士多啤梨，怎吃？ How to Eat Strawberries?

與香檳一起吃？其實香檳與士多啤梨的味道並不相配，要兩者走在一起的罪魁禍首是電影《風月俏佳人》裡，男女主角在高級酒店penthouse的情節，鮮紅完美的士多啤梨，與顏色優美泡沫正在緩緩上升的香檳，令我們誤會士多啤梨配香檳，是高品味的金科玉律。

To go with Champagne?  Champagne and strawberries is actually never a good match at all.  Blame on the movie “Pretty Woman”, a scene at the expensive hotel penthouse, where the perfectly red strawberries appear with the bubbly champagne of most elegant color.  It just make us misunderstand that strawberry and champagne is the golden rule for classy taste.

然而今天的話題不是如何喝香檳，而是除了單吃以外，應如何提升士多啤梨的甜美與口感。

How to have champagne, however, is not the topic of the day.  We would like to know how to better-off the sweetness and texture of strawberries, when we always tend to eat them straight from the box.

最簡單的方法，是把士多啤梨去椗切開，然後灑上黃糖 (即咖啡糖)。黃糖溶化後，會使士多啤梨更香甜，而口感更軟滑。無論你買回來的士多啤梨是貴價貨，仰或內地貨，都可幫助士多啤梨達到想要的甜度，而且軟化下來不會過於爽口。

The simplest way is to remove the leaves and slice the strawberries, and sprinkle brown sugar (coffee sugar) on them.  As the brown sugar dissolves, it sweetens the strawberries with a great aroma, their texture softened and turned smooth.  No matter how expensive or inexpensive are your strawberries, brown sugar will help your strawberries to achieve the level of sweetness that you prefer, becomes beautiful soft fruit.

另外就是浸於酒中。法國人愛將士多啤梨浸於紅酒中，我今次就將之切片浸於Brown Brothers 橙味甜白酒中，放於雪櫃一天，發現不止令士多啤梨吸收了酒液後變得軟滑，甜度也跟著提高，增加了橙香之餘，更沒失去士多啤梨本身的獨特香氣！

Another way is to put them in wine.  French loves to soak strawberries in red wine.  I’d like to put the strawberry slices in Brown Brothers dessert wine with orange flavor, and keep it in fridge for 24 hours.  Strawberries absorbing the wine become tender and silky, with sweetness enhanced!  While giving the fruit orange fragrance, the unique aroma of strawberries is well-kept in the fruit itself!

我一口接一口的吃完我的酒浸士多啤梨片，看著被士多啤梨染得一抺嫣紅的甜酒，變成如法國少女的口紅顏色，我試著呷一口，驚喜地發現具花香及橙香的甜酒，多了士多啤梨的香甜，而飲著非常清甜順喉，果香淡淡然卻又滿溢！

I have the wined strawberry slices one after the other until I finish all of them.  Looking at the white dessert wine which now being dyed to lovely reddish, color like the lipstick of a French young girl, I take a sip to try.  It’s surprisingly floral, with taste of orange as well as strawberries, slightly sweet and throat soothing!

士多啤梨與其他莓果一樣對皮膚非常有益，但很難於一兩天內吃完一整盒，尤其已成熟透鮮紅甜度高的，放多於一天都已開始發霉壞掉。如像以上方法，先吃一部份當點心，再將另一部份浸酒，就可吃上數天。作飯後甜品酒，得體能用以招呼朋友！

Strawberries, like other berries, are extremely good to skins.  But it’s also difficult to consume the whole box within a day or two, especially those very sweet and fully ripped ones.  They start to grow mold on them and turn bad if you keep them for more than one day.  That’s why it’s easier to have some with brown sugar first, then soak the rest in wine which you can enjoy them for few more days.  The felicity of the strawberry wine makes it the perfect after dinner wine for entertaining friends, too!

種薑

昨天給喜歡替我執廚房的老公發現，家裡的薑出了芽。他問我是不是要丟掉，我不肯定，薯仔出芽有毒，薑生芽則不太清楚。他見嫩芽已生出數條鬚根來，興起說不如拿它們去種，好呀，上網研究一下！的確可種！老公戴起手套，在家遺忘已久的空盆裡掘個泥洞，屈下薑芽埋好泥，澆水。

家裡有個露台，陽光充沛，是我愛這房子的其中一個原因，曾幻想在上種滿各種各樣花卉盆栽、香草生果。但事實卻是，無論是買現成的移植、從外國買來種子種植，或日式包泥包子只管澆水包種成的小箱子，都長得不長久。不管我多水少水，陽光陰暗，或努力除雜草剔害蟲。不明陽台是否受了某個魔咒。

所以如見我數月都不提種薑的進度，就不必問我，知道是甚麼事了。

以下是我在陽台種過的其他種種：

羅勒

牛至

忘了名子的花

風信子

忘了名子的花

鬱金香

薄荷

蕃茄盆栽裡的野菇

巴西里

迭迷香

小蕃茄

忘了名子的花 

McSorley’s Ale House

【此文於2011年5月11日 HappyMacao.com 吃喝在澳美食佳餚中轉載】

如果你跟人說很喜歡吃漢堡飽，聽起來似乎是很沒品味的調兒。但若你知道，剛替我們殺了拉登的美國首位黑人總統奧巴馬，也是漢堡的超級粉絲，是否多了點勇氣去承認你對漢堡的鍾情？我有時也會掛念起漢堡來，而且這種嚥著口水的掛念，非常視乎你吃過多用心製作的漢堡 - 製作越認真，掛念便越深。

If you tell people you love hamburgers, it may seem you are not someone with classy taste.  However, if you know that the first colored President of United States of America, Mr. Obama, who recently killed Laden for us, is as well a huge fan of burgers, you may suddenly gain some gut to admit your affection for the bun.  I miss hamburgers sometimes, and these drooling kind of thoughts really depend how seriously a chef has done a burger for you – the better it does, the deeper the love.

  

在多年被麥當奴投以先入為主的味道後，我嘗過吃完要黏手指的漢堡，包括越南Hard Rock Cafe的安格斯牛肉芝士漢堡、澳門漁人碼頭一間已結業美式餐廳一份叫 「It Takes Two」的雙層牛肉芝士漢堡，以及澳門威尼斯人McSorley’s Ale House 的煙肉芝士牛肉漢堡。

After having so many years of McDonald’s burgers, the other buns which ever made me lick my fingers are Ho Chi Minh City Hard Rock Cafe’s Angus Beef Cheese Burger; a double cheese burger named “It Takes Two” I had in a closed American Diner at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf; and the Bacon Cheese Burger at McSorley’s Ale House of Macau Venetian.

那天我與友人乘的士前往威尼斯人的穿梭巴士停泊處，內進經演唱會售票處行走，不消五分鐘，便見到Zaia紀念品店，及在藍蛙餐廳旁的McSorley’s Ale House。

My friend and I decided to ride on a taxi that day to arrive at the Venetian’s shuttle bus stop entrance.  We walked five minutes to see Zaia Souvenir Shop, and McSorley’s Ale House was just at the opposite, with Blue Frog right next to it.

餐牌上樣樣吸引，我們心猿意馬，看著牌子良久，最後決定要煙肉芝士牛肉漢堡、忌廉蘑菇煙肉意粉。我喜見酒牌上有一整列的Single Malts可以選擇，選了一杯沒喝過的Oban 14年，友人則要了一杯一品脫的 Ginger Ale。

All items on the menu look attractive, only until some while that our indecisive minds order Bacon Cheese Burger and Linguine Carbonara.  While my company ordered a pint of Ginger Ale, I was thrilled to see a list of Single Malts on the wine menu, so chose the Oban 14 years which I had never tried before.

友善的侍者先端上 Oban 14年威士忌及一杯冰水。我將酒杯遞高對著白色背景，色澤金如深秋，搖兩下，掛杯留痕，喝下去是我喜歡的較活潑富果味；用叉子取兩滴水加進去，再嘗，就如墨化開了，墨路內容更為明顯，有梨味，蜜糖甜，卻不失酒勁，刺激著嘴唇。友人說她的Gingle Ale 味道也不錯。

The friendly waitress got me a glass of ice water to go with the Oban 14 years whiskey.  I raise the wine glass to any white background and find its color clear, golden like autumn.  By swirling the glass, the whiskey is full-bodied leaving long tears to the sides.  Take a sip, it’s fruity and lively.  Using a fork to dip in two drops of water, every element of the content immediately being magnified and easier to distinguish.  Flavor of pear, honey-like sweetness, but never loss its strength of spirit to irritate my sensitive lips.  My friend also loved her Ginger Ale.

兩個主菜差不多同一時間上桌，雖然我與友人打算分享食物，但也看得出廚子一貫的安排，是不會令其中一個看著另一個吃，非常值得嘉許。

The two main dishes arrived almost the same time which is an excellent practice to avoid either customer staying idle while the other friend is enjoying the meal.  Though we planned to share food, I still find this act deserve a compliment.

忌廉蘑菇煙肉意粉，插著一支McSorley’s小旗幟，好看得很。配著兩條蒜蓉包，而非一條，細心。我倆口裡嚼意粉，互相點頭說著好味道。蘑菇選貨優質，香濃且沒生澀味，與煙肉及混合雞蛋煮成的白汁互相融合，加上巴馬乾芝士片，稠度剛合掛在麵條上，每一口都濃郁野味。

There’s a cute little flag of McSorley’s standing on the Linguine Carbonara.  Handsome. Two garlic breads, and not one, on the side.  Attentive.  We two busy having the linguine, turned to nod our heads at each other appreciating the good taste.  The mushroom is of good quality, holding strong aroma and well cooked, with its taste mixed thoroughly with the bacon and white sauce with eggs.  The flavorful Parmesan Cheese created further thickness that the sauce lingered on every strip of spaghetti making each mouthful full of taste of richness.

要看主角煙肉芝士牛肉漢堡製作認真度，就先要看配角薯條的表現。薯條厚切，炸得金黃而外脆內軟，沒看到一丁點的黑油渣，證明不是用千年油炸成，按時換油雖令成本上升，但成果就是誘人上品。薯條溫熱香氣迫著而來，我與友人都忍不住用手掏食，沾不沾茄汁也一樣好吃！

To determine how much effort the chef had put into our main dish Bacon Cheese Burger, we must look at the French Fries on the side.  Golden big chunks, crunchy on the outside while soft and starchy inside.  Cannot even find a single dot of black oil residue on them, proving frequent replacement of deep-frying oil, which increased cost but brought to us extremely tempting dish.  The warmth and flavorous smell of the French Fries just invited us to take them with our fingers, and they tasted as good with or without the Ketchup!

另不可不提的是，酸瓜！每次去美式餐廳，令我引頸以待的，是他們必會跟著漢堡提供的，一條不太酸而清爽開胃的醃青瓜！咬下清脆爽口，吃得光光，永不會成為剩菜。

Another supporting actress we must not forget to mention is the Pickled Cucumber!  Everytime I’ve decided to visit an American Diner, this not-too-sour yet appetizing pickled is something I looked forward to as I ordered the burger.  Very crunchy and would never become a piece of left-over green.

漢堡呢？不在話下！煙肉煎得鬆脆，味不太鹹。牛肉早柯打要八成熟，外焦內嫩，多汁，與漢堡的最佳朋友芝士走在一起，無敵的組合，把這兩隻蝗蟲餵得飽飽。

How about the Hamburger?  Absolutely perfect!  Pan-fried bacon is crisp and not too salty.  The beef is ordered to be medium well, so it came with Millard effect on the surface but juicy at the center.  Beef and Cheese are good friends and when they come together, they are invincible!  Fed these two locusts so full!

還有兩條跟意粉的蒜飽，原只想吃一口試試味道，怎料好味得在不知不覺間幹掉了。

We still got two garlic breads untouched, intended just to take a bite, but the unexpected good taste drew us to finish all.

店子的顧客多為洋人，因入口不經賭場，也有本地人帶著孩子來吃漢堡。環境清靜沒煙味，可舒服傾談，渾然忘記身在賭場裡。裝修細緻，擺放著許多美國生活物件作裝飾，播放著歐美流行曲，美式氣氛悠閒卻強烈，我看打磨得發亮的黑白地磚，聽著友人說她掛念起她在美國的男朋友了。

Customers of McSorley’s are mostly foreigners.  However, as we can reach the restaurant without passing through the casino, we can also see local parents bringing their kids to have hamburgers.  Quiet and free from cigarettes smell, McSorley’s is a comfortable place for chatting which you will eventually forget you are actually inside a casino.  The delicate décor, decorations from American’s everyday life, the English pop music, the American atmosphere is simply relaxing but outstanding.  I was placing my eyes on the shiny black and white floor tiles, while listening to my friend saying she already missed her boyfriend in USA.

Recommended Dishes 推介菜式：

煙肉芝士牛肉漢堡、忌廉磨菇煙肉意粉、Oban 14年威士忌、Ginger Ale。

Bacon Cheese Burger, Linguine Carbonara, Oban 14 Years Whiskey, Ginger Ale.

Evaluation 評分 (5分為滿分 / 5 as highest rank)

Taste                   味道                ：1-2-3-4

Service                服務                ：1-2-3-4

Environment        環境                ：1-2-3-4

Pricing                 價錢                ：1-2-3

Chef’s Passion   廚子的熱情    ：1-2-3-4

McSorley’s Ale House

Where   : 澳門威尼斯人1038號店 (近太陽劇團，藍蛙餐廳及峰景餐廳側)

              Venetian Macao, Shop 1038 (Near Zaia, next to blue frog and Café Deco)

Tel         : (853) 2882 8198

Open     : Mon-Sun, 12:00 noon – 1:00 am