BBC Learning English – 15 Minute Programmes 15 分钟节目
 
About this script
Please  note  that  this  is  not  a  word  for  word  transcript  of  the  programme  as
broadcast.  In  the  recording and editing process,  changes may have been made
which may not be reflected here.
 
关于台词的备注：
请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对
节目做出的改变。
 
 
 
 
Italian Food in Britain  在英国的意大利食品
 
 
John:  Hello,  today we’re  in  the kitchen! And we’re cooking  Italian  food.  I’m
actually frying some onions to go on the base of a pizza – I’m a really
big  fan of pizza,  it’s one of my  favourite  Italian  foods. Well, before  I
cook anything else, let’s join Oliver in the studio to explain a little more
about why we are talking about Italian food today. Oliver. 
Oliver:  Thanks  John. 没错儿，今天我们将为您介绍意大利食品。  Italian  food.  John
会去他的厨房里， he’s in his kitchen, 节目中，我们还会和您一起回顾意大利食
品在英国的发展历史，从上个世纪五十年代以来，意大利食品在英国可以说是非常
非常受欢迎。Yes, John.
John:  So why am I cooking Italian food in my kitchen here in London? Well,
ask  anyone  in  Britain  about  the  food  that  they  like  here  and  most
people will say they love Italian food. If you come to Britain you’ll also
notice  that  most  people  will  cook  Italian  food  in  their  home  very
regularly.  In  a minute we’ll  hear  how  British  people  fell  in  love with
Italian food years ago, but first I have a lot of Italian ingredients here
in my kitchen in London, and I thought I’d just tell you what they are.
Nearly everybody in their home in Britain will have pasta - all different
kinds.  You might  also  see  tomatoes,  aubergines,  basil, minced  beef,
chicken, onions, and rice,  the  list is quite long. Oliver let’s have some
explanations.
Oliver:  好的，John I’ll try! John 说你几乎可以在任何一个英国人家的厨房里找到意大利
面条，pasta.  然后他列出了一个长长的单子，里面包括了大部分英国人家里面常
用的意大利食品原料。比如说西红柿tomatoes, 茄子aubergines, 一种叫罗勒的
香料  basil, 牛肉馅 minced beef, 鸡肉 chicken, 洋葱 onions, 还有米饭 rice.
几乎所有在意大利食谱里的原料，你都可以在英国人的厨房里找得到。因为英国人
太喜欢意大利食品了。那英国人是从什么时候开始爱上意大利食品的呢？  Let’s
go  back  to  John  in  his  kitchen. When  did  the British  fall  in  love with
Italian food John?
John:       Well Oliver,  it all began  in 1926 when a man called Pepino Leoni – an
Italian man - opened the very first Italian restaurant in London; it was
called The Quo Vadis. I spoke to writer Alistair Sutherland,  the author
of a new book called “The Spaghetti Tree”. It's a book about how  the
British  became  attracted  to  Italian  food.  He  told me  about  the  first
Italian restaurant in London and how it all began. 
 
 
Insert
1926, Leoni’s Quo Vadis opened. It was  the  first big glossy restaurant owned by
an Italian, that was attracting if you like the middle classes, rather than just the
people who worked  in Soho.  So  this  became  a  big  destination. As  you  can  see
now, it’s one, two, three, four buildings across. And when Pepino Leoni started in
1926 of course it was just one little tiny place that could seat twenty five. By the
time he wrote his book, he tells us he was seating four hundred.
 
 
Oliver:   这么说早 1926 的时候，在伦敦就有了第一家意大利餐馆。 我们节目请来的专家
Alistair  说这是意大利人开的第一座像样的餐厅。  The  first  big  glossy
restaurant.
John:  That’s  right,  and  do  you  remember  Oliver  the  sort  of  people  the
restaurant served?
Oliver:  Yes, I think it was the middle classes, 餐馆为中产阶级服务。这是一家为收
入不错的人，能达到社会平均收入水平的人开的。平均收入是  average
incomes.
John:  Exactly, and what I thought was impressive was that his business grew
so large!
Oliver:  His business really grew. Pepino Leoni 的餐馆 “Quo Vadis” 在刚刚开业的
时候只是一个只有二十五个座位的小餐厅， there was seating for just twenty
five people. 但短短几年之后，他的餐馆已经发展到可以接待四百人了!
John:  Now Oliver, do you know what we would call a person who built up a
successful business that hadn’t been tried before?
Oliver:  Mmmm, I’m not sure about that, what word should I use John?
John:  Well I’d call this sort of person a ‘pioneer’. 
Oliver:  A pioneer, 先驱、先锋。 
John:  Yes, this is BBC Learning English, thanks for joining us today.
Oliver:  节目当中我们谈论的话题是为什么英国人那么喜欢意大利食品以及这种热情的由
来。我们介绍了伦敦第一家意大利餐  “The Quo  Vadis”. 现在有很多人觉得这个
餐馆并不是地道的意大利餐馆，在他们的菜单上有很多法国菜。因为那时大多数英
国人认为法国菜是真正好吃的。不过 John 要告诉大家，一切都在发生变化。
John:  Yes, gradually the Italian restaurants started to evolve in London, and
there was a growing demand for more authentic Italian food. Listen to
Alistair explaining what happened next to London’s Italian restaurants. 
Insert
Mario Cassandro and Franco Lagatolla, were two waiters. Franco had grown up in
England  of  Italian  parents,  Mario  the  volatile  voluble  Neopolitan  -  the  most
wonderful man you’d ever want to meet. They met while working at The Mirabel
which was then London’s most luxurious French restaurant, and they decided that
what London needed was a proper Italian restaurant, serving real Italian food and 
 
they left The Mirabel and  they opened in April 1959. They did one or  two things
differently and they quickly became popular with  the Italian community and one
or two artists and writers. 
 
 
Oliver:    Mario and  Franco sound  like  interesting  characters! 正是这两个法国餐馆
服务生，马里奥和弗立昂为伦敦带来了真正地道的意大利餐。  It  was more
genuine. 他们采用了一些与众不同的策略。 One or two things differently.
John:  And not only did they do things differently in their new restaurant, they
started  to  become  popular  with  the  local  community;  we  would  say
they made a name for themselves.
Oliver:  They made  a name  for  themselves, 他们渐渐的做出了名气。他们的餐馆和
一些艺术家和作家成了朋友，artists and writers.
John:  Well let’s hear from Mario Cassandro himself. 
Oliver:  在这段录音里，你会听到马里奥说他的餐馆是怎么样开张的，为什么说他出售的食
品都是那不勒斯风格的，Neapolitan. 这里所说的那不勒斯风格值得是具有意大利
南部那不勒斯地区特色的食品。接下来让我们听马里奥的录音。
Insert
My name  is Mario Cassandro, born in  the city of Naples, many many years ago.
The  idea  that  Frank  and  I  had  was  to  create  something  that  was  typically,
typically Italian, basically Neapolitan. We wanted  to create a place where all  the
people would come in very informally, without the menus so posh looking - your
mother’s kitchen. And people liked the atmosphere, the food was very good, the
price was  peanuts  in  comparison with  anything  else. But  then we had  such  an
incredible success overnight. People used to come from everywhere.
 
 
John:  That’s quite a success story isn’t it Oliver?
Oliver:  Yes, I’m really impressed. 这个餐馆不是那么正式，it was informal, 是典型
的意大利风格。The atmosphere was not posh! 餐馆的感觉不是那么高端和豪
华，  and  it was more  like  your mother’s  kitchen, 有点儿像妈妈做的家常
菜。
John:  And of course the food was very good, and the price was peanuts! Do
you know Oliver what it means when we say the price was peanuts?
Oliver:  No!
John:  When you say something costs peanuts, you mean it’s very cheap.
Oliver:  The price was peanuts, 这个短语用来表示什么东西非常便宜，价格很诱人!
John:  And the restaurant became an overnight success.
Oliver:  Yes,  an  overnight  success.  That  is when  something  is  so  successful,
within a matter of days it becomes a success! 一夜成名。 
 
John:  Well,  just  before we  go, Oliver  do  you  know what  spaghetti,  or  any
kind of pasta is made from?
Oliver:  I’m not sure, does it grow on trees?
John:  Oliver, no! It’s made from flour and water basically.
Oliver:  是面粉和水做的。
John:  But in the 1950’s, when pasta was unknown in Britain, people thought
it did grow on trees. Listen to this:
Insert
The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There’s
always  the  chance  of  a  late  frost,  which,  while  not  entirely  ruining  the  crop
generally impairs the flavour and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in
world markets. But now  these dangers are over and  the spaghetti harvest goes
forth.
 
 
Oliver:  太难以置信了。John 在BBC 的档案中心找到了上个世纪五十年代的录音。这段录
音是当时在四月一号愚人节的时候播出的，April  Fools  Day, 通常这一天的时
候，人们都会开玩笑，互相愚弄。当时，这段广播还真的愚弄了很多听众，那些听
众一直都详细意大利面条是树上结的!
John:  Yes,  people  thought  spaghetti  grew  on  trees!  Oliver,  were  you
convinced by that recording?
Oliver:  Well, if I didn't know anything about pasta, I think I might be taken in
by it, 我可能就会被骗了!
John:       Lots  of  people  were  taken  in. We’ve  been  talking  about  why  British
people love Italian food, and the origins of the first Italian restaurants
in London today.
Oliver:  下次有机会到伦敦的话，别忘了去尝尝意大利菜啊–意大利餐馆在这儿可是遍地都
是啊!
John:  We’ll say good-bye now and see you next time.
Oliver  再见。
 
Insert
This restaurant was started by an Italian waiter, with lots of hope and not much
money. His  first day’s  takings were 12 and 8 pence; now he  serves more  than
400 meals a day. And Pepino  Leoni,  the waiter  from Canero, by  lake Maggiore,
has become a leading restaurateur. 
In London you can have the best champagne, the best Port, the best Sherry, the
best  cigar and  the best of everything. On  the  top of  that,  in  London we always
had the best chef.