经济学人下载:盘子上的移民--中餐在美国的发展(4)

Meanwhile, although racism persists, the pervasive discrimination of earlier ages has waned. Witness the presidential campaign of Andrew Yang, in which his ethnicity has scarcely been mentioned. Since the Chinese-American population is six times as big as 40 years ago, Americans overall are much more familiar with Chinese people and their cooking. All of which means that, in your correspondent’s fairly extensive experience, the new fancy breed of Chinese restaurants draws a heartening mix of Chinese and non-Chinese diners.
与此同时，尽管种族主义依然存在，但早期普遍存在的歧视已经减弱。看看杨安泽的总统竞选吧，他的种族背景几乎无人提及。由于美籍华人的人口是40年前的6倍，所以美国人对华人和中国式烹饪更加熟悉。所有这些都意味着，在本记者相当丰富的经验中，新型高档中餐馆令人振奋地吸引了一批中外食客。

Not everyone is enticed. The same cult of authenticity which decrees that good tacos only come from trucks posits that the best Chinese food is found in humble settings. That is as inaccurate as the snobbery that Mr Huang decries. Chinese chefs are as ambitious as any others; a bowl of noodle soup no more stands for all of Chinese cuisine than a slice of pizza does for Italian.
不是每个人都会被诱惑。同样的对正宗的崇拜，认为好的墨西哥玉米卷只能从卡车上运来，认为最好的中国食物是在简陋的环境中找到的。这和黄先生所谴责的势利一样不准确。中国厨师和其他人一样雄心勃勃；一碗面汤不能代表所有的中国菜，就像一片披萨不能代表意大利菜一样。

In any case, authenticity is a slippery commodity. Recipes constantly evolve as people move and mingle. The chillies now considered essential to Sichuan dishes were actually brought to China by Iberian traders in the late 16th century. Hot dogs were originally German, pizza Neapolitan, bagels Polish—but now they are all American, and like America, infinitely varied.
无论如何，真实性是一种难以捉摸的商品。食谱随着人们的移动和交流而不断演变。现在被认为是川菜必备的辣椒实际上是在16世纪晚期由伊比利亚商人带到中国的。热狗最初是德国的，比萨饼是那不勒斯的，百吉饼是波兰的——但现在它们在美国都有，而且像美国一样，变化无穷。

The goat ribs at Duck, Duck Goat, in Chicago’s trendy meatpacking district, are more Chinese-ish than Chinese. So is the place itself—headed by a non-Chinese chef and kitschily decorated with paper lanterns and bright redwalls. The ribs come as a mesh of burnished meat stilettos with a wonderful chew, the sweetness of the glaze giving way to the goat’s irresistible gaminess. They spark fights over who gets the last one. They are as inauthentic, and as imaginative and lovingly created, as Mr Chang’s scallion dough sphere—and as delicious, which in the end, is what counts.
Duck, Duck goat店里的山羊肋骨，在芝加哥时髦的肉类加工区，比中国菜更加具有中国特色。这家餐馆本身也是如此——它的老板不是中国人，店面却用纸灯笼和明亮的红墙装饰。肋骨就像一层层磨得锃亮的肉质细高跟，嚼起来很好吃，肉汁的甜味让位于羊肉那不可抗拒的野性。肋骨们争夺上桌的最后一个席位。它们和张先生的葱油泡饼一样不完全真实，一样富有想象力，一样充满爱意，一样美味，这才是最重要的。