Two cities tussle over who makes the tastiest Sichuan hotpot 火鍋“雙城記”

鮑樹銀

[海詞積累]

1.rivalry n. 競爭; 斗爭

2.pompous adj. 愛擺架子的

3.presumptuous adj. 放肆的

4.proletariat n. 無產(chǎn)階級

5.suffuse v. 遍布

6.consultancy n. 咨詢公司

7.sprout v. （使）涌現(xiàn)出

8.escalation n. 增加

9.culinary adj. 烹飪的

10.bask v. 陶醉于

[原文復(fù)現(xiàn)]

Chengdu， the capital of Sichuan Province， has an ancient rivalry with Chongqing， a city to its southeast. Residents of Chongqing accuse their Chengdu cousins of being pompous. The people of Chongqing are hotheads， and Chengdu dwellers shoot back. Both cities share a love of spice?laden Sichuan cuisine， which in recent decades has conquered Chinese palates. But they are at war over which has the best Sichuan hotpot—a type of DIY?cooking that involves

boiling vegetables and slices of meat in a communal（共享的） broth with chillies and numbing peppercorns.

A private museum in Chongqing， opened several years ago， makes the case for Chongqing?style hotpot. It describes how it developed from a method used to make cheap offcuts of meat taste delicious. But Chengdu is playing catch?up. In January the city sold a plot of land on condition that the developer build a hotpot museum on part of it. Such presumptuous behaviour will test the famous fiery tempers of Chongqing?ites.

①The two cities are among many in China with their own styles of hotpot. ②The stories behind these dishes reveal how different regions like to see themselves. ③Chongqings is said to highlight the ingenuity（獨(dú)創(chuàng)力） of the proletariat. ④Other places describe their hotpots as the sophisticated food of emperors. ⑤Some say theirs have military origins： warriors on the march boiling scraps in their helmets. ⑥Hotpot contents are equally diverse. ⑦To keep warm in winter， Beijingers boil fatty lamb in a berry broth. ⑧Mint?suffused Yunnan hotpot reflects the provinces links with Southeast Asia.

But Sichuan?style broths are the most commonly savoured in China. In recent years their popularity has been booming. China has around 350，000 hotpot restaurants. About 40，000 of them are said to be in the Chongqing region alone. Hotpot restaurants in China are more profitable than other kinds， according to iiMedia， a consultancy. Haidilao， a well?known Sichuan?based hotpot chain， raised nearly $1bn when it was listed on the Hong Kong Exchanges in September. The company is marketing its hotpot worldwide. It expanded into Canada in December. Branches are set to open in London later this year.

The more adventurous tastes of younger Chinese are fuelling demand. One third of customers at hotpot restaurants in China are aged between 25 and 30， iiMedia says. They often have little time to cook at home and are unburdened by child?care duties. They like the social aspects of sharing hotpots. Round?the?clock restaurants are sprouting up to allow leisurely feasting.

Not all Chinese warm to hotpot. Some older Sichuanese disown it altogether. They complain that it is causing an escalation of chilli?use in other dishes that drowns out subtle flavours. Chua Lam， a celebrity food critic based in Hong Kong， caused a stir in December when he wished hotpot would disappear from the face of the Earth. He dismissed it as “the most uncultured form of cooking”， requiring no real culinary knowledge.

But Chengdus plans for a museum suggest that Sichuan hotpot is not only growing in popularity， but is also becoming iconic. If it can set the West on fire， officials may hope it will become a delicious new source of Chinese soft power. There will be plenty of glory for both Chengdu and Chongqing to bask in if that happens.

文本探究

探究視角1：語篇分析

本文是一篇議論文。近幾十年來，火鍋已經(jīng)征服了中國人的味蕾。但是成都和重慶現(xiàn)在正為哪種四川火鍋?zhàn)詈贸远鵂幷摬恍?。幾年前，重慶的一家私人博物館對外開放，展示重慶火鍋的特色。成都的博物館計(jì)劃也表明四川火鍋越來越受歡迎，正在成為標(biāo)志性的東西。

篇章結(jié)構(gòu)梳理：

Ⅱ.難句分析

1.In January the city sold a plot of land on condition that the developer build a hotpot museum on part of it.

on condition that 表示“在……的條件下”，后面加同位語從句。比如，He agreed to speak to reporters on condition that he was not identified.他同意在不暴露身份的條件下和記者談話。

2.He dismissed it as “the most uncultured form of cooking”， requiring no real culinary knowledge.

requiring no real culinary knowledge是現(xiàn)在分詞作定語，dismiss sth as sth表示“否定某事”，比如，He just laughed and dismissed my proposal as unrealistic.他只是笑了笑，認(rèn)為我的建議不切實(shí)際，拒絕考慮。

探究視角3：文化拓展

火鍋不僅是美食，而且蘊(yùn)含著飲食文化的內(nèi)涵，為人們品嘗倍添雅趣。吃火鍋時(shí)，男女老少、親朋好友圍著熱氣騰騰的火鍋，舉箸大啖，歡聲笑語，溫情蕩漾，氣氛熱烈融洽，適合了大團(tuán)圓這一中國傳統(tǒng)文化。

在東北，人們招待客人時(shí)，火鍋里的菜擺放頗有規(guī)矩：前飛后走，左魚右蝦，四周輕撒菜花。即飛禽類肉放在火鍋對爐口的前方，走獸類肉放于火鍋后邊，左邊是魚類，右邊是蝦類，各種菜絲稍許放一些，宛若“眾星捧月”以示尊敬。若對待不速之客，則把兩個(gè)特大肉丸子放在火鍋前邊，后邊是走獸類肉，示意你離開。

在四川，吃火鍋也有講究，調(diào)料一般選用最基本的蔥姜蒜和香油，這樣才能吃出火鍋的原汁原味。燙菜有規(guī)矩，先吃毛肚、鴨腸一類的食材，燙法是七上八下，這樣燙出來的菜才最嫩。招待客人或是和朋友聚餐時(shí)，一頓火鍋再配上啤酒和白酒，才最符合四川人熱情好客的性格。

[參考譯文]

四川省會(huì)成都，與位于其東南方的城市重慶自古以來就存在競爭。重慶的居民指責(zé)他們成都的兄弟們過于自負(fù)。重慶人是急性子，但成都人也會(huì)回?fù)?。這兩個(gè)城市都喜歡辛辣的川菜，近幾十年來，川菜已經(jīng)征服了中國人的味蕾。但是他們現(xiàn)在正為哪種四川火鍋?zhàn)詈贸远鵂幷摬恍?。四川火鍋是一種自己動(dòng)手的烹調(diào)方式，將蔬菜和肉片放在湯底里煮，湯里則放著辣椒和讓人嘴麻的花椒。

幾年前，重慶的一家私人博物館開始對外開放，展示重慶火鍋的特色。它描述了重慶火鍋如何發(fā)展而來。最開始，人們只是想把一種便宜的碎肉變得好吃。但成都正在奮起直追。今年1月，成都市出售了一塊土地，條件是開發(fā)商在其中修建一座火鍋博物館。這種過分的行為考驗(yàn)著重慶人的火暴脾氣。

中國眾多城市的火鍋風(fēng)格各異，成都和重慶是其中兩個(gè)。這些菜肴背后的故事揭示了不同地區(qū)對自己的看法。據(jù)說，重慶的故事彰顯了無產(chǎn)階級的創(chuàng)造力。其他地方則把他們的火鍋描述為皇帝的精致食物，還有另外一些地方則說他們的火鍋起源于軍事活動(dòng)：士兵行軍時(shí)，在頭盔里煮著殘羹剩飯。其實(shí)火鍋本身的內(nèi)容也同樣多樣化。為了在冬天取暖，北京人用漿果湯底煮肥美的羊肉，滿是薄荷的云南火鍋則反映出云南與東南亞的聯(lián)系。

但川式湯底在中國是最受歡迎的。而且近年來，它們越來越受歡迎。中國大約有35萬家火鍋店，其中僅重慶地區(qū)就有約4萬家。根據(jù)咨詢公司艾媒網(wǎng)的數(shù)據(jù)，中國的火鍋店比其他種類的餐廳利潤更高?？偛课挥谒拇ǖ闹疱佭B鎖企業(yè)海底撈去年9月在香港交易所上市時(shí)募集資金近10億美元。這家公司正在把它的火鍋推向全球，去年12月，該公司已經(jīng)擴(kuò)展到了加拿大，倫敦的分店也將于今年晚些時(shí)候開業(yè)。

中國年輕人所具有的對更刺激口味的追求正驅(qū)動(dòng)火鍋的需求。艾媒網(wǎng)表示，中國火鍋店三分之一的顧客年齡在25歲至30歲之間。他們通常很少有時(shí)間在家做飯，也沒有照顧孩子的負(fù)擔(dān)。而且他們喜歡火鍋的社交功能，在共同享用時(shí)一起聊天。因此，24小時(shí)營業(yè)的火鍋餐館如雨后春筍般涌現(xiàn)出來，人們可以隨時(shí)悠閑地享用美食。

并非所有中國人都喜歡吃火鍋。一些上了年紀(jì)的四川人完全不認(rèn)可它。他們抱怨說，這導(dǎo)致辣椒在其他菜肴中的使用增加，掩蓋了其他不太容易察覺的味道。去年12月，香港著名美食評論家蔡瀾希望火鍋能從地球上消失，這引起了軒然大波。他認(rèn)為這是“最沒有文化的烹飪方式”，不需要真正的烹飪知識(shí)。

但是，成都的博物館計(jì)劃表明，四川火鍋不僅越來越受歡迎，而且正在成為標(biāo)志性的東西。如果它能在西方火起來，中國官員可能還希望它能成為中國軟實(shí)力的一個(gè)新來源。如果能實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)，成都和重慶都將獲得巨大的榮耀。