记者：格兰特先生，您在中国已经生活了十五年，而且做了很多关于中餐的研究，可否谈一下您对中国饮食文化的整体印象？

Interviewee：Well, Cooking has occupied a lofty position in Chinese culture throughout history. The great Chinese philosopher Lao Zi once said of the art "Governing a great nation is much like cooking a small fish".

记者：是这样的。那么您是如何理解中餐里蕴藏的哲学观的？

Interviewee：The most embodied philosophy in Chinese food is the concept ofyinandyang. It can be found in any Chinese dish. There is always a balance in color, aroma, and flavor.

记者：谈到色、香、味，外国人通常如何划分中国的菜系？

Interviewee：Many foreigners do not realize that there are many cuisines. To them, Chinese food can be roughly divided into the Northern and Southern styles of cooking.

记者：那他们根据什么特点划分南北菜肴呢？

Interviewee：In general, Northern dishes are relatively oily, and the use of vinegar and garlic tends to be quite popular. Southern cooking styles, represented by Szechwan and Hunan cuisine, are famous for their liberal use of chili peppers.

记者：那粤菜呢？

Interviewee：Because Cantonese food is so popular, many foreigners have considered Cantonese cuisine a separate one. It tends to be somewhat sweet and always full of variety.

记者：您喜欢中餐吗？您最爱吃的中国食品是什么？

Interviewee：Yes, I do. I love Chinese food. Many of them: soybean milk, Szechwan hotpot, zhajiang noodles, to name just a few.

记者：您认为中餐健康吗？

Interviewee：Yes. Color, aroma, and flavor are not the only principles to be followed in Chinese cooking; nutrition is also an important concern. The principle of the harmonization of foods can be traced back to the Shang dynasty scholar Yi Yin.

记者：您能举例解释一下吗？

Interviewee：He relates the five flavors of sweet, sour bitter, piquant, and salty to the nutritional needs of the five major organs of the body----the heart, liver, spleen/pancreas, lungs, and kidney, and stresses their role in maintaining health.

记者：您对中餐的了解比很多中国人都透彻。

Interviewee：Because I love Chinese food! In fact, many of the plants used in Chinese cooking, such as scallions, fresh ginger root, garlic, tree fungus, and so forth, have properties of preventing and alleviating various illnesses.

记者：是的。中国人自古就认识到食物的治疗效果，认为医食同源。

Interviewee：And this view could be considered a forerunner of China’s nutritional science.

记者：您认为在您生活在中国的这些年里，中国餐饮业发生了什么显著变化？

Interviewee：The biggest improvement has been in terms of the quality of food and service and the growing number of new restaurants opening up around the city, from hole-in-the-wall places to upscale dining venues.

记者：但是我记得您曾经对餐厅过分注重装潢表示担忧。

Interviewee：Yes. I worry that the growing competition is forcing people to turn to gimmicks to survive and prosper rather than focusing on the basics, forgetting that eating is more important than decorations and novel ways of preparing food.

记者：您研究中国饮食文化的过程中觉得哪部分最有意思？

Interviewee：The Chinese food symbolism. They are so interesting! Noodles are a symbol of longevity, chicken forms part of the symbolism of the dragon and phoenix, and the seed-filled treats represent bearing many children in Chinese culture.

记者：有没有哪些具有象征意义的食物让外国人大跌眼镜呢？

Interviewee：Yes, for example westerners sometimes balk at the sight of an entire fish lying on a plate, while in China a fish served whole is a symbol of prosperity.

记者：真是太有意思了！与您谈话很开心，也很有收获。谢谢！

Interviewee：The delight is also mine. Thank you!

参考译文：

Journalist:：Mr. Grant, you have been living in China for fifteen years and made quite some researches on Chinese food. Could you talk about how Chinese food culture impresses you generally?

被访者：一直以来饮食在中国文化中都占据重要地位。中国的哲学家老子就曾经说过：“治大国若烹小鲜。”

Journalist:：That’s true. And how do you understand the philosophies embodied in Chinese food culture?

被访者：中餐体现最多的哲学观念就是“阴阳平衡”。每道菜在色、香、味上都能达到“平衡”。

Journalist:：Speaking of color, aroma, and flavor, how do foreigners generally distinguish between Chinese cuisines?

被访者：很多外国人不知道中国有很多菜系。在他们看来，中餐只有南北之分。

Journalist:：Then how do they differentiate between the Northern and Southern styles?

被访者：总的说来北菜偏油、多用葱姜；而南菜，特别是川菜和湘菜则多用辣椒。

Journalist:：How about Cantonese cuising?

被访者：因为粤菜在国外很普遍，很多外国人认为粤菜是一种单独的菜系。粤菜偏甜，而且花样繁多。

Journalist:：Do you like Chinese food and what is your favorite?

被访者：是的，我非常喜欢吃中餐。我爱吃很多菜肴，象豆浆、四川火锅，炸酱面，等等，我都很喜欢。

Journalist:：Do you think Chinese cooking is healthy?

被访者：是的。色、香、味并不是并不是评判一道菜肴的全部标准，菜肴的营养价值在中餐中也很重要。食物中均衡和谐的概念可以追溯到商朝的学者伊尹。

Journalist:：Can you explain?

被访者：伊尹解释了五味与五脏的相关和五味对健康的作用。

Journalist:：You certainly know more about Chinese food than many Chinese.

被访者：那是因为我喜欢中餐啊！实际上很多中餐烹饪中使用的植物，如葱、姜、蒜、木耳等都有防治疾病、减轻病痛的作用。

Journalist:：Yes, the Chinese have a traditional belief in the medicinal value of food, and that food and medicine share the same origin.

被访者：这也可以说是中国营养学的起源。

Journalist:：What is the biggest change to China's restaurant scene since you first arrived in the country 15 years ago?

被访者：最大的变化就是食品和服务质量有了很大提高。新开了很多餐厅，餐厅的装换也从简陋升级到高档。

Journalist:：But I remember you ever said you were worried that some restaurant are focusing too much on decoration.

被访者：是的。我担心随着竞争越来越激烈，人们不得不想出各种花招吸引顾客，从而忽视了最基本的东西，忘记了“吃”本身比装潢和新奇的烹饪方式更重要。

Journalist:：What interests you most in your studies of China’s food culture?

被访者：我觉得中国食物的象征意义最有意思。面条象征长寿，鸡肉是龙凤呈祥里的“凤”，瓜子则象征着多子多孙。

Journalist:：Is there any food symbolism that shocked foreigners?

被访者：有。比如很多西方人看到整条鱼摆在盘子上都会退避三舍，而在中国整条鱼则象征着繁荣兴隆。

Journalist:：Interesting! It has been a delight talking to you and I have learnt a lot. Thank you!

被访者：我也很开心。谢谢！