Researchers who follow trends say more people in the U.S . are interested in “bold ” food tastes than ever before .
追蹤潮流的研究人員說，美國人對「重口味」食物的興趣比以往任何時候都更濃厚。
That means an increasing number of Americans enjoy foods from Mexico and Asia while Italian foods like pizza and pasta are not as popular .
這意味著越來越多的美國人喜歡墨西哥菜和亞洲菜，而披薩和義大利麵等義大利菜就沒那麼受歡迎了。
Pizza and pasta are still the most popular foods among Americans of all ages .
披薩和義大利麵仍是各年齡層美國人最喜愛的食物。
But they have dropped in the opinions of younger people .
但在年輕人心目中，它們的地位下降了。
Mike Kostyo is an analyst at Datassential , a research company in Chicago , Illinois .
麥克·科斯蒂奧是伊利諾州芝加哥市一家研究公司Datassential的分析師。
He works to identify new things that are becoming popular .
他的工作是發現正在流行起來的新事物。
People who want to go into the restaurant business are his customers .
他的客戶是想進入餐飲業的人。
In the past , he said , it was easy to suggest that customers open a restaurant that served Italian food .
他說，過去建議客戶開一家義大利餐廳是件很容易的事。
But now , he said , the choice might not be so easy .
但他說，現在這個選擇可能就沒那麼簡單了。
As a new generation of Americans starts spending money at restaurants , they are choosing Mexican and Asian foods .
隨著新一代美國人開始在餐廳消費，他們選擇的是墨西哥菜和亞洲菜。
Those who are even younger , in Gen Z , like Mexican food the most .
更年輕的Z世代最喜歡墨西哥菜。
Those in Gen Z are younger than 23 .
Z世代指的是23歲以下的人。
That means if you visit the U.S ., you may start seeing more places to buy foods like tacos than pizza or lasagna .
這意味著，如果你去美國，可能會開始看到賣墨西哥捲餅之類食物的地方比賣披薩或千層麵的地方更多。
I think in the future , it's going to be a taco operation .”
我想將來會是一家賣墨西哥捲餅的店。」
Kostyo noted that among all Americans , Italian food still holds the top spot .
科斯蒂奧指出，就全體美國人而言，義大利菜仍然排在首位。
The Baby Boomer generation still likes Italian food .
嬰兒潮世代仍然喜歡義大利菜。
Baby Boomers are between 57 and 75 years old .
嬰兒潮世代的年齡在57歲到75歲之間。
But Mexican food and Asian food , such as ramen noodles from Japan , are rising fast .
但墨西哥菜和亞洲菜，例如日本拉麵，正在迅速走紅。
He said many young Americans are influenced by what they see on social media services such as Instagram .
他說，許多美國年輕人受到他們在Instagram等社群媒體上所見內容的影響。
People often take photos of their food and share them with friends .
人們常常替自己的食物拍照，並分享給朋友。
The researchers note that more Americans like the taste of foods from Asia and Latin America than ever before .
研究人員指出，喜歡亞洲和拉丁美洲食物口味的美國人比以往任何時候都多。
That is because the number of people in the U.S . from Asia and Latin America is larger than in the past .
這是因為在美國的亞洲和拉丁美洲裔人口比過去更多了。
The 2020 Census showed the Latino population grew by 23 percent in only 10 years .
2020年人口普查顯示，拉丁裔人口在短短10年內增加了百分之二十三。
Asians make up over 6 percent of the U.S . population .
亞裔占美國人口的百分之六以上。
Kostyo said many Americans have neighbors or friends from Asia or Latin America .
科斯蒂奧說，許多美國人都有來自亞洲或拉丁美洲的鄰居或朋友。
So , they might be introduced to these new foods more often .
因此，他們可能更常接觸到這些新食物。
The change from Italian food to Mexican food , Kostyo noted , came much faster than he expected .
科斯蒂奧指出，從義大利菜到墨西哥菜的轉變比他預想的快得多。
“This is the first time we have ever seen…this change happen in a generation ,” he said .
「這是我們第一次看到……這種變化在一代人之內發生，」他說。
Kostyo noted that American tastes are changing .
科斯蒂奧指出，美國人的口味正在改變。
In the past , many Americans were not comfortable with spicy foods .
過去，很多美國人吃不慣辣的食物。
“Every year , their capacity for bold flavors increases , so I think that's also driving some of these changes , as well .”
「他們對重口味的接受度每年都在提高，所以我認為這也在推動其中一些變化。」
Asian food – from places like China , Japan and Thailand – is known for bold flavors .
來自中國、日本和泰國等地的亞洲菜以濃烈的風味著稱。
And a recent report from the Pew Research Center shows Asian food trends .
皮尤研究中心最近的一份報告也顯示了亞洲菜的流行趨勢。
Sono Shah helped write the Pew report .
索諾·沙阿參與撰寫了皮尤的這份報告。
It said that 71 percent of Asian restaurants in the U.S . serve foods from either China , Japan or Thailand .
報告說，美國百分之七十一的亞洲餐廳供應的是中國菜、日本菜或泰國菜。
People from those countries make up only 33 percent of the U.S . Asian population .
來自這些國家的人只占美國亞裔人口的百分之三十三。
“Chinese restaurants were the most popular , so they're found in every state ,” Shah said .
「中餐廳最受歡迎，所以每個州都有，」沙阿說。
He added that every state has at least one Japanese or Thai restaurant .
他還說，每個州至少都有一家日本餐廳或泰國餐廳。
Chinese food , he said , has been in the U.S . for a long time .
他說，中餐在美國已經有很長的歷史了。
Japanese restaurants have increased because of the popularity of sushi , an uncooked fish dish .
日本餐廳增多是因為壽司（一種生魚料理）很受歡迎。
But there are many more Thai restaurants compared to the number of Thai people in the U.S .
但與在美國的泰國人數量相比，泰國餐廳的數量要多得多。
Shah said many people first experience a culture through its food .
沙阿說，許多人最初是透過食物來接觸一種文化的。
So , if people like Thai food , they might gain a favorable opinion of Thailand .
所以，如果人們喜歡泰國菜，他們可能會對泰國產生好感。
So about 45 percent of all Asian restaurants are in California , New York , Texas , New Jersey and Washington .
因此，大約百分之四十五的亞洲餐廳位於加州、紐約、德州、紐澤西和華盛頓州。
One final finding about the food interests of Americans ?
關於美國人飲食偏好的最後一項發現是什麼？
They may fall back on what they see as traditional or “comfort ” foods in difficult times .
在困難時期，他們可能會回歸自己心目中的傳統食物或「療癒食物」。
And I'm Jill Robbins
我是吉兒·羅賓斯。