2021年6月大学英语四级真题试卷及答案British Cuisine: the Best of Old and NewBritish cuisine(烹饪) has come of age in recent years as chefs(厨师) combine the best of old and new. Why does British food have a reputation for being so bad? Because it is bad! Those are not the most encouraging words to hear just before eating lunch at one of Hong Kongs smartest British restaurants, Alfies by KEE, but head chef Neil Tomes has more to say. The past 15 years or so have been a noticeable period of improvement for food in England, the English chef says, citing the trend in British cuisine for better ingredients, preparation and cooking methods, and more appealing presentation. Chef such as Delia Smith, Nigel Slater, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay made the public realise that cooking - and eating - didnt have to be a boring thing. And now, most of the British public is familiar even with the extremes of Heston Blumenthals molecular gastronomy, a form of cooking that employs scientific methods to create the perfect dish. Its no longer the case that the common man in England is embarrassed to show he knows about food, Tomes says.There was plenty of room for improvement. The problems with the nations cuisine can be traced back to the Second World War. Before the war, much of Britains food was imported and when German U-boats began attacking ships bringing food to the country, Britain went on rations(配给). As rationing came to an end in the 1950s, technology picked up and was used to mass-produce food, Tomes says. And by then people were just happy to have a decent quantity of food in their kitchens. They werent looking for cured meats, organic produce or beautiful presentation; they were looking for whatever they could get their hands on, and this prioritisation of quantity over quality prevailed for decades, meaning a generation was brought up with food that couldnt compete with neighbouring France, Italy, Belgium or Spain. Before star chefs such as Oliver began making cooking fashionable, it was hard to find a restaurant in London that was open after 9pm. But in recent years the capitals culinary(烹饪的) scene has developed to the point that it is now confident of its ability to please the tastes of any international visitor. With the opening of Alfies in April, and others such as The Pawn, two years ago, modern British food has made its way to Hong Kong. With British food, I think that Hong Kong restaurant are keeping up, says David Tamlyn, the Welsh executive chef at The Pawn in Wan Chai. Hong Kong diners are extremely responsive to new ideas or presentations, which is good news for new dishes. Chefs agree that diners in Hong Kong are embracing the modern British trend. Some restaurants are modifying the recipes(菜谱)of British dishes to breathe new life into the classics, while other are using better quality ingredients but remaining true to British traditional and tastes. Tamlyn is in the second camp. We select our food very particulary. We use US beef, New Zealand lamb and for our custards(牛奶蛋糊) we use Birds Custard Powder, Tamlyn says. Some restaurants go for custard made fresh with eggs, sugar and cream, but British custard is different, and we stay true to that. Matthew Hill, senior manager at the two-year-old SoHo restaurant Yorkshire Pudding, also uses better ingredients as a means of improving dishes. There are a lot of existing perceptions about British food and so we cant alter these too much. Were a traditional British restaurant so there are some staples(主菜) that will remain essentially unchanged. These traditional dishes include fish and chips, steak and kidney pie and large pieces of roasted meats. At Alfies, the newest of the British restaurants in town and perhaps the most gentlemens club-like in design, Neil Tomes explains his passion for provenance(原产地). Britain has started to become really proud of the food its producing. It has excellent organic farms, beautifully crafted cheeses, high-quality meats.However, the British dont have a history of exporting their foodstuffs, which makes it difficult for restaurants in Hong Kong to source authentic ingredients. We can get a lot of our ingredients once a week from the UK, Tamlyn explains. But there is also pressure to buy local and save on food miles, which means we take our vegetables from the local markets, and there are a lot that work well with British staples. The Phoenix, in Mid-Levels, offers the widest interpretation of British cuisine, while still trying to maintain its soul. The gastro-pub has existed in various locations in Hong Kong since 2002. Singaporean head chef Tommy Teh Kum Chai offers daily specials on a blackboard, rather than sticking to a menu. This enables him to reinterpret British cuisine depending on what is available in the local markets. We use a lot of ingredients that people wouldnt perhaps associate as British, but are presented