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■波士頓龍蝦在香港也很受歡迎。 資料圖片
猴年（Year of Monkey）將至，先與各讀者拜一個早年，祝各位身體健康，天天向上。可是在大約11個月前， 英國廣播公司（BBC）有一文，題為︰Chinese feast: Year of the lobster?（中國宴：龍蝦年？)，變了龍蝦年，究竟是什麼一回事？不如一觀內文︰
Dumplings, red packets of money, long noodles symbolizing long life, fireworks at midnight - all of these are traditional Chinese trappings of Asian Lunar New Year celebrations happening around the globe.
餃子，紅包， 象徵着長壽的長麵條，午夜煙花-所有這些都是中國傳統的粉飾，屬於亞裔的農曆新年在全球同時慶祝。
This year, however, many Chinese tables will feature a new, unlikely addition to their traditional meals: lobsters from the US state of Maine.
今年在很多中國人的餐桌上，傳統食物旁邊多了一款想不到的新菜式：從美國緬因州而來的龍蝦。
China's hunger for this storied slice of Americana has been growing over the past decade.
中國對這傳奇美洲肉片的渴求在過去十年持續增長。
Stephanie Nadeau, owner of The Lobster Company wholesaler in Kennebunkport, Maine, says in 2009 China bought virtually no lobster from Maine. Now the Chinese New Year is the busiest time of year - even busier than Christmas.
斯蒂芬妮．納多（在緬因州肯納邦克波特的龍蝦批發公司老闆）說︰「在2009年，中國還沒從緬因州購買龍蝦。現在，中國新年是一年中最忙的時候，比聖誕節更忙。」
"With Christmas, it's only one day," Nadeau says. By contrast, she says she'll spend four weeks this year filling her Chinese New Year orders.
納多說︰「聖誕節只是一天。」但她反而指出自己今年將會花費四周來應付中國新年的訂單。
"It's my busiest year ever," she adds. "The Chinese are very fond of live seafood."
「這是我至今最忙的一個年頭。」 她再說：「中國人非常喜愛生猛海鮮。」
As China's middle class has developed increasingly cosmopolitan tastes, their presence has been felt in unlikely areas of the global economy. The majority of Maine lobster exports still go to Canada, but even with record catches, wholesalers say they hadn't anticipated this much demand from a country so geographically distant - a major concern when shipping live seafood.
隨着中國中產階層不斷壯大，全球經濟已經感覺到他們的存在。現時大多數緬因州龍蝦仍然出口往加拿大，但批發商並沒有預計得到，一個距離那麼遠的國家竟有着如此需求，而重點是如何令龍蝦在抵達時還活着。
Flying nearly half a million pounds of lobster to China has proven especially challenging this winter.
要讓近50萬磅的龍蝦飛到中國，是這個冬天最大的挑戰。
就上文，作者有點補充。如上文所述，波士頓龍蝦並非產自波士頓，這個馬薩諸塞州（舊稱麻省）的首府，牠的產地是北美洲東北部海岸，由加拿大紐芬蘭與拉布拉多（Newfoundland and Labrador）至新澤西州（New Jersey）都可找到牠的蹤影，而捕手主力則來自緬因州。牠也不是龍蝦，而是屬於螯龍蝦的分類，學名為美洲螯龍蝦和緬因州螯龍蝦。可是在西餐廳點菜時，還是叫波士頓龍蝦吧，不然侍應生（waiter or waitress）便會摸不着頭腦（does not have a clue）。下期再看後半篇報道。 ■林健根 會計師
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