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The 'Bland, Standard UK Diet': Myth or Reality? A Look at Five Favourite Traditional British Dishes
英國菜都是淡而無味的：真的假的？五種傳統(tǒng)英式菜肴賞鑒

We eat the most ready meals in Europe. They are unhealthy and rarely taste as good as the alternative of cooking food fresh. People often complain that they are too busy to cook from scratch. However, more and more people are choosing to eat healthy, fresh food, inspired by celebrity chefs who are showing us that cooking doesn’t have to be difficult, or even time-consuming.
英國是歐洲國家中吃快餐吃得最多的。這些食物不健康，味道也沒有現(xiàn)做的食物新鮮、美味，但英國人覺得平常太忙了，沒時間自己準備吃的。然而，許多知名大廚教大家怎樣做菜簡單、少花時間，于是越來越多的人選擇健康、新鮮的食物。

Yet Britain still has a bad reputation for cooking. The author of ‘A Fondness for Food’ even wrote about “the bland, standard UK diet”. In fact, an American girl recently asked me what food came from Britain apart from ‘fish and chips’ (a traditional favourite but very unhealthy fast-food). The answer was easy. Today the UK is one of the most exciting places for creative and talented chefs, we have some of the most renowned restaurants and some of the most famous international chefs run them With many different cultures and nationalities from all over the world meeting in the UK, some of the most exciting new flavours and ideas in cooking now come from London, not Paris (the traditional hot spot of European cuisine).
盡管如此，不列顛人的廚藝依然是出了名的差。《狂愛美食》一書作者甚至還寫道“英國菜的標準就是淡而無味”。最近有個美國女孩問我英國除了“炸魚薯條”（傳統(tǒng)必備但不健康的快餐）之外還有什么吃的沒。而我的回答很簡單?，F(xiàn)在的英國是創(chuàng)意天才廚師們的寶地之一，我們擁有不少最著名的餐廳，和最著名的國際名廚，不同民族、不同文化的他們從世界各地相聚在這里。許多新奇美味和創(chuàng)意烹調(diào)源自現(xiàn)在倫敦，而不是巴黎（歐洲美食的傳統(tǒng)熱點城市）。

As well as blending different foods and flavours from all over the world, Britain has its own brand of traditional cooking that is anything but ‘bland’. I hope to persuade you of this, by looking at my five favourite traditional dishes from across the British Isles.
英國是世界各地各種美食的匯聚之地，當然她也有她自己的經(jīng)典菜式并非淡而無味。我希望在你了解一下不列顛島上這五道傳統(tǒng)菜肴后就會同意我這個觀點。

‘Bangers and mash’ with Lincolnshire sausages: ‘Bangers and mash’ is a name for a dish consisting of mashed potatoes and sausages, normally served with a gravy (a thin, warm sauce) and onions. All regions in Britain have a speciality sausage with different flavours. My favourite are Lincolnshire sausages (Lincolnshire's a region on the east coast of England). These sausages are made out of pork with sage, a delicious herb.
“香腸和土豆泥”配林肯郡香腸：“香腸和土豆泥”顧名思義就是土豆泥和香腸組成的，一般會配上醬汁（較稀的熱湯）和洋蔥一起吃。英國各地都有其特色風味的香腸。我最喜歡的是林肯郡香腸（林肯郡是英格蘭東部沿海的一個地區(qū)）。這里香腸通常是用豬肉和鼠尾草做的，鼠尾草是一種美味的香料。

Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding: This is a traditional meal eaten for Sunday lunch across Britain. The beef is roasted in an oven until cooked and then sliced into thin slices. Yorkshire pudding is originally from Yorkshire, an area in the north of England, and is a savoury cake made with eggs and flour.
烤牛肉配約克郡布丁：這是英國全國各地在星期天午餐都會吃的傳統(tǒng)菜肴。牛肉在烤箱里烤熟后切成薄片。約克郡布丁是由雞蛋和面粉做成的一種美味蛋糕，源自約克郡，該地區(qū)位于英格蘭北部。

Haggis: Haggis is the name for a traditional Scottish dish that even many people in England don’t like! It's made in many different ways, but originally is minced lamb (young sheep) with onion, oatmeal and salt. This is boiled inside the animal’s stomach for three hours. It's very efficient as it uses all parts of the animal.
羊雜碎：羊雜碎是一道蘇格蘭傳統(tǒng)菜肴，但很多英格蘭人卻很不喜歡吃。做這道菜的方法有很多，但最原始的做法用的是羊羔肉絞成肉末配上洋蔥、燕麥和鹽。接著把這些放進牲畜的胃里煮上三小時。這道菜可謂是什么都不浪費，用盡了動物身體的各個部位。

Lancashire hotpot: This is another British dish that uses lamb, named after the Lancashire region in the middle of the UK. It's cooked for a long time in a large pot with lamb, seasoning, and lots of vegetables, including carrots, potatoes, onions and leeks. Because it is cooked for a long time the meat is usually very soft, or succulent.
蘭克希兒郡火鍋：這又是一道用羊羔肉做的英式菜肴，以英國中部的蘭克希兒地區(qū)命名。做法是把羊羔肉、調(diào)味料、胡蘿卜、洋蔥還有大蔥這些蔬菜放進一口大鍋煮很長一段時間，由于這道菜燉的時間長，因此肉也變得細嫩多汁。

Welsh cakes: These are traditional from Wales, made with flour, butter, eggs and sugar, with raisins. They are normally small, not much bigger than a biscuit. We often drink a cup of tea whilst eating them, normally in the afternoon at tea-time!
威爾士蛋糕：源自于威爾士，配料有面粉、黃油、雞蛋、白糖和葡萄干。這種蛋糕一般做的很小，跟餅干差不多大小。英國人習慣在下午茶時間邊喝茶邊吃這些蛋糕。

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Tricky Words

ready meal (n.) - a meal that is already cooked and you only need to reheat it before eating

from scratch (phrase) - (informal) to start something from the beginning

bland (adj.) - not having a strong taste

hot spot (n.) - a popular and fashionable place

the British Isles - the group of islands that consists of Great Britain, Ireland and many smaller surrounding islands

banger (n.) - (British, informal) a sausage

mash (n.) - (British, informal) mashed potato

speciality (n.) - a food that a region is famous for and cannot be eaten in other places

sage (n.) - a herb that is used to flavour food?

savoury (adj.) - salty or spicy

leek (n.) -?a long thin vegetable that tastes and smells like an onion; it is white at one end with green leaves at the other

succulent (adj.) - (for meat or fruit) juicy