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Unit 2 READING MORE

\Light, refined, learned and noble, harmonious and orderly, clear and logical, the cooking of France is, in some strange manner, intimately linked to the genius of her greatest men.\

--Marcel Rouff, French journalist and writer

A CUISINE CRISIS

1 What could be more French than an outdoor market on a sunny Sunday morning? The air is filled with vital scents from the herbs and fruits and vegetables piled high in the greengrocers' creative geometrics. A whiff of the Atlantic blows off the oysters on the fishmongers' bed of ice. Wild game--hare, venison, boar--hangs from the butchers' racks, sausages and cheeses are laid out to savor and smell.

有什么比晴朗的星期日早晨的一个户外市场更具法国特色？空气中弥漫着香草和 水果散发出的气味，而且这些水果被水果商摆成各种有创意的图形。鱼贩的冰床上的 牡蛎透露着一点点大西洋的痕迹。在肉贩的货架上挂出了一些野味：野兔、鹿肉和野 猪，而一些香肠和奶酪的摆出使这个小摊更具一番风味。

2 This, you think, is the very essence of France, until you read those little signs that tell you the tomatoes (which are really pretty tasteless) come from Moroccan hothouses,

the grapes from South Africa, kiwis from Chile and the haricot from Kenya. You can't be sure where that boar bit the dust.

直到你读到那些小标识，即西红柿（相当无味的）产自摩洛哥的温室，葡萄酒产

自南非，猕猴桃产自智利，扁豆产自肯尼亚。你认为这才是法国的精髓所在。

3 The congenial quaintness of the street market, in fact, draws directly on globalization. Emile Zola once called \

food business, long since moved out of downtown to a cargo hub near Qrly airport. Quite literally, that is now where a lot of French cooking begins--and, increasingly, where the era of great French cuisine as something truly unique and exclusive to France is slowly coming to an end.

街市上那些彼此相宜的稀奇古怪的事事实上是全球化的结果。这个富裕的、 成熟的、难闻的被埃米尔.左拉称为“巴黎的肚子”的大型食品批发中心是很久以 前从市中心搬到奥利机场附近的。毫不夸张的说，这里是现在很多法国烹饪的开 始的地方，而且渐渐地伟大的法国烹饪时代（一些真正独具特色并专属法国的事物） 就要结束了

4 For generations, the French have prided themselves on their distinctiveness. Nothing has stood for France's sense of exceptionalism more famously than its cooking. Gallic talent, taste and techniques have been exported all over the world. And therein lies part to the problem. From the Napa Valley to the Thames and Tokyo, non-French cooks have cracked the codes of the best French cuisine. Meanwhile, what was mediocre elsewhere--albeit cheap and popular--has been imported. The result: Many tourists-- as well as the French themselves--no longer see what's so special about French cooking.

4 长久以来，法国人一直为他们的与众不同感到骄傲。而能代表法国超凡特色、最负盛 名的就要数她的烹饪艺术了。高卢人的才智、品味和技术已经传播到世界各地，然而， 一些问题也随之产生。从纳帕谷到泰晤士河再到东京，非法裔的厨师们破解了最上乘 法式烹饪的秘笈。与此同时，其他地方一些尽管又便宜又流行但却不怎么上档次的烹 制法也传入了法国。结果就是，很多游客——甚至法国人自己——都已经看不出法国 烹饪有任何的特别之处了。

5 The decline goes well beyond recent surveys that show growing complaints about mediocre quality and high prices--no small concern in a country where tourisme

gastronomique earned 18 billion euros in 2002, a quarter of all tourist revenues. More and more restaurateurs say that government tax and economic policies are limiting their profits, and thereby hurting their capacity to invest and hire more staff. They have become ensnarled in the red tape for which France is infamous--not to mention edicts from Brussels that affect everything from sales taxes to the bacteria in the Brie.

5 最近的调查显示越来越多的人抱怨饭莱质量平平，价格昂贵，而法国烹饪的衰落还不

止于此。这在法国可不足个小问题，要知道 美食旅游为法国创收180亿欧元，

占到全部旅游收入的1／4。越来越多的餐馆老板反映政府的税收和经济政策限制了他 们的利润，也就影响了他们投资和雇佣更多人手的能力。束缚他们手脚的是令法国不 那么光彩的繁琐拖拉的公事程序，更不要说那些来自欧盟的规定，从销售税到布里乳 酪里含细菌的指标统统都在严格的掌控之中。

6 Not coincidentally, it was the French who taught the world that water has many very different, very marketable tastes. At the annual agricultural fair in Paris this spring, visitors not only enjoyed sipping wines, but olive oils--one a little nutty, another quite fruity, some of them, one is tempted to say, just a little impudent. Even table salt has its distinctions, with fleur de sel, the thin layer collected on the surface of salt basins in the Bordeaux region, now much appreciated. \people can leave the table full and still be talking about food,\

Alleno, 35, who brought a new star to the restaurant of the Hotel Meurice this year. His favorite specialty: sea bass sewn with golden threads.

6 绝非巧合的是，正是法国人教会全世界，水有多种迥异的口味，这些味道都可以卖个 好价钱。今年春天在巴黎一年一度的农业展销会上，游客们不仅可以细饮美酒，还可 以品尝橄榄油。有的橄榄油稍带坚果的味道，有的水果味很重，还有一些，你会忍不

住说，味道还真有点冲。即使是餐桌上的食盐也有很多花样。一种名叫“盐之花”的 盐现在很受欢迎，它是从波尔多地区盐场表层采来的薄层盐。 35岁的厨师亚尼克，阿 勒诺开玩笑说：“在有些国家人们酒足饭饱离开餐桌后仍会接着谈论食物，法国就是 其中之一。”亚尼克今年刚刚为莫里斯饭店的餐厅等级增加了一颗星。他的绝活是金

线鲈鱼。

7 But the real paradox of French cooking--in France, at least--is that artistic success often spells business disaster. Starred chefs often end up drowning in red ink as they try to maintain the high standards that made their names.

7 然而法国烹饪真正令人啼笑皆非的是，至少在法国，烹饪艺术上的成功往往带来生意 上的灾难。星级厨师们为了保持他们得以成名的高标准，一般都会入不敷出。 ”

8 Consider the value-added taxes that were \harmonized\ the 1990s. They benefit fast-food chains, since the tax on takeaway is only 5.5% percent, while they penalize sit-down restaurants, whether humble bistros or haute cuisine, which pay 19.6%. When President Jacques Chirac ran for re-election in 2002, he promised to reduce the tax, but such is the nature of the new Europe that all 25 countries will have to approve the measure for it to take effect--in 2006. The government is instituting other complicated tax breaks and stopgap measures in the meantime to try to calm the restive restaurateurs and in hopes of creating employment. But (a starred chef) Daguin is deeply skeptical. \ fiscal regime as the United States, we'd be able to create twice as many jobs,\

8 我们看看上个世纪90年代在整个欧洲被“统一”后的增值税。该税有利于快餐连锁 店，因为对外卖的征税只有5．5％，而传统餐馆则遭殃了，不管足低俗的小酒馆还是高

雅的餐厅都要交付19．6％的增值税。希拉克总统 竞选连任时曾保证要降低税 率，但要使这一措施在 生效，必须得到欧盟所有25个成员国的同意。有什么

办法呢，这就是新欧洲啊。政府现在正采取其他一些复杂的减税措施和权宜之计试图 安抚焦躁不安的餐馆老板，并希望借此创造更多的就业机会。但是星级厨师达甘却 对此深表怀疑，“要是法国人可以享受美国的财税制度，我们就能创造两倍的就业岗 位了。

9 Strict labor laws restricting hiring, firing and temp-work also figure in the equation. \a succession of high-stress times and quiet times,\ a former rugby player and a passionate restaurateur from Toulouse. When it comes to employment, \flexibility whatsoever. When we're busy it would be good if, like in England, we could hire a couple of extra employees to help out.\

9 另外，严格限制雇工、裁员和招临时工的劳动法也拖了后腿。“我们的生意忙一阵闲 一阵的，”来自图卢兹的德尼·梅列说道。德尼曾经是橄榄球运动员，现在则一门心思 扑在他的饭馆上。当谈到就业问题时，他说：“法国的问题在于根本没有灵活性。如 果在活多的时候能雇一些帮手来救急，就像在英国那样，那就好了。”但是法国的法