Food Writer Recounts Dining Adventures

 

By Nancy Beardsley

A world winning food writer Alan Richman will go just about anywhere in search of a great meal--from back-road diners in rural America to restaurants atop the skyscrapers¹ of Shanghai. He's recounted his experiences, from the sublime² to the awful, in GQ and other magazines. Now he's published a book called Fork It Over, the Intrepid³ Adventures of a Professional Eater.
 
The author credits his passion for good food to his mother, who was renowned⁴ for her cheese blintzes and other Jewish specialties⁵. He's been searching for culinary perfection ever since--whether it's sushi in Los Angeles, truffles in France, or pizza in Naples.
 
But he hasn't always been happy with the results, his journeys have never been in vain-because, for Alan Richman, dining out is about more than food.  "When you go into a restaurant, it opens a door to the whole country. There are people there who are serving you, cooking for you, greeting you. Restaurants are a way of getting into a culture that nothing else provides."
 
In Fork It Over, Alan Richman describes dining adventures that range around the world and over several decades. During a five-day stay in Monte Carlo, he set for himself the task of eating multi-course lunches and dinners at one of the world's finest hotel dining rooms. He journeyed back to Saigon, to take another taste of the food he experienced as an American soldier during the Vietnam War.
 
He travels to Cuba, where he was struck by how much better foreign tourists eat than the Cuban people. "I arrived in Cuba expecting to find desperation. I came away awed⁶ by the patience and loyalty⁷ of an incredibly stressed populace. I thought a 62-year-old Cuban woman named Nilsa epitomized the stoicism of the typical Cuban. After I read her a list of everything I'd eaten from the breakfast buffet⁸ at the Melia Cohiba Hotel, she laughed without envy and said, 'For me that is food for 15 or 20 days.'"
 
Alan Richman also travels to Shanghai, where he finds a booming center of international commerce, with an ambitious cuisine⁹ to match. "It's filled with these restaurants that seat 1,000 people, 2,000 people. Story after story, room after room, and there may be 700 people working in the restaurants to feed these people. The food is spectacular. That's where I had snake, that's where I had duck. The trouble with the food in Shanghai is that the government wants to make this into an international city, and they've created these sections with international restaurants. I had some Italian food in Shanghai that might be the worst Italian food in the world. But the Chinese food was the best I've ever had in my life."
 
Closer to home, Alan Richman spent a week sampling the cuisine at Salaam¹⁰ in Chicago, a complex of restaurants run by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The author finds it ironic¹¹ that a leader who's been criticized for advocating a divisive brand of black separatism would open a place as public as a restaurant. "He's inviting¹² you into this whole organization of his. The food wasn't so good, I have to say. He was making the common mistake of a young, aspiring¹³ restaurateur, trying to do too much at one time instead of having a specific cuisine. But I was very well treated, even though I was almost always the only white person there. And not only that, his famous mosque¹⁴--there are no whites allowed in the Mosque Maryam--they let me in, and I think I learned a lot about the culture."
 
Fork It Over takes readers through several decades of food trends in the United States--from the craze for Polynesian restaurants in the 1960s to the more recent interest in vegan cuisine, which avoids not only meat but animal byproducts like milk and eggs.

注释：
recount 叙述
sublime 极好的
blintze 薄饼卷
culinary 烹调的
Monte Carlo 蒙特卡洛（位于摩纳哥）
Saigon 西贡（前南越首都）
desperation 绝望
ambitious 雄心勃勃的
mosque 清真寺

1 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

2 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。

3 intrepid   

adj.无畏的，刚毅的

参考例句：

• He is not really satisfied with his intrepid action.他没有真正满意他的无畏行动。
• John's intrepid personality made him a good choice for team leader.约翰勇敢的个性适合作领导工作。

4 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

5 specialties   

n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约

参考例句：

• Great Books are popular, not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. 名著绝不引经据典，艰深难懂，而是通俗易读。它们不是专家为专业人员撰写的专业书籍。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Brain drains may represent a substantial reduction in some labor force skills and specialties. 智力外流可能表示某种劳动力技能和特长大量减少。 来自辞典例句

6 awed   

adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance. 观众席上鸦雀无声，人们对他出色的表演感到惊叹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was awed by the huge gorilla. 那只大猩猩使我惊惧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

8 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

9 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

10 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

11 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

12 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

13 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

14 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。