美国国家公共电台 NPR Literal Farm To Table: Here's The Dirt On Chefs Cooking With Dirt

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

In the Marais district of Paris, in a kitchen that clatters¹ with copper² cutlery and cooks, Chef Solange Gregoire and her husband, Chef Gael, hover³ lovingly above a cast-iron pot that bubbles and simmers with an aromatic⁴ steam.

SOLANGE GREGOIRE: Why don't you take a taste, huh?

SIMON: Just right from the pot like that?

S. GREGOIRE: Of course.

SIMON: All right, let me see, OK. It tastes - is that, like, rocks and dirt?

S. GREGOIRE: Yes.

GAEL GREGOIRE: You are more sophisticated than you look.

SIMON: The Gregoires are creators of what they call veritable cuisine⁶ du terroir, not just food of the land, but food of the land, really. At their Paris restaurant, Le Plat Sal, The Dirty Plate, the Gregoires prepare specialties⁷ like Roche Dans la Croute, a rock encased in pastry⁸ crust, and Boue Ragout, a stew⁹ made of mud from the Seine River.

(SOUNDBITE OF GLASS CLINKING)

NOELLE BLANCHARD: Magnifique.

OLIVIER BLANCHARD: Magnifique.

SIMON: Olivier and Noelle Blanchard dine frequently at Le Plat Sal. And, conveniently, they speak English.

Now a lot of Americans are wondering, I mean, can they really eat rocks?

O.BLANCHARD: You Americans want everything to be so safe with your seat belts, your no smoking, your speed limits, your vegan cupcakes, your condoms, your money-back guarantees.

SIMON: So we asked the Gregoires - is it really safe to eat rocks and dirt?

G. GREGOIRE: (Speaking French) Only Americans ask this question. What would you rather eat, a French rock or an American Twinkie?

SIMON: And American chefs have been inspired to rediscover the roots of their own food culture.

Rick Bayless, the Chicago chef who's won the James Beard and Julia Child awards, says that dirt and rocks have an ancient history in Mexican cuisine.

RICK BAYLESS: You remember the Tzolkin, that divine Maya calendar that they said predicted the end of the world in 2012?

SIMON: Yeah, sort of. Yeah, sure.

BAYLESS: Well, it turned out that bits of the Tzolkin had been chiseled¹⁰ off to toss into a stew named after Zipacna, the Mayan god of the Earth's crust. And we made a version in our restaurant with chunks¹¹ of Wrigley Field.

TED⁵ ALLEN: We're raised to believe that if food is dirty, it's bad.

SIMON: Ted Allen, who hosts "Chopped" on the Food Network, believes that veritable cuisine du terroir will soon be a trend on American dining tables.

ALLEN: Let me put it this way, Sal (ph). What's left? People are already eating snout to tail, leaves to roots, stem to stern, hand to mouth. I mean, chefs are getting people to eat kale and to drink rotten juices. It seems to me that dirt, rocks and mud are just the natural follow through.

SIMON: Danny Meyer, the New York restaurateur who founded the Shake Shack¹² chain, figures the future of food may be just below our feet.

DANNY MEYER: We think that artisanal rocks, if they're locally sourced and freshly prepared, can be the next great American - I don't know - elegant and casual, customized, locavore, handmade, foodie enthusiastic cuisine. You know, it's an alternative way to eat.

And we hope to start opening the first restaurants in our new operation this fall and maybe even in my native town of St. Louis. We're going to use dirt and rocks, and we're going to locally source them from Laddonia and Cabool, Mo.

SIMON: Now, does dirt from, say, Laddonia have its own distinct flavor?

MEYER: It's a terroir, for sure. It's got its own piquancy¹³ and - I guess that's the way I'd put it. Cabool dirt is opulent but silky and - I don't know. I think people will really dig it.

SIMON: The specialties that Solange and Gael Gregoire create in their Paris kitchen are as varied¹⁴ as the glories of the soil of France. Chef Solange lifts the last lid on a consomme that simmers with a rich, rusty¹⁵ iridescence¹⁶.

Oh, that steam smells divine. What do you call it exactly - what?

S. GREGOIRE: We call this consomme Ile de la Cite.

SIMON: And that's after the - what? - the island that's in the middle of Paris.

S. GREGOIRE: And let me ask you, Steven (ph), what do you see that's so lovely and special on Paris streets?

SIMON: Oh, everything is lovely about Paris. You know, the people are so stylish¹⁷. The boulevards are so broad and leafy. People sit outside in cafes. They have their dogs on their lap. They sip¹⁸ espresso. I mean, nobody loves their dogs like Parisians.

S. GREGOIRE: Oh, they do, absolument. So in the U.S., people walk their dogs and pick up the droppings, right?

SIMON: Yes, yes. It's law, as a matter of fact.

S. GREGOIRE: And just throw them away.

SIMON: Yeah.

S. GREGOIRE: What a waste.

G. GREGOIRE: Whereas we recognize those droppings for the precious saveur that they are.

SIMON: Saveur, saveur - what is saveur?

S. GREGOIRE: Flavor.

SIMON: Flavor, flavor - flavor - wait a minute. Did I just eat a...

(SOUNDBITE OF THE FRENCH CAFE ENSEMBLE'S "FOLIE FAUBOURG")

SIMON: You can see photos of the Gregoires in their kitchen and read a recipe from Chef Solange on our WEEKEND EDITION website and The Salt on npr.org.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE FRENCH CAFE ENSEMBLE'S "FOLIE FAUBOURG")

SIMON: It's April 1, 2017, and you're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News.

1 clatters   

盘碟刀叉等相撞击时的声音( clatter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I thought, 'Aye aye, hit it before he comes and clatters me. 我想，'埃赞成，击出他来之前和clatters我。

2 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

3 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

4 aromatic   

adj.芳香的，有香味的

参考例句：

• It has an agreeable aromatic smell.它有一种好闻的香味。
• It is light,fruity aromatic and a perfect choice for ending a meal.它是口感轻淡，圆润，芳香的，用于结束一顿饭完美的选择。

5 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

6 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

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。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

7 specialties   

n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约

参考例句：

• Great Books are popular, not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. 名著绝不引经据典，艰深难懂，而是通俗易读。它们不是专家为专业人员撰写的专业书籍。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Brain drains may represent a substantial reduction in some labor force skills and specialties. 智力外流可能表示某种劳动力技能和特长大量减少。 来自辞典例句

8 pastry   

n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

9 stew   

n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑

参考例句：

• The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
• There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。

10 chiseled   

adj.凿刻的，轮廓分明的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Woltz had chiseled the guy, given him peanuts for the book. 乌尔茨敲了这个作家的竹杠，用了他的书，却只给微不足道的一点点钱。 来自教父部分
• He chiseled the piece of wood into the shape of a head. 他把这块木头凿刻成人头的形状。 来自辞典例句

11 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

12 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

13 piquancy   

n.辛辣，辣味，痛快

参考例句：

• The tart flavour of the cranberries adds piquancy. 越橘的酸味很可口。
• I`ve got a GOOD start,or at least,a piquancy start. 我有了一个好的开始；如果不算好，也至少是个痛快的开始。 来自互联网

14 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

15 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

16 iridescence   

n.彩虹色；放光彩；晕色；晕彩

参考例句：

• You can see the iridescence on their faces. 你可以看到他们脸上的彩虹色。 来自辞典例句
• The huge pool of blood in front of her was already assuming the iridescence of coagulation. 她面前那一滩血，已经凝结了起来，显出五光十色。 来自辞典例句

17 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

18 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。