新一代主廚 擦亮美國台菜招牌

When Richard Ho opened Ho Foods, a tiny storefront in New York’s East Village last year, his goal was to serve the best possible version of a single Taiwanese dish: beef noodle soup.

去年，何瑞運在紐約東村地區一個小小店面開了「何家麵店」，當時他的目標是做出台灣餐點牛肉麵最棒的口味。

His goal was not to become the host of what his employees describe as Manhattan’s first Taiwanese food community center.

雖然在他的員工口中，何家麵館是曼哈坦第一個台灣料理交流中心，但這其實不是何瑞運當初開店的目標。

But because the dish is so beloved, everyone from Chinatown aunties to fellow Taiwanese-American chefs to curious tourists showed up to see if his soup was up to their particular standards.

然而，由於牛肉麵深受人們喜愛，從中國城的婆婆媽媽、其他台裔美國廚師，到好奇的觀光客，大家都來光顧，想嘗嘗湯頭是否達到他們特定的標準。

“Every Taiwanese mom who comes in tells me a different ‘secret’ to the broth,” Ho said. “Apples, cilantro stems, star anise.”

何瑞運說：「每個進來店裡的台灣媽媽，都向我傳授不同的湯頭『秘方』，從蘋果、香菜梗到八角都有。」

Beef noodle soup is widely considered the national dish of modern Taiwan, assembled from the island’s tumultuous history, celebrated with an annual festival in Taipei and fought over in a cooking competition with multiple winning categories. But it is only one of countless dishes that make Taiwan’s cooking remarkable and rewarding.

牛肉麵普遍被認為是現代台灣的國民美食，由台灣動盪的歷史匯集而成，在一年一度的台北牛肉麵節中受到讚揚，並在一場有多個獲獎類別的烹飪比賽中成為競賽項目。不過，使台菜不同凡響且令人滿足的菜色多得數不清，牛肉麵只是其中一種。

Much of its cuisine can be traced to somewhere else, but — like the United States — Taiwan has experienced so many transformations of demography and culture, technology and taste, that the food now has its own identity.

台菜的根源多半能追溯到台灣以外的其他地方，這點跟美國菜一樣，不過，台灣經歷過許多次人口、文化、技術和口味的轉變，使台菜獨樹一格。

Because the modern history of the island includes centuries of immigration and colonization, 50 years of Japanese occupation (from 1895 through World War II), and an influx of 2 million refugees from mainland China when the Communist Party took power in 1949, modern Taiwanese food is a particularly kaleidoscopic mix. (Today, the island exists in political limbo between independence from and absorption into greater China.)

“Taiwan itself is a melting pot,” said chef Vivian Ku, of the restaurant Pine & Crane in Los Angeles.

台灣島的現代史包括持續幾世紀的移民和殖民、日本占領50年（從1895年到二次世界大戰結束）及1949年中共掌權後從中國大陸湧進200萬人，使現代台菜的面貌格外五花八門。（現今台灣處於政治不確定狀態，對獨立或與大陸統一莫衷一是。）洛杉磯台菜餐廳「松鶴麵莊」主廚薇薇安．顧說：「台灣本身就是一個大熔爐。」

In the United States, Taiwanese dishes have often been swept under the vast umbrella of “Chinese food.” Until recently, only people who know their food geography could spot a restaurant with a particular specialty — beef noodle soup; box lunches of rice, pork and cabbage; braised beef rolled in scallion pancakes — and identify it as Taiwanese.

在美國，台菜往往劃歸「中國菜」這個統稱下，直到不久之前，只有了解菜色地域特性的人，才能認出一家餐廳提供台灣特色菜，包括牛肉麵、盒裝米飯午餐、豬肉炒高麗菜、蔥餅牛肉捲等，並確定那是台菜餐廳。

Now, Taiwanese food is announcing itself. It is not new to the United States, but it is being newly celebrated, and transformed, by young Taiwanese-American chefs and restaurateurs like Ho, Vivian Ku, Eric Sze of 886 in Manhattan and Joshua Ku of Win Son in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

如今，台菜開始宣示自己的地位。台菜對美國來說不是新東西，但一批年輕的台裔美國主廚及餐館老闆，最近為台菜賦予新面貌，像是：何瑞運、薇薇安．顧、曼哈坦台菜餐廳「886」老闆史官及紐約布魯克林區東威廉斯堡地區台菜館「盈成餐館」老闆顧文宇。

天然氣供過於求 以色列陷兩難

For decades, Israel was an energy-starved country surrounded by hostile, oil-rich neighbors.

數十年來，以色列一直是能源緊缺的國家，被敵對且富藏石油的鄰國環繞。

Now it has a different problem. Thanks to major offshore discoveries over the past decade, it has more natural gas than it can use or readily export.

如今，以色列面對的問題已然不同。由於過去十年來以色列在近海發現大量天然氣，以色列擁有的天然氣已比國內用量和願意出口的份量還多。

Having plenty of gas is hardly a burden, and it offers a cleaner-burning alternative to Israel’s longtime power sources. But it presents challenges for a country that wants to extract geopolitical and economic benefits from a rare energy windfall, including building better relations with its neighbors and Europe.

天然氣儲量豐富難說是個負擔，而且讓以色列在依靠已久的電力來源之外，多了一個更乾淨的燃氣選項。不過，擁有大量天然氣也對以色列構成挑戰，以色列想藉由這罕見的意外發現的能源，獲取地緣政治和經濟利益，包括與鄰國和歐洲改善關係。

Part of the problem is timing. Just as Israel prepares to produce and export large amounts of gas, the United States, Australia, Qatar and Russia are flooding the market with cheap gas. The other is math: Israel’s 8.5 million people use in a year less than 1% of the gas that has been found in the country’s waters.

問題之一是時機。就在以色列準備生產大量天然氣並出口時，美國、澳洲、卡達和俄國都把廉價天然氣傾銷到市場上。另一個問題是供需，以色列人口850萬，一年用掉的份量不到海域已探明儲量的1%。

“We have a surplus of gas,” Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said in an interview. “Israeli waters are swimming in gas, and what we have discovered is only the beginning.”

以色列能源部長史坦尼茲受訪時說：「我們有多餘的天然氣，以色列海域滿是天然氣，而且我們探明的只是一小部分。」

Noble Energy, a Houston-based company that made its first discovery of gas in Israel in 1999, has found more than 30 trillion cubic feet of gas off the country’s coast over the past decade. Some experts say new discoveries could double that.

諾伯爾能源公司總部設在美國德州休士頓，1999年發現以色列的天然氣，是這家公司首次，過去十年來在以色列近海發現的天然氣超過30兆立方英尺。一些專家說，接下來發現的量可能兩倍於此。

As a result, Israel is phasing out diesel and coal-fired electricity, replacing it mostly with gas-fired generation and some solar power. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet is considering banning the import of gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2030 and gradually switching to vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas or electricity.

自然而然，以色列逐步淘汰燃燒柴油與燃煤發電，取而代之的主要是燃氣發電，還有一些太陽能。總理內唐亞胡內閣考慮從2030年起，禁止進口汽油與柴油車，並逐步改用壓縮天然氣汽車或電動車。

Israel is also stepping up exports to neighbors like Jordan and Egypt. There are even plans to supply gas to a power plant in the West Bank for Palestinian customers.

以色列還加強把天然氣出口到約旦和埃及等鄰國，甚至打算把天然氣供應給約旦河西岸一家發電廠，讓巴勒斯坦客戶使用。

Yet these efforts will make only a dent in the country’s reserves.

不過，這些舉動對解決以色列天然氣儲量豐富的問題只略有幫助。

“We want to export,” said Jacob Nagel, former head of Israel’s National Security Council. “The question is: How much will it cost? Is it possible? How much time will it take?”

以色列國家安全會議前主席內格爾說：「我們是想把天然氣出口，問題是，成本有多高？可行嗎？要花多少時間？」

For decades, Israel depended on Russia and other sources for fuel, while its industries and homes relied on coal and oil power plants that blanketed its cities with smog.

數十年來，以色列靠俄國等國家取得能源，工業和民生用電則仰賴燃煤和燃油，使城市煙霧彌漫。

The switch to gas has helped clear the air in cities like Tel Aviv and Haifa that have converted diesel-fueled plants.Israel’s biggest coal plant — in Hadera, a coastal city — will be converted over the next three years, cutting national coal consumption by 30%. Officials say they expect to eliminate coal use in 11 years.

改用天然氣使特拉維夫、海法等城市空氣變得清新。特拉維夫和海法已將柴油火力發電廠轉換成燃氣電廠。以色列最大燃煤電廠在濱海城市哈德拉，將在三年內轉換為燃氣電廠，能使全國煤炭消耗量減少三成。官員說，希望能在11年內淘汰煤電。

說文解字

本文主旨是以色列天然氣供過於求，使以色列面臨兩難，把多餘天然氣大量出口，會面對許多國家低價競爭，使以色列獲利有限，但若不出口，等於浪費大好資源。

本文為了表達以色列天然氣儲量豐富，用了plenty of、large amounts of、a surplus of等短語。Swim in是比喻說法，在這裡引申為「充滿著」，類似例子如：He is swimming in money.swim還有相關的慣用語：in the swim是指「活躍於社會上」，例如：Despite her age, she is still in the swim.。Swim against the stream是反抗主流意見。

Dent原意是凹痕，引申為「削弱」，例如：The loss put a dent in the team’s confidence.另一個引申義是「取得有意義的進展」，例如：I have not made a dent in this pile of work.此外，make a dent還可以引申為「讓某人留意」，尤其是指某個忠告或警告，如：The doctor told him to stop smoking, but it did not make a dent.