又中又英——pricey Turkish restaurant

　　In my previous column I wrote about going to a popular and pricey (expensive) Turkish restaurant called Bodrum. It is near the Manhattan apartment where I live. My younger brother owns it but lives in Delaware, President Joe Biden’s home state. Last week he drove to Manhattan with his wife and invited several distant relatives, whom I have never met, to dinner at Bodrum. As I explained, distant relatives are people such as cousins and great aunts. There were seven of us. As I mentioned, I started off with a martini. The others had red wine. I ate a coriander pan-fried salmon with ratatouille, a French dish of stewed vegetables.
　　Today, I will discuss the interesting dishes my younger brother, his wife, and my relatives ate. Turkish food is similar to Greek food. We began with a large plate of different Turkish appetizers, including hummus and patlican. Hummus, which is popular in Greece and Turkey, is a dip (thick paste) made with ground chickpeas, sesame seeds, garlic, olive oil, and lemon. It is eaten with pita, a flat Middle Eastern bread. Patlican is an eggplant dish usually cooked with tomatoes, herbs and olive oil. My younger brother and one cousin both had Roasted Branzino, a white fish roasted with fennel, lemon and bay leaves. It came with mixed sautéed vegetables. My brother’s wife had Fish Tagine, a Moroccan fish dish slowly cooked with spices. It came with olives, vegetables and Turkish rice.
　　Another cousin had Pirzola, a Turkish dish of grilled lamb chops served with grilled vegetables and rice. One relative had Moussaka, a popular Turkish and Greek dish made with eggplant, ground lamb, cheese and béchamel sauce, which is a white sauce of milk, butter and flour. Her husband had Köfte, ground lamb shaped into patties and grilled with cumin. It came with French fries and salad. You can hear the pronunciation of these dishes on Popnews. Everyone said their dishes were delicious. I didn’t dare ask my brother how much the bill was!
＊＊＊＊＊
　　我在上一篇文章中，写到我去了一间受欢迎和贵价（pricey）的土耳其菜餐厅「博德鲁姆」，它就近我住的曼哈顿单位。我弟弟持有该单位，但他住在特拉华州，就是拜登的家乡。上星期他跟妻子驾车去曼哈顿，邀请了几个我从未见过面的远亲（distant relatives），一起到博德鲁姆餐厅晚膳。正如我所解释的，distant relatives就是疏堂老表，以至姨婆舅婆那些远房亲戚。我们一行有七人。我亦提及，我以马天尼作这顿饭的起始，其他人则喝红酒。我吃了芫荽煎三文鱼，伴的是ratatouille，就是法式的普罗旺斯炖菜。
　　今天，我会谈谈我弟弟、弟妇及亲戚吃的有趣菜式。土耳其菜跟希腊菜很相似，我们以一大碟土耳其前菜拼盘起首，当中包括了hummus和patlican。Hummus是在希腊和土耳其很流行的鹰嘴豆泥，是用磨碎的鹰嘴豆、芝麻子、蒜蓉、橄榄油和柠檬汁混和而成的蘸酱（dip）。它会用来跟彼得包（pita）一起吃，那是一种扁平的中东面包。Patlican则是茄子串，多是混合番茄、香草和橄榄油煮成。我的弟弟和一个堂表都点了Roasted Branzino，是用茴香、柠檬和月桂叶烤成的鲈鱼，它的伴菜是嫩煎杂菜。弟妇则点了Fish Tagine，一款摩洛哥的鱼料理，是用香料慢煮的，其伴菜则是橄榄、蔬菜和土耳其饭。
　　另一位堂表则点了Pirzola，是土耳其烤羊小排，伴菜有烤杂菜和饭。一位亲戚点了Moussaka，一道很受欢迎的土耳其和希腊菜「木莎卡」，是茄子夹免治羊肉、芝士和béchamel sauce，即是用奶、牛油和面粉煮成的白汁。她的丈夫则点了Köfte，是用免治羊肉搓成肉饼，再用孜然烤制而成的；伴碟的是薯条和沙律。你可以在 Popnews上听到这些菜式的发音。人人都说他们点的菜很美味。我都不敢问我弟弟最终结帐的金额是多少！
　　[email protected] 中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁