化薯条为神奇

Culture

文化版块

World in a Dish

盘中世界

Fry And Stop Him

化薯条为神奇

One Man's Quest to Understand and Glorify the Chip

一名厨师认识并升华薯条的美味探索之旅

It is easy to see why so many classic recipes are difficult to cook.

许多经典菜肴烹饪起来并不简单，这是显而易见的。

A gleaming duck p?té en cro?te, a deeply savoury mole poblano, a vast timballo, a perfectly clear consommé: they all involve long tallies of ingredients, tricksy processes and towers of specialist equipment.

无论是油光莹润的法式酥皮鸭肉冻、味道浓郁的墨西哥巧克力辣酱，还是丰盛豪华的意大利廷巴洛烤菜、澄清爽口的法式清汤：制作这些菜肴都需要一长串食材、复杂的程序和堆叠如山的专业器具。

The chip, by contrast, needs none of these.

相反，做炸薯条的话，这些东西都用不着。

It is a simple thing—a long, narrow piece of potato, fried in oil.

很简单，只需要一个窄长的土豆，然后用油炸就行了。

To be clear, these are the sort of thick, dependable chips that go with fish, not skinny frites or French fries, nor the kind shoved into American children’s lunch bags.

需要说明的是，这里说的是和炸鱼配着吃的让人放心的粗薯条，不是细瘦干瘪的法式炸薯条，也不是塞进美国儿童午餐袋中的那种薯条。

Chips are one of the “cheaply pleasant” foods with which the “underfed, harassed, bored and miserable” may console themselves, wrote George Orwell in “The Road to Wigan Pier”.

乔治·奥威尔在《通往威根码头之路》中写道，薯条是一种"让人愉快的便宜食物"，"那些吃不饱的、受骚扰的、烦闷悲苦的人"可以从中得到安慰。

Fish and chips were thought to be so necessary to British well-being during the second world war that they were one of the few foodstuffs exempted from rationing.

二战期间，炸鱼薯条被认为是让英国人保持健康快乐的必备食品，所以它成了为数不多的不受配给量限制的食品之一。

Everyone knows the quiet but profound joy of a good chip.

每个人都明白一份好薯条带来的那种平静、深沉的喜悦。

Soused in vinegar, splattered in mayonnaise or ketchup, their straightforward plainness is a comforting delight—even, or especially, in a post-festive season when you are meant to be abstemious.

在醋中浸润、饱蘸蛋黄酱或番茄酱，它们直截了当的平淡是一种令人欣慰的愉悦——即使，或者说特别是在节日过后，当你应该节制饮食的时候。

So it is striking that the creator of the über-chip is known for his inventiveness and complex experimentation.

因此，超级薯条的创造者以其创造性和复杂的食物实验而闻名，这一点令人震惊。

Heston Blumenthal, a British chef, is famed for bewildering dishes such as the meat fruit—a chicken liver parfait disguised as a mandarin.

英国主厨赫斯顿·布鲁门撒尔以令人眼花缭乱的菜肴而闻名，比如肉果，这是一种用鸡肝做的，但伪装成柑橘的冰激凌水果冻。

In his hands liquid nitrogen went from something to be used to freeze off warts to a tool for making the smoothest of ice-cream (bacon-and-egg flavoured, naturally).

在他手中，液氮的用途从冷冻去痣，变成了制作最丝滑的冰淇淋(当然了，是培根和鸡蛋口味的冰淇淋)。

He serves a seaside scene of edible sand with kelp and seafood, eaten to an accompanying soundtrack of ocean waves and the cawing of seagulls.

他把菜肴做成海边风景，沙子是可以吃的，上面点缀着海藻和海鲜，伴随着海浪和海鸥啼叫的背景声音供食客享用。

He is one of the original “molecular gastronomists”, with their foams and gels that taste of the unexpected.

他是最早的“分子美食家”之一，他们做出的泡沫和凝胶的味道出人意料。

And yet his greatest gift to the world may be the triple-cooked chip.

然而，他送给世界最好的礼物可能是三炸薯条。

Mr Blumenthal became obsessed with chips around 1992, before he had begun feeding restaurant diners snail porridge, before he even had a restaurant.

布鲁门撒尔在1992年左右开始痴迷于薯条，那时他还没有开始给餐厅食客们煮蜗牛粥，甚至还没有自己的餐厅。

The traditional double fry can too often end with chips that are either undercooked or soggy, a result of steam escaping from the middle and softening the crust.

传统的双炸薯条往往要么让薯条没炸透，要么让薯条变得软塌塌，这是蒸汽从薯条内部逸出并软化外皮的结果。

He wanted a “glass-like” crispy crust with a fluffy centre.

他想要薯条有“玻璃般的”酥脆外皮和松软的内芯。

An elaborate multi-stage process—involving boiling, freezing and frying—was his characteristically detailed solution.

一个精心设计的多步过程——包括水煮、冷冻和油炸——就是他特有的详细解决方案。

Since becoming one of its doyens, Mr Blumenthal has expressed his frustration with the term molecular gastronomy.

自从成为分子美食的元老级人物以来，布鲁门撒尔就表达了他对"分子美食"这个术语的不满。

This, he has pointed out, is “simply the science of cooking”.

他指出，这“不过就是烹饪的科学”。

Like science, preparing food is a form of puzzle-solving.

和科学一样，烹制食物也是一种破解谜题的活动。

Why did your cake rise to a dome in the centre?

为什么你的蛋糕中间有个圆顶鼓起来？

Why won’t my onions caramelise?

为什么我的洋葱不会变焦变甜？

High-end chefs like Mr Blumenthal must grasp the intricacies of transforming ingredients into ever more delicious things to eat.

像布鲁门撒尔这样的高端厨师必须掌握将食材转化为美食的复杂精巧之处。

But as he has demonstrated, cooking is also an art.

但正如他所展示的那样，烹饪也是一门艺术。

And like artworks, dishes must be judged according to their ambitions.

正如艺术品一样，菜肴必须根据其野心来进行评判。

A pop song can be as great in its way as a symphony—and a chip as miraculous as a viridescent spherified pea.

一首流行歌曲可以以其自己的方式像交响乐一样伟大，同样，一份薯条也可以像豆青圆珠豌豆一样不可思议。