环球英语 — 178：The Sushi Police

　　Voice 1
Hello. I’m Rachel Hobson.
Voice 2
And I’m Ruby¹ Jones. Welcome to Spotlight². This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“My wife and I decided³ to go out to eat Japanese food. But I was not satisfied. The cook used too much oil on the first part of our meal. And then the fish was not fresh!”
Voice 1
These are the words of a man in the United States. He ate some Japanese food in an eating place - a restaurant. But he was very unhappy with the food. He felt that it was not truly Japanese. Many Japanese people would agree with him. Food is extremely important in Japan. Some Japanese consider food preparation to be an art. So the quality of food served in restaurants in Japan is very high. But there are many reports that Japanese food made outside of Japan is not good. The Japanese government is worried about this. It believes that bad food does not represent Japan well.
Voice 2
In November 2006, the Japanese Agriculture Minister had an idea. He wanted to increase the amount of Japanese food exported to other countries. And he wanted to improve the quality of Japanese food outside of Japan. He suggested that Japanese food experts should visit Japanese restaurants all around the world. They could then test the food in these restaurants. They would say if the food was authentic⁴ - really Japanese. They would give any good restaurant an official sign that showed it cooked authentic Japanese food. Everyone would know the food there was truly Japanese.
Voice 1
In Japan, the Ministry⁵ of Agriculture is a government department. It reports that there are over twenty thousand [20,000] Japanese restaurants outside of Japan. Japanese food is quickly growing in popularity⁶. Many people find that it tastes good. It is healthful. And it is easy for the stomach to digest.
Voice 2
One popular kind of Japanese food is sushi. Sushi is small balls of cold rice. The rice tastes sweet. And it is usually served with uncooked seafood⁷ like tuna, eel⁸, and squid. There are many ways to make sushi. One way is to roll the rice and fish with some vegetables in seaweed - plants that grow in the sea. Many people enjoy this kind of sushi. They like to eat it with soy sauce - a salty, dark liquid. And they also like it with wasabi - a hot tasting vegetable root made into a paste⁹.
Voice 1
Although sushi is made in different ways, the fish must always be fresh. Uncooked seafood can be unsafe to eat. Japanese sushi is cooked by sushi chefs. They are trained to cook sushi very carefully. They know how to recognise when fish is not safe to eat. Hideki Oyashiki is a writer for Yomiuri Weekly, a newspaper in Japan. He agrees that it is very important for sushi chefs to be well trained. He tells of a bad experience he had eating sushi.
Voice 4
“In one country, I got a bad case of diarrhoea after I ate some sushi.”
Voice 2
But getting sick is not the only problem. Many Japanese people are also surprised by what some cooks put into the sushi. Masaki Hashimoto manages a top Japanese restaurant in Canada.
Voice 5
“In Toronto, about one hundred [100] places that claim to be Japanese food restaurants open every year. Among them are restaurants that serve sushi with Tabasco sauce.”
Voice 1
Tabasco sauce is a hot tasting liquid used on food. But it comes from the USA. People would never eat it with sushi in Japan. Hashimoto and other managers of Japanese restaurants are worried. They think that people may not understand the true nature of Japanese cooking. They believe that food experts will work hard to protect the good name of Japanese food.
Voice 2
However, other restaurant owners feel anger about these food experts. They accused the Japanese government of food nationalism - of believing that its food is the best. Some newspaper writers even started describing these food experts as “the sushi police”. Jerry Kim is one sushi chef who is angry about the situation. He believes his sushi is fine the way it is.
Voice 6
“I am not worried. I feel good about the way we make sushi here in California. I make a Korean kind of sushi. So what can the Japanese government say about that?”
Voice 1
Some restaurant owners believe that the idea of sending food experts is just not reasonable. These restaurants serve food that is a mix of Japanese food and other countries’ food - fusion¹⁰ food. They say fusion food is popular. People in each country like to have some food they are used to.
Voice 2
Marie-Ang Ly is from Laos. She owns a Japanese restaurant in Paris, France. But she does not care about the restaurant-testing debate. Most visitors to her restaurant are not Japanese. The main thing they want is food that tastes good.
Voice 1
Marie-Ang Ly does not think it is important to have a Japanese chef. Her chef is from Cambodia. He cooks Japanese food well. But he changes it to fit the tastes of the local people.
Voice 7
“The cooking methods come from Japan. But they are not exactly like in Japan. You change. That is normal - we are in France.”
Voice 1
The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture was surprised by the words of protest¹¹ against the restaurant-testing idea. It did not want people to think of the food experts as ‘sushi police’. So in March 2007, the ministry made some changes. The food experts would examine only restaurants that requested them to visit. And the signs they issue would not say the food is real Japanese food. Instead they would say that the food is good.
Voice 2
The Ministry of Agriculture decided that the restaurant-testing experts will not be from the ministry. The experts will be from private businesses. And they will test the restaurants on three main elements - what is in the food, how it is cooked, and what it looks like. The restaurant-testing groups will start this project in March 2008.
Voice 1
The Japanese ministry says it wants to help train chefs who work outside of Japan. These foreign chefs would come to Japan. They would work in the best restaurants. Japanese chefs would teach them the exact methods of Japanese cooking. There would be new books about Japanese food and food preparation. The ministry believes that these ideas can improve the quality of Japanese restaurants around the world.
 

1 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

7 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

8 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

9 paste   

n.糊，浆糊，铅制玻璃；vt.粘贴，覆盖，猛击

参考例句：

• Please paste these sheets of paper together.请将这几张纸粘在一起。
• Stick the paper with paste.用糨糊粘纸。

10 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

11 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。