導(dǎo)讀五種最美味的夏季水果TheBestFruitsofSummer,Ranked紐約時(shí)報(bào)中文網(wǎng)2018年5月24日Theseasonformostsummerf....

五種最美味的夏季水果

The Best Fruits of Summer, Ranked

紐約時(shí)報(bào)中文網(wǎng)

2018年5月24日

The season for most summer fruits is short. In some cases, it’s not short enough. Mulberries, reaching the peak of their stewed-shoe flavor and falling one by one to the ground, noticed only by flies? Nope. Black currants, useful only for crème de cassis, and then only if you have a broad definition of “useful”? No, thanks. Honeydews, indestructible totems of hotel breakfast buffets? Not until all the batter at the make-your-own waffle station is gone, and probably not even then.

大多數(shù)夏季水果的季節(jié)很短。有的在到達(dá)美味巔峰時(shí)就會(huì)從樹(shù)上掉落，比如桑葚；有的只能用來(lái)制作飲品或調(diào)料，比如黑加侖。這個(gè)夏天，我要等下面的五種水果上市。它們憑借口感、簡(jiǎn)單方便的吃法贏得了這個(gè)名單上的位置，但每一種是完美的，只要你拿起它，吃起來(lái)。

I’ll wait for the five charmers below. They earned their positions by their versatility, although each one can be perfect if you just, you know, pick it up and eat it.

5 覆盆子

5. Raspberries

在漿果中，它們的滋味最讓人感到愉快，但新鮮度消失得也很快。在市場(chǎng)上看起來(lái)像一籃紅寶石，到了你家門口就變得稀爛。美國(guó)人似乎忘記了新鮮的覆盆子汁有多好，也可以用它們來(lái)制作冰淇淋圣代。單獨(dú)放一些糖，靜置15分鐘后，它們可以作為一塊蛋糕頂部的裝飾，唯一的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手就是草莓。不過(guò)，與草莓不同的是，覆盆子在烹飪時(shí)不會(huì)變得軟塌。如果你能用公道的價(jià)格買到它，試試做果醬吧。在325度溫度下，用糖烘烤20分鐘左右，然后攪拌使糖溶解，就會(huì)變成非常疏松的果醬。它不能保存很久，但它嘗起來(lái)就像早晨的陽(yáng)光。

They have the cheeriest and most hopeful flavor of the berries, but act fast. What looked like a basket of jewels at the market can turn to mush by the time you get to your front door. Americans seem to be forgetting how good fresh raspberry purée can be — strain and sweeten it, and you are two-thirds of the way to peach Melba, or an ice cream sundae. Left alone with some sugar for 15 minutes they will also give you a topping for shortcake or angel food cake, whose only near rival is a mound of macerated strawberries. Unlike strawberries, though, raspberries don’t lose their spirit when you cook them. If you can get a flat or two at a decent price, make jam right away. But just a pint, baked with their weight in sugar at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or so and then stirred to dissolve the sugar, will make a very loose jam. (Darina Allen goes into more detail, but not much more, in her book “Forgotten Skills of Cooking.”) It won’t keep long, but it will taste like the morning sun.

4 桃子

4. Peaches

桃子幾乎是不會(huì)出錯(cuò)的。用手拿著啃，即使吃相亂七八糟也無(wú)所謂。放進(jìn)酥皮水果餡餅里同樣美味。還沒(méi)熟透的桃子可以丟進(jìn)沙拉或煎鍋里，幾分鐘后放上黃油和調(diào)料（多香果？茴香籽？藏紅花？）它們準(zhǔn)備好了迎接烤鴨肉、豬排或火腿切片。但是要留意，完全成熟的桃子保鮮時(shí)限非常短。如果在溫度高的下午，幾個(gè)小時(shí)就足以讓它們長(zhǎng)滿霉菌。

A peach is almost impossible to screw up. Eaten out of hand, it is the best kind of mess. A quart or more in a cobbler, pie, slump, crisp, crumble, betty or buckle is always good, even if the baker isn’t. Before they’re ripe, peaches can slip into a salad or a skillet, where after a few minutes with butter and seasoning (allspice? fennel seed? saffron? sage?) they are ready to meet grilled duck, pork chops or a sliced ham. Once they’re soft all over, eat or cook without delay. Even a few hours in a fruit bowl on a summer afternoon is enough to fur them with mold, after which emergency measures may or may not help.

3 藍(lán)莓

3. Blueberries

藍(lán)莓是唯一原產(chǎn)于北美的夏季水果。它們之所以能獲得高排名，部分原因是它們經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)在野外，遍布山谷草地和山頂。生長(zhǎng)在地面的灌木里有最顏色最深、個(gè)頭最小、甜度最高的藍(lán)莓，而高灌木品種可以更快地裝滿你的帽子或籃子。一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的藍(lán)莓就足夠做薄煎餅、松餅或一碗早餐麥片了。吃一大碗藍(lán)莓本身就是一種奢侈。然而，另一個(gè)讓它們進(jìn)入前三名的特點(diǎn)是，只要把一小撮藍(lán)莓加入到任何用核果或其他漿果制成的食物中，就能在視覺(jué)和味覺(jué)上產(chǎn)生爆炸的效果。

Blueberries are the only big-deal summer fruit that is native to North America. They earn their high ranking in part by appearing so often in the wild, spread across valley meadows and mountaintop clearings. The ground-hugging, scrubby bushes have the darkest, smallest, most concentrated fruit, while the high-bush varieties will fill your hat or basket faster. A small haul can be enough for pancakes, muffins or a bowl of cereal; more means a fool or a pie. For either one, try making half into a compote and, after it cools, stirring in the other half. Big portions of blueberries alone can be a luxury. The other trait that raises them high on the list, though, is that even a handful pitched into anything made with stone fruits, or other berries, produces tiny explosions of flavor and color.

2 櫻桃

2. Cherries

沒(méi)人會(huì)分享一顆櫻桃。它的樂(lè)趣是私人的，從把它摘下后，它在你嘴里滾動(dòng)的方式，到突然涌出來(lái)的果汁，在你一年的第一次品嘗中，果汁的味道總是比你記憶中的更濃郁、復(fù)雜。櫻桃有很多品種，把它們烤成一道克拉芙提甜點(diǎn)，做成餡餅，你會(huì)希望自己多買了10磅冷藏進(jìn)冰箱。用糖和香草豆一起燉煮，你會(huì)得到蘇打、酸橙酒、各種雞尾酒的調(diào)料，或者是一種鮮亮而濃郁的冰淇淋醬。

Nobody shares a cherry. Its pleasures are private, from the way it rolls loose in your mouth once you pluck the stem to the sudden rush of juice — which in your first taste of the year is always more lush and complicated than you remember — to the quiet, propulsive exit of a stripped-clean pit. The cherry in question is a sweet variety, Bing or Rainier or Queen Anne, usually very cold, although the juice of a cherry left in the sun has a wonderful urgency. Sour cherries’ rewards take more effort. Bake them, stones and all, into a clafoutis. Pit them for a pie filling that will make you wish you’d bought 10 more pounds for the freezer. Boil them with sugar and maybe a vanilla bean, and you have a base for sodas, lime rickeys, any number of cocktails, the sharbats that Persian hosts pour for their grateful guests, or best of all an ice cream sauce so bright and intense that other toppings can stand down.

1 西瓜

1. Watermelons

你可以說(shuō)它味道平淡，或者單一。你可以說(shuō)它很無(wú)聊，引發(fā)不起什么爭(zhēng)論。但西瓜并不是因?yàn)樗且环N復(fù)雜芳香的集合水果而成為夏季水果冠軍。不，西瓜渴望參加眼前的任何派對(duì)。小氣的大學(xué)二年級(jí)生在喝酒嗎？切開(kāi)一角，耐心地給西瓜喂一瓶伏特加，就像你在給一只寵物豬喂嬰兒配方奶一樣，然后把它冷藏起來(lái)。雞尾酒專家？把一整個(gè)西瓜的頭蓋切掉，挖出果肉，再把酒倒進(jìn)瓜殼里，好好抱著你的西瓜雞尾酒。讓人意外的禁酒主義者？混合，過(guò)濾，加入水和酸橙汁——這就是墨西哥著名的agua de sandia。最后一分鐘的午餐？把西瓜切成方塊，與紅洋蔥、羊乳酪一起攪拌，用油、龍蒿葉、薄荷或茴藿香調(diào)味。晚餐不想下廚？用一半番茄，一半西瓜做成一道西班牙涼菜湯，撒醋的時(shí)候可別含蓄。燒烤晚餐？呃，烤西瓜有點(diǎn)惡心。把它冷藏起來(lái)，切成小塊作為甜點(diǎn)吧。

You could call its flavor plain. Or one-dimensional. You could say it’s boring and still not get much argument. But complex aromatic compounds did not make the watermelon the champion of summer fruits. No, it is the watermelon’s eagerness to join any party in sight. Cheapskate sophomores on a bender? Carve out a plug of rind, patiently feed the melon a bottle of vodka as if you were giving baby formula to a pet pig, then stopper it up and refrigerate. Neo-tiki sophisticates? Saber the top off, scoop the guts out, and behold the bowl for your watermelon punch. Unexpected teetotalers? Blend, strain, add water and lime juice — that’s agua de sandia. Last minute lunch? Knock wedges or cubes together with red onions and feta or an other salty young goat or sheep cheese, splatter it with oil and tarragon, mint, or anise hyssop. Dinner without cooking? A half-tomato, half-watermelon gazpacho, don’t be shy with the vinegar. All-grilled dinner? Hmm, grilled watermelon is sort of nasty. Just keep it cold and cut it up for dessert.

西瓜本質(zhì)上是一種社會(huì)性水果，為集體而生。在炎炎夏日，當(dāng)人們一起分享，或者心血來(lái)潮地要用它進(jìn)行惡作劇時(shí)，它是最讓人快樂(lè)的水果之王。