欧美人文风情 第326篇:带给世人土豆片的恶作剧

 The creation of the potato chip is a rather snarky, surprising, and idiosyncratic story. 土豆片的出现是一个颇为嘲讽、充满惊奇又独特的故事。

When french fries made their way to America, they soon became a restaurant mainstay. 当薯条传到美国时，它们很快就变成餐厅的主打餐点。

Many restaurants served fries as their signature dish. Believe it or not, they were once considered very hoity-toity. 许多餐厅把薯条当作招牌料理。不管你信不信，薯条曾一度被认为是非常上流的料理。

In 1853, George Crum was a chef at the Moon's Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. 1853 年时，George Crum 是纽约州萨拉托加泉市一间月之湖餐厅的大厨。

Their signature dish was none other than Moon's Fried Potatoes, or as the aristocrats¹ would say, "Potatoes served in the French manner." 他们的招牌菜正是月亮炸马铃薯，或如贵族的说法：「法式土豆」。

One day, just like any other, a customer some believed to have been Cornelius Vanderbilt himself ordered fries. 在一个寻常的日子里，一位许多人深信是 Cornelius Vanderbilt 本人的顾客点了薯条。

Upon being served, Cornelius scoffed² and sent them back. He deemed the fries soggy and not crispy enough. 上菜时，Cornelius 讥讽了一番然后将薯条退回去。他认为那薯条湿软又不够脆。

This insanity³ continued a few more times until Crum lost it—I mean, he really lost it. 这疯狂的举动又上演了几次，直到 Crum 实在受不了－－我是说，他真的失去理智。

He fired back, cutting the potatoes paper-thin and frying them up. 他展开反击，将马铃薯切得极薄然后油炸。

You see, back in 1853, eating with your hands was a major faux pas, making Crum's revenge even more diabolical⁴. 你知道，在 1853 年那时，用手吃东西可是十分失礼的，这使得 Crum 的报复更为阴险。

By cutting the potatoes paper-thin, there would be no way that Cornelius could use his fork, forcing him to use his hands. 将马铃薯切得和纸一样薄，Cornelius 就不可能用叉子吃了，这会逼得他用手。

Crum's plan backfired...kind of, as the patrons dug in with both hands and loved them. Crum 的计谋造成反效果...算是吧，因为老顾客用双手开始吃而且爱死了。

Saratoga Chips were born. They became a Saratoga dining staple⁵. Soon thereafter, they took the world by storm. 萨拉托加薯片就此诞生。它们成为萨拉托加餐桌上的常见餐点。在那之后不久，土豆片席卷全球。

Crum himself even opened his own restaurant with baskets of chips displayed on each and every table. Crum 他甚至开了自己的餐厅，每桌上都摆了一篮篮的土豆片。

 

1 aristocrats   

n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many aristocrats were killed in the French Revolution. 许多贵族在法国大革命中被处死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• To the Guillotine all aristocrats! 把全部贵族都送上断头台！ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

2 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

3 insanity   

n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐

参考例句：

• In his defense he alleged temporary insanity.他伪称一时精神错乱，为自己辩解。
• He remained in his cell,and this visit only increased the belief in his insanity.他依旧还是住在他的地牢里，这次视察只是更加使人相信他是个疯子了。

4 diabolical   

adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的

参考例句：

• This maneuver of his is a diabolical conspiracy.他这一手是一个居心叵测的大阴谋。
• One speaker today called the plan diabolical and sinister.今天一名发言人称该计划阴险恶毒。

5 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。