原文標(biāo)題：
World in a dish
Chinese food is more diverse than Western eaters might think
In “Invitation to a Banquet” Fuchsia Dunlop celebrates the cuisine’s spread and savour
盤中世界
中餐比西方人想象的更多樣化
《宴會邀請函》一書中，鄧扶霞稱贊了中餐的多樣性和美味性

[Paragraph 1]
ABOUT A DECADE ago, this correspondent attended a banquet in Guangzhou.
大約10年前，本刊記者在廣州參加了一場宴會。

The bird’s nest soup was gentle and slithery, the sea cucumber rich and gelatinous and the fish sparklingly fresh and perfectly steamed.
燕窩湯清淡滑溜，海參濃郁呈凝膠狀，魚肉新鮮閃亮，清蒸程度剛剛好。

The most memorable dish, however, was the plain white cup of broth served at the end.
不過，最令人難忘的還是最后上桌的那道白湯。

Made from chicken, probably with ham and dried scallop as well, it was simple, austere and perfect.
這道菜是用雞肉做的，可能還加了火腿和干貝，簡單、樸素、完美。

[Paragraph 2]
Ending a banquet with soup may seem odd to Westerners, accustomed as they are to sweets at a meal’s close.
在西方國家，餐后湯可能看起來有些奇怪，因為他們習(xí)慣了餐后甜點。

But, as Fuchsia Dunlop, an English food writer, explains in an authoritative new book, stock is a unique, intrinsic expression of a chef’s art, much as a voice is for a singer.
但是，正如英國美食作家鄧扶霞在一本權(quán)威新書中所解釋的那樣，湯是廚藝的一種獨特的內(nèi)在表現(xiàn)形式，就像歌手的嗓音一樣。

And the “transparent, almost invisible soup…in its quiet golden, ineffable loveliness” is an ideal conclusion to a banquet, with its opulence and strong flavours.
“透明到幾乎看不見的湯……帶著靜謐的金黃色，有種難以言喻的可愛”，以其華麗和濃郁的風(fēng)味成為宴會理想的最后一道菜。

[Paragraph 3]
“Invitation to a Banquet” is Ms Dunlop’s seventh book. Unlike those for which she is best known, including “The Food of Sichuan” and “Revolutionary Kitchen” (about Hunanese cuisine), this is not a cookbook.
《宴會邀請函》是鄧扶霞的第7本書。與她寫的《川菜》和《廚房革命》（湘菜相關(guān)）等著作不同，這不是一本烹飪書。

Instead, she has chosen 30 dishes and used each to illuminate different aspects of Chinese cuisine—and, in turn, Chinese life and history.
相反，她精選了30道菜，用每一道菜來闡釋中國美食的不同方面，進(jìn)而闡釋中國人的生活和歷史。

[Paragraph 4]
This is less of a departure for Ms Dunlop than it seems.
對鄧扶霞來說，這并不像看上去那么離經(jīng)叛道。

Like other outsiders who spend their lives focused on a foreign cuisine—as Diana Kennedy, an English food writer, did in Mexico, or Paula Wolfert, an American, did in the Middle East—she is more a gatherer than an inventor of recipes.
與其他終生專注于外國佳肴的美食作家一樣--例如英國美食作家戴安娜·肯尼迪在墨西哥的經(jīng)歷、美國人保拉·沃爾弗特在中東的經(jīng)歷--與其說她是食譜的發(fā)明者，不如說她是食譜的收集者。

Ms Dunlop’s well-researched cookbooks read as mini-ethnographies.
鄧扶霞把美食研究得很透徹，她的食譜書讀起來像微型民族志。

[Paragraph 5]
Readers will not learn how to make braised pomelo pith with shrimp eggs but how and why Chinese chefs have long prized unusual (and to Western palates, sometimes off-putting) ingredients, such as the bitter pith of a giant citrus fruit.
讀者學(xué)不到如何做“蝦籽柚皮”菜，但會了解中國廚師為何長期喜歡用不尋常的食材（西方人不太喜歡這種口味），比如苦澀的柚子皮。

An apparently humble, but in fact exceptionally laborious, dish of braised carp’s tail is a jumping-off point for a discussion of the importance of kougan, or mouth-feel, in Chinese cuisine.
一道看似普通但實際上工序繁多的“紅燒鯉魚尾”菜，成為探討中國菜口感重要性的起點。

[Paragraph 6]
Westerners, Ms Dunlop argues, “have traditionally assumed that the Chinese eat marginal animal parts out of poverty and desperation”, when in fact turning up one’s nose at gizzards, cartilage and jellyfish shuts the door on a range of foods that is wonderfully cui (“slippery and crunchy, often in a wet way”).
鄧扶霞寫道，西方人“傳統(tǒng)上認(rèn)為中國人吃動物的邊緣部位是因為貧窮和絕望”，但實際上如果對雞胗、軟骨和海蜇等食材不屑一顧，就等于對一系列“脆”的美食關(guān)上了大門。

[Paragraph 7]
In aggregate, Ms Dunlop makes a compelling case for the superiority of Chinese cuisine, but in a delighted and expansive rather than chauvinistic way.
總的來說，鄧扶霞以一種開朗愉悅而不帶偏見的方式，全面闡述了中國美食的卓越性。

She shows how it has assimilated foreign influences (as other cuisines have, too), how it has changed with China’s increasing wealth and how central it is to the country’s intellectual and cultural history.
她闡述了中餐如何吸收外來影響（其他菜系也是如此），如何隨著中國日益富強而變化，以及美食在中國知識和文化歷史中的核心地位。

[Paragraph 8]
She makes an equally compelling case that what Westerners think of as “Chinese food”, meaning what most can find at their local takeaway, is neither inauthentic nor wrong.
她同樣有力地表達(dá)了一個觀點，即西方人所認(rèn)為的“中餐”就是大多數(shù)人在附近的外賣店能找到的餐食，是對非對。

Instead, it is a diasporic offshoot that reflects local tastes but is about as representative of the cuisine’s diversity as a frozen pizza is of Italy’s.
但它是一個反映當(dāng)?shù)乜谖兜牧鲃有匝苌铮泊砹瞬讼档亩鄻有?，就好像冷凍比薩代表意大利美食一樣。

Immigration and adventurousness have made the real thing more accessible than ever outside China. Eaters should savour that.
由于移民和冒險精神，人們在中國以外的地方也可以輕而易舉地品嘗到正宗中餐。食客們應(yīng)該品味一番。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量581左右）
原文出自：2023年9月2日《The Economist》Culture版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene

本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
扶霞·鄧洛普Fuchsia Dunlop是一位英國籍的美食作家、烹飪教師和中國菜專家。她以其對中國食物和烹飪的深入研究和傳播而聞名。鄧扶霞在劍橋大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)了中國文學(xué)，1994年鄧扶霞來到四川成都，在四川大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)少數(shù)民族歷史。在中國期間，鄧洛普對當(dāng)?shù)氐拿朗钞a(chǎn)生了濃厚的興趣，并決定探索中國飲食文化的更多方面。她先后在中國的廚藝學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)了四年，并成為首位獲得中國烹飪學(xué)位的西方人。鄧扶霞以她對中國食物的熱愛和深入了解而成為一個權(quán)威的烹飪家和美食作家。她的著作包括多本關(guān)于中國菜的烹飪書籍，代表作品有《魚翅與花椒》《川菜》《魚米之鄉(xiāng)》等。她的作品不僅介紹了中國菜的各個方面，包括傳統(tǒng)菜譜、烹飪技巧和食材，還涉及了中國飲食文化的背景和歷史。

蝦籽柚皮braised pomelo pith with shrimp eggs是一道傳統(tǒng)粵菜，材料主要是蝦子及柚皮。餐廳做的柚皮菜開始放棄傳統(tǒng)的本土柚皮，改用泰國妙齡柚青，據(jù)介紹，本土柚皮始終存有苦澀味的缺點，相比而言，從泰國空運到境的柚青，因果肉尚未成熟，整個柚子的精華都在柚皮內(nèi)，因此這種柚子是專吃皮不吃肉。

【重點句子】（3個）
Ms Dunlop’s well-researched cookbooks read as mini-ethnographies.
鄧扶霞把美食研究得很透徹，她的食譜書 讀起來像微型民族志。

An apparently humble, but in fact exceptionally laborious, dish of braised carp’s tail is a jumping-off point for a discussion of the importance of kougan, or mouth-feel, in Chinese cuisine.
一道看似普通但實際上工序繁多的“紅燒鯉魚尾”菜，成為探討中國菜口感重要性的起點。

She shows how it has assimilated foreign influences (as other cuisines have, too), how it has changed with China’s increasing wealth and how central it is to the country’s intellectual and cultural history.
她闡述了中餐如何吸收外來影響（其他菜系也是如此），如何隨著中國日益富強而變化，以及美食在中國知識和文化歷史中的核心地位。