上次我们介绍了《经济学人》的Books&art板块改成了Culture，所以它包含的内容更丰富了。

　　每年的除夕大餐可不是简简单单地端上来的，每一道菜都有着自己的故事。

　　一条鱼-年年有余；一个猪蹄-能抓钱；一只鸡-吉祥如意，大吉大利；生菜-生财；腐竹-富足等等。

　　你以为只有中国人会有这么讲究吗？在亚洲其他地方，以及欧洲很多地方，新年食物同样有着很多寓意。

　　今天精读一下culture板块的一篇文章：More fish in the sea

　　Lucky new-year foods embody a benign view of good fortune-

　　新年好食象征着来年好运

　　Steam a fish for abundance, and make sure there are leftovers-清蒸鱼寓意年年有余

　　“WHYS TEAM fish”, asked Andy Ricker, an author and restaurateur who ran several acclaimed Thai restaurants in America,“when you can batter chunks and immerse them in hot oil? When you can grill it over charcoal?”

　　“为什么是清蒸鱼呢”，作家兼饭店经营者Andy Ricker询问道。Andy 在美国经营着几家颇受欢迎的泰国餐厅，他不解“你明明可以裹上面粉油煎或者在炭火上烤鱼。”

　　acclaimed adj 广受欢迎的=acknowledged,famous

　　As he discovered while travelling around Thailand, one answer is that steamed fish can be delicious. A recipe Mr Ricker developed includes ginger, spring onions, celery leaves and oyster mushrooms, which bolster the pure marine sweetness of the fish without contamination by the taste of oil or smoke.

　　Andy 在泰国旅游时发现，清蒸鱼的一个原因在于它的美味。Andy自己研发了一个菜谱，里面包含了生姜，小葱，芹菜叶和生蚝蘑菇。

　　这些材料会增强鱼的海鲜味，没有油炸或者烟熏味。

　　spring onions 小葱

　　bolster 增强，提升

　　Another reason is that, in the right context,steamed fish can be lucky. The Chinese words for “fish” and “plenty” are homonyms; a whole fish, eaten on the eve of the lunar new year—which this yearfell on February 1st—represents a wish for abundance to come.

　　另外一个原因在于其语境中，清蒸鱼寓意好运。在汉语中，fish 为鱼，它与plenty 余为同音异义词。

　　在除夕夜，也就是今年的2月1日吃整条鱼代表着来年富足有余。

　　It can be braised, deep-fried or roasted in a pan,but if you live on a coast, or have access to first-rate fish, steaming is the way to go.

　　鱼的做法很多，可炖，可炸或可煎。如果你生活在海边，或者能得到高品质的鱼，那么清蒸是最佳方式。

　　These new-year meals are suffused with symbolism. Enough fish should be cooked to ensure leftovers, which signify hopes for asurplus in the year ahead. Spring rolls, with their fanciful resemblance togold bars, represent hopes for wealth. Uncut noodles symbolise longevity; sweet rice cakes anticipate a better future.

　　这些新年饭菜充满了象征主义。做鱼的时候要多做一些，保证有鱼剩下来，这意味着新的一年富足有余；春卷与金条非常相像，代表着财富；连续不断的面条象征着长寿；年糕象征着年年高，前程似锦。

　　Such customs are not unique to the Sinitic world. On the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, Jews bake their challah, a traditional enriched bread, in a round shape to signify the cycle of life andcreation.

　　这些习俗不只限于中国。在犹太教的新年也即哈桑纳节期间，犹太人会制作白面包。

　　这是一种传统的营养面包，圆圆的形状寓意着生命的循环与创造。

　　The bread, and often apples too, are smeared with honey, symbolising the wish for a sweet year. Pomegranates, with their many seeds, embody a desire to do many mitzvot—literally “commandments”, but more commonly understood as “good deeds”—in the coming year.

　　面包以及苹果上常常会被涂上蜂蜜，代表着来年的美好。石榴多籽象征着更多的mitzvot-即戒律，但通常会被理解为“来年多做好事”。

　　On New Year’s Day in America, black southerners have long eaten Hoppin’ John, a delicious dish of rice and black-eyed peas or cowpeas, cooked with salt pork or smoked ham hock (interest in African-American culture has made the recipe popular elsewhere).

　　在美国，新年的那天，南方黑人会吃一种被称作烩菜豆米饭（Hoppin’ John）的香甜可口的米饭和黑眼豌豆或豇豆构成的饭菜。

　　在烹饪时，会加入腌猪肉或者烟熏火腿肉（这个菜谱的流行得益于非裔美国文化）

　　The peas symbolise coins, and the greens that are usually served as well stand for dollar bills. Some people put a clean dime in the pot; whoever gets it on their plate will enjoy a glut of good luck.

　　豌豆象征着硬币，而绿色则代表着美元上的颜色。一些人会在锅里放上一枚干净的十分硬币；任何吃到这枚硬币的人都代表会有好运相随。

　　Whether anyone actually believes in a causal relationship between eating these foods and receiving the promised benefits is unclear.

　　人们是否会相信这些食物与未来的好期盼有着必然的联系尚不清楚。

　　Mainly, these culinary traditions continue for the same reason that other traditions do: people have fond memories of observing them with their parents, and want to pass them down to their own offspring.

　　但是这些饮食传统仍在流传是因为：人们怀念与自己的父母庆祝这些习俗的感觉，而且也想把这些习俗传递给自己的后代。

　　culinary 烹饪的

　　Diverse as these dishes are, they all imply an optimistic and democratic view of good fortune. Fish and noodles, bread and apples, beans and greens appear regularly on Chinese, Jewish and southern tables.

　　虽然饭菜各异，但都暗示了人们对未来好运的乐观向往与期待。

　　鱼和面条，面包和苹果，豆子和绿色是中国，犹太和美国南方餐桌上经常出现的食物。

　　They are neither costly nor exotic, suggesting that luck is not something bought expensively or sought with difficulty. Rather thesefoods are ordinary, yet suffused with benevolent meaning when eaten at the right time and in the right frame of mind. Good fortune, they suggest, lies all around, and is always within reach.

　　这些食物既不昂贵，也不少见，这说明好运不难求。这些食物都很普通，但是在合适的时间，塞满了美好的寓意时就变得非比寻常了。

　　就像这些食物所示，好运常在，好运触手可及。

　　你看，说到对好运的期盼上，全世界都一样热衷。

　　虽然不一定有必然的联系，但那种带着美好期待烹饪的时刻，以及全家坐在一起吃年夜饭的美好却永远值得回味。