美国国家公共电台 NPR--Since candy is popular on Valentine's Day, let's find out where chocolate comes from

Since candy is popular on Valentine's Day, let's find out where chocolate comes from

Transcript¹

LA Plaza² de Cultura y Artes, a museum in Los Angeles, is honoring the Latin American roots of chocolate. The exhibition is called: The Legacy³ of Cacao.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

Today is Valentine's Day. It's a day for love and delights, roses and chocolate. NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg will take chocolate any day. And this year, in Los Angeles, she found a museum that salutes⁴ her passion. It's at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in the oldest part of LA, where there's an exhibition of photographs showing vivid, luscious-looking chocolate being prepared.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE⁵: I have a dear friend who never eats chocolate. He says it makes him short.

Who in the world doesn't like chocolate?

MAITE GOMEZ-REJON: No one.

STAMBERG: Definitive⁶. Then curator Maite Gomez-Rejon reconsiders.

GOMEZ-REJON: Well, actually, I do know a handful of people that don't like chocolate. But that would not be me.

STAMBERG: Same for co-curator Jimenez Martin (ph) and moi. Dark is their preference; Hershey's Kisses mine. Curator Jimenez's is liquid.

JIMENEZ MARTIN: Hot chocolate.

STAMBERG: That's the Mexican way, as drinks, has been for hundreds of years, mostly prepared by women, with dozens of variations, often in celebration.

MARTIN: My favorite story here is, as wedding gifts, the groom's family makes the chocolate paste and offers these wheels of chocolate to the bride as a family coming together.

STAMBERG: The ancient - this is before Starbucks, you understand - would foam⁷ their drinks.

GOMEZ-REJON: The foam was the essence of the chocolate, what connected the drinker to the gods. So if it didn't have foam, it was not good. It was a drink reserved for aristocracy and nobility. It was only the very, very wealthy could actually consume it.

STAMBERG: In precolonial Mexico, cacao seeds were actually used as currency. Maite says even when it made its way to Europe, only the rich could afford it.

GOMEZ-REJON: It wasn't until the 19th century that a candy bar was invented in Victorian England that everything changed.

STAMBERG: Queen Victoria was a chocoholic. Europe, then America, added various things to the original bitter drink, sugar, milk, orange, jasmine.

GOMEZ-REJON: We've only been eating chocolate like that for about 200 years.

STAMBERG: How come it took so long to get to Asia?

GOMEZ-REJON: I don't know.

STAMBERG: But she does know how chocolate brings back her childhood.

GOMEZ-REJON: Summers at the beach, my mom used to always buy a little bag of Hershey's Kisses and put them on our pillows every single night. And we would eat them after lunch, when we were watching TV, before going to the beach. Hershey's Kisses has a very special place in my heart.

STAMBERG: In Los Angeles, I'm Susan Stamberg, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF PENGUIN⁸ CAFE'S "MORE MILK (BONUS TRACK)")

STAMBERG: At the end, they gave me a chocolate bar. And I'm going to taste it now. It's got a very intense smell. It doesn't smell like Hershey's Kisses at all.

(SOUNDBITE OF PAPER TEARING)

STAMBERG: And I'm opening it. Here we go. This is definitely not milk chocolate. It's somewhere very well situated⁹ between milk and dark. It's a good mixture. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. Go eat some chocolate.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Well, I always take Susan Stamberg's advice, especially when the advice is go eat chocolate. So I'm going to find some now. I don't know how I don't have any around me. Asma, are you doing the same?

KHALID: Oh, I can totally give you some because...

FADEL: You have some?

KHALID: I keep it legitimately¹⁰ in my drawer here at the office. Dark chocolate with almonds. There you go.

FADEL: I'm a milk chocolate kind of woman.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

3 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 salutes   

n.致敬，欢迎，敬礼( salute的名词复数 )v.欢迎，致敬( salute的第三人称单数 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• Poulengey salutes, and stands at the door awaiting orders. 波仑日行礼，站在门口听侯命令。 来自辞典例句
• A giant of the world salutes you. 一位世界的伟人向你敬礼呢。 来自辞典例句

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

7 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

8 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

9 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

10 legitimately   

ad.合法地；正当地，合理地

参考例句：

• The radio is legitimately owned by the company. 该电台为这家公司所合法拥有。
• She looked for nothing save what might come legitimately and without the appearance of special favour. 她要的并不是男人们的额外恩赐，而是合法正当地得到的工作。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹