請別邀請我吃晚餐大綱

All the appetizing aromas from Big Mama's kitchen greet you at the front door: Plump chicken breasts sizzling in her special batter, fresh collard greens she planted, pulled and plucked from the earth before stewing with a whole pig's foot for flavor, macaroni and cheese that should be called cheese-and-mac because the noodles are drowning in six types of dairy - and you'd better not forget the candy-dripping yams with marshmallows swirling in King Syrup. All of this complemented by Big Mama's sweet and buttery biscuits - you know, the golden, crunchy at the top ones that only she can make? Washed down with an ice cold Diet Pepsi? Sounds amazing, right? Not to me. I hate home cooked meals.

陣陣香味從媽媽廚房中傳出，似在歡迎您的到來：塗抹特製麪粉的大塊雞胸肉正在烘烤、自家種植的羽衣甘藍（剛從地裏拔出，很新鮮）燉豬腳、用6種乳製品製成的奶酪馬克羅尼意麪--你知道的，金黃色的表皮又酥又脆，只有她能做出這麼美味的意麪。再來一杯冰鎮健怡可樂，聽起來是不是超讚？我並不這麼覺得，我討厭家常菜。

People twist their faces and look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them this, wondering how a black man from Baltimore - a predominately black city - would not be willing to cancel his schedule or trade it all for a hot plate from Big Mama's. And I understand where the confusion comes from. Food has been one - if not the top - of our coping mechanisms for surviving as African Americans.

當我說出這句話，人們一臉不可置信的看着我，好像我瘋了一般。他們肯定在想，一個來自巴爾的摩的黑人--一個黑人爲主的城市--居然不願意取消其它安排去媽媽廚房吃頓熱菜。我理解他們的困惑。食物一直是我們非洲裔美國人的一種生存應對機制，如果不是首要機制的話。

In many urban areas, we are forced to deal with poor housing, underfunded schools, while living in the middle of food deserts. And still my people can whip up magic - 45 different entrees from one pig alone, turning parts of the animal into delicacies. I remember one of my undergraduate history professors telling us the story of a slave cracking a perfectly healthy pig in the head with a rock until the animal looked defective so that his master would reject it, allowing the slave to keep it for a personal family feast.

在很多城區，我們不得不在惡劣的居住條件下生活、上經費不足的學校、生活在食物沙漠社區。即便如此，我的同胞也能創造奇蹟--僅用一頭豬，就可以做出45種不同的主食，將豬肉的每一部分都變成人間美味。我記得，一位大學歷史教授講過這樣一個故事：一位奴隸用石頭擊打一頭體格強健的豬，直至這頭豬看上去不大正常，被它的主人拋棄。這樣，這位奴隸就能將這頭豬帶走，讓家人吃頓大餐。

I also understand the role that the soul food dinner plays in black families. They are both competitive - like, who makes the best potato salad? -, giving us time to share our triumphs and hardships over dishes.

我也明白靈魂料理在黑人家庭中扮演的角色。大家都相互競爭--比如，誰做的土豆沙拉最好吃--讓我們有時間在餐桌上分享勝利與困難。

As nostalgic as these moments are, and as much as I love my family, I still don't care about home-cooked meals. A home-cooked dinner demands all of the things from me that I don't want to be obligated to give. But if you want to invite me over anyway, I might come, just for the meal. I'm always hungry.

雖然這些時刻令人懷舊，雖然我也很愛我的家人，但我依舊不喜歡家常菜。因爲一頓家常晚餐需要給予我沒有義務去承擔的所有事情。但如果你堅持邀請我，我可能還是會去，只是爲了這頓飯。因爲我總是吃不飽。