At a local supermarket, two women push half-filled grocery cart. The ladies are good friends, but they couldn't be more different. One is a stay-at-home housewife who loves to create culinary masterpieces from scratch. The other is a training supervisor¹ at a prestigious² advertising³ agency. Household chores particularly those in the kitchen, are not her idea of fun. The two ladies stop for a moment in the frozen foods section. "I'm so tired," sighs the professional woman. "I don't know what to do about supper. Her friend suggests, "What about a microwave dinner?" The weary professional sighs，I don't feel like cooking tonight. "

在一间本地的超市里，两位女士推着半满的购物车。这两位女士是好朋友，但两人之间的差异是大得不能再大了。一位是持家的主妇，她喜欢大展厨艺，从全生的作料，一步一步创造佳肴杰作。另一位是在一家颇具声望的广告公司任职人事训练主管。家务琐事，特别是厨房事，并非她乐趣所在。二位女士在冷冻食物区前停了一会儿。职业妇女叹道我好累，我不知晚餐要做什么好。"她的朋友建议说何不来一顿微波炉晚餐。" 这位疲惫的职业妇女又叹道："不，我今晚不想做饭。"

If you think American cooking means opening a package and tossing the contents into the microwave, think again. On the one hand, it's bun that Americans thrive on cold cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and instant dinners from busy homemakers to professional people, many Americans enjoy the convenience of prepackaged meals that can be ready to serve in 10 minutes or less. On the other hand, many Americans recognize the value of cooking skills. Parents -especially molders -see the importance of training their children -especially daughters- in the culinary ails⁴. Most Americans will admit that there's nothing better than a good home-cooked meal. But with cooking, as with any other skill, good results don't happen by accident.

假如您以为美式烹饪就是打开一个料理罐头而将里头的东西放进微波炉加热，那你得改变想法了。从某一方面来说，美国人以早餐的冷麦片，午餐时的三明治及快餐式的晚餐而发育健壮，这倒是真的。从忙碌的家庭主妇到上班族，许多美国人喜欢享受事先包装好的便餐所带来的方便，这些速餐在不到10分钟内就可上桌。从另一个角度来看，许多美国人都认同厨艺的价值。父母亲——特别是妈妈看到教育孩子，尤其是女儿，烹饪艺术的重要性。大多数的美国人都承认没有什么比得上一顿自家做的餐点。而谈到烹饪，一如其它的技巧，好的成果并非偶然天成的。

For those who need guidance in their working，or for those who have just run out of ideas, recipes are lifesavers. Recipes list all the ingredients for a dish (generally in the order used), the amount of each to use, and a description of how to put them together. Finding recipes in America is as easy as pie. Most good cooks have a shelf full of cookbooks ranging from locally published recipe collections to national bestsellers like the Betty Croeker cookbook. Magazines devoted⁵ to home management, such as Good Housekeeping and Family Circle , are chock-full of scrumptious selections. Friends often augment⁶ their recipe collection by passing around their favorites written on cards.

对于那些在烹饪方面需要指导、或已江郎才尽的人，食谱就是救星。食谱列出做每一道菜所需要的所有材料(通常是依照使用的顺序列出)，每一种的用量以及如何将它们搭配的说明。在美国寻找食谱可谓易如反掌。大多数的好厨师们都有一架子的食谱，从本地出版的各式食谱到像"贝蒂·克劳克"的全国畅销食谱。一般理家杂志，如"好管家"及"家庭圈"都满满地刊载很多美味的精选食谱。朋友们经常把自己最爱的食谱写在卡片上，相互传阅，来增加自己的食谱收藏。

For experienced books, true artists that they are, recipes are merely reference points. They often make adjustments as they go along, depending on the quantity of people they need to serve，the ingredients they have available and their personal taste. Some cooks use recipes very little， preferring instead to depend on their inluiliun as they add a pinch of this and a dash of that to cereal just the right fla vors.

对于经验丰富的厨师，他们是真正的艺术家，食谱仅仅是作为参考，他们常常一边做菜，一边依照他们宴请的人数，现有的作料以及个人的口味，来调整食谱。有些厨师们很少参照食谱，反而比较喜欢凭自己的直觉加一点这个，加一点那个，来做出刚好的味道。

Of course, Americans don't have a corner on the market when it comes to good cooking. Wherever you go in the world, people love to eat. As a result, every culture and nationality has its own share of mouth-watering delicacies⁷. And America, as a "land of immigrants," has imported practically all varieties of cooking. Most good cooks in America are "fluent" in sever⁸ cooking "dialects": Mexican, Italian, Chinese and old good American style, just to name a few. But whatever the dialect, cooking is a language everyone understands.

当然，谈到好厨艺，美国人并非独占鳌头，无论您到世界何处，人们总是爱吃。所以，每一个文化及国家都有它特有的、令人垂涎三尺的佳肴。而美国，这个"移民之池"实际上也引进了各式的烹调。在美国大多数的名厨对于几种烹饪"方言"都很"流利"。随便举几个例子：墨西哥、意大利、中国以及传统美国风味。且不论哪一种"方言烹饪“是一种人人皆懂的语言。