Cookbooks Show American Culture 烹饪书展示美国文化

Cookbooks Show American Culture

烹饪书展示美国文化

【听力音频】

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　　By Faith Pirlo

　　21 January 2024

　　Are you interested in food, United States history, and the English language? If so, American cookbooks provide wide information in all three subjects. The first, published in 1796, started a market that continues in the 21st century with online publications of such works. And, the literature offers more than just recipes.

　　Megan Elias is the director of food studies at Boston University and the writer of Food on the Page: Cookbooks and American Culture. She says that cookbooks do help teach us how to prepare food. But they provide more than that, too.

　　"The concept of meals, how many meals a day that people expect to eat? What do they expect to have in those meals?" Elias said.

　　They also inform readers about discoveries, equipment and technology related to food making.

　　Elias said, "What are the objects that are necessary to make the things and what exists? So, are you being asked to do something over an open fire or are you being asked to use an electric stove? Is it something that can be done in the microwave? If you see a lot of recipes for things that are preserved for pickles, you know that you are looking at a time without refrigeration."

　　Amy Bentley is a food historian at New York University. She said that cookbooks from the 1800s were used as lifestyle and household guides. They include food recipes, but they were not central to the books back then.

　　"So, there's some recipes for food, but it could be recipes for a cleaning solvent or what to do when your child has been poisoned, how to clean, how to get stains out," Bentley said.

　　American Cookery by Amelia Simmons is the first cookbook published in the United States. Simmons wrote that her goal with the book was to improve the new generation of women in the U.S.

　　Megan Elias says that after the Civil War, cookbooks became more diverse. Writers started exploring local foods and customs in their work.

　　Elias said that Southern cookbooks tried to offer "... a beautiful version of the old South that will kind of heal over the wounds of the Civil War rather than dealing with the problems that caused the Civil War to begin with."

　　Some communities would put together a group cookbook to raise money. These cookbooks provide a look into what the American middle class was eating throughout the years. Such works serve as a record of the traditions and interests of different neighborhoods and groups.

　　Throughout the years cookbooks have signified humanity's growth in knowledge, trends and innovations. During the last part of the 19th century, for example, many recipes were informed by the dangers of food containing bacteria. Then, in the 1930s, refrigerators became common objects in American homes. The threat of bacterial infection from food dropped, and very soon, cooks adapted to the new conditions. New recipes and new cookbooks resulted.

　　But cookbooks are not complete reflections of American life. Elias said publishing companies mostly control cookbook content. And, their main goal is to make money from book sales.

　　"The publishing world doesn't necessarily have the goal of representing the truth of Americans who made it. It tends to be upper middle class, white, Northeastern."

　　In the 21st century, with the growth of social media and food websites, publishing companies have less control. These new ways to share recipes have led to more open discussions about food and cooking. This gives the public more choices and power.

　　Elias praised the new discussions around food.

　　"If you look at the comments on food blogs and on any kind of recipe site, you really get to see what people are cooking, and what they think of how they're cooking, and how they think of themselves as experts."

　　Physical cookbooks are still highly desirable as well, Bentley says. "They're very good to give as gifts. They're very, very popular because they're sort of neutral. And everyone loves a cookbook, especially with beautiful pages," she said.

　　I'm Faith Pirlo.

　　Dora Mekouar reported this story for VOA News. Faith Pirlo adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：Faith Pirlo

　　2024年1月21日

　　你对食物、美国历史和英语感兴趣吗？如果是的话，美国的烹饪书籍在这三个主题上都提供了广泛的信息。第一本烹饪书籍于1796年出版，开启了一个市场，这个市场在21世纪的网络出版物中仍在继续。而且，这种文学作品提供的不仅仅是食谱。

　　Megan Elias是波士顿大学的食品研究主任，也是《食品在页面上：烹饪书籍和美国文化》的作者。她说，烹饪书籍确实帮助我们学习如何准备食物。但它们提供的不止于此。

　　“饭菜的概念，人们期望一天吃几顿饭？他们期望在这些饭菜中吃到什么？”Elias说。

　　它们还向读者介绍了与烹饪相关的发现、设备和技术。

　　Elias说，“需要哪些物品来制作这些东西，以及存在哪些物品？所以，你是被要求在开放的火上做某事，还是被要求使用电炉？这是可以在微波炉中完成的事情吗？如果你看到很多关于腌制食物的食谱，你就知道你正在看的是一个没有冷藏设备的时代。”

　　Amy Bentley是纽约大学的食品历史学家。她说，19世纪的烹饪书籍被用作生活和家庭指南。它们包含食物食谱，但那时候，这些食谱并不是书籍的核心内容。

　　"所以，有一些食物的食谱，但也可能是清洁剂的配方，或者当你的孩子被毒物侵害时该怎么办，如何清洁，如何去除污渍，" Bentley说。

　　《美国烹饪》是Amelia Simmons在美国出版的第一本烹饪书。Simmons写道，她写这本书的目标是提高美国新一代女性的素质。

　　Megan Elias说，南北战争后，烹饪书籍变得更加多样化。作家们开始在他们的作品中探索当地的食物和习俗。

　　Elias表示，南方的烹饪书籍试图提供“...一种美化的旧南方版本，这将有助于愈合南北战争的创伤，而不是处理引发南北战争的问题。”

　　有些社区会组织一本群体烹饪书籍来筹集资金。这些烹饪书籍提供了一个窥视美国中产阶级多年来饮食的窗口。这样的作品作为不同社区和群体的传统和兴趣的记录。

　　多年来，烹饪书籍已经成为人类知识、趋势和创新的象征。例如，在19世纪的最后一部分，许多食谱都受到食物含有细菌的危险的影响。然后，在1930年代，冰箱成为美国家庭中的常见物品。食物引起的细菌感染的威胁降低了，很快，厨师们适应了新的条件。新的食谱和新的烹饪书籍应运而生。

　　但是，烹饪书籍并不完全反映美国生活。Elias表示，出版公司主要控制烹饪书籍的内容。他们的主要目标是通过书籍销售赚钱。

　　“出版界并不一定有代表美国人真实生活的目标。它往往是上层中产阶级，白人，东北部。”

　　在21世纪，随着社交媒体和食品网站的发展，出版公司的控制力减弱了。这些分享食谱的新方式引发了更开放的关于食物和烹饪的讨论。这给了公众更多的选择和权力。

　　Elias赞扬了围绕食物的新讨论。

　　"如果你看看食品博客和任何食谱网站的评论，你真的可以看到人们在做什么菜，他们对自己的烹饪方式有什么看法，以及他们如何看待自己作为专家。"

　　Bentley说，实体烹饪书籍仍然非常受欢迎。"它们非常适合作为礼物赠送。它们非常非常受欢迎，因为它们比较中立。每个人都喜欢一本烹饪书，尤其是那些有美丽页面的书，"她说。

　　我是Faith Pirlo。

　　Dora Mekouar为VOA新闻报道了这个故事。Faith Pirlo为VOA学习英语改编了它。

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　　本故事中的词汇

　　literature — n.被认为非常优秀并具有持久重要性的书面作品

　　recipe — n. 一套烹饪特定食物的指示，包括所需原料的清单

　　concept — n. 对某事物是什么或如何运作的想法

　　microwave — n. 一种使用电磁能量的非常短的波来烹饪食物的炉子

　　preserved — adj. 描述某物保持在其原始状态或良好状态的

　　solvent — n. 用于分解其他物质的液体

　　stain — n. 在表面或一件衣服上留下的很难或无法去除的痕迹

　　reflect — v. 镜像或显示某事物的某个方面

　　innovation — n.引入新思想、设备或方法的行为或过程

　　neutral — adj. 不基于个人的喜好或厌恶进行积极、消极或其他特征化的。