原文標(biāo)題：
World in a dish
Tender is the night
The choice between chicken wings and tenders raises a deeper question:should food be a challenge or a comfort?
盤中世界
今晚吃雞柳
選雞翅還是雞柳？這引發(fā)一個(gè)更深層次的問(wèn)題：食物應(yīng)該是一種挑戰(zhàn)還是一種安慰？

Wings v tenders: the choice says more about you than you think
雞翅v雞柳：你的選擇透露了更多關(guān)于你自身的信息

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PICTURE THE scene. You are perched on a stool at a bar. A sport—basketball, say, or baseball—is playing on a screen above. A beer sits in front of you, its icy base adhering to the paper mat.

想象一下這個(gè)場(chǎng)景。你坐在酒吧的凳子上。上方的屏幕正在播放一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)--比如說(shuō)籃球或棒球。你面前擺著一瓶啤酒，冰涼的瓶底下方有一張紙墊。

And then a basket appears, lined with some kind of grease-resistant paper, celery sticks sprouting from one end next to a pot of blue-cheese dip.

然后，你面前又?jǐn)[了一個(gè)籃子，里面鋪著某種防油紙，芹菜棒從一端冒出來(lái)，旁邊是一碟藍(lán)奶酪蘸醬。

The main event will be one of two things, buffalo chicken wings or buffalo chicken tenders. Which you choose says more about you than you might think: do you want to fight your food or inhale it?
主菜是二選一，布法羅辣雞翅或辣雞柳。你的選擇透露了更多關(guān)于你自身的信息：你選擇與食物對(duì)抗還是選擇食用？

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Cheap, salty and popular, chicken wings and tenders are now the quintessential bar snacks.

廉價(jià)且受歡迎的咸味雞翅和雞柳現(xiàn)在是酒吧的經(jīng)典小吃。

But poultry’s popularity in America is relatively recent. Chicken production boomed during the second world war.

但家禽在美國(guó)的流行是相對(duì)較近的事。第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，雞肉生產(chǎn)蓬勃發(fā)展。

In the 1940s the US Department of Agriculture launched the “Chicken of Tomorrow”, a contest to develop fatter and faster-growing birds.

1940 年代，美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部發(fā)起了“明日之雞”競(jìng)賽，以培育出更胖、體重增長(zhǎng)更快的雞。

Production became more industrialised and efficient. By the 1950s what had been one of the most expensive meats was the cheapest.
生產(chǎn)變得更加工業(yè)化和高效。雞肉原本是最昂貴的肉類之一，到 1950 年代，變成了最便宜的肉類。

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For years Americans preferred white meat and sent their chicken wings to China.

多年來(lái)，美國(guó)人喜歡吃白肉，他們將雞翅出口到中國(guó)。

The invention of buffalo chicken wings in upstate New York in the 1960s single-handedly changed the structure of the global chicken trade, argues Emelyn Rude in “Tastes Like Chicken: A History of America’s Favourite Bird”.

埃梅林.魯?shù)略凇睹绹?guó)最喜愛(ài)的家禽肉：歷史與文化》一書(shū)中認(rèn)為， 1960 年代紐約州北部布法羅辣雞翅的發(fā)明，單槍匹馬地改變了全球雞肉貿(mào)易的結(jié)構(gòu)。

America began keeping its wings and sent China only the feet.
美國(guó)開(kāi)始留下雞翅，只將雞爪出口到中國(guó)。

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But those home-grown bosomy birds also left America with lots of white meat. One result was chicken tenders.

但那些本土養(yǎng)殖的肥胸雞也給美國(guó)留下了大量的白肉。于是產(chǎn)生了雞柳。

Unlike nuggets—which, says the original recipe, are 85% “mechanically deboned spent layer meat”—tenders are a single piece of meat.

與雞塊不同的是--根據(jù)最初的食譜，85%的雞塊是 "機(jī)械去骨的廢棄層雞肉"--雞柳是單塊肉。

They are formed from tenderloin, the pectoralis minor muscle, found beneath the breast but smaller and thinner.
它們是雞里脊，位于胸腔下方更小更薄的雞胸肉。

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Chicken tenders satisfy a common desire, perhaps most acute in America, for consistency and convenience.

雞柳滿足了美國(guó)人對(duì)一致性和便利性的普遍需求，也可能是最強(qiáng)烈的需求。

Cooking chicken wings is tricky. The drumette and the wingette may cook unevenly.Getting the skin crispy is a skill, leaving it flabby—a crime.

烹飪雞翅很棘手。雞翅根部和雞翅中部可能會(huì)煮得不均勻。把雞皮弄酥脆是一種技巧，把它弄得松垮是一種犯罪。

Eating them is no simpler.Smears of sauce wind up slicked around your mouth and stuck under your fingernails. The meat has to be prised from the bones.

吃的時(shí)候也不簡(jiǎn)單。會(huì)吃得滿嘴醬汁，還會(huì)粘在指甲里。因?yàn)槟阈枰讶鈴墓穷^上弄下來(lái)。

The texture varies; there is cartilage and gristle to contend with. (Elsewhere that is a bonus: knobbly chicken feet and tense little gizzards are relished in China precisely because of their texture.)

肉質(zhì)各不相同，有軟骨要處理。(在其他地方，軟骨也美味：在中國(guó)，多節(jié)雞爪和硬雞胗正是因?yàn)樗鼈儶?dú)特的肉質(zhì)而受歡迎。）

Finally, wings have a certain discomforting realness. Like legs, they are recognisably part of an animal in name and appearance.
最后，翅膀有一種令人不安的真實(shí)感。就像腿一樣，它們?cè)诿Q和外觀上都是動(dòng)物的一部分。

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Tenders—battered or breaded—are a more straightforward proposition for both chef and eater.

雞柳--裹面糊或裹面包屑--對(duì)廚師和食客來(lái)說(shuō)都是一個(gè)更簡(jiǎn)單的選擇。

There is no skin with which to battle. Each bite is identical, the texture unvarying.

沒(méi)有皮肉之爭(zhēng)。每一口都是一樣的，肉質(zhì)沒(méi)有變化。

Many people value uniformity in what they eat: the appeal of fast-food chains lies in large part in customers’ appreciation of the fact that, wherever they are, they know they will be served the same items, cooked in the same way.

許多人重視飲食的統(tǒng)一性：快餐連鎖店的吸引力很大程度上取決于顧客對(duì)食物一致性的認(rèn)可度，即無(wú)論他們身在何方，他們都知道會(huì)遲到烹制方式相同的同一食物。

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For some, comfort food means not having to think too much about what they are eating.

對(duì)一些人來(lái)說(shuō)，爽心美食意味著他們不必過(guò)多考慮吃了是什么。

For others, it means food that requires enough concentration to avoid thinking about anything else.
對(duì)其他人來(lái)說(shuō)，爽心美食意味著他們需要有足夠的專注力來(lái)避免思考其他事情。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量540左右）
原文出自：2023年5月20日《The Economist》Culture版塊

精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
明日之雞Chicken of Tomorrow政策是美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部在1940年舉行的一項(xiàng)比賽，旨在鼓勵(lì)家禽肉產(chǎn)業(yè)改進(jìn)育種技術(shù)和增加生產(chǎn)效率。比賽要求參賽者培育出能夠在12周內(nèi)體重增長(zhǎng)更快、胸脯更大、肉更有營(yíng)養(yǎng)價(jià)值的家禽品種。此次比賽吸引了全國(guó)各地的養(yǎng)殖者和育種專家參加，并且得到了廣泛關(guān)注。經(jīng)過(guò)兩年的評(píng)選，最終選出了幾個(gè)優(yōu)勝者，他們的雞獲得了比賽中最高的評(píng)分，其主要特點(diǎn)是成長(zhǎng)速度更快，骨骼更強(qiáng)壯，肉質(zhì)更加嫩滑。這項(xiàng)政策對(duì)于美國(guó)家禽肉產(chǎn)業(yè)產(chǎn)生了深遠(yuǎn)的影響。它促使了家禽肉產(chǎn)業(yè)向著現(xiàn)代化和商業(yè)化方向發(fā)展，帶來(lái)了更高的生產(chǎn)效率和更好的市場(chǎng)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。

《美國(guó)最喜愛(ài)的家禽肉：歷史與文化》是作者Emelyn Rude撰寫(xiě)的一本關(guān)于家禽肉在美國(guó)歷史上發(fā)展的書(shū)籍。這本書(shū)從十七世紀(jì)早期開(kāi)始，追溯了美國(guó)家禽肉的歷史、文化和社會(huì)影響，并探討了飲食習(xí)慣、營(yíng)養(yǎng)學(xué)和環(huán)境問(wèn)題。家禽肉在美國(guó)歷史上具有重要地位，特別是在工業(yè)化時(shí)代之后。書(shū)中介紹了家禽肉生產(chǎn)和消費(fèi)的變化，以及家禽肉如何成為21世紀(jì)美國(guó)最主要的蛋白質(zhì)來(lái)源之一的過(guò)程。

廢棄層雞肉Spent layer meat是指那些已經(jīng)停產(chǎn)或無(wú)法再生產(chǎn)蛋的雞所產(chǎn)出的肉。這些雞通常在18-24個(gè)月的生命周期內(nèi)被用于產(chǎn)蛋，但其產(chǎn)蛋量逐漸下降，因此它們通常會(huì)在此后被屠宰并用于食品加工。這種肉質(zhì)通常比較柴硬，由于雞已經(jīng)變老，所以在食用時(shí)需要進(jìn)行特殊的處理和烹調(diào)。

雞翅通常分成三個(gè)部位：drumette小雞腿，即靠近雞身體的那一段、wingette中段和tip翅尖，即雞翅的最末端，沒(méi)有肉只有骨頭。drumette小雞腿有肉和骨頭，肉質(zhì)較柔嫩，通常在烤雞翅時(shí)比較受歡迎。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3個(gè)）
But those home-grown bosomy birds also left America with lots of white meat. One result was chicken tenders.
但那些本土養(yǎng)殖的肥胸雞也給美國(guó)留下了大量的白肉。于是產(chǎn)生了雞柳。

Chicken tenders satisfy a common desire, perhaps most acute in America, for consistency and convenience.
雞柳滿足了美國(guó)人對(duì)一致性和便利性的普遍需求，也可能是最強(qiáng)烈的需求。

There is no skin with which to battle. Each bite is identical, the texture unvarying.
沒(méi)有皮肉之爭(zhēng)。每一口都是一樣的，肉質(zhì)沒(méi)有變化。