Meanwhile, although racism persists, the pervasive discrimination of earlier ages has waned. Witness the presidential campaign of Andrew Yang, in which his ethnicity has scarcely been mentioned. Since the Chinese-American population is six times as big as 40 years ago, Americans overall are much more familiar with Chinese people and their cooking. All of which means that, in your correspondent’s fairly extensive experience, the new fancy breed of Chinese restaurants draws a heartening mix of Chinese and non-Chinese diners.
與此同時，盡管種族主義依然存在，但早期普遍存在的歧視已經(jīng)減弱。看看楊安澤的總統(tǒng)競選吧，他的種族背景幾乎無人提及。由于美籍華人的人口是40年前的6倍，所以美國人對華人和中國式烹飪更加熟悉。所有這些都意味著，在本記者相當(dāng)豐富的經(jīng)驗中，新型高檔中餐館令人振奮地吸引了一批中外食客。
Not everyone is enticed. The same cult of authenticity which decrees that good tacos only come from trucks posits that the best Chinese food is found in humble settings. That is as inaccurate as the snobbery that Mr Huang decries. Chinese chefs are as ambitious as any others; a bowl of noodle soup no more stands for all of Chinese cuisine than a slice of pizza does for Italian.
不是每個人都會被誘惑。同樣的對正宗的崇拜，認為好的墨西哥玉米卷只能從卡車上運來，認為最好的中國食物是在簡陋的環(huán)境中找到的。這和黃先生所譴責(zé)的勢利一樣不準(zhǔn)確。中國廚師和其他人一樣雄心勃勃；一碗面湯不能代表所有的中國菜，就像一片披薩不能代表意大利菜一樣。
In any case, authenticity is a slippery commodity. Recipes constantly evolve as people move and mingle. The chillies now considered essential to Sichuan dishes were actually brought to China by Iberian traders in the late 16th century. Hot dogs were originally German, pizza Neapolitan, bagels Polish—but now they are all American, and like America, infinitely varied.
無論如何，真實性是一種難以捉摸的商品。食譜隨著人們的移動和交流而不斷演變。現(xiàn)在被認為是川菜必備的辣椒實際上是在16世紀(jì)晚期由伊比利亞商人帶到中國的。熱狗最初是德國的，比薩餅是那不勒斯的，百吉餅是波蘭的——但現(xiàn)在它們在美國都有，而且像美國一樣，變化無窮。
The goat ribs at Duck, Duck Goat, in Chicago’s trendy meatpacking district, are more Chinese-ish than Chinese. So is the place itself—headed by a non-Chinese chef and kitschily decorated with paper lanterns and bright redwalls. The ribs come as a mesh of burnished meat stilettos with a wonderful chew, the sweetness of the glaze giving way to the goat’s irresistible gaminess. They spark fights over who gets the last one. They are as inauthentic, and as imaginative and lovingly created, as Mr Chang’s scallion dough sphere—and as delicious, which in the end, is what counts.
Duck, Duck goat店里的山羊肋骨，在芝加哥時髦的肉類加工區(qū)，比中國菜更加具有中國特色。這家餐館本身也是如此——它的老板不是中國人，店面卻用紙燈籠和明亮的紅墻裝飾。肋骨就像一層層磨得锃亮的肉質(zhì)細高跟，嚼起來很好吃，肉汁的甜味讓位于羊肉那不可抗拒的野性。肋骨們爭奪上桌的最后一個席位。它們和張先生的蔥油泡餅一樣不完全真實，一樣富有想象力，一樣充滿愛意，一樣美味，這才是最重要的。
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