食界——承载特殊含义的节日佳肴

Culture

文化

World in a dish -- More fish in the sea

食界——海中还有更多鱼

Lucky new-year foods embody a benign view of good fortune

代表幸运的新年菜肴体现出善意的吉祥观

"Why steam fish", asked Andy Ricker, an author and restaurateur who ran several acclaimed Thai restaurants in America, "when you can batter chunks and immerse them in hot oil? When you can grill it over charcoal?"

安迪·瑞克是一名作家兼餐馆老板，他在美国经营了几家广受好评的泰餐厅。他问道：“既然可以给鱼块裹上面糊放进热油里炸着吃，可以用炭火烤着吃，为什么要蒸呢？”

As he discovered while travelling around Thailand, one answer is that steamed fish can be delicious.

当他在泰国旅行时，他发现了其中的一个原因，清蒸鱼是可以很好吃的。

A recipe Mr Ricker developed includes ginger, spring onions, celery leaves and oyster mushrooms, which bolster the pure marine sweetness of the fish without contamination by the taste of oil or smoke.

瑞克研制出了一种配方，里面有生姜、小葱、芹菜叶和平菇，它们可以增强鱼肉本身的鲜甜，使它的味道不被油烟味盖过。

Another reason is that, in the right context, steamed fish can be lucky.

另一个原因是，在合适的场景下，清蒸鱼预示着好运。

The Chinese words for "fish" and "plenty" are homonyms; a whole fish, eaten on the eve of the lunar new year -- which this year fell on February 1st -- represents a wish for abundance to come.

中文中的“鱼”和“余”是谐音；在农历新年（今年是2月1日）除夕吃一整条鱼，代表着对来年生活富足的祝愿。

It can be braised, deep-fried or roasted in a pan, but if you live on a coast, or have access to first-rate fish, steaming is the way to go.

这条鱼可以炖的、炸的或是放在平底锅里煎的，但如果你住在海边，或者能买到上好的鱼，蒸是最好的选择。

These new-year meals are suffused with symbolism.

这些年夜饭菜肴充满了象征意义。

Enough fish should be cooked to ensure leftovers, which signify hopes for a surplus in the year ahead.

鱼要做的足够多，确保有剩余，这代表着对来年有余的祝福。

Spring rolls, with their fanciful resemblance to gold bars, represent hopes for wealth.

春卷被人们想象为外形类似金条的东西，代表着对财富的渴求。

Uncut noodles symbolise longevity; sweet rice cakes anticipate a better future.

不切断的面条象征着长寿；香甜的年糕预示着更美好的未来。

Such customs are not unique to the Sinitic world.

这样的习俗并不仅存在于中国文化中。

On the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, Jews bake their challah, a traditional enriched bread, in a round shape to signify the cycle of life and creation.

在犹太新年哈桑纳节时，犹太人会烤制他们的白面包，一种传统的强化面包，圆形的外观象征着生命和创造的循环。

The bread, and often apples too, are smeared with honey, symbolising the wish for a sweet year.

面包，通常还有苹果，都涂上了蜂蜜，象征着期盼拥有甜美的一年。

Pomegranates, with their many seeds, embody a desire to do many mitzvot -- literally "commandments", but more commonly understood as "good deeds" -- in the coming year.

多籽的石榴代表着在来年要做许多mitzvot的愿望——mitzvot的字面意思是“戒律”，但更多的时候被理解为“善行”。

On New Year's Day in America, black southerners have long eaten Hoppin' John, a delicious dish of rice and black-eyed peas or cowpeas, cooked with salt pork or smoked ham hock (interest in African-American culture has made the recipe popular elsewhere).

在美国的新年期间，南方黑人长期以来都有吃Hoppin' John的习俗，这是一道由米饭、黑眼豌豆或豇豆与咸猪肉或烟熏火腿做成的美味佳肴（人们对非裔美国人文化的兴趣使得这道菜在其他地方也流行起来）。

The peas symbolise coins, and the greens that are usually served as well stand for dollar bills.

豆子象征硬币，绿色蔬菜通常象征美元纸币。

Some people put a clean dime in the pot; whoever gets it on their plate will enjoy a glut of good luck.

有些人会把一枚干净的一角硬币放进锅里；在盘子中吃出硬币的人就会收获大量好运。

Whether anyone actually believes in a causal relationship between eating these foods and receiving the promised benefits is unclear.

是否真的有人相信吃这些食物和获得许诺的好处之间存在因果关系并不清楚。

Mainly, these culinary traditions continue for the same reason that other traditions do: people have fond memories of observing them with their parents, and want to pass them down to their own offspring.

主要是，这些烹饪传统能够延续下来的原因和其他传统是一样的：人们拥有与父母一起遵循习俗的美好回忆，并且希望把这些美好传递给自己的后代。

Diverse as these dishes are, they all imply an optimistic and democratic view of good fortune.

尽管这些菜肴五花八门，但它们都暗示着一种乐观和平民的吉祥观。

Fish and noodles, bread and apples, beans and greens appear regularly on Chinese, Jewish and southern tables.

鱼和面条、面包和苹果、豆类和蔬菜经常出现在中国人、犹太人和美国南方人的餐桌上。

They are neither costly nor exotic, suggesting that luck is not something bought expensively or sought with difficulty.

它们既不昂贵，也不具有异国情调，这意味着运气不是一种昂贵的东西，也不是一种很难获得的东西。

Rather these foods are ordinary, yet suffused with benevolent meaning when eaten at the right time and in the right frame of mind.

相反，这些食物都很普通，但如果在恰当的时间以恰好的心情食用，它们就充满了吉祥的意义。

Good fortune, they suggest, lies all around, and is always within reach.

这些无一不在告诉我们，好运无处不在，并且总是触手可及。