美式烹饪

    At a local supermarket, two women push half-filled grocery carts. The ladies are good friends, but they couldn't be more different. One is a stay-at-home housewife who loves to create culinary masterpieces from scratch. The other is a training supervisor¹ at a prestigious² advertising³ agency. Household chores, particularly those in the kitchen, are not her idea of fun. The two ladies stop for a moment in the frozen foods section. "I'm so tired," sighs the professional woman. "I don't know what to do about supper." Her friend suggests, "What about a microwave dinner?" The weary professional sighs, "No, I don't feel like cooking tonight."在一间本地的超市里，两位女士推着半满的购物车。这两位女士是好朋友，但两人之间的差异是大得不能再大了。一位是持家的主妇，她喜欢大展厨艺，从全生的作料，一步一步创造佳肴杰作。另一位是在一家颇具声望的广告公司任职人事训练主管。家务琐事，特别是厨房事，并非她乐趣所在。二位女士在冷冻食物区前停了一会儿。职业妇女叹道：「我好累，我不知晚餐要作什么好。」她的朋友建议说：「何不来一顿微波炉晚餐。」这位疲惫的职业妇女又叹道：「不，我今晚不想作饭。」If you think American cooking means opening a package and tossing the contents into the microwave, think again. On the one hand, it's true that Americans thrive on cold cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and instant dinners. From busy homemakers to professional people, many Americans enjoy the convenience of prepackaged meals that can be ready to serve in 10 minutes or less. On the other hand, many Americans recognize the value of cooking skills. Parents-especially mothers-see the importance of training their children-especially daughters-in the culinary arts. Most Americans will admit that there's nothing better than a good home-cooked meal. But with cooking, as with any other skill, good results don't happen by accident.
    假如您以为美式烹饪就是打开一个料理盒而将里头的东西??进微波炉加热，那你得改变想法了。从某一方面来说，美国人以早餐的冷麦片，午餐的三明治及快餐晚餐而发育健壮，这倒是真的。从忙碌的家庭主妇到上班族，许多美国人喜欢享受事先包装好的便餐所带来的方便，这些速餐在不到10分钟内就可上桌。从另一个角度来看，许多美国人都认同厨艺的价值。父母亲--特别是妈妈看到训练孩子，尤其是女儿，烹饪艺术的重要性。大多数的美国人都承认没有什么比得上一顿自家做的餐点。而谈到烹饪，一如其它的技巧，好的成果并非偶然天成的。
    Probably every cook has his or her own cooking style. But there are some basic techniques and principles that most people follow. For example, baking is a primary method of preparing food in America. The dinner menu often has casseroles, roast meats and other baked goods. For that reason, Americans would find it next to impossible to live without an oven. American cooks give special attention to the balance of foods, too. In planning a big meal they try to include a meat, a few vegetables, some bread or pasta and often a dessert. They also like to make sure the meal is colorful. Having several different colors of food on the plate usually makes for a healthy meal.
    大概每一位厨师都有他自己的烹饪方式。但仍有一些基本方法和原则是大多数的人遵行的。例如，烘培在美国是烹饪的一种主要方法，晚餐菜单上通常有「?h烤菜」，烤肉及其它的烘培食物。因此，美国人会觉得没有烤箱几乎是无法过活。美国厨师们也特别留意食物的均衡。在计划一顿大餐时，他们会试着加入肉，几样蔬菜，一些面包或面食，而且通常有甜点。他们也喜欢使餐点色彩亮丽。若盘中有不同色彩的食物，通常令人觉得是健康的一餐。
    For those who need guidance in their cooking, or for those who have just run out of ideas, recipes are lifesavers. Recipes list all the ingredients for a dish (generally in the order used), the amount of each to use, and a description of how to put them together. Finding recipes in America is as easy as pie. Most good cooks have a shelf full of cookbooks ranging from locally published recipe collections to national bestsellers like the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Magazines devoted⁴ to home management, such as Good Housekeeping and Family Circle, are chock-full of scrumptious selections. Friends often augment⁵ their recipe collection by passing around their favorites written on cards.
    对于那些在烹饪方面需要指导、或已江郎才尽的人，食谱就是救星。食谱列出做每一道菜所需要的所有材料(通常是依照使用的顺序列出)，每一种的用量以及如何将它们搭配的说明。在美国寻找食谱可谓易如反掌。大多数的好厨师们都有一架子的食谱，从本地出版的各式食谱到像「蓓蒂?克劳克」的全国畅销食谱。一般理家杂志，如「好管家」及「家庭圈」都满满地刊载很多美味的精选食谱。朋友们经常把自己最爱的食谱写在卡片上，相互传阅，来增加自己的食谱收藏。
    For experienced cooks, true artists that they are, recipes are merely reference points. They often make adjustments as they go along, depending on the quantity of people they need to serve, the ingredients they have available and their personal taste. Some cooks use recipes very little, preferring instead to depend on their intuition as they add a pinch of this and a dash of that to create just the right flavors.
    对于经验丰富的厨师，他们是真正的艺术家，食谱仅仅是作为参考，他们常常一边做菜，一边依照他们宴请的人数，现有的作料以及个人的口味，来调整食谱。有些厨师们很少参照食谱，反而比较喜欢凭自己的直觉加一点这个，加一点那个，来作出刚好的味道。
    Of course, Americans don't have a corner on the market when it comes to good cooking. Wherever you go in the world, people love to eat. As a result, every culture and nationality has its own share of mouth-watering delicacies⁶. And America, as a "land of immigrants," has imported practically all varieties of cooking. Most good cooks in America are "fluent" in several cooking "dialects": Mexican, Italian, Chinese and good old American style, just to name a few. But whatever the dialect, cooking is a language everyone understands.

1 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

2 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

3 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

5 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

6 delicacies   

n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到

参考例句：

• Its flesh has exceptional delicacies. 它的肉异常鲜美。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After these delicacies, the trappers were ready for their feast. 在享用了这些美食之后，狩猎者开始其大餐。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗