又中又英 | Hamburger | 褚簡寧

A few weeks ago, I went to a Japanese-style hamburger restaurant in Taipei with a friend. I like hamburgers but no longer eat them at fast-food hamburger restaurants. Fast-food hamburgers are unhealthy and contain low-quality beef. I only go to proper hamburger restaurants that use high-quality lean beef. Lean beef refers to beef with very low-fat content. I tried the Japanese-style hamburger restaurant even though the prices were higher than normal for Taipei because I had never eaten a hamburger in a Japanese-style burger restaurant. It had a Japanese décor with a section with low tables and cushions on the floor for customers to sit on.
My hamburger had a very artistic presentation, which is typical of Japanese cuisine. Food artistic presentation, also known as plating, means food that is arranged in a creative way to make it look more appealing and appetizing. It came with a salad and seasoned diced potatoes instead of French fries. It took me just one bite to know the lean beef was of excellent quality that almost melted in my mouth. This means the beef needed very little chewing. Many people must wonder why hamburgers are called that when they contain beef instead of ham.
It is said to have originated in the German city of Hamburg. A dish called the Hamburg steak made with minced beef and shaped into a patty was once popular there. The Hamburg steak is said to have evolved into the modern hamburger when German immigrants brought the idea of a Hamburg steak to the US. But historians say it is unclear who really invented the modern hamburger in the US because many Americans have claimed they were first to invent it.
幾個星期前,我在台北跟一位朋友去了一間日式漢堡店。我喜歡吃漢堡包,但已經不會在漢堡包快餐店吃了。快餐店的漢堡包並不健康,用的也是低質的牛肉。我只會去正式的漢堡包餐廳,他們用的是高質的lean beef。Lean beef是指脂肪含量非常低的瘦牛肉。即使日式漢堡店的價格比台北一般的為高,我還是去試,因為我從未吃過日式漢堡店的漢堡包。它有日式的裝潢,其中一個用餐區還有矮桌和咕𠱸讓食客坐在地上進餐。
我的漢堡包有個非常精美的擺盤(artistic presentation),這在日式料理中很常見。食物的artistic presentation,也稱為plating,是指用富創意的方式去擺放食物,令其看起來更吸引,令人食欲大增。佐餐的是沙律和調味薯仔粒,而非薯條。我只吃一口便知道那瘦牛肉(lean beef)是極佳的品質,它差點melted in my mouth,意思是不需要太多咀嚼的牛肉,幾乎入口即融。許多人都有疑問,為何夾着牛肉而不是火腿ham的漢堡包會叫作hamburgers。
有說它是來源於德國的城市漢堡。一道以碎牛肉製成肉餅,名為漢堡扒的菜式,曾在那兒風靡一時。有說當德國移民將漢堡扒的概念帶到美國的時候,就演化成現在的漢堡包。但歷史學家說,難以確定是誰真正發明了美國現代的漢堡包,因為許多美國人都聲稱是他們自己首先發明的。
[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯:七刻