外國人最想和你聊的文化話題：美國人吃什么?

　Get known American food and American culture　了解美國食物及文化
     1　美式食物以及移民和區(qū)域文化
     What is "American food"? At first you might think the answer is easy as pie. To many people, American food means hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken and pizza. Actually, except for Thanksgiving turkey, it's hard to find a typically "American" food. The United States is a land of immigrants. So Americans eat food from many different countries. When people move to America, they bring their cooking styles with them. That's why you can find almost every kind of ethnic food in America. In some cases, Americans have adopted foods from other countries as favorites. Americans love Italian pizza, Mexican tacos and Chinese egg rolls. But the American version doesn't taste quite like the original!
     As with any large country, the U.S.A has several distinct regions. Each region boasts its own special style of food. Visit the South and enjoy country-style cooking. Journey through Louisiana for some spicy Cajun cuisine. Take a trip to New England and sample savory seafood dishes. Travel through the Midwest, "the breadbasket of the nation," for delicious baked goods. Cruise over to the Southwest and try some tasty Tex-Mex treats. Finish your food tour in the Pacific Northwest with some gourmet coffee.
     Americans living at a fast pace often just "grab a quick bite". Fast food restaurants offer people on the run everything from fried chicken to fried rice. Microwave dinners and instant foods make cooking at home a snap. Of course, one of the most common quick American meals is sandwich. If it can fit between two slices of bread, Americans probably make a sandwich out of it. Peanut butter and jelly is an all-time American favorite.
     2　美國食物的表達(dá)方式
     （1）Cocktail　雞尾酒
     It is quite usual to drink cocktails before lunch and dinner in America and somewhat less usual, except in California, to drink wine with a meal. You can either have a cocktail in the bar, if there is one, while you wait for a table or for friends, or you can have one served before your dinner comes. At some restaurants the waiter/waitress will come to your table as soon as you sit down to ask if you want a cocktail, and you can then drink this while deciding what to order to eat. At others, there may be a separate cocktail waiter or waitress.
     （2）Salad　沙拉
     It is usual to have a salad with your meal, and a separate plate is provided for this purpose. The normal practice in America is to eat the salad before the main course. A wonderful American invention is the salad bar. In restaurants that have these salad bars the waiter does not bring your salad. You go to the salad bar and help yourself, usually to as much as you want. This is normally done after you have ordered your meal; you eat the salad while the main course is being cooked.
     （3）Choosing from the Menu　選菜
     American menus can look rather confusing at first sight, for they may use some terms which are unfamiliar to most visitors. Here are some points which may be useful.
     Fried mushrooms, fried onion rings (洋蔥圈) and fried zucchini (小胡瓜) are sometimes served as starters (第一道菜).
     Very often vegetables do not come automatically with the meal, and you have to pay extra for them.
     "Scrod" (小鱈魚), and "red snapper" (嚙龜) are all name of fish."Seafood" means lobster (龍蝦), shellfish and fish, including, funnily enough, freshwater fish! Prawns (對蝦) are known as "shrimp".
     American beef is usually good and often wonderful.
     美國人吃午餐和吃晚餐之前通常要喝點(diǎn)雞尾酒，但在加利福尼亞州，人們大都喝葡萄酒。吃主食之前，一般都要吃一盤沙拉。炸磨菇和炸洋蔥圈可作為開胃食品，牛排、豬排和雞（腿）為主食，龍蝦、貝殼類動(dòng)物以及各種魚類甚至包括淡水魚被統(tǒng)稱為海鮮。炸土豆條是深受人們喜愛而且?guī)缀跏潜夭豢缮俚氖澄铩?br />

     You are what you eat.
     你吃的東西決定你。/你要身體健康，就要注意你的飲食健康。
     Most traditional American foods were introduced by the early European immigrants but modified to take advantage of the locally available ingredients.
     大部分的美國傳統(tǒng)食物都是由早期歐洲移民帶來的，后來加入了美國當(dāng)?shù)氐目捎贸煞帧?br />      One unique feature of the American diet from an early period was the abundance of meat and distilled liquor.
     和早期不同，美國食物的一大特點(diǎn)是含有豐富的肉類和蒸餾水。
     Fried chicken, meatloaf, baked potato, corn, baked beans and apple pie would be considered traditional American dishes.
     炸雞、肉餅、烤土豆、玉米、烤豆和蘋果餡餅被視為傳統(tǒng)的美國食物。
     A typical American breakfast menu includes scrambled or fried eggs or an egg omelet, juice, bacon or sausage, toast, biscuits or bagels.
     典型美式早餐菜單包括煎蛋或煎蛋卷、果汁、熏肉或香腸，土司、餅干或面包圈。
     American drinks often include orange juice, milk, tea or coffee.
     在美國，飲料通常有橘子汁、牛奶、茶或者咖啡。
     The lunch menu normally involves sandwiches, rolls, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, tacos, chicken, salad, fruit, milk, soft drink, tea or coffee.
     午餐菜單通常有三明治、面包卷、漢堡、熱狗、比薩、玉米餅、雞肉、沙拉、水果、牛奶、軟飲料、茶或咖啡。
     The normal practice in America is to eat the salad before the main course.
     美國人通常在食用主菜前會(huì)吃沙拉。
     Salads are very popular and are served all year, but especially in the summer.
     沙拉隨時(shí)都會(huì)有供應(yīng)，而且一年四季都很受歡迎，夏天更甚。
     Dinner is normally the largest meal of the day.
     晚餐通常是一天中最豐盛的一餐。
     Turkey is a traditional food for Thanksgiving meals.
     火雞是感恩節(jié)的傳統(tǒng)食物。
     You have probably heard that in American restaurants, if you can't finish your meal, you can put the remains in a "doggy bag" and take them home.
     你也許聽過在美國的餐館，如果你吃不完食物，你可以把剩下的食物"打包"帶回家。
     If it can fit between two slices of bread, Americans probably make a sandwich out of it. Peanut butter and jelly is an all-time American favorite.
     任何能夾在兩片土司中間的東西，美國人就可以把它做成一份三明治，花生醬和果醬更是一直都深受美國人的喜愛。
     The variety of foods enjoyed in the U.S. reflects the diversity of personal tastes.
     在美國可享受到的各式食物正反映出個(gè)人品位的多樣化。
     In general, American food is mild tasting; Most Americans do not season their food to any great degree.
     總體來說，美國食物口味是比較溫和的，大部分美國人都不會(huì)把食物調(diào)味過重。
     Americans drink coffee or tea with their meals. Either way is perfectly acceptable.
     美國人吃飯的時(shí)候喝茶或咖啡。每一種都很受歡迎。
     Restaurants can only serve beer, wine, or other alcoholic drinks if they have a license.
     餐館只有當(dāng)他們有執(zhí)照的時(shí)候才能供應(yīng)啤酒、白酒或其他酒類。
     Normally, when eating in a private home, it is considered better manners to take whatever is being served and not to ask for something different, unless the hostess gives you a choice.
     通常，當(dāng)你受邀在別人家吃飯時(shí)，吃主人給你的東西而不是要求其他的會(huì)被認(rèn)為更禮貌，當(dāng)然除非主人提供了其他選擇。
     Most Americans eat breakfast and lunch quickly unless it is a social, business, or family occasion.
     大部分的美國人都會(huì)隨意而快速地吃早餐和午餐，除了社交、生意和家庭場合。
     Two of the most popular American foods are hot dogs and hamburgers. You will find these available at almost all "fast food" restaurants.
     兩種最流行的美國食物是熱狗和漢堡。你幾乎能在所有的"快餐"餐廳發(fā)現(xiàn)它們。
     A hot dog is usually made either from beef or pork, or a combination of the two, but a hamburger is beef.
     熱狗通常不是用牛肉就用豬肉來做，或者豬牛肉混在一起合制，不過漢堡面包用的是牛肉。
     American eat almost everything with a fork, and it appears that holding a knife in one's right hand longer than a few seconds is considered to be against good table manners.
     美國人幾乎吃什么都用叉子，如果用右手握叉超過幾秒會(huì)被認(rèn)為是不好的餐桌禮儀。
     A survey of American school children was taken and 96 percent identified McDonalds, which has had a big impact on are economy making sure of who they are.
     一項(xiàng)調(diào)查美國學(xué)校兒童的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，96%的孩子都認(rèn)同麥當(dāng)勞，這在人群的自我定義中產(chǎn)生了很大影響。

     Li Lei：American food includes a lot of vegetable and meat. And they almost eat bread every meal.
     李雷： 美國食物含有很多蔬菜和肉類，而且他們幾乎每餐都有面包。
     Lucy：Yes, Americans usually have these things in their meals.
     露西：是的，美國人的三餐通常包含這些東西。
     Li Lei：What do you think is the strength of the structure of American food?
     李雷：你認(rèn)為美國食物結(jié)構(gòu)的優(yōu)點(diǎn)是什么？
     Lucy：American pay a lot of attention to the nutrition such as the amount of protein, vitamins, calories contained in their food.
     露西：美國人很重視食物里的營養(yǎng)，還重視每餐能攝取多少蛋白質(zhì)、維他命和熱量等等。
     Li Lei：Nutrition is important for sure, but they seem to ignore the taste.
     李雷：營養(yǎng)是很重要，但他們好像不是很重視味道。
     Lucy：Now American food is getting increasingly rich, and learns the different ways of cooking from other countries such as China.
     露西：現(xiàn)在美國食物也越來越豐富了，借鑒了像中國一些國家的烹調(diào)方法。
     Li Lei：There is a Chinese saying ："Hunger breeds, food to taste first."
     李雷：中國有句俗語："民以食為天，食以味為先"。
     Lucy：Americans hold a different view.
     露西：美國人可不這樣認(rèn)為。
     Li Lei：That is true. For American, food is used to satisfy the hunger, so they eat large piece of meat and chicken, while Chinese food is designed for taste.
     李雷：的確，美國人認(rèn)為菜肴是充饑的，所以專吃大塊肉，整塊雞等， 中國的菜肴是"吃味"的。
     Lucy：But Americans believe their nutrition matching is more reasonable than Chinese's.
     露西：但是，美國人認(rèn)為他們的營養(yǎng)搭配比中國更合理。
     Li Lei：Do you also think so?
     李雷：你也這樣認(rèn)為嗎？
     Lucy：I think it is possible. As you can see, Americans are generally stronger and taller than Chinese people because of better nutrition.
     露西：我覺得可能。你看美國人的營養(yǎng)良好，所以他們的身體普遍比中國人健壯高大。
     Li Lei：This may be because of the geographical factors.
     李雷：這也可能是地理原因。
     Lucy：Possibly.
     露西：也有可能。