《经济学人》双语：纽约的新加坡美食有什么不同？

原文标题：
World in a dish
Night hawkers
Singapore’s unique dining style comes to Manhattan
盘中世界
夜市摊贩
新加坡独特的用餐方式现已进入曼哈顿

Cooking dishes from another culture is straightforward. Transplanting a mood is another matter
做另一种文化的菜肴很简单，但营造文化氛围没那么简单

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COOKING A DISH from one culture while living in another is simply a matter of ingredients and technique. Translating an entire dining style is harder.
在异国他乡烹饪另一种文化的菜肴很简单，只需要食材和技巧就行。然而，将整个用餐风格搬过来则很困难。

No matter how tasty the pâté de campagne, how artfully nicotine-stained the walls and how much Édith Piaf warbles from the speakers, eating at a bistro in Phoenix will always be different from eating at one in Lyon.
无论法式乡村肉酱有多美味，墙上的烟熏印记有多精致，音响里播放伊迪丝·琵雅芙的歌曲有多动听，你在里昂小酒馆的用餐体验，与你在凤凰城用餐感觉肯定不同。

The trick, as a new Singapore-style hawker centre in midtown Manhattan shows, is knowing which parts of the experience can be transplanted successfully, and which should be left at home.
通过曼哈顿中城一家新加坡风格的熟食中心，你就能知道哪些用餐体验可以成功转移过来，哪些不能转移过来。

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In Singapore, hawker centres are large, semi-outdoor spaces (they have roofs but no walls).
在新加坡，熟食中心是大型的半露天场所（有顶但无墙）。

Food stalls line the perimeter while customers stake out seats at tables in the middle.
场所周围摆满了美食摊位，中间的桌子则供顾客用餐。

Ubiquitous and cheap, they are integral to eating in Singapore, where your columnist once lived.
美食摊位随处可见，价格实惠，是新加坡饮食文化中不可或缺的一部分。作者我曾经在那里生活过。

They let groups of friends with different tastes and dietary requirements eat together.
也能让不同口味和饮食需求的朋友们一起用餐。

They are unpretentious and fun: vendors banter and flirt with their customers and the open setting encourages relaxed conversation.
熟食中心朴实而乐趣：摊贩与顾客互相打趣，开放的环境也鼓励轻松的交谈。

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Urban Hawker in Manhattan hews to the same basic design principles, with vendors along the walls and communal tables in the centre.
曼哈顿的Urban Hawker遵循了相同的基本设计原则，周围是美食摊位，中间是共用餐桌。

The hawkers sell similar foods to their Singaporean counterparts, including creditable prata (a folded fried bread of South Indian origin, served with dhal that was sweeter and less spicy than it should have been),
小贩卖的食品与新加坡同行相似，包括好吃的prata（类似南印度煎饼，搭配有点甜又不太辣的扁豆汤）、

greasy and delicious char kway teow (fried flat noodles), and properly chewy if slightly ungenerous satay with lontong (grilled skewered meat with rice cubes).
油腻可口的炒粿条（类似炒面）、口感适中但份量不足的沙爹配米饭（烤肉串加饭团）。

A sublime chicken rice could hold its own with any stall in Singapore, the poached chicken soothingly soft and springy, every grain of rice distinct yet slicked with rich chicken flavour, the sauces—thick soy, fiery chilli and ginger—complementary rather than overpowering.
一道口感极佳的鸡肉饭可以与新加坡任何一个小摊位媲美，水煮鸡肉柔软富有弹性，每粒米饭口感鲜明，充满了浓郁的鸡肉味道，配以酱料——浓稠的酱油、辣味十足的辣椒、生姜——这些调料相互补充而非相互压制。

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But unlike Singapore’s hawker centres, Manhattan’s is indoors.It has a cocktail bar, whereas Singapore’s serve nothing stronger than Tiger, the local lager.
不同于新加坡的半露天熟食中心，曼哈顿的熟食中心是室内的。它供应鸡尾酒，而新加坡的熟食中心只供应当地虎牌啤酒。

And the prices are high: New Yorkers will evidently pay around $20 for a plate of chicken rice that would cost a few Singaporean dollars (a couple of American ones).
价格高昂：纽约一份鸡肉饭要20美元，而在新加坡只需几块新元（相当于几美元）。

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In Singapore, everyone eats at hawker centres because they are everywhere and serve familiar food cheaply. In New York that role mainly falls to halal carts and fast-food chains.
在新加坡，因为熟食中心无处不在，提供的食物便宜且熟悉，每个人都会在那里用餐。在纽约，这种场所主要由清真小摊和快餐连锁店代替。

Urban Hawker’s target clientele is posher: the sort of people who know what hawker centres are despite living halfway around the world.
Urban Hawker的目标客户更高端：他们是那些即使住在世界的另一端也知道熟食中心的人。

Dining there is an event rather than a habit. In other words, it sells cachet as well as food, like the many French bistros outside France that serve cuisine grand-mère at prices many actual grandmothers cannot afford.
在那里用餐是一种活动，而不是一种习惯。换句话说，它卖的不仅是食物，还有品味。就像许多在法国之外的法国餐厅一样，它们提供外婆菜，但价格却是许多外婆无法承受的。

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Compare the New World Mall’s food court (in effect, an indoor hawker centre), a 40-minute subway ride away in Queens. It is at least as delicious and a lot cheaper.
比较一下纽约皇后区的新世界美食广场（实际上是一个室内小贩中心），曼哈顿到皇后区地铁车程40分钟。那里的食物同样美味而且便宜得多。

But it is authentically Asian-American and aimed at locals in New York’s biggest Chinatown; other visitors need to do some translation work.
但新世界商场的美食广场是正宗的亚裔美食，面向的是纽约最大的唐人街当地居民；其他地区游客需要带翻译。

Urban Hawker gives diners a helping hand—and reaches into their wallets with the other one.
Urban Hawker用一只手为就餐者提供帮助的同时，用另一只手伸进他们的钱包。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量 542左右）
原文出自：2023年3月11日《The Economist》Culture版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene

本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
法式乡村肉酱Pâté de campagne是一种来自法国的传统肉酱。它通常是由猪肉、猪肝、猪心、猪肚、葱、大蒜和香草等成分制成的，并且可以添加其他的材料和调料以增加其口感和风味。Pâté de campagne通常用于早餐、午餐或晚餐，可以作为开胃菜或主菜，搭配面包、饼干或香脆的面包片食用。它是法国乡村地区的传统美食之一，也受到国际上的广泛喜爱。

Édith Piaf（艾迪丝·派雅芙）是法国的一位著名女歌手，她的歌曲在世界范围内都享有盛誉。她于1915年出生在法国巴黎一个贫穷的家庭，小时候曾在巴黎街头唱歌谋生。在成为职业歌手之前，她曾经历了许多艰辛的生活，包括家庭贫困、失去女儿、身体疾病等。她的音乐风格以浪漫、激情和深情著称，被称为“法国歌曲女王”。

"Prata" 是一种来自马来西亚和新加坡的传统食品，通常是用面粉、水和盐制成的圆形饼，类似于印度飞饼（roti）或墨西哥的玉米饼。它通常是早餐或夜宵的食物，经常搭配咖喱、咖啡或甜品食用。"Prata" 可以用不同的方式制作，例如加入蛋、肉类、奶酪等等，以增加其口味和营养价值。

沙爹配椰浆米饭Satay with lontong是一道来自马来西亚、印度尼西亚和新加坡的传统美食。"Satay" 是指串烤的肉类，通常是用羊肉、鸡肉或牛肉制成，配以香浓的花生酱。"Lontong" 则是一种由米饭和椰浆制成的菜肴，将米饭放入香蕉叶中，捆成固定的形状并煮熟。

【重点句子】（3 个）
COOKING A DISH from one culture while living in another is simply a matter of ingredients and technique. Translating an entire dining style is harder.
在异国他乡烹饪另一种文化的菜肴 很简单，只需要食材和技巧就行。然而，将整个用餐风格搬过来则很困难。

They are unpretentious and fun: vendors banter and flirt with their customers and the open setting encourages relaxed conversation.
熟食中心朴实而乐趣：摊贩与顾客互相打趣，开放的环境也鼓励轻松的交谈。

Dining there is an event rather than a habit. In other words, it sells cachet as well as food.
在那里用餐是一种活动，而不是一种习惯。换句话说，它卖的不仅是食物，还有品味。

自由英语之路