Jennifer 8. Lee: Who was General Tso? and other mysteries of

譯者: Ching-Yi Wu 審譯者: Chih-Yuan Huang

There are more Chinese restaurants in this country

在這個國家（美國），

than McDonald's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Wendy's, combined --

中國餐館的數量，比麥當勞、漢堡王、肯德基、和溫蒂漢堡的總和還要多。

40,000, actually.

實際的數目約為4萬家。

Chinese restaurants have played an important role in American history,

中國餐館在美國歷史上一向舉足輕重，

事實上，

as a matter of fact.

古巴的飛彈危機，

The Cuban missile crisis was resolved in a Chinese restaurant

就是在位於華盛頓D.C.的中國餐廳

北宮解決的。

called Yenching Palace in Washington, DC,

遺憾的是，這家餐館現在已經關門大吉，

which unfortunately is closed now,

and about to be turned into Walgreen's.

原址將改建成大型連鎖藥局沃爾格林。

And the house where John Wilkes Booth

而約翰‧威爾克斯‧布思

構思暗殺林肯總統計畫的屋子

planned the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

現在也是家中國餐館

is also now a Chinese restaurant called Wok and Roll,

名為「熱炒搖滾」，就位在華盛頓D.C.的街上。

on H Street in Washington.

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

And it's not completely gratuitous,

這店名也不是取得完全沒道理啦！

because "wok" and "roll" -- Chinese food and Japanese foods,

因為店裡有熱炒跟春捲，

又有中國菜跟日本菜，

so it kind of works out.

所以是行得通的。

And Americans love their Chinese food so much,

美國人是如此熱愛中國菜，

they've actually brought it into space.

連上太空都要帶著它。

NASA, for example, serves thermostabilized sweet-and-sour pork

美國太空總署為太空人準備的菜單中，

on its shuttle menu for its astronauts.

就有經高溫消菌的糖醋排骨以供選擇。

So, let me present the question to you:

嗯，我來問個問題：

If our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie,

如果蘋果派是美國食物的典型，

you should ask yourself: how often do you eat apple pie,

那麼你們應該曾經比較過，

自己吃蘋果派的頻率，

跟吃中國菜的頻率哪個比較高？對吧？

versus how often do you eat Chinese food?

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

And if you think about it,

再者，如果你們曾經想過這件事，

便會發現，很多你們、

a lot of the foods that we or Americans think of as Chinese food

或我們、甚至是美國人認知裡的中國菜，

are barely recognizable to Chinese.

中國人其實不太認得。

For example: beef with broccoli, egg rolls, General Tso's Chicken,

比方說：花椰菜炒牛肉、炸春捲、左宗棠雞、

fortune cookies, chop suey, the take-out boxes.

幸運籤餅、雜碎、還有外帶用的紙盒。

For example, I took a whole bunch of fortune cookies back to China,

這裡有個例子：我帶了一整包的幸運籤餅回中國去，

gave them to Chinese to see how they would react.

觀察他們在看到幸運籤餅時的反應。

這是什麼？

[What is this?]

[Should I try it?]

我能嚐嚐看嗎？

[Try it!]

嚐一嚐！

[What is this called?]

這叫什麼名字啊？

[Fortune cookie.]

幸運籤餅。

(Laughter)

[There's a piece of paper inside!]

還有一張紙啊！

（眾人笑）

(Laughter)

[What is this?]

這是啥？

[You've won a prize!]

你中獎了！

[What is this?]

這是什麼？

[It's a fortune!]

是一個......幸運！

挺好吃的！

[Tasty!]

So where are they from?

那麼，幸運籤餅是打哪來的？

The short answer is, actually, they're from Japan.

答案是：它們其實來自日本。

在京都的郊區，

And in Kyoto, outside, there are still small family-run bakeries

有個小小的家庭式糕餅點

仍照著100年前的方式，

that make fortune cookies, as they did over 100 years ago,

製作幸運籤餅。

30 years before fortune cookies were introduced in the United States.

那是幸運籤餅被引進美國30年前的事了。

If you see them side by side,

如果你比較日本和美國的籤餅，

there's yellow and brown.

會發現日本籤餅是褐色，而美國的是黃色；

Theirs are actually flavored with miso and sesame paste,

而日式籤餅以味噌跟芝麻醬調味，

so they're not as sweet as our version.

也就是說，日式籤餅並沒有美式的那麼甜。

So how did they get to the US?

那麼，幸運籤餅是怎麼來到美國的？

Well, the short answer is, the Japanese immigrants came over,

嗯，答案是，隨著日本移民來到美國，

and a bunch of the bakers introduced them --

一些糕餅師傅把幸運籤餅帶過來，

including at least one in Los Angeles,

其中至少有一家店在洛杉磯；

and one here in San Francisco, called Benkyodo,

而這家在舊金山的撒特街和巴禪南街街角，

名叫勉強堂的餅店，

which is on the corner of Sutter and Buchanan.

當時，

Back then, they made fortune cookies using very much the similar kind of irons

他們所用來製作幸運籤餅的模具，

that we saw back in Kyoto.

和京都人所使用的非常相似。

The interesting question is:

欸，好玩的問題來了：

How do you go from fortune cookies being something that is Japanese

幸運籤餅是如何從日本人的點心，

to being something that is Chinese?

變成中國人的？

Well, we locked up all the Japanese during World War II,

這個嘛，簡單回答這個問題，

美國人在二次世界大戰時，把境內所有日本移民關起來，

including those that made fortune cookies.

包括那些做幸運籤餅的師傅。

So that's when the Chinese moved in,

這麼一來，中國移民有機可趁：

他們注意到幸運籤餅的商機，將其佔為己有。

saw a market opportunity and took over.

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

So, fortune cookies: invented by the Japanese,

所以，幸運籤餅啊，

是日本人發明，

popularized by the Chinese,

中國人發揚光大，

but ultimately consumed by Americans.

但最後卻是由美國人消費的。

They're more American than anything else.

它們其實是再美國不過的點心。

Another of my favorite dishes:

另外一道我喜歡的料理：

General Tso's Chicken -- which, by the way, in the US Naval Academy

左宗棠雞。

這菜在美國海軍官校，

又被叫做左上將雞。

is called Admiral Tso's Chicken.

(Laughter)

I love this dish.

我愛這道菜。

The original name of my book was "The Long March of General Tso."

我書裡有個篇章原來就叫做：

左將軍的長征。

And he has marched very far indeed,

左宗棠雞的確非常深入美國民間，

because he is sweet, he is fried, and he is chicken --

因為這菜是甜的、又得油炸、還是用雞做的，

一整個美國人愛的東西。

all things that Americans love.

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

He has marched so far, actually,

事實上，因為這菜改變太大，

以至於最早發明左宗棠雞的廚師，

that the chef who originally invented the dish

doesn't recognize it; he's kind of horrified.

不但認不得，還被嚇到了！

Video: (In Chinese)

Audience: (Laughter)

He's in Taiwan right now.

他現在住在台灣，

He's retired, deaf and plays a lot of mah–jongg.

過著退休的生活，失聰，每天摸好幾個八圈。

After I showed him this, he got up,

呃，他看到我秀給他左宗棠雞的照片，

站了起來，

and says, "mòmíngqímiào," which means, "This is all nonsense,"

然後說：「莫名其妙！」

意思就是：這一點道理都沒有！

and goes back to play his mah-jongg game during the afternoon.

接著就回去繼續打他下午場的麻將了。

接下來，我的另一道最愛：花椰菜炒牛肉。

Another dish, one of my favorites: beef with broccoli.

Broccoli is not a Chinese vegetable;

花椰菜並不是在中國土生土長的蔬菜，

in fact, it is originally an Italian vegetable.

事實上，它一開始生長在義大利，

It was introduced into the United States in the 1800s,

在19世紀被引進美國，

but became popularized in the 1920s and the 1930s.

直到1920到30年代才開始受到人們喜愛。

The Chinese have their own version of broccoli, called Chinese broccoli,

其實，中國人有他們自己的花椰菜，

也就是芥蘭菜。

不過現在，他們發現了美國的花椰菜後，

but they've now discovered American broccoli,

and are importing it as a sort of exotic delicacy.

開始進口，視之為帶著異國風味的食物。

I guarantee you, General Tso never saw a stalk of broccoli in his life.

我向妳們保證，左宗棠終其一生連花椰菜的梗都沒看過。

That was a picture of General Tso.

你們現在看到的，就是左宗棠的畫像。

I went to his home town.

我去過他的老家，

This is a billboard that says:

在那裏有個看板上寫著：

"Welcome to the birthplace of General Tso."

「歡迎來到清代名臣左宗棠的故里」。

And I went looking for chicken.

我在當地找尋雞的蹤影，

結果找到一頭牛，

Finally found a cow --

不過我最後還是有找到雞群，

and did find chicken.

無論你們相信與否，

Believe it or not, these guys were actually crossing the road.

牠們當時正在過馬路，

然後......

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

And I found a whole bunch of General Tso's relatives

我也有找到不少左宗棠的後人，

who are still in the town.

他們仍住在那個小城。

This guy is now five generations removed from the General;

這人是左宗棠的第五代孫。

這小孩大概七歲，

this guy is about seven.

I showed them the pictures of General Tso Chicken,

我給他們看左宗棠雞的照片，

and they were like,

他們一臉「我不知道這是什麼」的表情，

"We don't know this dish. Is this Chinese food?"

跟著問：「這是中國菜嗎？」

Because it doesn't look like Chinese food to them.

因為對他們來說，這一點都不像中國菜啊！

But they weren't surprised I traveled around the world to visit them,

但他們一點都不感到驚訝。

我走遍世界各地，

就是為了見他們。

because in their eyes he is, after all,

因為在他們眼裡，

a famous Qing dynasty military hero.

左宗棠應該是有名的清朝將軍。

He played an important role in the Taiping Rebellion,

他在太平天國之亂裡扮演了重要角色。

太平天國是由一個，

a war started by a guy who thought he was the son of God

認為自己是神的兒子、

and baby brother of Jesus Christ.

耶穌基督的弟弟的男人發起的。

約有2億人死於這場戰爭，

He caused a war that killed 20 million people --

still the deadliest civil war in the world to this day.

到今日還是世界史上，死亡人數最多的內戰。

So, you know, I realized when I was there,

所以啊，到那兒時，我這才明白，

General Tso is kind of a lot like Colonel Sanders in America,

左宗棠就像是肯德基的創始人桑德斯上校一樣，

in that he's known for chicken and not war.

在美國是以雞肉料理聞名，而非戰爭；

But in China, this guy's actually known for war and not chicken.

但是在中國，這傢伙其實

是以戰爭而非雞肉聞名的啊！

But the granddaddy of all the Chinese American dishes

不過，真要說起來，

所有中式美國菜的老祖宗，

we probably ought to talk about is chop suey,

應該是我們接著要談的

雜碎。

which was introduced around the turn of the 20th century.

這料理

大概是在20世紀初的時候出現的。

根據紐約時報，

According to the New York Times in 1904,

1904年，中國餐廳在紐約如雨後春筍般冒出，

there was an outbreak of Chinese restaurants all over town,

and "... the city has gone 'chop suey' mad."

整個城市也為雜碎而瘋狂。

So it took about 30 years before the Americans realized

難怪一直要到大概30年後，

美國人才明白，

that chop suey is actually not known in China,

「啥？中國人不知道『雜碎』這道菜？」

and as this article points out,

如同這篇文章所說，

「無論是中國哪一個城市裡的居民，

"The average native of any city in China knows nothing of chop suey."

沒有一個人知道雜碎。」

Back then it was a way to show you were sophisticated and cosmopolitan;

你得知道，在那個時候，

一個男人若想表現出自己受過良好教育，而不是個鄉巴佬，

來取悅心儀的女孩，

a guy who wanted to impress a girl could take her on a chop suey date.

可以在約會的時候帶她去吃雜碎。

I like to say chop suey is the biggest culinary joke

我得說，

雜碎大概是，一個文化之於另外一個文化，

one culture ever played on another,

所能開最大的飲食文化笑話了。

because "chop suey," translated into Chinese,

因為雜碎，

翻譯成中文，

means "jaahp-seui," which, translated back, means "odds and ends."

就是「雜碎」；如果按字面翻譯成英文，

就是「又雜又碎」。

所以啊，如果你們在中國點炒雜碎，

So, these people are going around China asking for chop suey,

which is sort of like a Japanese guy coming here and saying,

就有點像是一個日本人，

來到美國，說：

"I understand you have a very popular dish in your country

「我聽說你們國家有道非常流行的料理，

叫做『剩菜』。嗯，這實在是......

called 'leftovers.'"

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

Right?

對吧！

(Laughter)

還不只是這樣：

And not only that:

"This dish is particularly popular

雜碎在

after that holiday you call 'Thanksgiving.'"

被你們稱做感恩節的假日，特別受歡迎！

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

So, why and where did chop suey come from?

所以，

雜碎是怎麼來的？從哪裡來？

Let's go back to the mid-1800s,

事情可以追溯到19世紀中葉，

when the Chinese first came to America.

第一批中國移民來到美國的時候。

Back then, Americans were not clamoring to eat Chinese food.

那個時候，美國人

一點也不熱衷於吃中國菜。

In fact, they saw these people who landed at their shores as alien.

相反的，他們視這群初來乍到的人為外星人。

These people weren't eating dogs, they were eating cats.

就算這些人不吃狗，

他們也吃貓，

If they weren't eating cats, they were eating rats.

就算他們不吃貓，他們也吃老鼠！

事實上，紐約時報，我敬愛的雇主，

In fact, The New York Times, my esteemed employer,

在1883年刊出一篇文章問：

in 1883 ran an article that asked,

「中國人吃老鼠嗎？」

"Do Chinese eat rats?"

這當然不是現今會問最「政治正確」的問題，

Not the most PC question to be asked today,

but if you look at the popular imagery of the time,

不過如果你試著用當時的美國人對中國人最常見的想像來看，

not so outlandish.

這問題一點都不奇怪。

This is actually a real advertisement for rat poison

這是一則真實的廣告，用來宣傳老鼠藥，

出現在19世紀晚期。

from the late 1800s.

And if you see under the word "Clears" -- very small --

如同你所看到的，在「清除」的下面，有一行非常小的字，

it says, "They must go," which refers not only to the rats,

寫著：「他們得離開。」

這並不只是針對老鼠，

同時也針對被視為跟老鼠同一類的中國人。

but to the Chinese in their midst,

因為中國人吃食的方式，

because the way that the food was perceived

跟我們美國人完全不同，

was that these people who ate foods different from us

must be different from us.

所以中國人一定跟美國人不一樣。

Another way that you saw this antipathy towards the Chinese

除此之外，這類

反對中國人的言詞，

普遍存在於歷史紀錄中，一如這份，

is through documents like this.

在美國國會圖書館裡找到的，

This is in the Library of Congress.

由山謬‧龔帕斯出版的小冊子，

It's a pamphlet published by Samuel Gompers,

龔帕斯是美國勞工運動的英雄。

hero of our American labor movement.

It's called, "Some Reason for Chinese Exclusion:

上面說，「排華的理由──

Meat versus Rice: American Manhood against Asiatic Coolieism:

肉食與米食／美國人和亞洲廉價勞工

Which shall survive?"

哪一個該留存下來？」

And it basically made the argument

這冊子以這樣的論點為基調：

that Chinese men who ate rice

吃米的中國人，

would necessarily bring down the standard of living

必定會降低我們生活的水準，

for American men who ate meat.

對吃肉的美國人來說，

And as a matter of fact, then,

這樣的水準，

this is one of the reasons we must exclude them from this country.

就是

我們必須將華人趨離這個國家的其中一個理由。

So, with sentiments like these,

在這樣的情境下，

the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed between 1882 and 1902,

美國於1882年和1902年間執行排華法案。

the only time in American history

這是美國史上唯一一段時期，

when a group was specifically excluded

有一特定族群，

for its national origin or ethnicity.

就只是因為他們的國籍或是種族，而被逐出美國。

So in a way, because the Chinese were attacked,

所以，在某種程度上，被冒犯的中國人們，

chop suey was created as a defense mechanism.

把雜碎的發明當做是防禦的手段。

Who came up with the idea of chop suey?

現在我們來談談，是誰發明這道菜的？

There's a lot of different mysteries and legends,

我找到許多關於雜碎的秘密跟傳說，

but of the ones I've found,

其中有個我覺得最有趣的，

the most interesting is this article from 1904.

出現在1904年的一篇文章裡，

A Chinese guy named Lem Sen

提到一個叫做連紳的中國人，

shows up in Chinatown, New York City, and says,

有天出現在紐約的中國城，說：

"I want you all to stop making chop suey,

「希望你們這些傢伙不要再做雜碎了，

because I am the original creator and sole proprietor of chop suey.

因為我才是雜碎的發明者，

也是唯一的擁有人。」

And the way he tells it,

根據他的說法，雜碎是這樣來的：

there was a famous Chinese diplomat that showed up,

有這麼個人，

在有名的中國大使來到美國時，

and he was told to make a dish that looked very popular

要求他做道看起來很受歡迎，

而且能以「中國人也認可」的字眼宣傳的料理。

and could, quote, "pass" as Chinese.

And as he said -- we would never print this today --

他提到，

嗯，如在今日，我們絕對不會做這樣的報導，

but basically, the American man has become very rich.

但大致上就是，那個美國人後來變得非常富有。

Lem Sen: "I would've made this money, too, but I spent all this time

連紳，也就是這個中國廚師，說：

「我也可以賺這麼多錢的，

可是我卻得花時間在找這個

looking for the American man who stole my recipe.

偷了我的食譜的美國人上。

Now I've found him and I want my recipe back,

今天我來到這裡，也找到他了，

想拿回我的食譜。

and I want everyone to stop making chop suey,

我希望大家都不要再做炒雜碎了，

or pay me for the right to do the same.

要不然就得付我做這菜的權利金。」

也因此，這其實是一個早期的

So it was an early exercise of intellectual property rights.

保護智慧財產權的活動。

The thing is, this idea of Chinese-American food

不過嘛，

這樣一道中式美國菜，

doesn't exist only in America.

並不僅只在美國而已。

In fact, Chinese food is the most pervasive food on the planet,

事實上，你會發現，

中國菜是這個世界上滲透力最強的菜系，

served on all seven continents, even Antarctica,

在七大洲，包括南極都可以發現其蹤影。

because Monday night is Chinese food night at McMurdo Station,

在麥克莫多站，南極的主要科學研究據點，

which is the main scientific station in Antarctica.

星期一晚上是中國菜之夜。

You see different varieties of Chinese food.

接著，來讓你們看看各式各樣的中國菜：

For example, there is French Chinese food,

比方說，法國的中菜館，

where they serve salt and pepper frog legs.

提供椒鹽田雞腿肉；

There is Italian Chinese food, where they don't have fortune cookies,

義大利的中菜館，

那裡雖然沒有幸運籤餅，

so they serve fried gelato.

不過她們有炸義式冰淇淋。

My neighbor, Alessandra, was shocked when I told her,

我家樓下的鄰居，亞歷珊卓，

在到我這麼說時，被嚇到了：

"Dude, fried gelato is not Chinese."

「欸，炸義式冰淇淋不是中國菜啊！」

She's like, "It's not? But they serve it in all the Chinese restaurants in Italy."

她問：「不是嗎？

可是，全義大利的中國餐館都有這道甜點啊！」

（眾人笑）

(Laughter)

Even the Brits have their own version.

即使是英國人，也有他們自己版本的中國菜──

This is a dish called "crispy shredded beef,"

這是脆牛肉絲，

which has a lot of crisp, a lot of shred, and not a lot of beef.

很脆，很多肉絲，吃起來卻不太像牛肉。

There is West Indian Chinese food, there's Jamaican Chinese food,

西印度的中國餐廳；

Middle Eastern Chinese food, Mauritian Chinese food.

牙買加的中國餐廳；

中東的中國餐廳；

模里西斯的中國餐廳，

This is a dish called "Magic Bowl," that I discovered.

我發現這裡有道

叫做「魔丼」的料理。

There's Indian Chinese food, Korean Chinese food,

印度的中國餐廳；

韓國的中國餐廳；

Japanese Chinese food,

我們在日本的中國餐廳，

where they take the bao, the little buns, and make them into pizza versions.

吃了包子，一種像是小餐包的食物，

不過他們把它印上「披薩」的字樣。

而且他們還

(Laughter)

And they totally randomly take Chinese noodle dishes,

隨意的

把中式麵食

and just ramenize them.

拉麵化

This is something that, in the Chinese version, has no soup.

像這個，

若是中式麵條的做法，是沒有湯的。

So, there's Peruvian Chinese food,

秘魯的中國餐廳，

which should not be mixed with Mexican Chinese food,

這跟墨西哥那裡的中國菜可不一樣。

where they basically take things and make it look like fajitas.

墨西哥人通常將中菜料理成

像是墨西哥烤肉的食物。

(Laughter)

還有，這個：

And they have things like risotto chop suey.

義大利雜碎燉飯。

我走遍各地，

所去過的中菜館裡，我最愛的是這家，

My personal favorite of all the restaurants

I've encountered around the world

was this one in Brazil, called "Kung Food."

位在巴西，叫做「功夫菜」的餐館。

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

So, let's take a step back and understand

好，讓我們回到美國，

來試著了解，

what is to be appreciated in America.

美國的中國菜有什麼值得欣賞之處。

McDonald's has garnered a lot of attention, a lot of respect,

麥當勞

之所以受人注意和尊重，

for basically standardizing the menu, decor and dining experience

是因為他們在二次世界大戰後，

將美國速食餐廳的

in post-World War II America.

菜單、布置和用餐經驗標準化。

But you know what?

但你們知道嗎？

這些其實是由麥當勞

They did so through a centralized headquarters out of Illinois.

在位於伊利諾州邊緣區域

的總部做出的決策，對吧？

我認為，中菜館

Chinese restaurants have done largely the same thing, I would argue,

也一直在做同樣的事情。

with the menu and the decor, even the restaurant name,

他們標準化中國餐廳的菜單和布置，

甚至是餐廳名字，

but without a centralized headquarters.

只差沒有一家統籌的總公司。

讓我明白這點的，

So, this actually became very clear to me

是2005年3月30號那一期的威力彩。

with the March 30, 2005 Powerball drawing,

where they expected, based on the number of ticket sales they had,

如你所知，主辦者依據彩券銷售量估算，

當期

to have three or four second-place winners,

應該會有三、四個二獎，

people who match five or six Powerball numbers.

也就是彩卷中5碼或是6碼的獎金得主。

Instead, they had 110, and they were completely shocked.

但是，那一期卻有110個二獎得主，

這把主辦單位嚇壞了。

They looked all across the country and discovered it couldn't be fraud,

他們分析全美國中獎者的分布情況，發現，

這應該不是作弊。

since it happened in different states, across different computer systems.

因為得主出現在

不同的州，也從不同的電腦系統下注，

所以無論是什麼原因造成這麼高的得獎率，

Whatever it was, it caused people to behave in a mass-synchronized way.

一定跟人們某種

大規模的集體行為有關。

So, OK, maybe it had to do with the patterns on the pieces of paper,

也就是說，嗯，或許是在這小小的投注單上，

人們出現某種行為模式，

like it was a diamond, or diagonal.

像是讓下注的數字連成菱形，

或是位在對角線上數字的連線。

然而，事情並非如此。

It wasn't that, so they're like, OK, let's look at television.

既然不是這樣，他們就想，

好吧，從電視下手。

So they looked at an episode of "Lost."

也許是某集的《Lost檔案》給的靈感，

岔題一下，我家現在沒電視，

Now, I don't have a TV,

因為電視會讓我變成個非常有生產力的怪胎，而且，

which makes me a freak, but very productive --

（眾人笑）

(Laughter)

And there's an episode of "Lost" where one guy has a lucky number,

而這一集的《Lost檔案》，據我所知，

內容繞著一組某白人角色的幸運、

but it's not a lucky number, it's why he's on the island,

也不太幸運的號碼打轉，

這組號碼同時也暗示他們將在島上待的日數。

然而，當主辦單位查證後，

but they looked and the numbers did not match.

發現這組數字，沒有一個跟開獎號碼一樣。

主辦單位又查了另一部影集《年輕與躁動》，

They looked at "The Young and The Restless." It wasn't that, either.

也跟開獎號碼無關。

一直到隔天，有個中獎者出面領獎，

It wasn't until the first guy shows up the next day and they ask him,

他們問他：

"Where did you get your number?"

「你是怎麼決定要簽哪些號碼的？」

He said, "I got it from a fortune cookie."

他說：「喔，我是在幸運籤餅上看到的。」

這的的確確是其中一個中獎者拿到的籤詩，

This is a slip one of the winners had,

而田納西州的彩券安全部警官看到它，

because the Tennessee lottery security officials

反應是：「喔！這怎麼可能！」

were like, "Oh, no, this can't be true."

但事情就是這樣。

But it was true.

Basically, of those 110 people,

這110個人中，

104 of them or so had gotten their number from a fortune cookie.

有104個人

是根據幸運籤餅裡頭的籤詩決定下注的號碼。

(Laughter)

（眾人笑）

Yeah. So I went and started looking.

是的，因為這件事，我開始，

I went across the country, looking for these restaurants

從美東走到美西，

尋找這些

where these people had gotten their fortune cookies from.

提供中獎者幸運籤餅的中菜館。

他們之中，

There are a bunch of them, including Lee's China in Omaha --

包括這家由韓國人經營的，

which is actually run by Koreans, but that's another point,

奧馬哈的李家菜。這其實是另外一個故事了......

還有，很多中菜館都叫中國自助餐。

and a bunch of them named "China Buffet."

What's interesting is that their stories were similar, but different.

有趣的是，這些餐廳既相似，

卻又非常不同。

It was lunch, it was take-out, it was sit-down, it was buffet,

這家只供午餐，那家只供外帶，

這家點餐，那家是自助餐，

it was three weeks ago, it was three months ago.

這家三周前開幕，那家三個月前開幕，

But at some point, all these people had a very similar experience

但是，

所有的中獎者都因為幸運餅乾和中菜館，

that converged at a fortune cookie and a Chinese restaurant.

共享非常相似的經歷。

And all these restaurants were serving fortune cookies,

而這些中菜館

全都提供幸運籤餅。

which, of course, aren't even Chinese to begin with.

當然，我們現在都知道，

幸運籤餅本非中式點心。

It's part of the phenomenon I called "spontaneous self-organization,"

所以，這是一種，

我稱做自發性組織的現象，

where, like in ant colonies, little decisions made on the micro level

就像是螞群

在微觀尺度所做的決策，

actually have a big impact on the macro level.

卻能在巨觀尺度產生極大的影響力。

A good contrast is Chicken McNuggets.

另一個好的對照組，

是麥克雞塊。

McDonald's actually spent 10 years coming out with a chicken-like product.

麥當勞花了十年，

才推出第一個類雞肉產品。

They did chicken pot pie, fried chicken, and finally introduced Chicken McNuggets.

她們曾經試過雞肉派、

炸雞、

最後終於找出麥克雞塊的配方。

And the great innovation of Chicken McNuggets was not nuggifying them,

而麥克雞塊的創意厲害之處，

不在於把雞肉雞塊化，

that's kind of an easy concept.

這太容易了，

而在於製造麥克雞塊時，

The trick was, they were able to remove the chicken from the bone

麥當勞得以合乎成本效益的方式，

in a cost-efficient manner,

讓雞肉骨肉分離。

這才是為什麼其他的競爭對手得花很長的時間，

which is why it took so long for people to copy them -- 10 years,

方能複製麥當勞經驗的原因。

麥當勞花了十年研發出的麥克雞塊，

then within a couple months, it was such a hit,

只在數個月間

就能大賣。

they introduced it across the entire McDonald's system in the country.

他們所做的，不過就是推出新產品，然後推廣到

遍布美國的麥當勞分店。

In contrast is General Tso's Chicken,

相對的，

左宗棠雞

which actually started in New York City in the early 1970s,

最早出現在1970年代初期的紐約，

as I was also started in this universe in New York City in the early 1970s.

那時我剛開始在紐約念大學......

(Laughter)

And this logo!

喔，還有這個「我愛紐約」的標誌。

So me, General Tso's Chicken and this logo are all karmicly related.

所以，我、左宗棠雞和這標誌，

是有很大關連的。

但是，這道菜也花了10年，

But that dish also took about 10 years to spread across America

才得以從紐約一家不起眼的餐廳，

from a restaurant in New York City.

到現在全美各地的中菜館都能吃到它。

Someone's like, "It's sweet, it's fried, it's chicken --

很多人覺得：

哇！天啊！這菜是甜的、是油炸食物、是雞肉料理，

Americans will love this."

美國人都會喜歡的。

So what I like to say, this being Bay Area, Silicon Valley,

我想說的是，嗯，套個舊金山灣區、或是矽谷的人會用的說法：

is that we think of McDonald's as sort of the Microsoft of dining experiences.

如果把在麥當勞用餐的經驗，

比做微軟，

We can think of Chinese restaurants perhaps as Linux,

或許，中國餐廳就能看做是Linux操作系統，

sort of an open-source thing, right?

帶著自由軟體的概念，對吧！

(Laughter)

自由軟體可以讓一個人的程式設計，

Where ideas from one person can be copied and propagated

藉由不斷複製軟體程式碼來推廣給所有的系統使用人。

across the entire system,

that there can be specialized versions of Chinese food,

中國菜也一樣，

depending on the region.

因為我們都知道，有隨著饕客所在的地域，而出現的特別版中菜。

For example, in New Orleans we have Cajun Chinese food,

比如說，

紐澳良有卡津式的中國菜，

where they serve Sichuan alligator and sweet and sour crawfish.

即川味的鱷魚和糖醋淡水龍蝦。

And in Philadelphia, you have Philadelphia cheesesteak roll,

在費城，

你可以找到費城牛肉起司捲，

which is like an egg roll on the outside and cheesesteak on the inside.

外觀跟春捲沒兩樣，

卻包著牛肉起司三明治的內餡。

我非常驚訝，

I was surprised to discover that not only in Philadelphia, but also in Atlanta.

這料理不僅出現在費城，連亞特蘭大也有。

What had happened was,

這是因為

a Chinese family had moved from Philadelphia to Atlanta,

有個經營中菜館的家族

從亞特蘭大，呃不，是從費城搬到亞特蘭大時，

and brought that with them.

把這道菜的做法帶去了。

So the thing is,

所以啊，

our historical lore, because of the way we like narratives,

因為我們偏好的述事方式，

讓我們的歷史課裡，

有偉大貢獻的人比比皆是，

is full of vast characters, such as Howard Schultz of Starbucks

像是，星巴克的霍華‧舒茲，

and Ray Kroc with McDonald's

麥當勞的雷‧克羅克，

and Asa Candler with Coca-Cola.

可口可樂的亞沙‧坎德勒。

But, you know, it's very easy to overlook the smaller characters.

但是，就因為這樣，

我們很容易就忽略平凡人，

For example, Lem Sen, who introduced chop suey,

比如說，連紳，

那個發明炒雜碎的廚師。

Chef Peng, who introduced General Tso's Chicken,

或是發明左宗棠雞的

彭師傅，

and all the Japanese bakers who introduced fortune cookies.

還有所有將

幸運籤餅帶進美國的日本糕餅師傅。

So, the point of my presentation is to make you think twice;

也因此，我在這場演講中，想要跟妳們分享的是，

請你們再想想，

that those whose names are forgotten in history

這些曾在歷史上出現，但名字已被我們遺忘的小人物，

can often have had as much, if not more,

往往也能

對我們今日的飲食內容有非常大的影響。

impact on what we eat today.

Thank you very much.

謝謝各位。

(Applause)