美語情景對話 第451期:Kiwi Food 新西蘭食物

Todd: So, Mark, when people think of Americans they often think of the hot dog and when they think of Japan they think of sushi. What are the foods that people associate with New Zealand?

託德：馬克，人們談到美國時會想到熱狗，提到日本時會想到壽司。那人們提到新西蘭時會想到什麼食物？

Mark: According to a lot of the Japanese students that I know who have gone to study in New Zealand or have a home stay programme over there, they normally come back speaking about 3 New Zealand foods. The first one is probably fish and chips, which is a traditional or unofficial traditional Friday night meal. At the end of a long week mum and dad will say, “Lets go and get some ‘greezies'”: deep fried battered fish, potato fritters or hot dogs and fried chips. They used to be wrapped in newspaper but now for health reasons you've got to have plain white paper.

馬克：我認識的一些在新西蘭留學或是在那裏進行長期項目的日本學生說，他們喜歡的新西蘭食物有三種。第一種是魚類和薯條，這是週五的傳統非正式晚餐。在漫長的一週結束之後，媽媽和爸爸會說“我們去吃些油炸食品吧”，這些食品指的就是炸魚、土豆煎餅、熱狗或是炸薯條。這些食物以前是裝在報紙裏的，不過現在出於健康考慮，這些食物會裝在普通的白紙裏。

Todd: Oh, no kidding.

託德：哦，不是開玩笑吧。

Mark: Yeah, but the fish and chips dinner on Friday night is a bit of a tradition.

馬克：是啊，週五晚上吃魚和薯條是種傳統。

Todd: Oh, ok what else besides fish and chips?

託德：哦，好的，那除了魚類和薯條還有別的食物嗎？

Mark: The other one would be something called a pavlova which is similar to a large meringue cake, very rich, very very sweet, made with egg white and lots of sugar with lots of whipped cream and fresh fruit on top. Kiwis and Australians often argue over who invented it but I'm sure kiwis did!

馬克：還有一種稱爲巴甫洛娃蛋糕的食物，與大塊的芒果蛋糕類似，料多味美，是用蛋清和大量的糖和鮮奶油做的，上面還有新鮮的水果。新西蘭人和澳大利亞人經常爲了是誰發明了這種蛋糕而爭論，不過我很確定這個蛋糕是新西蘭人發明的！

Todd: Pavlova, uh? Is this like a snack you eat in the afternoon?

託德：巴甫洛娃蛋糕是吧？這是你們下午茶時吃的小吃嗎？

Mark: No, it's a dessert, it's the size of a cake. It would be a dessert cake.

馬克：不是，這是甜點，大小與蛋糕差不多。是甜點。

Todd: Is this something people make themselves or buy in the store?

託德：那這種蛋糕是人們自己在家做還是去商店買呢？

Mark: The best ones I think are home made. The third food is vegemite, which is a breakfast spread, a yeast based breakfast spread. Lots of non-New Zealanders who don't know it think that it looks like chocolate spread, and then they put in on their toast or bread in the morning, but it actually has a very unique taste and it's nothing at all like chocolate!

馬克：我認爲最好的是自己在家做的。第三種食物是維吉米特黑醬，是一種早餐醬，用酵母製成的早餐醬。許多不知道這種醬的非新西蘭人認爲它看上去像巧克力醬，他們會在早上把醬塗在吐司或是麪包上吃，其實這種醬的味道非常獨特，跟巧克力醬完全不像！

Todd: So is it bitter? Is it sweet? Is it sour?

託德：那這種醬是苦的還是甜的？還是酸的？

Mark: It's got a very yeasty flavour but its quite hard to describe, but its another one of those New Zealand traditions.

馬克：有很濃的酵母味，味道很難形容，不過這是新西蘭的另一種傳統食物。

Todd: You say its made from yeast so what are the main ingredients?

託德：你剛說這種醬是用酵母做的，所以酵母是主要的配料嗎？

Mark: It's a yeast based extract so its very healthy for you: lots of minerals, and all kiwi kids should grow up on it.

馬克：主要是酵母提取物，所以這對你的健康有好處：裏面含有豐富的礦物質，所有的新西蘭小孩都是吃這種醬長大的。

Todd: Ok, sounds interesting — I'll have to give it a try.

託德：好，聽起來很有意思，我一定要嚐嚐。

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重點講解：
1. think of
想到；想起；想出；
eg. In every beginning think of the end.
凡事開頭時就要想到它的後果。
eg. It was the best I could think of off the top of my head.
這是我一時所能想到的最好的辦法。
2. associate with
聯繫；聯想；
eg. Through science we've got the idea of associating progress with the future.
通過科學我們知道了應該把進步和未來聯繫起來。
eg. Rap groups have been barred from large musical events because they are associated with vandalism.
說唱組合被禁止參加大型的音樂活動，因爲他們使人聯想到肆意破壞公共財產的行爲。
3. used to do sth.
過去常常；過去曾做某事；
eg. The place used to be a stretch of barren land.
早先這裏是一片不毛之地。
eg. He used to crap around like that.
他老做那樣的傻事。
4. be similar to
相像的；相仿的；類似的；
eg. His stance towards the story is quite similar to ours.
他對該報道的態度和我們很相像。
eg. Field hockey is an outdoor game similar to soccer.
曲棍球是一種室外進行的類似足球的運動。
5. give it a try
試試看；試一試；
eg. I don't think it will lift my spirits but I'll give it a try.
我想那也不會讓我的情緒好起來，但我會試試。
eg. I almost can't wait to give it a try.
我等不及要試一試了。