美国国家公共电台 NPR--How did burgers become a cookout standard? 'Hamburger Dreams' author has the answer

How did burgers become a cookout standard? 'Hamburger Dreams' author has the answer

Transcript¹

Chris Carosa literally² wrote the book on burgers. In Hamburger Dreams, he traces the first hamburger to 1885, and to two brothers Frank and Charles Menches.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Memorial Day, this unofficial start to summer, may also be the start of grilling³ season. By the time it's over, Americans will have spent more than $1.5 billion on meat this year - hot dogs, brats⁴ and hamburgers. But how exactly did the burger become a cookout standard?

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Well, for the answer, we turn to Chris Carosa. He literally wrote the book on burgers. And in "Hamburger Dreams," he traces the first hamburger to 1885 and two brothers, Frank and Charles Menches.

CHRIS CAROSA: They started this business of selling food at fairs - county fairs, regional fairs. And they had to differentiate⁵ themselves from everyone else, so they specialized⁶ in pork sausage sandwiches.

FADEL: Until they couldn't get pork.

CAROSA: Frank went to the butcher to buy 10 pounds of pork. And the butcher says, I'm not going to slaughter⁷ a whole pig for you just for 10 pounds because I won't be able to sell the rest of it.

MART?NEZ: The butcher sold them ground beef instead, and the Menches brothers' improvised⁸ sandwiches were a big hit at the fair in Hamburg, N.Y.

CAROSA: Somebody comes up and asks, hey, what do you call this thing? Well, the short name for the Erie County Fair is the Hamburg Fair. So Frank looked up at the sign and said, it's a Hamburg sandwich.

FADEL: The Hamburg sandwich grew more and more popular throughout the late 1800s.

CAROSA: People were spending leisure time going to fairs, going to games, horse races, outdoor activities, and they needed a way to quickly eat something. So these types of foods were invented to address that need.

FADEL: But Carosa says by the 1920s, burgers were thought of as strictly⁹ for the masses.

MART?NEZ: So that called for a little creativity to cover up just who was eating these burgers.

CAROSA: So there are newspaper articles describing rich people driving fancy cars, calling up little boys from the neighborhood, handing them money, and the boys would run into the White Castle restaurant, get a bag of hamburgers, run back and give it to the people in the car. The people in the car were too embarrassed to go and buy the hamburgers themselves.

MART?NEZ: Bridging the wealth gap through a tasty burger.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 grilling   

v.烧烤( grill的现在分词 )；拷问，盘问

参考例句：

• The minister faced a tough grilling at today's press conference. 部长在今天的记者招待会上受到了严厉的盘问。
• He's grilling out there in the midday sun. 他在外面让中午火辣辣的太阳炙烤着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 brats   

n.调皮捣蛋的孩子( brat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I've been waiting to get my hands on you brats. 我等着干你们这些小毛头已经很久了。 来自电影对白
• The charming family had turned into a parcel of brats. 那个可爱的家庭一下子变成了一窝臭小子。 来自互联网

5 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

6 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

7 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

8 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

9 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。