英语畅谈中国文化50主题 32

　　The color of food
A: Chinese food stresses color, smell and taste. Is this correct?
B: correct. This is why people also refer to food as mei shi, meaning beautiful food. The primary element is color because only a good color combination can arouse peoples’s appetite. Color is emphasized in home cooking as well. Color combination is at its best with some of the traditional household dishes, such as tomatoes with eggs or baby onions with tofu.
A: I assume color combination is stressed even more with major culinary styles.
B:Yes.There are eight major culinary styles in china. Color combinations reflect the local features of each style. Take Guangdong food for example. Because it is hot and humid there,people are mindful of the heat on their internal organs.Therefore Guangdong food is mild in both taste and color combinations.You don’tfind a lot of hot and spicy¹ food in Guangdong dishes because warm soolors in the hot summer can be repulsive² to people’s appetite.Sichuan food is just the opposite.Sichuan is also very humid but unlike Guangdong,Sichuan food is just the opposite.Sichuan is also very humid but unlike Guangdong,Sichuan peoplechoose to use extremely hot peppers to poen their stomach.
A:Absolutely right!It is very string and uses a lot of red color.Shanghai food,on the other hand ,uses a lot of oil and soy sauce. On the surface ,this style doesn’t seem to go aling with Shanghai people’s prefrerence for delicacy³ and tenderness.But if you take a closer liik at the lifestyle in Shanghai, you will be able to appreciate why this is so .Once I was invited to dinner with a Shangail family and they cut the fish into two portions,saving one portion for another meal.So the four of us ended up sharing half a fish, together with a few other dishes, none of which were very big.This is when I came to understand the role of thick oil and soy sauce.
B:You seen to suggest that milder dishes are short on the rich taste while dark color dishes are short on fun.Are there any culinary styles that combine the best of everything?
A:I would say Shangdong food.Shandong food tends to highlight taste and color in order to satisfy the appetite for both.
B:That’s an interesting observation.
A:This is similar to knowing a person from Shangdong.At first sight that person may l
K tough and unrestrained,but once you get to know him better, you will find he isin fact very refined and sensitive.Only peoplewith such qualities can develop a culinary style that is at once neutral and balanced ,and able to appeal to all appetites.

1 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

2 repulsive   

adj.排斥的，使人反感的

参考例句：

• She found the idea deeply repulsive.她发现这个想法很恶心。
• The repulsive force within the nucleus is enormous.核子内部的斥力是巨大的。

3 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。