又中又英 | Hamburger | 褚简宁

　　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.

　　几个星期前，我在台北跟一位朋友去了一间日式汉堡店。我喜欢吃汉堡包，但已经不会在汉堡包快餐店吃了。快餐店的汉堡包并不健康，用的也是低质的牛肉。我只会去正式的汉堡包餐厅，他们用的是高质的lean beef。Lean beef是指脂肪含量非常低的瘦牛肉。即使日式汉堡店的价格比台北一般的为高，我还是去试，因为我从未吃过日式汉堡店的汉堡包。它有日式的装潢，其中一个用餐区还有矮桌和咕𠱸让食客坐在地上进餐。

　　我的汉堡包有个非常精美的摆盘（artistic presentation），这在日式料理中很常见。食物的artistic presentation，也称为plating，是指用富创意的方式去摆放食物，令其看起来更吸引，令人食欲大增。佐餐的是沙律和调味薯仔粒，而非薯条。我只吃一口便知道那瘦牛肉（lean beef）是极佳的品质，它差点melted in my mouth，意思是不需要太多咀嚼的牛肉，几乎入口即融。许多人都有疑问，为何夹着牛肉而不是火腿ham的汉堡包会叫作hamburgers。

　　有说它是来源于德国的城市汉堡。一道以碎牛肉制成肉饼，名为汉堡扒的菜式，曾在那儿风靡一时。有说当德国移民将汉堡扒的概念带到美国的时候，就演化成现在的汉堡包。但历史学家说，难以确定是谁真正发明了美国现代的汉堡包，因为许多美国人都声称是他们自己首先发明的。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻