第2204期:Taco Stand in Mexico City Gets Michelin Star

Mexico City’s Tacos El Califa de León recently became the first Mexican taco stand to get a Michelin star – an award presented by the famous French restaurant guide. 墨西哥城的 Tacos El Califa de León 最近成为第一家获得米其林星级的墨西哥玉米卷摊位，该奖项由著名的法国餐厅指南颁发。 Chef Arturo Rivera Martínez recently stood over a very hot grill when Michelin representatives came to present him with one of the company’s heavy white chef’s coats. But Rivera Martinez did not put the jacket on. 最近，厨师阿图罗·里维拉·马丁内斯 (Arturo Rivera Martínez) 站在一个非常热的烤架上，当时米其林代表向他赠送了一件公司厚重的白色厨师外套。但里维拉·马丁内斯没有穿上夹克。 In this very small, 3-meter by 3-meter business space, the heat makes the meat. And the heat is strong. 在这个很小的、3米×3米的营业空间里，热气使肉质。而且热量很强。 At El Califa de León there are only four things on the menu -- all of them tacos. The food business has been doing the same four things since opening in 1968. El Califa de León 的菜单上只有四道菜——全是炸玉米饼。自 1968 年开业以来，食品行业一直在做同样的四件事。“The secret is the simplicity of our taco. It has only a tortilla, red or green sauce, and that’s it. That, and the quality of the meat,” said Rivera Martínez. He is also probably the only Michelin-starred chef who, when asked what drink should go with his food, answers “I like a Coke.” “秘密就在于我们的炸玉米饼的简单性。它只有一个玉米饼，红色或绿色的酱汁，仅此而已。那，还有肉的质量，”里维拉·马丁内斯说。他也可能是唯一一位当被问及他的食物应该搭配什么饮料时回答“我喜欢可乐”的米其林星级厨师。Other than perhaps one street food stand in Bangkok, Thailand, El Califa de León is probably the smallest restaurant ever to get a Michelin star. And half of the small space is taken up by a solid steel plate grill that is hotter than the salsa. 除了泰国曼谷的一家街头小吃摊外，El Califa de León 可能是有史以来获得米其林星级的最小餐厅。一半的小空间被一个比莎莎酱还要热的实心钢板烤架占据了。Thousands of times a day, Rivera Martínez gets a fresh, thinly sliced piece of beef and puts it on the hot steel grill. 里维拉·马丁内斯（Rivera Martínez）每天数千次拿到一块新鲜的切成薄片的牛肉，然后将其放在热钢烤架上。 The heat is one of the few secrets Rivera Martínez would share. The steel grill has to be heated to 360 Celsius. 炎热是里维拉·马丁内斯愿意分享的少数秘密之一。钢烤架必须加热到 360 摄氏度。 Asked how it felt to get a Michelin star, he said in classic Mexico City slang, “it’s neat, it’s cool.” 当被问及获得米其林星的感觉如何时，他用经典的墨西哥城俚语说：“这很整洁，很酷。”The prices at his stand are quite high by Mexican standards. A single taco costs nearly $5. But many customers are sure it is the best in the city. 按照墨西哥的标准，他摊位上的价格相当高。一个炸玉米饼的价格接近 5 美元。但许多顾客确信它是城里最好的。 “It’s the quality of the meat,” said Alberto Muñoz, who has been coming to the place for about eight years. “I have never been disappointed. And now I’ll recommend it with even more reason, now that it has a star.” “这就是肉的质量，”来这个地方大约八年的阿尔贝托·穆尼奥斯 (Alberto Muñoz) 说。“我从来没有失望过。现在我会更有理由推荐它，因为它已经有了一颗星星。” His son, Alan, who was waiting for a beef taco alongside his father, noted “this is a historic day for Mexican cuisine, and we’re witnesses to it.” 他的儿子艾伦正在和父亲一起等待牛肉炸玉米饼，他说：“这是墨西哥美食历史性的一天，我们是这一天的见证者。” It really is about not changing anything — the freshness of the tortillas, the menu, the design of the restaurant. Owner Mario Hernández Alonso will not even tell where he buys the stand’s meat. 它实际上是不改变任何东西——玉米饼的新鲜度、菜单、餐厅的设计。店主马里奥·埃尔南德斯·阿隆索甚至不愿透露他在哪里购买摊位上的肉。By law, following the coronavirus pandemic, Mexico City restaurants have been permitted to open up street-side seating areas. But El Califa de León does not even have a sidewalk where customers could eat because of all the street vendors. 根据法律，在冠状病毒大流行后，墨西哥城的餐馆被允许开放街边座位区。但莱昂加州甚至没有一条可供顾客就餐的人行道，因为街头小贩林立。 Asked if he would like them to make room for a street-side seating area, Hernández Alonso said pointing to the street vendors, “As the saying goes, why fix or change something that’s alright? You shouldn’t fix anything... It’s the way God ordered things, and you have to deal with it.” 当被问及是否希望他们为街边休息区腾出空间时，埃尔南德斯·阿隆索指着街头小贩说：“俗话说，为什么要修理或改变一些好的东西？你不应该修复任何事情……这是上帝命令事情的方式，你必须处理它。”