最近各地陸續(xù)開啟火熱模式，炎熱的天氣讓人不免想吃些水果解暑降溫。夏天的時令水果品種繁多，有多肉多汁的桃子、清涼爽口的西瓜、晶瑩剔透的葡萄……你最喜歡哪一種？《紐約時報》評選出了五種最美味的夏季水果并介紹了它們不同的吃法，排在第一名的是……

第五名：覆盆子 Raspberries

They have the cheeriest and most hopeful flavor of the berries, but act fast. What looked like a basket of jewels at the market can turn to mush by the time you get to your front door. Americans seem to be forgetting how good fresh raspberry purée can be — strain and sweeten it, and you are two-thirds of the way to an ice cream sundae.

在漿果中，覆盆子的滋味最讓人感到愉快和憧憬，但動作要快。在市場上看起來還像一籃寶石的覆盆子，到了你家門口可能就變得稀爛。美國人似乎要忘了新鮮的覆盆子果泥有多美味，將果肉濾出加糖，差不多就可以做出冰淇淋圣代了。

Left alone with some sugar for 15 minutes they will also give you a topping for shortcake or angel food cake, whose only near rival is a mound of macerated strawberries.

將覆盆子單獨加糖腌15分鐘后，也可以做水果奶油蛋糕或天使蛋糕的裝飾配料，唯一能與其媲美的就是腌漬過的草莓了。

Unlike strawberries, though, raspberries don’t lose their spirit when you cook them. If you can get a flat or two at a decent price, make jam right away. But just a pint, baked with their weight in sugar at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or so and then stirred to dissolve the sugar, will make a very loose jam. It won’t keep long, but it will taste like the morning sun.

不過，與草莓不同的是，覆盆子在烹飪時不會變味。如果你能以劃算的價格買到覆盆子，趕緊做果醬吧。在325華氏度（165攝氏度）溫度下，一品脫覆盆子加等量糖烘烤20分鐘左右，然后攪拌使糖溶解，松散的果醬就做好了。覆盆子果醬不能保存很久，但嘗起來就像早晨的陽光。

第四名：桃子 Peaches

A peach is almost impossible to screw up. Before they’re ripe, peaches can slip into a salad or a skillet, where after a few minutes with butter and seasoning (allspice? fennel seed? saffron? sage?) they are ready to meet grilled duck, pork chops or a sliced ham. Once they’re soft all over, eat or cook without delay. Even a few hours in a fruit bowl on a summer afternoon is enough to fur them with mold, after which emergency measures may or may not help.

桃子幾乎是不會出錯的。還沒熟透的桃子可以丟進沙拉或煎鍋里，放上黃油和調(diào)料（甜胡椒？茴香籽？藏紅花？鼠尾草？）煎幾分鐘，就可以用來搭配烤鴨、豬排或火腿片了。一旦桃子熟透變軟后，就要立刻吃掉或烹飪。在夏日的午后，將桃子放在水果盤里幾個小時就足以讓它們長滿霉菌。那樣任何補救措施可能都不管用了。

第三名：藍莓 Blueberries

Blueberries earn their high ranking in part by appearing so often in the wild, spread across valley meadows and mountaintop clearings. The ground-hugging, scrubby bushes have the darkest, smallest, most concentrated fruit, while the high-bush varieties will fill your hat or basket faster. A small haul can be enough for pancakes, muffins or a bowl of cereal. The other trait that raises them high on the list, though, is that even a handful pitched into anything made with stone fruits, or other berries, produces tiny explosions of flavor and color.

藍莓之所以能獲得高排名，部分原因是它們經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)在野外，遍布山谷草地和山頂?shù)目盏?。貼地生長的低矮灌木叢里有顏色最深、個頭最小、甜度最高的藍莓，而高灌木品種可以更快地裝滿你的帽子或籃子。一點點藍莓就足夠做煎餅、小松餅或一碗麥片了。藍莓在夏季水果中名列前茅的另一個原因是，只要把一小撮藍莓加入到任何用核果或其他漿果制成的食物中，就能在視覺和味覺上產(chǎn)生爆炸的效果。

第二名：櫻桃 Cherries

Nobody shares a cherry. Its pleasures are private, from the way it rolls loose in your mouth once you pluck the stem to the sudden rush of juice — which in your first taste of the year is always more lush and complicated than you remember — to the quiet, propulsive exit of a stripped-clean pit. Pit them for a pie filling that will make you wish you’d bought 10 more pounds for the freezer. Boil them with sugar and maybe a vanilla bean, and you have a base for sodas, lime rickeys, any number of cocktails, or best of all an ice cream sauce so bright and intense that other toppings can stand down.

沒人會分享一顆櫻桃。櫻桃的美味是私人獨享的，從你掐掉它的根莖，讓它在嘴里滾動，到突然涌出來的果汁，最后靜靜吐掉剝干凈的核，每年第一次品嘗到的味道總是比你記憶中的更濃郁、更有層次。將櫻桃去核制成餡餅餡料，你會希望自己多買了10磅冷藏進冰箱。將櫻桃和糖、香草豆一起熬煮后，可以混入蘇打、青檸酒、以及多種雞尾酒中，最棒的吃法是做冰淇淋醬，鮮亮濃郁的櫻桃醬讓其他配料黯然失色。

第一名：西瓜 Watermelons

You could call its flavor plain. Or one-dimensional. You could say it’s boring and still not get much argument. But complex aromatic compounds did not make the watermelon the champion of summer fruits. No, it is the watermelon’s eagerness to join any party in sight. Carve out a plug of rind, patiently feed the melon a bottle of vodka as if you were giving baby formula to a pet pig, then stopper it up and refrigerate. Saber the top off, scoop the guts out, and behold the bowl for your watermelon punch. Blend, strain, add water and lime juice — that’s agua de sandia.

你可以說西瓜的味道平淡，或者單一。說它很無趣，也不會有太多人反對。但西瓜成為夏季水果之王，并不是因為它的味道層次豐富，而是因為它是所有派對的必備品。將瓜皮切開一角，耐心地倒入一瓶伏特加，就像在給一只寵物豬喂嬰兒配方奶一樣，然后封好口冷藏。用刀把西瓜頂蓋切掉，挖出果肉，抱緊你的西瓜，來點西瓜賓治酒吧。攪拌，過濾，加入水和酸橙汁——西瓜汁氣泡水就做好了。

英文來源：紐約時報

編譯：董靜

審校：yaning