美宴佳餚的弦外之音：東西文化的對立與衝突
世界最大的中國餐廳──西湖樓，有300名廚師合力料理各式菜餚，每一名廚師都受過嚴格的中式廚藝訓練，拿手菜色從一般家常菜到頂極山珍佳餚都有。
評價：★★★★
文 Kam Williams 譯 顏伶如 圖 Drive Thru Pictures電影公司提供
Certified by the Guinness Book as the largest Chinese restaurant in the world, West Lake Restaurant is quite a sight to behold. Located on a scenic site in the heart of Southern China, in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province, the mammoth establishment can seat as many as 5,000 inside its spacious pavilions.
●曾獲金氏世界紀錄認證為全世界規模最大的中國餐廳，西湖樓確實相當美麗壯觀。座落於中國南邊湖南省省會長沙市中心一處風景優美的環境，這棟宏偉的建築物裡有好幾個寬敞的包廂大廳，總共可容納高達5,000名客人。
There, customers are waited on hand and foot by attentive waiters and waitresses, most of whom, ironically, are undernourished and live nearby, a half-dozen or more to a room, in cramped, company-owned dormitories. Despite their low wages and generally dire straits, the 1,000 employees begin each day by putting on their best faces to chant enthusiastically “Work as a team! Do our best!” in unison for their boss Qin Linzi.
●在這裡，彬彬有禮的男、女服務生殷實恭敬、悉心招待所有上門的顧客。但諷刺的是，這些服務生絕大多數卻營養不良，他們所住的地方就在西湖樓附近，大約六個人住一個房間，大伙兒擠在狹窄的員工宿舍裡。儘管工資微薄，工作環境普遍而言也相當辛苦危險，這1,000名員工每天還是要帶著最親切的笑臉，在西湖樓董事長秦靈芝的指揮之下，朝氣十足地喊出「團結一致，做到最好」的口號。
The food is cooked in 5 kitchens by 300 chefs, each carefully trained in the Chinese culinary arts, and masters of an array of entrées ranging from the ordinary to the outright bizarre. While West Lake's most popular dish is goat with rice pasta, there are some which call for a strong stomach, such as the dish featuring slithering slices of fresh-killed snake and a deep-fried seafood delicacy which, when prepared correctly, arrives at the table with the head of an expiring fish still gasping for breath.
西湖樓規模嚇人 菜色也不惶多讓
●共計300名廚師在五個廚房合力料理各式菜餚，每一名廚師都受過嚴格的中式廚藝訓練，每個人專精不同的菜色，從一般家常菜到頂極山珍佳餚都有。西湖樓最有名的一道菜是「粉皮羊肉」，其他有些菜色則要膽子夠大才能嘗試，例如有一道菜是把現殺的蛇切成一段一段，身體都還在動；另外一道鮮魚活吃，則是必須精準掌握準備與炸的時間，送上桌時魚嘴必須一張一合地喘息著才算合格。
Most of the menu, however, is designed to satisfy the average palate. After all, as General Manager Xiao Yezi explains, her job involves ensuring that they have a steady supply of the staples, which means he must order about 700 chickens and 2,600 pounds of pork per week. For the restaurant is routinely hired to cater to Wedding, Longevity and Baby Banquets, sumptuous feasts attended by hundreds of guests.
●不過，菜單上絕大多數餐點還是以滿足一般大眾的胃口為主。畢竟，西湖樓總經理蕭葉子解釋，他的工作職責在於確保各種食材供應充足，這表示每週他必須訂購700隻雞，還有2,600磅（約1,180公斤）的豬肉，理由是經常有客人來這裡辦喜宴、壽宴以及滿月酒，這些豪華宴席每一場出席賓客動輒都以數百人計。
But while the scale of everything connected to West Lake is certainly impressive, that is not what makes the place such a worthy subject of a documentary. Directed by Weijun Chen, The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World is a priceless picture which presents a captivating slice of current-day China , contradictions and all, while simultaneously celebrating many of the culture's age-old traditions.
●雖然與西湖樓有關的每樣事物規模都頗為可觀，但這並不是西湖樓成為紀錄片拍攝主題的原因。由陳為軍執導的《世界最大的中國餐廳》紀錄片是一部無價之寶，呈現的當代中國日常生活剪影讓人傾倒，包括各種對比與衝突，同時卻也彰顯了許多中國文化代代相傳已久的傳統。
The movie revolves mostly around owner Qin Linzi who freely admits to being a member of the Communist Party and talks with pride about having built West Lake into a flourishing enterprise worth RMB 30 million dollars. The question this immediately raises in the mind of the discerning viewer is whether her success is the result of business savvy or merely of her political connections.
最大餐廳是個人的成功？
●這部影片的敘述方式多半以餐廳負責人秦靈芝為主軸，她大方坦承自己是共產黨黨員，談到一手創辦西湖樓並使之蓬勃發展成為價值3,000萬人民幣的大型企業時，言談中充滿得意自豪。觀察敏銳的觀眾此時不禁立刻在心中出現疑問，不知道她的成功是因為有商業洞察力的結果，或者純粹靠她的政治關係而已。
Although much of Qin's personal story is very admirable, such as her having had the wherewithal to divorce her abusive ex-husband, one still can't help but ponder the fact that she doesn't appear to treat her staff very well, considering that 20 people quit every month on account of their low salaries. Thus, one theme constantly simmering under the surface, here, is the tension of neo-capitalism and Maoism, and the obvious existence of many unfortunate victims of the country's rush to modernism, several of whom, all struggling employees, we see interviewed briefly.
●秦靈芝個人努力的故事有許多令人敬佩之處，例如她不得不跟糟蹋她的前夫走上離婚之路，但有一點還是讓人忍不住質疑，她似乎對員工並沒有很好，因為平均每個月有20個人以薪資太少為由而辭職走人。因此，整部影片不斷透露出一個表面上並未點破的議題，這正是新資本主義與毛澤東主義兩者出現緊張對立的縮影，以及中國在迅速邁向現代化的過程中，確實因此產生了許多有不幸境遇的受害者，這部紀錄片簡短訪問的幾名努力掙錢過日子的餐廳員工就是實例。
Nonetheless, besides this economic issue, the film engages the audience in the sheer beauty of the food preparation and presentation, and in the pageantry of the accompanying stage productions, replete with singers and dancers. The movie also goes to great lengths to explain in detail the meaning of the menu for each ancient ritual.
●還有，除了經濟方面的因素之外，這部影片讓觀眾體會到料理與烹飪之美，同時也一睹餐廳裡用來饗宴佳賓，載歌載舞的表演盛況場面。片中也花了頗長的篇幅一一詳細說明不同菜餚所象徵的歷史意義。
For instance, a Wedding Feast calls for whole chicken and whole fish and lots of round ingredients. Why? These symbolize a perfect union and a well-round life. By contrast, at a Longevity Banquet, thrown for a 60th or 70th birthday, you would find dishes like turtle with secret sauce, longevity pork (for good fortune), longevity noodles (for long life), round fried eggs (representing wholeness) and peach buns (for immortality). At a Baby Banquet, held when a newborn turns a month old, the focus is as much on gifts as on food, from a sword for conquering evil, to a silver locket for long-life, to a locket of hair to ward off evil spirits, to kissing a fish so the child will be articulate.
●舉例來說，喜酒上必須要有整隻雞、整隻魚以及很多圓型的食材。為什麼呢？因為這些都象徵圓圓滿滿，百年好合。相對的，如果是為60歲或70歲壽星舉辦壽宴，則會看到以獨家祕方烹煮的「秘汁龜肉」、象徵吉祥的「宮廷萬福肉」、延年益壽的「長壽麵」、象徵圓滿的「荷包蛋」以及代表長生不老的壽桃。在慶祝嬰兒出生屆滿一個月的滿月酒宴席，賓客給新生兒的贈禮與桌上的美食同樣都是重頭戲，例如象徵驅妖降魔的小關刀，代表長命百歲的銀質長命鎖，剪下一小束寶寶的頭髮用來避邪，以及讓小寶寶親吻活鯉魚以祈求長大之後能言善道。
A brilliant movie examining China's culture and cuisine, while subtly uncovering a telling microcosm of the myriad contradictions that the country has morphed into.
●這部傑出的影片檢視了中國文化以及料理，同時也微妙地揭露出一個生動的縮影，十足反映這個國家在轉型過程當中，所出現的各式各樣衝突對立。
（本文作者為美國新澤西州知名影評人）
《世界最大的中國餐廳》一片讓觀眾體會到料理與烹飪之美，片中還花了不少篇幅詳細介紹不同菜餚所象徵的歷史意義。