Of all the culinary changes that have taken hold in the UK in the past 20 years, the adoption of Japanese food has been the most unexpected. Perhaps the trend started in 1992 with Alan Yau’s Wagamama, where British diners were introduced to slurping noodles from a bowl. Or was it in 1994, when Moshi Moshi established sushi conveyor belts? Maybe it was in about 2000, when supermarkets began selling prepacked sushi as the new sandwich.

　　过去20年里，在英国生根发芽的所有外来餐饮，就数日式餐饮的“英国化”最为出乎意料。也许，是始于丘德威(Alan Yau)在英国开设日式拉面道(Wagamama)的1992年(译者注：教会英国食客咕噜咕噜吃碗面)?或者是始于Moshi Moshi在英国开设寿司连锁店的1994年?亦或说，是始于超市把包装好寿司当作新式三明治售卖的2000年?

　　But while all of these played a part in transforming sushi and noodles from niche to known, few in the UK have eaten anything other than popular adaptations of one or two Japanese dishes. There is little awareness of the rich traditions and specialised techniques of Japanese cuisine. For this, the ultimate source is a 500-page hardback book, Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art, by Shizuo Tsuji.

　　虽说它们把寿司与拉面从小众餐饮变得家喻户晓，但除了吃过一、二种“改良版”的日式餐外，吃过正宗日本餐的英国人却是凤毛麟角。英国人对日本饮食的悠久传统与特色烹制手法知之甚少。辻静雄(Shizuo Tsuji)所著洋洋500页的精装书——《日本料理：极简餐饮艺术》(Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art)就是了解日本料理的最佳入门书。

　　Published in 1980 in the US, the book laid bare “the secrets of the simple yet complex art of Japanese cooking” for “the first time”. Nearly 40 years after publication, it is still widely regarded as the definitive guide for western readers.

　　该书于1980年在美国出版，“首次”娓娓讲述了“日本料理简约而不简单的餐饮艺术秘诀”。出版近40年后，它仍是广大西方读者了解日本料理的权威读本。

　　Its author, Tsuji, was born in 1933, the son of a baker. Described by food writer Paul Levy as the “chief foodie of Japan”, Tsuji had a degree in French literature and worked as a journalist before training as a cook in Japan and France. In 1960 he returned home and took over his father-in-law’s domestic cookery school in Osaka. Under his direction, the “Ecole Technique H?telière Tsuji” taught Japanese, French and Chinese haute cuisine to generations of would-be chefs. By 1983 the school had 150 teachers, and when Tsuji died in 1993 there were 4,500 students and 17 sites, including two in France.

　　该书作者辻静雄出生于1933年，其父是位面包师。被美食作家保罗列维(Paul Levy)誉为“日本首席美食家”的他拥有法国文学学位。转行当厨师前，曾在日本与法国当记者。1960年，回到日本的他接管了岳父在大阪的烹饪学校。在他的管理下，辻静雄酒店管理学校(Ecole Technique H?telière Tsuji)向几代厨艺生传授日式、法式以及中式高级烹饪术。截止1983年，学校已拥有150名教师;到1993年辻静雄去世时，学生数已达4500人，并开设了17家分校，其中2家在法国。

　　Tsuji wrote Japanese Cooking to preserve, share and celebrate the richness of his national cuisine. Since its publication, a number of things have changed. The popularity of Japanese food is now well established — in the UK sashimi is no longer regarded as “almost bordering on the barbaric” — and according to market research, one in five adults now enjoys eating Japanese food. In 2013 the cuisine was added to Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Nevertheless, Tsuji’s culinary bible is a sobering reminder of how little the west still knows about Japanese food — and a tempting invitation to change this.

　　辻静雄著书的目的是保存、共享以及讴歌日本传统烹饪的博大精深。该书出版后，日本餐饮今非昔比。日本饮食的知名度如今已是声名鹊起——在英国，生鱼片不再被视作“近乎蛮夷之食”——据市场调研，五分之一的英国成年人喜食日式餐。2013年，日本料理被列入联合国非物质文化遗产名录(Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list)。然而，辻静雄的餐饮大作也清醒提醒着世人：西方对日式饮食知之者仍是寥寥无几——它更是发出一份改变上述趋势的“诱人请柬”。