Fishy tales. And heads. And dogs and frogs... (I)
“不靠譜”的美食：魚頭、狗肉和青蛙的故事（上）
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By David Ferguson
China.org.cn staff reporter
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| The first dish I was ever served in China was cold pickled chicken's feet. |
| The very first time I arrived in China, my wife and I were collected at Beijing airport by one of her friends, who insisted on taking us for a sumptuous lunch. It was about four in the morning UK time, and, as ever following a long flight, I was feeling queasy from the lack of sleep and the alcohol that had failed yet again to induce it. Sumptuous lunch was not high on my agenda. |
我第一次來(lái)到中國(guó)的時(shí)候，我妻子的一個(gè)朋友在北京機(jī)場(chǎng)迎接我們。這位朋友堅(jiān)持要帶我們?nèi)コ院廊A大餐。當(dāng)時(shí)是英國(guó)時(shí)間凌晨四點(diǎn)，我在長(zhǎng)途飛行過(guò)后通常會(huì)有些反胃，因?yàn)樵陲w機(jī)上難以入睡，不得不求助于酒精，卻又無(wú)濟(jì)于事。在這種情況下，當(dāng)務(wù)之急顯然不是去吃大餐。 |
| On that day, the first dish I was ever served in China was cold pickled chicken's feet. It's hard to describe what these are like – "imagine eating a cold, pickled, chicken's foot" is about the best I can do. They consist of skin, bone, cartilage, and a claw. Once you've developed a taste for them, you can move on to hot spicy chicken's feet, although I didn't try these until later. |
那一天，我平生在中國(guó)吃的第一道菜是一盤腌制過(guò)的雞爪冷盤。我很難向你描述這菜的味道，只能說(shuō)：“想像一下你在啃一只冰涼的、腌制過(guò)的雞爪子?！彼鼈兂云饋?lái)全都是皮、骨頭、軟骨和腳爪。等到你吃慣了這道菜，可以進(jìn)一步去嘗試麻辣雞爪，不過(guò)我是到后來(lái)才做這樣的嘗試的。 |
| My local food market in Jilin is a cavernous hall – a riot of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, oils, meats, poultry, and (mostly live) fish. It's almost, dare I say it, "vibrant". |
在吉林市，我家附近的菜市場(chǎng)是一個(gè)寬廣深邃的大廳，各種瓜果蔬菜、油鹽醬醋、雞鴨魚肉、生鮮產(chǎn)品，應(yīng)有盡有，琳瑯滿目；簡(jiǎn)直可以用“生機(jī)勃勃”來(lái)形容。 |
| The first time I saw a dog's carcass for sale I was quite startled. It was skinned whole, from the nose to the tip of the tail, and it lay on the market butcher's slab like a white marble statue. Dog is primarily a Korean dish, but Jilin Province borders on Korea so there is a strong influence on the local culture. Eating-dogs are farmed for the purpose – a big, mastiff-type breed. |
第一次見(jiàn)到有人賣狗肉時(shí)，我嚇了一跳。那只狗整個(gè)剝了皮，從鼻頭到尾巴尖都光溜溜的，躺在市場(chǎng)肉鋪的案板上好似一座白色的大理石雕像。狗肉本來(lái)是道朝鮮菜，但是吉林與朝鮮接壤，所以當(dāng)?shù)厥芡鈦?lái)文化影響很深。食用狗體態(tài)很大，屬獒犬類，是專門養(yǎng)殖以供食用的。 |
| As a general rule, dog is good to eat, apart from dog skin salad, which I generally try to dodge. Peppery dog soup is an effective hangover cure, and fried dog, in flavour and texture, is somewhere between beef and brown turkey meat. |
通常來(lái)說(shuō)，狗肉很好吃；不過(guò)涼拌狗皮除外，我一向?qū)δ莻€(gè)敬謝不敏。辣味狗肉湯對(duì)于解除宿醉有奇效；而炸狗肉吃起來(lái)，味道、口感介于牛肉和棕色火雞肉之間。 |
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