a corner on the market when it comes to good cooking. Wherever you go in the world, people love to eat. As a result, every culture and nationality has its own share of mouth-watering delicacies. And America, as a "land of immigrants," has imported practically all varieties of cooking. Most good cooks in America are "fluent" in severcooking "dialecls": Mexican, Italian, Chinese and old good American style, just to name a few. But whatever the dialect, cooking is a language everyone understands.
當(dāng)然，談到好廚藝，美國(guó)人并非獨(dú)占釜頭，無(wú)論您到世界何處，人們總是愛(ài)吃。所以，每一個(gè)文化及國(guó)家都有它特有的、令人垂涎三尺的佳肴。而美國(guó)，這個(gè)"移民之池"實(shí)際上也引進(jìn)了各式的烹調(diào)。在美國(guó)大多數(shù)的名廚對(duì)于幾種烹飪"方言"都很"流利"。隨便舉幾個(gè)例子:墨西哥、意大利、中國(guó)以及傳統(tǒng)美國(guó)風(fēng)味。且不論哪一種"方言烹飪是一種人人皆懂的語(yǔ)言。
注釋：
tossing：v. 扔；放
例句：Just toss it in the rubbish.
把它扔進(jìn)垃圾桶就可以了。
ingredients : 材料;作料
例句：Mix in the remaining ingredients.
摻入剩下的原料。
when it comes to ：當(dāng)提到; 就……而論
例句：When it comes to diet and exercise, we know what to do, but we don't do what we know.
當(dāng)提到飲食和運(yùn)動(dòng)的時(shí)候，我們都知道怎么去做，但是我們不會(huì)按照我們知道的去做
