巧克力熔岩蛋糕: 美味无阶级

Culture

文艺版块

World in a dish

盘中世界

I melt with you

与你相融

How the chocolate fondant became a ubiquitous indulgence.

巧克力流心蛋糕如何成为无处不在的美味享受。

Some dishes are unequivocally high-end: a perfectly clear consomme, for instance.

有些菜肴的高端地位无可置疑：例如，澄澈透明的法式清汤。

Others are less so—a cheeseburger-crust pizza, say.

其他菜肴则没这么高级，比如芝士汉堡脆皮披萨。

Still others defy the distinction, served in restaurants of all calibres to diners of all tastes.

还有一些菜肴很难被区分，各种档次的餐厅都为各种口味的食客提供这些食物。

The chocolate fondant is one such dish.

巧克力流心蛋糕就是这样一道佳肴。

Its success is a reminder that, in the end, pleasure is still a universal pursuit.

它的风靡提醒人们，最终，享乐仍然是一种普遍的追求。

Two glitzy French cuisiniers claim to have invented the chocolate fondant.

两位耀眼的法国厨师声称发明了巧克力流心蛋糕。

The first is Michel Bras, a Michelin-starred chef, who created the coulant au chocolat (runny chocolate) in 1981 to evoke the memory of sipping hot chocolate to warm up after a family skiing trip.

第一位是米其林星级厨师米歇尔·布拉斯，他在1981年创造了流心巧克力，想唤起人们在家庭滑雪旅行后，喝着热巧克力暖身的记忆。

The second is Jean-Georges Vongerichten, another starry Gallic gourmet.

第二位是让-乔治·冯热里什唐，另一位星光熠熠的高卢美食家。

In New York in 1987 he pulled hundreds of miniature chocolate cakes out of the oven before they were cooked.

1987年在纽约，他从烤箱里拿出数百块还没烤熟的迷你巧克力蛋糕。

The centres were molten but there was no time to correct the mistake.

蛋糕中心还是融化的，但没有时间补救了。

Despite the error, the diners loved them.

尽管烤制不当，但食客们还是很喜欢这些蛋糕。

He has served them ever since.

从此他就一直提供这些蛋糕。

Their techniques are different, but between them Messrs Bras and Vongerichten created a sophisticated confection.

他们的技术不同，但布拉斯先生和冯热里什唐先生共同创造了一种精致的甜点。

It became a phenomenon, served in the toniest establishments on either side of the Atlantic.

这种甜点成了一种美食现象，出现在大西洋两岸最豪华的餐厅里。

In America it had the all-important aroma of French refinement and elegance.

在美国，它有着最被看重的法式精致优雅的风味。

The flavour is straightforward (one-note would be a less charitable description) but getting the dish exactly right is tricky.

它的味道很直白(说得不客气一点就是单调)，但要把这道甜点做得恰到好处并不容易。

There are no outward clues to indicate the point at which it is perfectly cooked.

没有任何外在线索表明它在什么时候达到了最佳熟度。

The moment of incision provides the thrill of drama.

切开蛋糕的瞬间带来戏剧性的刺激。

Will the dessert ooze or will it prove to be a dry disappointment?

它会流出浓蜜甜浆，还是会干巴巴的，让人大失所望？

In 1991 Alain Ducasse, a multi-Michelin-starred chef, told the New York Times that the fondant had reached a point where restaurants “were practically obliged to make it”.

1991年，获得多颗米其林星星的厨师阿兰·杜卡斯对《纽约时报》表示，巧克力流心蛋糕已经到了餐厅“不得不做”的地步。

It was one of the defining desserts of that decade.

这是九十年代最具代表性的甜点之一。

But then the tide began to turn.

但后来，情况开始发生逆转。

Mr Vongerichten was churning out so many at one point that Mark Bittman, an American food writer, dubbed it “the Big Mac of desserts”.

冯热里什唐一度生产出了非常多的巧克力流心蛋糕，以至于美国美食作家马克·比特曼将其戏称为“甜点中的巨无霸汉堡”。

The name evolved.

蛋糕的名字也发生了演变。

In many places it became a “molten chocolate cake” or a “chocolate lava cake”.

在很多地方，它变成了“巧克力融心蛋糕”或“巧克力熔岩蛋糕”。

It travelled from hushed dining rooms to the restaurants of Disney World.

它从静谧的餐厅来到迪士尼乐园的餐馆。

Chain restaurants began serving them; takeaway joints can deliver fondants along with your pizza.

连锁餐馆开始卖这种蛋糕，外卖店可以把它和你的披萨一起送去。

Supermarkets include the dessert in their Valentine’s Day ready-meal deals.

超市的情人节预制餐中也有这种甜点。

Aldi, Costco, Lidl and Walmart all flog iterations of it.

奥乐齐、开市客、利多和沃尔玛都在兜售它的衍生版本。

In “Chef”, a film of 2014, a critic seethes that he would rather the cook “sit on my face after a brisk walk on a warm day than suffer through that fucking lava cake again.”

在2014年的电影《落魄大厨》中，一位评论家气呼呼地说，他宁愿"厨师在晴暖的天气，脚步轻快地走过来，然后坐在我脸上，也不愿再受那该死的巧克力熔岩蛋糕的折磨"。

The dish has become declasse or, worse, a bit naff.

这道菜肴已经风光不再了，或者情况更糟，它已经变得有点烂俗了。

And yet like creme brulee and tiramisu—also wildly popular in the 1990s—its ubiquity seems to have inflicted little damage.

然而，就像奶油烤布蕾和提拉米苏一样--在20世纪90年代也大受欢迎--巧克力流心蛋糕的无处不在似乎没有对它造成什么破坏。

It exists comfortably on both planes, the blowout and the budget.

它仍安然存在于两个阶层，豪华盛筵和平价餐食中都有它的身影。

Any version of it is fundamentally an extravagance.

它的任何版本从根本上说都是一种奢侈享受。

That overcomes any food snobbery.

这一点打破了任何食物鄙视链。

A recent study suggests that people living in “high-indulgence” cultures (as opposed to cultures of restraint) report higher levels of well-being.

最近的一项研究表明，生活在“高享乐”文化(而不是节制文化)中的人声称有更高的幸福感。

It turns out a little of what you fancy does, in fact, do you good.

事实证明，来一点自己喜欢的东西确实对你有好处。