译者：ken
来源：三泰虎 http://www.santaihu.com
原址：http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indias-fussy-politicians-a-challenge-for-western-diplomatic-chefs/articleshow/43606585.cms
India's fussy politicians a challenge for western diplomatic chefs
印度挑剔的政客，西方外交厨师的挑战
MUMBAI: A week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US, the Indian and Indian-American media were already packing in stories about it. Meanwhile, mainstream American media had barely noticed he was coming, but a Washington Post blog had picked up on the peculiar problem he posed for the White House: how were they to do the usual formal dinner for a man on a strict fast?
孟买 ：在穆迪总理访问美國前一星期，印度和印度人办的美国媒体已经大量报道有关故事。同时美国主流媒体却几乎没注意到他要到来，但华盛顿邮报的一个博客却为白宫挑出了这个古怪的问题：他们怎么为一个正在严格禁食的男子操办常规正式晚宴。
This seems to be a specialty of Indian politicians. Many have personal dietary or restrictions imposed by their religion, and the chefs at the White House and similar places are used to dealing with them.
这似乎成了印度政客们的特色。他们中许多人有自己的饮食节制或其宗教所规定的禁忌，而白宮以及类似地方的大厨们已经习惯于应对他们。
For example, a lot of salmon is served at these events, fish conveniently passes halal and kosher requirements and has a healthy reputation while salmon in particular seems luxurious enough and can be served largely boneless to prevent fears of the chief guest choking.
比如，这些㘯合会用大量三文魚来招待，鱼类很容易通过清真和犹太饮食要求，还有着益于健康的名声，而特别是三文鱼，看起来够排㘯，而且可以基本不带骨刺地上桌，消除了卡着大贵宾的耽忧。
But Indian politicians appear to stump even the most experienced diplomatic chefs, and do it in a way that makes everyone else uncomfortable.
但印度政客看来难住了哪怕最有经验的外交厨师，而且是以一种让所有其他人都不舒服的方式来难你。
Perhaps it is a subtle way to score political points, and their food choices, or non-choices, do tend to cast them in a virtuous, if eccentric light. It certainly makes for memorable media moments, though actual long-term benefits might be questionable.
这也许是一种微妙的政治得分方式，而且他们的食物选项，或者说非选项，确实往往把他们投照在品德高尚、虽然有些古怪的光芒下。这无疑造成一些值得纪念的媒体时刻，虽然真正长期好处可能有问题。
The practice really started with Mahatma Gandhi, though the British had long been aware of the pitfalls of political dining in India, and had learned to have separate cooks for different communities. Gandhi actually simplified matters by making his own food arrangements, which were often in the hands of Mirabehn, the Englishwoman who was originally Madeleine Slade. For Gandhi she was just a useful helper, but some racist Englishmen saw a white woman waiting on an Indian as deliberate provocation.
这种实践真正开始于甘地，尽管英国早就知道印度政治宴会的隐忧，还知道备有针对不同团体的厨师。实际上，甘地用自我安排饮食简化了问题，这类安排常由米拉本，一位原名为M.斯莱德的英国妇女动手。对于甘地，她确是个有用的帮手，但一些种族主义的英国男人把一位白种女人旁侍一个印度人看作故意挑衅。
Lord Irwin, the viceroy, didn't feel this way when, during the Gandhi-Irwin talks in 1931, she was told to bring Gandhi's food to the viceroy's lodge (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) so they didn't have to break the talks to eat. In her autobiography, `The Spirit's Pilgrimage', she recalled that in those days his diet was mostly dates and goat's milk, which she quickly packed along with the metal jail utensils that he had made a point of continuing to use.
1931年甘地、欧文会谈时，总督欧文勋爵，没这么认为。她被告知去总督官邸（现在的总统府）给甘地送饭，这样他们用歺时不必中断谈话。在她自传'精神朝圣'一书中，她回忆，那些日子里他吃的大多是枣子和山羊奶，她很快把食物和他强调要接着使的牢用金属歺具一起打包。
On reaching the palace she was ushered into the viceroy's huge study where, she says, he greeted her with perfect friendliness.The room had a fitted carpet and she didn't want to risk spilling milk on it, but luckily she noticed a corner that was bare. She opened her basket there and poured the hot milk over the dates and gave it to Gandhi to eat.
到达官邸后，她被带入巨大的总督书房，在那儿，她说，他十分友好地向她问候。屋子里铺着地毯，她不想冒险，怕把牛奶翻到上面，但幸运地发现有一角落没铺。她在那儿打开篮子把热奶倒在枣子上，递给甘地吃。
The viceroy was intrigued and asked what it was: "`The Prophet's food,' said Bapu with a smile." Irwin was a devout Christian and would have got the allusion to the Middle East, but could he also have got a perhaps joking reference by Gandhi's own status?
总督十分好奇，于是问那是什么。“先知之食，”圣雄微笑着说。“欧文是个虔诚的基督徒而且也许知道这个中东典故，但他也能理解一个或许是对甘地本身处境自嘲的寓意吗？
The talks were followed by the Round Table conference for which Gandhi went to Europe. The food challenge this posed revolved around goats since Gandhi only drank their milk. It was almost the only protein he took so any shortfall soon had negative effects. Taking a goat on the ship to Europe was no problem, but it became harder once they got to Italy and took a train from there. At Paris, for example, Mirabehn recalled that a beautiful white goat had been provided, but the crowds that had come to see Gandhi were so great she couldn't make her way to the goat.
这次会谈后召开了圆桌会议，为此甘地去了欧洲。这就提出了食物挑战，为了山羊，因为甘地只喝它们的奶。这几乎是他摄取的唯一蛋白质，因此任何短缺很快就有不良影响。带只山羊乘船去欧洲不是问题，可是一旦他们到了意大利，並从那儿搭乘火车，就难多了。在巴黎，例如，米拉本回忆道，提供了一只漂亮的白山羊，但拥来看望甘地的人太多了，她都没法走近山羊。
Gandhi's dietary needs didn't affect his work. But this may not have been the case with Morarji Desai. The problem was not just that Desai had a very restricted diet, but that he tried putting restrictions on others as well. MO Matthai, Jawaharlal Nehru's assistant, recalled how Desai tried to stop Delhi's embassies from serving alcohol, which almost caused a diplomatic incident since embassies are technically not under the jurisdiction of the country they are in.
甘地的食物节制需要並没影响他的工作。可对莫拉尔吉·德赛（慕拉基.德塞是一位著名的印度独立运动活动家，第五任印度总理，第一位非国大党政府总理）来说可能就不是这么回事了。问题不光是德赛的食物禁忌十分严格, 而且他还试图把禁忌强加于他人。MO.马特海，甘地的助手，回忆了德赛是怎样设法阻止驻德里使馆提供酒水的，那几乎引起了一㘯外交风波，因为从技术上讲，使馆並不受在驻国家的法律约束。
But MV Kamath, the journalist, recalled that the real problem came with a dinner for Richard Nixon. In the early 1960s, before he was president of the US, Nixon had come to Delhi and was met by Desai, then a senior minister in Nehru's government. But Nixon was miffed at what he felt was "a meagre reception", with only vegetarian food and no alcohol, a particular hardship for him. When he went to Pakistan after that and was treated lavishly, it fixed his dislike for India and preference for Pakistan, which would cause huge problems when the Bangladesh crisis broke out.
但资深记者MV.马拉斯回忆，真正的问题出在为尼克松举办的宴会上。1960年代初，在当上美国总统之前，尼克松到过印度，德赛与他会面，然后一位尼赫鲁政府的高级部长也会见了他。但尼克松感到“接待寒酸”，颇有不快，仅有素食且无酒水，这对他来说特别难受。之后，当他去巴基斯坦时，受到了盛情款待，这铸就了他对印度的反感和对巴基斯坦的偏向, 这些在后来孟加拉危机爆发时引起了巨大问题。
But the real problem came after Desai became PM in the Janata government and gave an interview to the British journal, the Spectator, where he admitted to following a health regimen of drinking a glass of his urine every day. After that it was the only thing the western media wanted to talk about, and it didn't help that Desai was quite keen to promote urine therapy. Kamath, who was the Times of India's Washington correspondent at the time, moaned that any attempt to convey the Indian government's policy was wasted in talking about urine therapy.
但真正的麻烦出现在德赛成为人民党（注：不同于现在的人民党）政府总理並接受英国杂志'旁观者'釆访之后，采访中他承认，按着一个健康养生之道，每天饮用一杯自己的小便。自那以后，这就成了西方媒体唯一想谈的东西，德赛很热衷推广尿疗法，而这並无帮助。卡马斯，当时印度时报驻华盛顿记者抱怨道，所有传递印度政府政策的努力都白废在尿疗闲聊中了。
When the PM went abroad, jokes about urine therapy followed. Luckily President Jimmy Carter knew better than to refer to them when he hosted Desai, and toasted him with a glass of plain water, rather than the usual wine. The meal was referred to as a Working Dinner, perhaps to justify its simplicity. Much to the relief of diplomats, both Indian and those of the host countries, India's other prime ministers have not posed such problems. Indira Gandhi seems to have liked most foods and in a visit during PV Narasimha Rao's time, the German Chancellor Helmut Kohl recalled sending her German sausages, for which he got a letter of thanks that, tragically, he only got tragically, he only got two days after her assassination.
当这位总理出国时，有关尿疗的笑话尾随而行。幸好吉米．卡特总统在接待德赛时了解得比所说更深，並且用一杯白水，而非往常用的葡萄酒，向他祝酒。那顿饭被称为工作正歺，也许是为了证明它的简单。让印度和那些接待国家的外交人员大松一口气的是，印度其他总理並没弄出这种问题。英德拉．甘地似乎对大多数食品都喜欢，在拉奥(印度第10任总理）时代她访问德国时，德国总理科尔回忆起赠给她德国香肠，为此他收到一封感谢信，噩耗，他得到的只是噩耗，他在她遇刺后2天才收到那封信。
The previous BJP PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also happy to eat varied foods. On a visit to Cambodia, King Norodom Sihanouk, another food lover, served an Indian banquet with prawn curry and chicken tikka, for which he flew in chefs from Singapore and personally tried it all beforehand (one gets the impression the k ing used the visit as a way to indulge in Indian food!) At a dinner for Vajpayee thrown by President Bill Clinton, the White House kitchen, doubtless happy to put Desai's disappointments behind them, tried Indo-American fusion with dishes such as chicken smoked in Darjeeling tea.
前人民党总理A．B．瓦杰帕伊(第11任印度总理）也喜欢吃各种食品。一次出访柬埔寨，诺罗埻．西哈努克亲王，另一位美食爱好者，举办了一次印度风味的宴会，摆上了咖喱对虾和鸡块，为此他从新加坡空运来厨师，並预先尝了个遍（给人的印象是这位亲王利用这次访问大饱印度美食口福！）在一次克林顿为瓦杰帕伊举办的宴会上，白宮厨房，毫无疑问很乐意忘却德赛的扫兴，试着做了印 - 美结合的风味菜肴，比如用大吉岭红茶（产于印度大吉岭）熏制的鸡肉。
The last PM, Manmohan Singh, was also a frugal eater, but didn't impose his discipline on others. A dinner thrown for him by President George Bush in 2005 featured the inevitable fish (pan-roasted Halibut) with basmati rice as the one Indian accented accompaniment. The dessert though featured chocolate lotuses to eat with ice cream and one wonders what Singh made of this edible symbol of the opposing party.Perhaps it is just as well for the White House that PM Modi's water diet will prevent even an inadvertent food faux pas like this from being served.
最后一位总理，M．辛格, 也是个饮食简朴的人，但没把自己的规矩强加给别人。2005年，布什总统为他办了次宴会，主菜是照列必有的魚（锅煎大比目鱼），配上印度香米饭,作为印度风味的佐食。尽管甜食主打是莲子巧克力，配上冰淇淋，人们不禁要问，对于对方主人这好吃的象征，辛格怎么看。穆迪总理的饮水食谱会防止哪怕是象这样无意的失礼食品被摆上来，或许这也正是为白宫而设想的。
以下为评论：
译者：ken
来源：三泰虎 http://www.santaihu.com/2014100907.html
Chills Abraham (USA)
Quirky? 1. We are PURE… vegetarians.. 2. I am vegetarian on Tuesdays and Thursdays 3. I do fasting every alternative Saturdays or during odd (opposite of even) weeks. 4. Beef strictly no. (but in USA and abroad, animals are not holy) 5. Please ensure proper tadka. 6. Do you have ghee? Do you have curd? Do you have Salaaadh? Do you have paan? 7. Something must be there.. even beer will do.
古怪？1. 我们是纯粹的…素食者… 2．我每逢周二、周四吃素 3. 我隔周或在单（非双数）周周六禁食。4. 严禁牛肉（但在美国或海外，动物並非圣物）5. 务保正确回锅爆香。6）有（印度）酥油（印度液态奶油）吗？有酸奶吗？…
Hemant Khanna (Mumbai(Bombay))
Maybe western chefs are not smart enough - Indian chefs wouldn't be complaining. Practice of ones religious beliefs is paramount.
可能西方厨师不够精明 - 印度厨子不会抱怨。践行个人宗教信仰至高无上。
Kallol (Location)
Actually Western chefs have less idea of India's diverse food habits. One of my friend who is a vegetarian once ordered a Veg Sandwich in an US food outlet just outside his office. To his utter annoyance the guy serving the sandwich garnished it with Egg Mayonnaise before serving, totally unaware of the vegan food habits.
西方厨师对印度多样的食物习惯真的了解不多。我一个吃素朋友有次就在他办公室外的一个美国外卖店订了个素食三明治，端来之前，那家伙给三明治挤上了蛋黄酱，让他真恼了，完全不懂素食习惯。
Sameer Rai (Unknown)
Wonderful article and it is not politician - even if as a common man we are invited by westerners they are really stressed on what to offer in the food...... luckily Indian cuisine is famous across the globe so no hassles now :)
好文章。而且不光是政客 - 即使作为普通人当我们受西人邀请时，他们都为请吃什么而烦心…幸好印度饭菜闻名全球，所以现在不用烦心了
anonymous (India)
Serving vegetarians like Modi should be the easiest thing on earth. The rule is : No fish, no meat, no chicken and no egg. Vegetables only.
侍候穆迪这样吃斋的人应该是地球上最简单的事情。准则是：不用魚、不用肉、不用鸡或蛋。只上蔬菜。