VOA慢速英语2016 美国吃货也爱亚洲菜

AS IT IS 2016-09-02 Documentary Shows Importance of Asian Food in US 美国吃货也爱亚洲菜

Korean-American filmmaker Grace Lee grew up in Columbia, Missouri.

韩裔美国导演格蕾丝·李在密苏里州的哥伦比亚长大。

There were not many other Asian families in the university town in the Midwestern part of the U.S.

在美国中西部的大学城没有很多其他的亚洲家庭。

When she was a girl, her family tried to fit in with American culture. That culture included food.

当她还是一个女孩的时候，她的家人试图融入美国文化。这种文化融入包括食物。

“We sort of kept our kimchi to ourselves in our basement refrigerator,” Lee says.

“我们在地下室的冰箱里储存了一些泡菜，”李说。

Kimchi is a well-known Korean condiment 1 made from fermented 3 cabbage, radish, scallion or cucumber.

泡菜是韩国知名的调味品，是由发酵的卷心菜、萝卜、葱和黄瓜制成的。

But in the 1970s and 1980s when Lee was young, people in places like Columbia, Missouri would never have known what kimchi was.

但在20世纪80年代和70年代即李晓得时候，密苏里州和哥伦比亚等地的人都还不知道什么是泡菜。

“We never exposed it to anybody,” Lee says.

“我们从来没有把泡菜任何人拿给任何人看，”李说。

Over 30 years later, food culture in the U.S. has changed a lot.

30多年后，美国的饮食文化有了很大的变化。

Kimchi is now found as a condiment on American foods like hamburgers.

现在可以看到泡菜被美国用作食物的调味品，比如汉堡包。

Lee wanted to examine the evolution of Asian food in America in her documentary Off the Menu. It came out in 2015.

李想要她的纪录片《菜单》中追踪亚洲食物在美国的进化。它出版于2015年。

Lee's work is now available on DVD and as part of the American Film Showcase. The program brings documentaries and independent films to audiences around the world.

李的工作的进展归功于现在可使用的DVD，还有一部分归于美国电影展示。这个活动像世界各地的观众展示纪录片和独立电影。

The showcase is part of a program supported by the U.S Department of State and produced by the University of Southern California. Audiences in countries like Armenia, Nepal and Vietnam see American films. Experts lead discussions about the films as a way to help people around the world better understand American culture.

这个展示是活动的一部分，获得美国国务院的支持和由南加州大学举办。亚美尼亚、尼泊尔和越南的观众看美国电影。专家组织起来讨论电影，以帮助世界各地的人们更好地了解美国文化。

Lee traveled around the U.S. to make her movie about Asian food. She did not think tofu would be a very popular food in a state like Texas.

李为了制作她的关于亚洲食品的电影游遍美国。她不认为在这个国家豆腐不会非常受欢迎，就像德克萨斯。

She spoke 4 with Texan Gary Chiu, the son of immigrants from Taiwan. He runs the oldest tofu factory in Texas.

她采访了德克萨斯的加里·邱谈话，他是台湾移民的儿子。他在德克萨斯州经营着历史最悠久的豆腐厂。

Chiu said he makes both tofu eggrolls, a traditional Asian food, and tofu tamales. Tamales are a traditional food from Mexico.

邱说他做豆腐蛋卷——传统的亚洲食品，和豆腐玉米粉蒸肉。玉米粉蒸肉是一种来自墨西哥的传统食品。

Lee says Chiu's business is an example of fusion 5: mixing the food culture of China, Mexico and Texas.

李说，赵的生意是一个融合的例子:混合了中国、墨西哥和德克萨斯的饮食文化。

Some people say food helps the healing process. Lee wanted to find out if that was true.

有些人说食物能帮助融合过程。李想证明是否是真的。

In 2012, six members of a Sikh temple in the Midwest state of Wisconsin were killed. A man with a gun entered the temple and started shooting as people in the temple were getting ready for a meal called langar.

2012年，六名威斯康星州中西部的锡克教寺庙的成员被杀。当在庙里的人们准备langer这顿饭时，一个男人拿着枪走进了寺庙并开始射击。

Lee talked with people from that temple. They told her they continued the tradition of langar even after the shooting. They said it helped heal the community.

李与寺庙的人交谈。他们告诉即使在射击之后，他们还是继续进行传统的langer。他们说它帮助治愈社区。

“You can't pray, you can't be in tune 6 in with God, unless your belly 7 is full,” one temple member said in the film.

“你无法祈祷，你在无法与上帝合拍，除非你吃饱了，”一个寺庙的成员说。

Off the Menu ends its 60-minute tour of the U.S. in Hawaii. One family still tries to practice the traditional Hawaiian large meal called a luau. Although much of the food consumed by Hawaiians is imported, Hi'ilei Kawelo says she and her family try to catch seafood 8 just like their ancestors did.

《菜单之外》在美国夏威夷结束了60分钟的拍摄。一个家庭仍然试图实践传统夏威夷顿大餐称为夏威夷。虽然夏威夷的大部分食品是进口的，西’埃雷·卡文拉说，她和她的家人尝试着捕捉海鲜，就像他们的祖先一样。

In the film, she tells Lee “when you eat it, you're eating the essence of all the skills passed down from generation to generation.”

在影片中，她告诉李：“当你吃它，你就是在掌握所有的一代传给一代的技能的本质。”

The Center for Asian American Media, which helped pay for the film, also talked with Lee about her film. She said she hoped the documentary would help people learn more about what it means to be Asian-American. She wants viewers to learn about the people behind the food that has become a big part of life in the U.S.

为这部电影给予资金支持的亚裔美国媒体中心也与李谈了她的电影。她说她希望这部纪录片将帮助人们更多的了解什么是亚裔。她希望让观众了解食物背后的人，这些人已经成为美国生活的重要组成部分

“To really do the topic justice, we'd probably need an ongoing 9 series,” Lee said.

“若要真正公平的做好这个主题，我们可能需要一个持续的系列片，”李说。

Words in This Story

basement – n. the part of a building that is entirely 10 or partly below the ground

condiment – n. something (such as salt, mustard, or ketchup) that is added to food to give it more flavor

ferment 2 – v. to preserve and change the flavor of a food through a chemical process sometimes used to convert sugar into alcohol

evolution - n. a process of slow change and development

tofu – n. a soft, white food made from soybeans and often used in vegetarian 11 cooking instead of meat

essence – n. the basic nature of a thing : the quality or qualities that make a thing what it is

tour –n. a trip to several different places, a journey through different parts of a country or area