第2章 What does American Eat?美国人吃什么？

现时有这么一句流行话：住在美国，吃在中国。中国人吃东西向来讲究有滋有味，讲究香、酸、甜、苦、辣、麻。有很多人认为一般的美国人三餐都是面包，这种看法可类同于很多美国人认为中国人三餐都是米饭。在中国，有俗语云：早吃好、午吃饱、晚吃少；而美国人的一天中最为丰盛的当属晚餐。美国有俗语云：“你吃的东西决定你。”现在，我们一起来了解美国人的食物以及食物中蕴含的美国文化吧。

Get known American food and American culture

了解美国食物及文化

1 美式食物以及移民和区域文化

What is “American food”? At first you might think the answer is easy as pie. To many people, American food means hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken and pizza. Actually, except for Thanksgiving turkey, it's hard to find a typically “American” food. The United States is a land of immigrants. So Americans eat food from many different countries. When people move to America, they bring their cooking styles with them. That's why you can find almost every kind of ethnic food in America. In some cases, Americans have adopted foods from other countries as favorites. Americans love Italian pizza, Mexican tacos and Chinese egg rolls. But the American version doesn't taste quite like the original!

As with any large country, the U.S.A has several distinct regions. Each region boasts its own special style of food. Visit the South and enjoy country-style cooking. Journey through Louisiana for some spicy Cajun cuisine. Take a trip to New England and sample savory seafood dishes. Travel through the Midwest, “the breadbasket of the nation,” for delicious baked goods. Cruise over to the Southwest and try some tasty Tex-Mex treats. Finish your food tour in the Pacific Northwest with some gourmet coffee.

Americans living at a fast pace often just “grab a quick bite”. Fast food restaurants offer people on the run everything from fried chicken to fried rice. Microwave dinners and instant foods make cooking at home a snap. Of course, one of the most common quick American meals is sandwich. If it can fit between two slices of bread, Americans probably make a sandwich out of it. Peanut butter and jelly is an all-time American favorite.

2 美国食物的表达方式

（1）Cocktail 鸡尾酒

It is quite usual to drink cocktails before lunch and dinner in America and somewhat less usual, except in California, to drink wine with a meal. You can either have a cocktail in the bar, if there is one, while you wait for a table or for friends, or you can have one served before your dinner comes. At some restaurants the waiter/waitress will come to your table as soon as you sit down to ask if you want a cocktail, and you can then drink this while deciding what to order to eat. At others, there may be a separate cocktail waiter or waitress.

（2）Salad 沙拉

It is usual to have a salad with your meal, and a separate plate is provided for this purpose. The normal practice in America is to eat the salad before the main course. A wonderful American invention is the salad bar. In restaurants that have these salad bars the waiter does not bring your salad. You go to the salad bar and help yourself, usually to as much as you want. This is normally done after you have ordered your meal; you eat the salad while the main course is being cooked.

（3）Choosing from the Menu 选菜

American menus can look rather confusing at first sight, for they may use some terms which are unfamiliar to most visitors. Here are some points which may be useful.

Fried mushrooms, fried onion rings （洋葱圈） and fried zucchini （小胡瓜） are sometimes served as starters （第一道菜）.

Very often vegetables do not come automatically with the meal, and you have to pay extra for them.

“Scrod” （小鳕鱼）, and “red snapper” （啮龟） are all name of fish. “Seafood” means lobster （龙虾）, shellfish and fish, including, funnily enough, freshwater fish! Prawns （对虾） are known as “shrimp”.

American beef is usually good and often wonderful.

美国人吃午餐和吃晚餐之前通常要喝点鸡尾酒，但在加利福尼亚州，人们大都喝葡萄酒。吃主食之前，一般都要吃一盘沙拉。炸磨菇和炸洋葱圈可作为开胃食品，牛排、猪排和鸡（腿）为主食，龙虾、贝壳类动物以及各种鱼类甚至包括淡水鱼被统称为海鲜。炸土豆条是深受人们喜爱而且几乎是必不可少的食物。

Key words & Sentences

关键词句全知道

You are what you eat.

你吃的东西决定你。/你要身体健康，就要注意你的饮食健康。

Most traditional American foods were introduced by the early European immigrants but modified to take advantage of the locally available ingredients.

大部分的美国传统食物都是由早期欧洲移民带来的，后来加入了美国当地的可用成分。

One unique feature of the American diet from an early period was the abundance of meat and distilled liquor.

和早期不同，美国食物的一大特点是含有丰富的肉类和蒸馏水。

Fried chicken, meatloaf, baked potato, corn, baked beans and apple pie would be considered traditional American dishes.

炸鸡、肉饼、烤土豆、玉米、烤豆和苹果馅饼被视为传统的美国食物。

A typical American breakfast menu includes scrambled or fried eggs or an egg omelet, juice, bacon or sausage, toast, biscuits or bagels.

典型美式早餐菜单包括煎蛋或煎蛋卷、果汁、熏肉或香肠，土司、饼干或面包圈。

American drinks often include orange juice, milk, tea or coffee.

在美国，饮料通常有橘子汁、牛奶、茶或者咖啡。

The lunch menu normally involves sandwiches, rolls, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, tacos, chicken, salad, fruit, milk, soft drink, tea or coffee.

午餐菜单通常有三明治、面包卷、汉堡、热狗、比萨、玉米饼、鸡肉、沙拉、水果、牛奶、软饮料、茶或咖啡。

The normal practice in America is to eat the salad before the main course.

美国人通常在食用主菜前会吃沙拉。

Salads are very popular and are served all year, but especially in the summer.

沙拉随时都会有供应，而且一年四季都很受欢迎，夏天更甚。

Dinner is normally the largest meal of the day.

晚餐通常是一天中最丰盛的一餐。

Turkey is a traditional food for Thanksgiving meals.

火鸡是感恩节的传统食物。

You have probably heard that in American restaurants, if you can't finish your meal, you can put the remains in a “doggy bag” and take them home.

你也许听过在美国的餐馆，如果你吃不完食物，你可以把剩下的食物“打包”带回家。

If it can fit between two slices of bread, Americans probably make a sandwich out of it. Peanut butter and jelly is an all-time American favorite.

任何能夹在两片土司中间的东西，美国人就可以把它做成一份三明治，花生酱和果酱更是一直都深受美国人的喜爱。

The variety of foods enjoyed in the U.S. reflects the diversity of personal tastes.

在美国可享受到的各式食物正反映出个人品位的多样化。

In general, American food is mild tasting; Most Americans do not season their food to any great degree.

总体来说，美国食物口味是比较温和的，大部分美国人都不会把食物调味过重。

Americans drink coffee or tea with their meals. Either way is perfectly acceptable.

美国人吃饭的时候喝茶或咖啡。每一种都很受欢迎。

Restaurants can only serve beer, wine, or other alcoholic drinks if they have a license.

餐馆只有当他们有执照的时候才能供应啤酒、白酒或其他酒类。

Normally, when eating in a private home, it is considered better manners to take whatever is being served and not to ask for something different, unless the hostess gives you a choice.

通常，当你受邀在别人家吃饭时，吃主人给你的东西而不是要求其他的会被认为更礼貌，当然除非主人提供了其他选择。

Most Americans eat breakfast and lunch quickly unless it is a social, business, or family occasion.

大部分的美国人都会随意而快速地吃早餐和午餐，除了社交、生意和家庭场合。

Two of the most popular American foods are hot dogs and hamburgers. You will find these available at almost all “fast food” restaurants.

两种最流行的美国食物是热狗和汉堡。你几乎能在所有的“快餐”餐厅发现它们。

A hot dog is usually made either from beef or pork, or a combination of the two, but a hamburger is beef.

热狗通常不是用牛肉就用猪肉来做，或者猪牛肉混在一起合制，不过汉堡面包用的是牛肉。

American eat almost everything with a fork, and it appears that holding a knife in one's right hand longer than a few seconds is considered to be against good table manners.

美国人几乎吃什么都用叉子，如果用右手握叉超过几秒会被认为是不好的餐桌礼仪。

A survey of American school children was taken and 96 percent identified McDonalds, which has had a big impact on are economy making sure of who they are.

一项调查美国学校儿童的研究发现，96%的孩子都认同麦当劳，这在人群的自我定义中产生了很大影响。

Let's Talk！

开始交流吧！

Li Lei: American food includes a lot of vegetable and meat. And they almost eat bread every meal.

李雷：美国食物含有很多蔬菜和肉类，而且他们几乎每餐都有面包。

Lucy: Yes, Americans usually have these things in their meals.

露西：是的，美国人的三餐通常包含这些东西。

Li Lei: What do you think is the strength of the structure of American food?

李雷：你认为美国食物结构的优点是什么？

Lucy: American pay a lot of attention to the nutrition such as the amount of protein, vitamins, calories contained in their food.

露西：美国人很重视食物里的营养，还重视每餐能摄取多少蛋白质、维他命和热量等等。

Li Lei: Nutrition is important for sure, but they seem to ignore the taste.

李雷：营养是很重要，但他们好像不是很重视味道。

Lucy: Now American food is getting increasingly rich, and learns the different ways of cooking from other countries such as China.

露西：现在美国食物也越来越丰富了，借鉴了像中国一些国家的烹调方法。

Li Lei: There is a Chinese saying : “Hunger breeds, food to taste first.”

李雷：中国有句俗语：“民以食为天，食以味为先”。

Lucy: Americans hold a different view.

露西：美国人可不这样认为。

Li Lei: That is true. For American, food is used to satisfy the hunger, so they eat large piece of meat and chicken, while Chinese food is designed for taste.

李雷：的确，美国人认为菜肴是充饥的，所以专吃大块肉，整块鸡等，中国的菜肴是“吃味”的。

Lucy: But Americans believe their nutrition matching is more reasonable than Chinese's.

露西：但是，美国人认为他们的营养搭配比中国更合理。

Li Lei: Do you also think so?

李雷：你也这样认为吗？

Lucy: I think it is possible. As you can see, Americans are generally stronger and taller than Chinese people because of better nutrition.

露西：我觉得可能。你看美国人的营养良好，所以他们的身体普遍比中国人健壮高大。

Li Lei: This may be because of the geographical factors.

李雷：这也可能是地理原因。

Lucy: Possibly.

露西：也有可能。