《经济学人》双语：完美薯条是什么样的？

原文标题：
World in a dish
Fry and stop him
One man’s quest to understand and glorify the chip
盘中世界
炸了又停
一个人的追求就是为了理解和打造完美薯条

The quest for the perfect chip
Triple-cooked chips may be Heston Blumenthal’s most influential dish
探索完美薯条
三煮薯条可能是赫斯顿布鲁门撒尔最具影响力的菜

[Paragraph 1]
IT IS EASY to see why so many classic recipes are difficult to cook.

为什么普通人很难按照食谱做出经典菜肴？原因其实显而易见。

A gleaming duck pâté en croûte, a deeply savoury mole poblano, a vast timballo, a perfectly clear consommé: they all involve long tallies of ingredients, tricksy processes and towers of specialist equipment.
法国的鸭肉馅饼，墨西哥的甜辣美食，意大利的大烤盘，清炖肉汤等：它们都具备食材丰富、厨艺精巧、设备专业等特点。

[Paragraph 2]
The chip, by contrast, needs none of these. It is a simple thing—a long, narrow piece of potato, fried in oil.
相比之下，薯条不需要上面这些条件。因为这是一件很简单的事——油炸细长的土豆就好。

To be clear, these are the sort of thick, dependable chips that go with fish, not skinny frites or French fries, nor the kind shoved into American children’s lunch bags.
有一点需要清楚，本文的薯条不是细薯条或炸薯条，也不是美国儿童午餐袋里的那种薯片，而是英国国菜“炸鱼薯条”里的厚薯条。

Chips are one of the “cheaply pleasant” foods with which the “underfed, harassed, bored and miserable” may console themselves, wrote George Orwell in “The Road to Wigan Pier”.
乔治·奥威尔在《通往威根码头的路》中写道，薯片是一种“物美价廉”的食物，“穷苦”之人可以用薯条来安慰自己。

Fish and chips were thought to be so necessary to British well-being during the second world war that they were one of the few foodstuffs exempted from rationing.
炸鱼薯条与英国人的幸福息息相关。在二战期间，炸鱼薯条也成为英国少数没有受限于食物配给的料理。

[Paragraph 3]
Everyone knows the quiet but profound joy of a good chip.
人人都知道美味薯条能带来平静且深刻的快乐。

Soused in vinegar, splattered in mayonnaise or ketchup, their straightforward plainness is a comforting delight—even, or especially, in a post-festive season when you are meant to be abstemious.
泡点醋，撒点蛋黄酱或番茄酱，吃着简简单单的薯条就是一种快乐--即使或者特别是在节后需要节约的季节也如此。

So it is striking that the creator of the über-chip is known for his inventiveness and complex experimentation.
因此，当über薯条的创造者以其极具创造性且复杂的实验横空出世时，震惊四座。

[Paragraph 4]
Heston Blumenthal, a British chef, is famed for bewildering dishes such as the meat fruit—a chicken liver parfait disguised as a mandarin.
英国厨师赫斯顿·布鲁门撒尔以奇葩的菜肴而享誉全球，比如肉水果——一种橘子形状的鸡肝酱。

In his hands liquid nitrogen went from something to be used to freeze off warts to a tool for making the smoothest of ice-cream (bacon-and-egg flavoured, naturally).
液氮的用途是冷冻去疣，但在他的手中，液氨变成了制作光滑冰淇淋工具（自然有培根和鸡蛋的味道）。

He serves a seaside scene of edible sand with kelp and seafood, eaten to an accompanying soundtrack of ocean waves and the cawing of seagulls.
他提供一个海边的场景，场景里的沙子、海带、海鲜都是有可食用的，就餐过程中还伴随着海浪的声音和海鸥的叫声。

He is one of the original “molecular gastronomists”, with their foams and gels that taste of the unexpected.
他是原创“分子料理大师”之一，他们美食中所有的泡沫和凝胶味道都出乎意料。

[Paragraph 5]
And yet his greatest gift to the world may be the triple-cooked chip.
然而，他给世界最大的礼物可能是三煮薯条。

Mr Blumenthal became obsessed with chips around 1992, before he had begun feeding restaurant diners snail porridge, before he even had a restaurant.
布鲁门撒尔先生在1992年左右迷上了薯片，那时他还没有烹制蜗牛粥，也没有开餐厅。

The traditional double fry can too often end with chips that are either undercooked or soggy, a result of steam escaping from the middle and softening the crust.
传统二次油炸的结果就是未熟或太熟，因为蒸汽从中间逸出，外皮变软了。

He wanted a “glass-like” crispy crust with a fluffy centre. An elaborate multi-stage process—involving boiling, freezing and frying—was his characteristically detailed solution.
他想要的炸薯条是“玻璃般”的脆皮加上蓬松的中心。他特有的详细烹饪方法复杂且步骤多--包含水煮、冷冻和油炸等过程。

[Paragraph 6]
Since becoming one of its doyens, Mr Blumenthal has expressed his frustration with the term molecular gastronomy.
布鲁门撒尔成为“分子料理”领域的元老之后，他就对这一术语表示失望。

This, he has pointed out, is “simply the science of cooking”. Like science, preparing food is a form of puzzle-solving.
他指出，“分子料理只是一门烹饪的科学”。和科学一样，准备食物也是一种解题的方式。

Why did your cake rise to a dome in the centre? Why won’t my onions caramelise?
为什么你的蛋糕中间有个圆顶？为什么我的洋葱不能有焦糖？

High-end chefs like Mr Blumenthal must grasp the intricacies of transforming ingredients into ever more delicious things to eat.
高端厨师（如布鲁门撒尔）必须掌握一个本领，就是能够将普通食材转化为绝美的食物。

[Paragraph 7]
But as he has demonstrated, cooking is also an art. And like artworks, dishes must be judged according to their ambitions.
但正如他所展示的，烹饪也是一门艺术。和艺术品一样，人们可以根据作品的中心思想来评判菜肴。

A pop song can be as great in its way as a symphony—and a chip as miraculous as a viridescent spherified pea.
流行歌曲可以像交响乐一样伟大--薯条也可以像豌豆一样千变万化。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量566左右）
原文出自：2023年1月14日《The Economist》Culture版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
做出好薯条的最大秘诀是：二次油炸（double-frying）。伦敦的Dinner by Heston Blumenthal餐厅的招牌薯条—Triple cooked chips（三煮薯条）。它是先将薯条水煮后经过二次油炸制得，也就是每烹饪一次后放冰箱冷藏。这样可以使蒸发掉更多薯条中的水分且令质地变硬，有利于得到更酥脆的口感。油炸其实是一个脱水的过程，通过将食物表层的水份炸干而得到酥脆的外壳。所以表层炸得越干，形成的外壳越酥脆。

墨西哥有一种“甜辣美食”叫做Mole poblano，由巧克力、肉桂、大蒜、辣椒、肉混合制成，口感独一无二。

Timballo 是一道意大利经典菜肴大烤盘。意大利老奶奶经常会在假期做给一大家子吃，它由面皮、牛肉酱或小丸子、马苏里拉奶酪、番茄沙司一层一层叠起来，入烤箱烤制而成。

炸鱼薯条（Fish and chips）是一道源自英国的热食，鱼裹上面糊油炸，搭配炸薯条，吃的时候配上不同口味的调味酱，属于街边小吃。炸鱼薯条是一道很常见的外带食物，也是早期融合料理的例子。犹太男孩约瑟夫·马林（Joseph Malin）在1860年的伦敦东区街头，发明了炸鱼配薯条。首相丘吉尔称炸鱼薯条是“好伙伴”，二战也没断供的英国国民美食，在第二次世界大战期间，炸鱼薯条也成为英国少数没有受限于食物配给的料理，因为政府相信这道料理能在士气低落的战事氛围中给予人精神上的支持。约翰·蓝侬会在炸鱼薯条上加大量番茄酱。乔治欧威尔则称炸鱼薯条是劳动阶级“重要的家常菜”。

《通往威根码头之路》是乔治·奥威尔于1936年初前往英格兰北部调查产业工人生存状况后写成的一部非虚构著作，期间西班牙内战爆发，奥威尔交稿后即奔赴前线，协助左翼政府军抵抗以佛朗哥为首的法西斯势力，直到因左翼阵营分裂被迫逃回英国。本书遂成为他社会主义信仰巅峰时期的一份见证。全书分两部分，第一部分是对其时英国兰开夏郡、约克郡煤矿工人工作、生活状况的调查体验记录，第二部分则引出社会主义理念及其运动，阐述社会主义在改善工人阶级生存状况方面的可能作用，并检讨其时英国社会主义运动的成败得失。

Sound of the Sea 海洋之声。上菜前，服务生先为顾客拿来大海螺，里面有一个iPod，插上耳机，就可以听到海涛拍击沙滩的声音，当我们看着海螺，听着大海的声音的时候，上菜了。服务员轻声说：“玻璃上所有的东西，都可以吃。先吃吧，随后我会为你们解释。”生鱼片，可以吃；沙子，可以吃；海藻，可以吃；海浪泡沫，还是可以吃。

【重点句子】（3 个）
To be clear, these are the sort of thick, dependable chips that go with fish, not skinny frites or French fries, nor the kind shoved into American children’s lunch bags.
有一点需要清楚，本文的薯条不是细薯条或炸薯条，也不是美国儿童午餐袋里的那种薯片，而是英国国菜“炸鱼薯条”里的厚薯条。

He is one of the original “molecular gastronomists”, with their foams and gels that taste of the unexpected.
他是原创“分子料理大师”之一，他们美食中所有的泡沫和凝胶味道都出乎意料。

High-end chefs like Mr Blumenthal must grasp the intricacies of transforming ingredients into ever more delicious things to eat.
高端厨师（如布鲁门撒尔）必须掌握一个本领，就是能够将普通食材转化为绝美的食物。