It is such a, sort of, instrumental part
它是一种工具
of our cooking vocabulary in terms of the utensils.
是我们烹饪词汇的一部分
I was like, “Huh, that’s interesting,
我想：“嗯 真有趣 ”
“there’re people out there who live without chopsticks.”
“有些人生活中是不用筷子的”
Chopsticks are a pair of two long sticks
筷子由两根长棍子组成
used to eat things with one hand.
吃饭时只用一只手拿着它
Holding chopsticks is a little bit like holding a pencil
握筷子的感觉有点像握铅笔
except that you have two of them,
只不过你握着的是两支罢了
and you kinda move them together in a pincher movement.
然后像拿着钳子一样同时移动它们
Most of them are made out of wood,
大部分的筷子是用木头做的
they are also made out of plastic, bamboo, jade,
也可以用塑料 竹子 翡翠
gold, silver, and even ivory
金 银 甚至是象牙来制作
that sound isn’t so cool these days any more.
尽管那听起来不再那么酷了
Chopsticks are really well designed for eating small bit of food.
筷子的设计的确非常适合吃小块食物
They’re good for picking up noodles.
它们也很适合夹面条
If you’re really skilled, you can eat rice,
如果你够熟练 还能用筷子吃米饭
and pick up dumplings, little pieces of meat.
夹起饺子和小片的肉
There’re definitely some no-nos with chopsticks.
有些事情是绝对不能用筷子做的
You should not use the chopsticks like drumsticks
你不能把筷子当鼓槌一样用
which I know is very, very tempting.
虽然我知道那很吸引人
You definitely don’t wanna stick chopsticks
你绝对不可以把筷子
into a bowl of rice faceup,
竖直地插在一碗米饭里
and the reason for that
其原因就是
is it actually looks like a bowl of incense,
那样看起来像在上香一样
so it sort of, echoes death.
有点像是呼唤亡灵
Chopsticks are used in a huge portion of the world across much of Asia.
在世界上 亚洲大部分地区的人都使用筷子
About 1.5 billion people are covered
大约有15亿人口
in the chopsticks sphere.
有使用筷子的习惯
Different cultures have slightly different variations of chopsticks.
不同文化中用的筷子略有不同
Chinese chopsticks will tend to be long and round,
中国的筷子往往制作得长而圆
Korean chopsticks, which are flatter,
韩国的筷子则较为扁平
and often made of metal,
并常由金属制作而成
and Japanese chopsticks tend to be round,
而日本的筷子一般是圆头的
and very, very pointy.
而且会非常非常尖
While chopsticks are actually really commonplace
虽然在如今的美国社会
in American society today,
人们已经对筷子司空见惯
there was definitely a time in the late 1800s
但在19世纪末
where this idea that Asian men,
有一个说法是 亚洲人
because they ate rice with sticks,
因为他们使用筷子吃米饭
were of a different quality than American men
所以和拿刀叉吃肉的美国人
who ate proper meat with knife and fork.
有着完全不同的个性
But, when China and the United States
但中国和美国
began their diplomatic engagement in the 1970s,
在20世纪70年代开始外交接触后
Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger
理查德·尼克松和亨利·基辛格
had to practice eating with chopsticks.
不得不练习使用筷子就餐
What’s been really interesting to see
真正有趣的是
is that as Asian cuisine
随着亚洲美食
has moved from the east into the west,
从东方传到西方
chopsticks have become part of the experience.
筷子也成为了美食体验的一部分
There’s evidence of chopsticks
人们使用筷子的迹象
as long ago as the Shang dynasty,
可以一直追寻到
which was about 3,000 years ago.
大约3000年以前的商朝
And they loved tripods during the Shang dynasty,
并且商朝的人喜欢用鼎
so, when you cook with these big tripods,
在用鼎做饭时
chopsticks were actually really useful
筷子真的非常有用
because it was a way for you to stir and to reach
因为你可以拿着它在一大锅沸水中
without getting burned as the water was boiling
搅动并夹住食物
in these really big pots.
而不被烫伤
Chinese culture has knives and has forks,
中国文化中也有刀和叉
that uses them in many cases for cooking,
它们在烹饪中有很多用途
but in terms of what moved into the dining room,
但要说真正在饭厅使用的
it was the chopsticks.
只能是筷子
One of the things about Asian cooking
亚洲烹饪的一个特点
is that it often comes in very small pieces,
就是经常将食材切成很小的块
and I think part of that has to do with the fact
我认为其中一个重要的原因
that it’s actually a lot more energy-efficient
就是这样确实更加节能
to cook little pieces quickly,
小块的食物熟得更快
but also then, you don’t have to cut them.
而且 你无需在吃饭时再去切开它们
So, you kind of have the circular influence
这样就有了相互的影响：
where the type of food that is cooked
烹调的食物类型
allows people to use chopsticks,
推动人们使用筷子
and then the fact that you have chopsticks
而选择使用筷子
sort of influences the kind of food that you can cook.
又在一定程度影响了你烹饪的食物类型
At the same time,
同时
chopsticks reflect the communal nature of eating food.
筷子也反映出了人吃饭时的共享本性
You will have these dishes that you put in the middle,
你会把菜肴放在饭桌的中央
it’s very family style.
这是非常家庭化的形式
You kinda go in with your chopsticks,
你会用筷子夹起菜
and then you put it on your rice,
把它放在你的饭上
and then you eat individually.
然后自己吃掉
There’s actually a famous, sort of, legend
有一个很出名的故事
where everyone has these really, really,
讲到里面每个人
really long chopsticks,
都有一双非常非常长的筷子
like, way too long for them to feed themselves.
长到很难把食物夹进自己的嘴里
And so, in Hell, everyone starves
所以在地狱里 每个人都在挨饿
because they can’t pick up food
因为他们不能把食物
and put it in their mouths,
夹到自己的嘴里
but in Heaven, people take the same chopsticks,
然而在天堂 人们也用着相同的筷子
and then feed each other.
但他们会把食物喂给彼此
(exciting musical chord)
［振奋的和弦］