美国国家公共电台 NPR Mama Stamberg's Relish Faces Its Toughest Critics: NPR Staffers

Mama Stamberg's Relish¹ Faces Its Toughest Critics: NPR Staffers

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0003:48repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser² to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: 

We're approaching Thanksgiving, when certain members of the NPR family encounter a Thanksgiving side dish that is relished³ by some. Here's NPR's special correspondent Susan Stamberg.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE⁴: Many, many Thanksgivings ago, my fiance took me home to Allentown, Pa., to be inspected by his family. My mother-in-law-to-be served a relish that was so delicious I married her son. Ever since, I've offered the recipe to listeners. You can find it at npr.org.

Over the years, in addition to appreciation⁵, I've gotten a good deal of grief about this recipe, especially from NPR staffers, many of whom had never tasted it but felt perfectly⁶ free to groan⁷ nonetheless. Well, last year, with no warning, the head chef in our in-house cafeteria made a batch⁸ for the entire staff. Seeking redemption, I grabbed my microphone and went to work.

Hi, Lynn Neary.

LYNN NEARY, BYLINE: Hi, Susan Stamberg.

STAMBERG: We tend to address one another formally around here.

Well, I'd love to have lunch with you today. But I can't 'cause I have to go downstairs. I understand that the NPR salad bar is serving Mama Stamberg's cranberry⁹ relish.

NEARY: (Laughter) Excuse me. I'm just recovering from a cold, and you're making me start coughing.

STAMBERG: Oh, I was afraid I was making you sick.

NEARY: No.

(LAUGHTER)

NEARY: You know, I've never tried it, Susan.

STAMBERG: It's time. You'll come downstairs with me. We'll do it today.

(SOUNDBITE OF ELEVATOR BEEPING)

RECORDED VOICE: Going down.

STAMBERG: Hello. Do you have any idea what this is?

TIM PRESTRIDGE, BYLINE: I have zero idea what that is. It looks like a Jell-O product that my grandmother used to make in Alabama.

STAMBERG: Tim Prestridge, Institutional Giving Department. Well, it's not Jell-O. And it's not your namby-pamby, cranberry-sugar-orange recipe. Mama Stamberg's has guts¹⁰ - cranberry, sugar, sour cream, onion and - wait for it - horseradish. And it's bright pink. I invite Tanya Blue from Development to try it.

TANYA BLUE, BYLINE: Are you going to wait until I actually taste it?

STAMBERG: I'm afraid I am.

BLUE: Oh, wow.

STAMBERG: You don't have to be polite. Few are.

She sticks a finger - no fork handy - into the blob of pink on her plate. It has been called Pepto-Bismol pink.

BLUE: That's tasty.

STAMBERG: You like it?

BLUE: I do like it. I'm so delighted that you're pleased.

STAMBERG: This is the chef, Janis McLean. It was her first Thanksgiving cooking for us.

JANIS MCLEAN, BYLINE: I have heard about this for years.

STAMBERG: Yeah?

MCLEAN: And this year, I got to make it. How cool is that?

STAMBERG: Pretty cool. Hers tastes better than mine. And it's almost gone.

CINDY CARPIEN, BYLINE: It's disgusting.

STAMBERG: Cindy Carpien, how can you say that?

CARPIEN: Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't say that very well. It's disgusting.

STAMBERG: Cindy is my all-time favorite producer - or was until that mean remark.

You've tried it. Have you?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: No, I've never had it (laughter).

STAMBERG: Don Gonyea, do you see what they're serving here?

DON GONYEA, BYLINE: What's this cotton-candy-colored thing (laughter)?

STAMBERG: Mr. Gonyea, former White House correspondent - he has covered five presidential elections - should give him a strong stomach.

GONYEA: I haven't had this in years. I haven't had this since...

STAMBERG: Could there be a reason?

GONYEA: I don't prepare the relishes¹¹ in our household (laughter).

STAMBERG: Nicely done - political.

Gonyea decides to taste it.

He's putting it in his mouth. He's chewing. He's looking past me.

Not a good sign.

GONYEA: It's great.

STAMBERG: Oh, my goodness.

GONYEA: It's fantastic.

STAMBERG: Could you take some over to the president?

GONYEA: I'll do that.

STAMBERG: Really?

GONYEA: Now I'm just being nice to you (laughter).

STAMBERG: You always have been. Bless you, and Happy Thanksgiving.

GONYEA: Happy Thanksgiving.

STAMBERG: Happy Thanksgiving all around, dear listeners. I'm Susan Stamberg, NPR News, Washington. Whoops¹². Here comes Lynn Neary again.

NEARY: I'm a little afraid, I have to tell you. I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to cranberries¹³.

STAMBERG: This will clear your cold. It will clear your sinuses.

NEARY: I know it will. That's what scares me (laughter).

1 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 relished   

v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The chaplain relished the privacy and isolation of his verdant surroundings. 牧师十分欣赏他那苍翠的环境所具有的幽雅恬静，与世隔绝的气氛。 来自辞典例句
• Dalleson relished the first portion of the work before him. 达尔生对眼前这工作的前半部分满有兴趣。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

8 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

9 cranberry   

n.梅果

参考例句：

• Turkey reminds me of cranberry sauce.火鸡让我想起梅果酱。
• Actually I prefer canned cranberry sauce.事实上我更喜欢罐装的梅果酱。

10 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 relishes   

n.滋味( relish的名词复数 )；乐趣；（大量的）享受；快乐v.欣赏( relish的第三人称单数 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The meat relishes of pork. 这肉有猪肉味。 来自辞典例句
• The biography relishes too much of romance. 这篇传记中传奇色彩太浓。 来自辞典例句

12 whoops   

int.呼喊声

参考例句：

• Whoops! Careful, you almost spilt coffee everywhere. 哎哟！小心点，你差点把咖啡洒得到处都是。
• We were awakened by the whoops of the sick baby. 生病婴儿的喘息声把我们弄醒了。

13 cranberries   

n.越橘( cranberry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tart flavour of the cranberries adds piquancy. 越橘的酸味很可口。
• Look at the fresh cranberries. 你看这些新鲜的蔓越橘。 来自无师自通 校园英语会话