美国国家公共电台 NPR Boris Fishman's 'Savage Feast' Is Part Memoir, Part Cookbook

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Boris Fishman was 9 years old in 1988 when his family left Belarus for New York. As Jews in what was then the Soviet¹ Union, their prospects² were limited, living under the constant threat of discrimination and violence. But his grandfather was resourceful. So unlike others, they did not lack for good food. Boris Fishman wrote about all this time in "Savage³ Feast," a new memoir⁴ that he intersperses⁵ with recipes. Boris' grandparents also survived the Second World War, and they were no strangers to hunger.

BORIS FISHMAN: The food was plenty in a way that stopped during the war. And for me, most personally, it was my grandmother's experience that was formative in this regard. We're from Minsk. It was one of the first places invaded by the Nazis⁶ in June 1941, and food disappeared. My grandmother was incarcerated⁷ in the Minsk ghetto⁸ for almost two years. She managed to escape right before it was liquidated⁹ and then spent two years wandering the swamps of Belarus, subsisting¹⁰ on potato peels. And that does something to a person's psyche¹¹.

I will never - I'm getting goose bumps right now thinking of it, even though I've thought of it a million times. The story of her - the first loaf of bread she saw after the war. She leapt on it like an animal, devoured¹² it and vomited¹³ all of it back up. That is the formative food-related experience for me in New York in 2019, almost a century later.

GREENE: So is it just that deep appreciation¹⁴ for something that you realize is not necessarily always going to be there for you?

FISHMAN: I think it's more perverse¹⁵ than appreciation. I think it's a kind of addiction¹⁶ powered by a fear and terror of it running out. And no amount of rational thought or improved experience seems very effective at putting a dent¹⁷ into that kind of psychosis. And again, it's amazing, 30 years after immigrating¹⁸ to the States, the degree to which we approach food as a resource that might vanish. We've not had to scrounge for a meal in over 70 years.

GREENE: This plays out in such interesting ways, sometimes humorous, in the book. I think to when you and your entire family - your parents, your grandfather, his home aide - all took up an entire row on a flight from New York to Miami. And I guess when you have the philosophy like you're talking about, you don't take a two-hour plane ride without making sure you have enough (laughter) food there for you.

FISHMAN: Yeah. I mean, when you leave the home, a little bit of the control that you have over where the food comes from - and it's not only the provenance¹⁹. It's also the quality. You do want to eat well. And so I mean, look. If American Airlines served things worthy²⁰ of the palate, we perhaps wouldn't pack as many tin-foil bundles as we do. But the fact is that they don't.

GREENE: So what would you put in tin foil and bring on an airplane, like that flight to Miami?

FISHMAN: I mean, how much time do you have? It all depends on what you cooked last night. Perhaps you went to the supermarket and they had some, you know, cod²¹ that was wild and properly sourced but also on sale. So you bought some of that. You might have, you know, taken a half-hour to marinate it in an ungodly combination of spices. And then you just put it between two slices of bread, and then you just tin-foil it up, grab a tomato that you can bite through like an apple, and you've got - you're good for at least 30 minutes that way (laughter).

GREENE: Tell me about your grandfather, Arkady (ph), because he's so prominent in this book and clearly so important to you in your life.

FISHMAN: He was a survivor²² in the metaphorical²³ sense. He could wriggle²⁴ his way out of any situation you placed him in. Whatever you needed, he could get. He was a provider. He was the very essence of how ex-Soviet people define masculinity, in the most positive sense of the term. Because he was an incredibly soft-hearted, generous man. He was also, in some ways, closed-minded. There was no one less equipped to understand a grandson who had chosen to use his education to go into writing books, which he always read the first and last page of. He didn't have time for what was in the middle.

Hopefully, that starts to give you a portrait. I mean, I could go on for a very long time.

GREENE: So your grandfather, after your grandmother's death, would have a home aide in his house in Brooklyn, and one who became so close to him, Oksana. She became like family to you. I got the sense that she really brought you and your grandfather closer together.

FISHMAN: She was the bridge in every imaginable way. There are ways you can behave with family members that you cannot allow yourself to behave with people outside the family. And so I deferred²⁵ to Oksana and listened to Oksana in ways that I was too young, and too callow, and too proud, and too stubborn and too resentful because I didn't feel understood by this man. She managed to understand that there would be a time when this man would not be a part of the world - which, unfortunately, is now - that I wasn't able to hear from him. And this is to say nothing about the meals that she put on the table between us. For the duration of those meals, our difficulties became harder to remember.

GREENE: Well, let's talk about the food. It is her recipes that you feature throughout your memoir. For people who don't know the food that well, you know, tell us about one dish that you just love and remember for a certain reason.

FISHMAN: Sometimes no one carries greater prejudice toward your own background than yourself. And so I, until a certain point in my life, had the same prejudice that many people do about ex-Soviet food, which is, heavy, pale, spiceless. And then I ate from Oksana's table. And we're talking things like peppers marinated in buckwheat honey and garlic, duck stuffed with prunes²⁶ and apricots. So many other things that, just so toothsome and not heavy at all, especially if prepared the right way.

But the one dish that sticks out in my mind - I remember coming over to kind of an evening gathering²⁷ in their home, and there was a pie in front of me. And I bit into it, and it tasted like no other pie I'd ever tasted. And that's because it was filled not with cherries or strawberries, but ground chicken liver. And nothing could possibly sound less interesting, except it's one of the most delicious things I've ever had. And every single person I've pressed it on has had the same exact reaction.

GREENE: So I guess one question I have is, like, you could take the pages with recipes out of your book and have, like, a mini cookbook that people could just have in their house and use and make dishes. But are they really enjoying it, even if they follow the recipes to a T, if they don't know where they came from and the stories behind it?

FISHMAN: That's absolutely right. I think that if you - you know, maybe the recipe should come with a kind of disclaimer or requirement. Do not make these unless at least one Russian-speaking person and at least one bottle of vodka is present. I mean, yes, we're gregarious²⁸ people, and we like to sort of get direct and honest and loud. But it's not as if all of this isn't made possible by copious²⁹ amounts of alcohol, you know? And as long as you bring the same into your gathering, you'll get most of the way, too. It shouldn't stop you from trying.

GREENE: Boris Fishman is the author of "Savage Feast." It is the story of three generations, two continents and, of course, a dinner table. Boris, nice talking to you. Thank you so much.

FISHMAN: Same here. Thank you so much for having me.

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

3 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

4 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

5 intersperses   

v.散布，散置( intersperse的第三人称单数 )；点缀

参考例句：

6 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

8 ghetto   

n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区

参考例句：

• Racism and crime still flourish in the ghetto.城市贫民区的种族主义和犯罪仍然十分猖獗。
• I saw that achievement as a possible pattern for the entire ghetto.我把获得的成就看作整个黑人区可以仿效的榜样。

9 liquidated   

v.清算( liquidate的过去式和过去分词 )；清除（某人）；清偿；变卖

参考例句：

• All his supporters were expelled, exiled, or liquidated. 他的支持者全都被驱逐、流放或消灭了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That can be liquidated at market value any time. 那可按市价随时得到偿付。 来自辞典例句

10 subsisting   

v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human subsisting. 衪是完全的神又是完全的人，且有理性的灵魂和人类血肉之躯。 来自互联网
• The benevolence subsisting in her character draws her friends closer to her. 存在于她性格中的仁慈吸引她的朋友们接近她。 来自互联网

11 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。

12 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。

13 vomited   

参考例句：

• Corbett leaned against the wall and promptly vomited. 科比特倚在墙边，马上呕吐了起来。
• She leant forward and vomited copiously on the floor. 她向前一俯，哇的一声吐了一地。 来自英汉文学

14 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。

15 perverse   

adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的

参考例句：

• It would be perverse to stop this healthy trend.阻止这种健康发展的趋势是没有道理的。
• She gets a perverse satisfaction from making other people embarrassed.她有一种不正常的心态，以使别人难堪来取乐。

16 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

17 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

18 immigrating   

v.移入( immigrate的现在分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• I have to tie up loose ends before immigrating to America. 移民美国前，我先要处理手头上的一些琐事。 来自互联网
• Marrying an American citizen is a guaranteed ticket to immigrating to America. 与美国公民结婚是移民美国最佳的门票。 来自互联网

19 provenance   

n.出处；起源

参考例句：

• Kato was fully aware of the provenance of these treasures.加藤完全清楚这些珍宝的来源。
• This plant's provenance is Asiadj.这种植物原产于亚洲。

20 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

21 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

22 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

23 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

24 wriggle   

v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒

参考例句：

• I've got an appointment I can't wriggle out of.我有个推脱不掉的约会。
• Children wriggle themselves when they are bored.小孩子感到厌烦时就会扭动他们的身体。

25 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

26 prunes   

n.西梅脯，西梅干( prune的名词复数 )v.修剪（树木等）( prune的第三人称单数 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• Dried fruits such as prunes, pears, and peaches, are stewed. 梅干、梨脯、桃脯等干果，都是炖过的。 来自辞典例句
• We had stewed prunes for breakfast. 我们早饭吃炖梅干。 来自辞典例句

27 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

28 gregarious   

adj.群居的，喜好群居的

参考例句：

• These animals are highly gregarious.这些动物非常喜欢群居。
• They are gregarious birds and feed in flocks.它们是群居鸟类，会集群觅食。

29 copious   

adj.丰富的，大量的

参考例句：

• She supports her theory with copious evidences.她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
• Every star is a copious source of neutrinos.每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。