台中的東泉辣椒醬最近因為一篇文章突然成為全國知名品牌。作家劉克襄的台中人的早餐在哪文章一出來，瞬間讓台中人同仇敵愾，連劉克襄都感覺自己變成黃安了。大概是覺得自己被誤會受了委屈，劉克襄又再發表了為什麼要談早餐。表示台中不是沒有好吃的早餐，而是早餐的文化傳承幾近消失，世代的共同記憶不再，希望大家能夠重視。
就在眾人紛紛貼出美食地圖的同時，東泉辣椒醬也從在地品牌一躍成了網路上當紅話題。下次去台中，一定要試試黃麵佐東泉辣椒醬(有佐品味馬上升級)，體會一下這種搭配為何歷久彌新，了解這一味如何能夠抓住在地人的胃。
這個禮拜上的時代雜誌即時精修班，剛好講到兩篇關於食物的文章。跟托福寫作與 GRE 寫作有密切關係，可以拿出來跟大家分享。
In City of Gold, One Writer’s Quest to Eat, Play, Love 是時代雜誌影評人Stephanie Zacharek 對以洛杉磯時報的美食評論家Jonathan Gold 為主角的紀錄片 City of Gold 所做的評論。其中第一句就與劉克襄的文章相呼應：
To eat your way through a city is to find its heart.
想要嚐透一個城市，就要先找到其關鍵核心。
這句拿來寫作文太好用了！換兩個字就可以用其他地方：
To read your way through a book is to find its heart.
想要讀透一本書，就要先找到其關鍵核心。To watch your way through a film is to find its heart.
想要看透一部電影，就要先找到其關鍵核心。
Gold 對於洛杉磯瞭如指掌，捨金碧輝煌的華麗餐館，而專門尋找巷弄美食：
As passionate about his hometown of Los Angeles as he is about tracking down the most sublime taco, Gold has built a career by fanning out into the city’s marvelously varied ethnic neighborhoods to find the out-of-the-way gems that most traditional restaurant critics would ignore.
這裡 as ... as + 省略 + 倒裝的句型一定要學。而 fanning out into ... neighborhoods 穿梭大街小巷，好有畫面
Gold 以他的生花妙筆，讓美食的色香味躍然紙上，在 2007 年成為第一位以美食評論獲得普立茲獎的作家，寫作功力無庸置疑：
加州大學柏克萊分校的教授 Michael Dear 就推崇 Gold，認為他的美食饗宴已經成了洛杉磯地圖了：Beyond his curiosity and good humor, Gold is a sensational writer, able to parse the elusive intricacies of a superspicy Korean soup or a bold, velvety Ethiopian stew in a way that makes you forget you don’t actually have a spoon or a triangle of bread in your hand.
Beyond his curiosity and good humor 好奇與幽默之餘：學學用 beyond，不要只想到用 except。
這個 parse the elusive intricacies of a superspicy Korean soup 梳理辣死人的韓國湯品中那些難以捉摸的錯綜複雜，連翻譯出中文都覺得好美
Gold is a critic of urban living, supremely attuned to the diversity of Los Angeles. His culinary mapping becomes a cartography of the region.
托福的寫作很喜歡考「古今對照型」的題目。曾經多次出過的一個題目，問考生是否同意：「二十年後，人們花在烹飪上的時間會比現在少。(People will spend less time cooking or preparing food in twenty years than they do today.)」。本周時代雜誌的文章How I Taught Myself to Cook–With a Kit就提供了很好的反方論點，認為由於 meal kit 的出現，讓烹飪變簡單，所以原本許多遠庖廚的君子或淑女，或許會願意拿起鍋鏟下廚去。懶人包 Meal kit 業者將烹飪某道菜餚所需的食材準備好，用保鮮方式包裝販售。用戶買回家拆封之後，按照所附食譜，依樣畫葫蘆，一道菜就完成了。根據市場研究報告指出，2015 年這個懶人包市場達到 10 億美金，2020年時預期會到 100 億美金。
How I Taught Myself to Cook–With a Kit一文由時代雜誌國際版主編 Bryan Walsh 執筆，以第一人稱說自己在過去一年期間利用懶人包中 787 種不同的食材，煮出 144 道菜，好吃到老婆都讚不絕口。文字風格幽默，值得大家去看看原文。下面摘錄出兩段精彩文字，分享各位。建議要考托福的同學，仔細看兩遍，一定有用。
I didn’t nail every recipe from the start. When I was done with the beef in the Beef Gyritos on Mini Pitas With Tzatziki–the third meal kit I tried–it had a texture best described as shoe-leathery. And this isn’t the cheapest way to make dinner. Expect to pay $8 to $12 per person per meal.
But here’s the thing about cooking: if you do it long enough and you retain all your fingers, you will get better. Over the past year, I’ve cooked 144 different meals using 787 unique ingredients. I’ve learned how to poach, roast, stir-fry and sear. I’ve made Mexican food and Greek food and however you’d classify Spicy Beet and Spinach Stir-Fry Over Sesame Rice. My wife tells me my Thai Pork Larb Lettuce Wraps are to die for, and I’m 90% sure she’s not just saying that.
nail 在這裡指，經過一段時間的努力之後，終於成功做成某件事。雖然是口語的用法，但在這上下文中就很合適。
But here’s the thing about cooking: if you do it long enough and you retain all your fingers, you will get better.煮飯就是這樣，只要你持之以恆，沒有把手指頭切掉，那一定會越來越厲害。好棒的句子，把 cooking 換成 learning, studying 都可以，當然，retain all your fingers要跟著改就是了。
poach, roast, stir-fry, and sear 水煮、烤、炒、炙，一定要看得懂。
