Longreads Best of 2020: Food

Through December, we’re featuring Longreads’ Best of 2020.

整个 12 月，我们都会精选 Longreads 的 2020 年最佳作品。

After revisiting the food stories picked by the team this year, we’ve narrowed down our favorites.

在重新审视团队今年挑选的美食故事后，我们缩小了我们最喜欢的范围。

Whether you are a fan of marmalade, bagels, or sushi, we hope you find something you enjoy.

无论您是果酱、百吉饼还是寿司的粉丝，我们都希望您能找到自己喜欢的东西。

If you like these, you can sign up to receive our weekly email every Friday.

如果您喜欢这些，您可以注册以每周五接收我们的每周电子邮件。

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## Flimsy Plastic Knives, a Single Microwave, and Empty Popcorn Bags: How 50 Inmates Inside a Michigan Prison Prepared a Feast to Celebrate the Life of George Floyd (Tana Ganeva, The Counter)

## 脆弱的塑料刀、一个微波炉和空爆米花袋：密歇根监狱内的 50 名囚犯如何准备一场盛宴来庆祝乔治·弗洛伊德的一生（Tana Ganeva，The Counter）

This is a story that puts you through a whole gamut of emotion — from frustration, admiration, joy, to sadness — all while discussing fried rice on a bagel.

这个故事让你在讨论百吉饼炒饭的同时经历各种情感——从沮丧、钦佩、喜悦到悲伤。

The protagonist behind the bagel is Michael Thompson, an inmate of Muskegon Correctional Facility in Michigan, who has served 25 years of a 40- to 60-year sentence for selling marijuana in Michigan, a state where cannabis is now legal.

百吉饼背后的主角是密歇根州马斯基根惩教所的囚犯迈克尔·汤普森(Michael Thompson)，他因在密歇根州出售大麻而被判40至60年徒刑，已服刑25年，该州大麻现已合法。

But it is not his own plight that is concerning Thompson — he has been moved by the story of a Black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer — George Floyd.

但汤普森关心的并不是他自己的困境——他被明尼阿波利斯警察乔治·弗洛伊德杀害的黑人的故事所感动。

Wanting to find a way to mark Floyd’s death, Thompson decided to share a special meal with his inmates in a “celebration” honoring Floyd’s life.

为了纪念弗洛伊德的去世，汤普森决定与他的囚犯们分享一顿特别的晚餐，以“庆祝”弗洛伊德的一生。

Such a simple concept is a monumental task in prison — and you feel great pride in the inmates you are joining on this mission.

这样一个简单的概念在监狱里却是一项艰巨的任务——你对与你一起参与这项任务的囚犯感到非常自豪。

First, there is the issue of money — Thompson wanted to feed the whole unit, but resources meant it had to be capped at 50 inmates.

首先，存在资金问题——汤普森想要养活整个牢房，但资源意味着该牢房的囚犯人数必须限制在 50 名。

Some food was donated, and the rest Thompson bought from the commissary.

一些食物是捐赠的，其余的汤普森从小卖部购买。

Then there were tools — the entire operation had to be carried out using “only flimsy plastic knives, a single microwave, and empty popcorn bags.” The men struggled, tearing their hands up with plastic while cutting, but at the end, each “attendee was served one celebration bagel, a bag of chips, and a soda.” And that food was so appreciated — for some, the first cold pop they had drunk for decades.

然后还有工具——整个操作必须“仅使用脆弱的塑料刀、一台微波炉和空爆米花袋”来完成。这些人挣扎着，在切割时用塑料撕破了他们的手，但最后，“每位与会者都得到了一个庆祝百吉饼、一袋薯条和一瓶苏打水”。这些食物非常受欢迎——对一些人来说，这是他们几十年来第一次喝的冷汽水。

More than just the enjoyment of the food, this meal brought the men together, even though they had to eat separately, because: “After they returned to their cells, each man sat in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

这顿饭不仅仅是享受食物，还让这些人聚在一起，尽管他们必须分开吃饭，因为：“他们回到牢房后，每个人都安静地坐了 8 分 46 秒。

And then they began to eat.”

然后他们就开始吃饭了。”

## Why Grocery Shopping Is on Its Way Out (Cory Mintz, The Walrus)

## 为什么杂货店购物正在消失（Cory Mintz，海象）

As a food writer, Corey Mintz loves a supermarket more than most — in fact, he got married in one: “between the cash register, the root-vegetable table, a group of …

作为一名美食作家，科里·明茨 (Corey Mintz) 比大多数人都更喜欢超市——事实上，他在其中结了婚：“在收银机、根类蔬菜桌子、一群……之间

friends and family, and a display of maple syrup.” In this piece, he gives us a fascinating history of the supermarket, whilst bemoaning what is unwittingly being lost by more and more people as they choose to order their groceries online.

朋友和家人，还有枫糖浆的展示。”在这篇文章中，他向我们讲述了超市的迷人历史，同时哀叹越来越多的人在选择网上订购杂货时无意中失去了一些东西。

Written just before COVID-19 hit in full force, the topic is eerily prophetic of things to come.

该主题写于 COVID-19 全面爆发之前，令人毛骨悚然地预言了即将发生的事情。

When Mintz discusses the loss of “getting out of the house; the freedom of choice; being in a large, expansive space; the visual stimulation of all that abundance on the shelves,” he was unaware that the arrival of the pandemic was soon to rush this reality to the fore for millions.

当明茨讨论失去“走出家门、选择的自由、身处宽敞的空间、货架上丰富的视觉刺激”时，他没有意识到，大流行的到来很快就会让数百万人的这一现实突显出来。

However, as mental health deteriorates alongside isolation in 2020, the accuracy of some of Mintz’s other points is undeniable: The idea that interactions with local storeowners — or “weak ties” — “improve physical and mental health and …

然而，随着 2020 年心理健康状况随着隔离而恶化，明茨的其他一些观点的准确性是不可否认的：与当地店主的互动（或“弱关系”）“可以改善身心健康……

reduces loneliness.”

减少孤独感。”

This year supermarkets have been bombarded by a new wave of online customers, and the herculean feat it takes to get a delivery slot suggests that the figures in this article — that 1.5 ­percent of people in Canada and 3 percent in the U.S. order their food online — are already out of date.

今年，超市受到了新一波在线顾客的轰炸，而获得送货时段所需的艰辛表明，本文中的数据——1.5% 的加拿大人和 3% 的美国人在网上订购食物——已经过时了。

Now that people have discovered the delight of bananas and chocolate biscuits turning up at their door will they ever go back to their local supermarkets?

既然人们已经发现了香蕉和巧克力饼干出现在他们家门口的乐趣，他们还会回到当地的超市吗？

If these community interactions are lost on a permanent basis, what is the long-term cost?

如果这些社区互动永久消失，长期成本是多少？

Mintz will certainly be hoping that in the future we remember that “while other human beings can be annoying—clipping our nails on the subway, calling instead of texting, disrespecting the unwritten rule that the middle seat on a plane gets armrest preference—we need one another.”

明茨当然希望我们在未来记住“虽然其他人可能很烦人——在地铁上剪指甲、打电话而不是发短信、不尊重飞机上中间座位有扶手优先权的不成文规定——但我们需要彼此。”

## Marmalade: A Very British Obsession (Olivia Potts, Longreads)

## 果酱：一种非常英国式的痴迷（奥利维亚·波茨，长读）

This essay resonates with the pure joy that a particular food can bring, but it’s not the most obvious of foods — a bitter citrus fruit boiled in sugar to create a breakfast condiment …

这篇文章与某种特定食物所能带来的纯粹快乐产生共鸣，但这并不是最明显的食物——一种苦柑橘类水果，用糖煮沸，制成早餐调味品……

a.k.a marmalade.

又名果酱。

Potts’ language draws you into the kitchen with her as she brews up her concoctions, so you can almost feel the steam and stickiness as she drops “saffron strands into a couple of the jars, stirring last minute, and they hang, suspended in the jelly, perfect threads.” The pleasure she derives from her “potted sunshine” is apparent, but more fascinating is the complicated world of marmalade that she explores.

波茨的语言吸引你和她一起走进厨房，一起泡她的混合物，所以当她把“藏红花丝放入几个罐子里，最后一刻搅拌，它们悬挂在果冻中，完美的线状”时，你几乎可以感受到蒸汽和粘性。她从“盆栽阳光”中获得的快乐是显而易见的，但更令人着迷的是她探索的复杂的果酱世界。

A central theme of British culture — eaten by Samuel Pepys, James Bond, and Paddington Bear — it inspires fanaticism.

英国文化的一个中心主题——塞缪尔·佩皮斯、詹姆斯·邦德和帕丁顿熊都吃过它——它激发了狂热。

Invited to judge at the World’s Original Marmalade Awards, Potts discovers that “the tricky, maddening nature of marmalade is precisely why people love making it.”

波茨受邀担任世界原创果酱奖评委，他发现“果酱的棘手、令人疯狂的本质正是人们喜欢制作它的原因。”

Along with Potts, we brace ourselves “for the marmalade obsessives” she would find while judging for four days at Dalemain.

我们和波茨一起做好准备，迎接她在戴尔曼评判四天时会发现的“果酱痴迷者”。

And yes, 50 sheep were dyed orange in readiness for this year’s festival, but despite herself, Potts finds herself entranced by this eccentric world, and when she is the first to try the marmalade that ultimately won the Double Gold International Marmalade award in the artisan category, she “wanted to ring everyone I know and tell them about this stuff.” It turns out the subculture of marmalade is rather delightful.

是的，有 50 只羊被染成橙色，为今年的节日做好准备，但尽管如此，波茨还是发现自己被这个古怪的世界迷住了，当她第一个尝试最终获得国际果酱工匠类别双金奖的​​果酱时，她“想给我认识的每个人打电话，告诉他们这个东西。”事实证明，果酱的亚文化相当令人愉快。

Once back at home, and in a global lockdown, Potts finds comfort in making her own marmalade: “there is something inherently optimistic about preservation, about putting something away for your future.”

回到家后，在全球封锁期间，波茨在自己制作果酱中找到了安慰：“对于保存，为未来保留一些东西，本质上是乐观的。”

Read this loving homage to marmalade, and you too will find “a small optimism, a hope of orange-colored happiness in your future.”

阅读这封对果酱充满爱意的敬意，你也会发现“一点点乐观，对未来橙色幸福的希望。”

## The Sacred Ritual of Meals with My Mother (Marie Mutsuki Mockett, Elle)

## 与母亲一起用餐的神圣仪式（Marie Mutsuki Mockett，Elle）

In this essay, Marie Mutsuki Mockett evokes the vivid associations we can have with food.

在这篇文章中，玛丽·睦月·莫克特（Marie Mutsuki Mockett）唤起了我们与食物的生动联想。

She argues that the food of our youth — given to us by our mothers — formulates our palette for the rest of our lives.

她认为，我们年轻时的食物——母亲给我们的食物——决定了我们余生的调色板。

As a teenager, in the hospital with pneumonia, Mockett craved “Japanese soul food” — her mother brought her pickled sour plums, rice, and seasoned ground beef, and her “body reconstituted itself out of her nourishment.” Even today, when she is sick, she yearns for those flavors.

十几岁的时候，莫克特因肺炎住院，渴望“日本灵魂食物”——她的母亲给她带来了腌酸梅、米饭和调味碎牛肉，她的“身体在她的营养中自我重组”。即使今天，当她生病时，她仍然渴望那些味道。

Now the tables have turned, and with her mother aging, it is Mockett who is bringing meals that bring her comfort, such as elegant flats of sushi with “the spinach …

现在情况发生了转变，随着她母亲的衰老，莫克特为她带来了一些让她感到安慰的饭菜，比如优雅的寿司配上“菠菜……”

steamed, the water squeezed out, and the leaves placed into strips.” Despite her mother leaving Japan for the United States decades earlier, it is the food she grew up with, and taught her daughter to love, that they share — their personal and regional history interwoven.

蒸熟，沥干水分，把叶子切成条状。”尽管她的母亲几十年前离开日本前往美国，但他们分享的是伴随她长大并教导女儿热爱的食物——他们的个人历史和地区历史交织在一起。

COVID-19 has now robbed Mockett of the chance to share meals with her mother — whose nursing home was one of the first to shut its doors to visitors.

现在，新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 使莫克特失去了与母亲共进餐的机会，而她母亲的疗养院是最早对访客关闭的疗养院之一。

She manages to express her devastation with a simple, yet searing, description: “Sometimes I get a photo of her eating her meals.

她设法用一个简单却又灼人的描述来表达她的悲痛：“有时我会得到一张她吃饭的照片。

There is no sushi on her plate.”

她的盘子里没有寿司。”

## My Restaurant Was My Life for 20 Years.

## 20 年来，我的餐厅就是我的生活。

Does the World Need It Anymore?

世界还需要它吗？

(Gabrielle Hamilton, New York Times Magazine)

（加布里埃尔·汉密尔顿，纽约时报杂志）

This year has been a struggle for many small restaurants — with so many having to shut their doors.

今年对许多小餐馆来说都是艰难的一年，很多餐馆不得不关门歇业。

In this piece, Gabrielle Hamilton tells the story of the closure hers — Prune — but it is the tale of many.

在这篇文章中，加布里埃尔·汉密尔顿 (Gabrielle Hamilton) 讲述了她的封闭故事——Prune——但这是许多人的故事。

Written from a first-person perspective this is a deeply personal essay that exposes the pain of shuttering a lifelong dream.

这是一篇以第一人称视角写成的深刻的个人文章，揭露了放弃终生梦想的痛苦。

Prune was 20 years old when the gates were finally rolled down.

当大门最终被推倒时，普鲁恩已经 20 岁了。

A bistro in Manhattan’s East Village, when it was born “there was no Eater, no Instagram, no hipster Brooklyn food scene.” Hamilton worked seven nights a week “driven by the sensory, the human, the poetic and the profane — not by money or a thirst to expand.” However, once she cut her first payroll check, she understood, that poetic notion aside, she was running a business.

曼哈顿东村的一家小酒馆诞生时，“没有 Eater，没有 Instagram，也没有布鲁克林时髦的美食场景。”汉密尔顿每周工作七个晚上，“受到感官、人性、诗意和世俗的驱动——而不是金钱或扩张的渴望。”然而，一旦她削减了第一笔工资支票，她就明白了，撇开这个诗意的想法不谈，她正在经营一家企业。

When COVID-19 hit there was “one piece of unemotional data to work with: the checking account balance,” and there was not enough in it.

当 COVID-19 来袭时，“有一个非情绪化的数据可供使用：支票账户余额”，但其中的数据还不够。

It took a week to shut the restaurant.

餐厅花了一周时间才关门。

A week of cleaning and “burying par-cooked chickens under a tight seal of duck fat to see if we could keep them perfectly preserved in their airtight coffins.”

一周的清洁工作，“将半熟的鸡埋在鸭油的密封下，看看我们是否能将它们完美地保存在密封的棺材里。”

Then followed weeks of paperwork — desperately applying for grants and unemployment that failed to appear.

接下来是数周的文书工作——拼命申请补助金和失业金，但没有出现。

Then further weeks of idleness and quarantine, and the realization that although there was still a month of food in the freezer, what about somehow getting hurt and needing serious medical care with no insurance?

然后又是几周的无所事事和隔离，并意识到虽然冰箱里还有一个月的食物，但不知何故受伤并需要严重的医疗护理而没有保险怎么办？

More questions followed: Is Prune necessary?

更多问题随之而来：修剪有必要吗？

Will restaurants survive the pandemic?

餐厅能在疫情中幸存吗？

Having decided against delivery and going online, sticking to her vision of her restaurant “as a place for people to talk to one another, with a very decent but affordable glass of wine and an expertly prepared plate of simply braised lamb shoulder,” Prune’s shutters are still down.

在决定不再送货并转向网上后，普鲁恩的百叶窗仍然关闭，她坚持自己的餐厅“作为一个人们相互交谈的地方，提供一杯非常体面但价格实惠的葡萄酒和一盘精心准备的简单红烧羊肩肉”的愿景。

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