Dishing up a Quality Seal for Authentic Eateries 


　　So long soggy spaghetti, tasteless tagliatelle and papery pizza--at least if the Italian government's taste police get their way. Ministers said they wanted to clean up the red-white-and-green credentials of the estimated 60,000 restaurants around the world passing themselves off as Italian. So the government is creating a certificate that will be awarded to deserving establishments abroad from the 300 or so in the Middle East and 25,000 in Europe. The dual aim is to promote Italy abroad and ensure tastebuds are being tickled by authentic Mediterranean fare. "There are people out there who don't realize pizza is an Italian word and ask us what we call it," lamented Adolfo Urso, deputy industry minister, at a news conference. And Agriculture Minister Gianni Alemanno said even if eateries did flaunt Italian roots, it was often a false claim. "Most have nothing more Italian about them than the name above the door or a tricolor flag draped outside," he said. The certificate, still without a name, would ensure restaurants offered genuine Italian menus and used authentic produce, instead of ingredients such as a German cheese marketed with the Italian-sounding name of cambonzola. Some argue that Italy's taste police will be toothless because restaurants will have the final say on whether or not they want to be tested under the voluntary scheme. 


　　可以跟味道平平的意式细面、没滋没味的意式干面以及味同嚼蜡的比萨饼说再见了--至少，在意大利政府的"风味警察"开始行动以后情况会是如此。意大利政府表示，他们打算对世界各地6万家左右打着意大利招牌的餐馆进行彻底清理。政府为此正在制作一种证书，用来颁给合格的海外意式餐馆，甄选范围包括中东的约300家以及欧洲的2万5千家意式餐馆。此举有两个目的，一是在海外推广意大利的国家形象，再就是保证人们的味蕾能体验到正宗地中海食物的美妙滋味。工业部副部长阿道弗-乌尔索在记者招待会上哀叹道："外面有些人连'比萨'是个意文单词都不知道，还问我们管比萨饼叫什么。"而农业部长吉亚尼-阿莱曼诺说，即便有些餐馆吹嘘自己源自意大利，那也通常是靠不住的。"大多数这样的餐馆里没有什么比门上的名字和挂在门外的三色旗更意大利的东西。"这种还没有名字的证书可以保护那些正宗意式餐馆的利益。它们供应地道意大利菜肴，所用材料也是地道意大利产品，而不是像"卡朋佐拉"干酪那样的货色。后者在出售时被冠上了意大利名字，实际却是德国货。也有人认为意大利的"风味警察"起不了什么作用，因为这一计划建立在自愿基础上，是否接受品尝最终由餐馆自己决定。


　　Remarks：没有盗版的唱片多半不好听；没有遍地开花的"正宗XX餐馆"，如何能体现XX烹饪文化的博大精深、源远流长？

来源：《英语学习》