This moment may sound familiar: It's 4 p.m. on Wednesday, and you realize the dinner you had been planning to make isn't going to work out.
这样的时刻听起来或许很耳熟吧：周三下午的四点，你意识到你之前一直计划烹制的晚餐无法实现了。
It's one of the most stressful points of weekday life, according to consumer research. Now in response, packaged-food companies and grocery stores are developing meals that aim to strike a delicate balance. They are quick and simple to prepare, but still feel like cooking a homemade meal.
针对消费者的研究表明，这是人们平日生活中压力最大的时刻。作为应对举措，现在加工食品公司与食品杂货店开始研制旨在达成微妙平衡的餐食。它们准备起来快速又简单，但又依然给你一种亲自下厨的感觉。
The target market is a lucrative one. Companies say these are homes where women-and increasingly men-like to cook when time allows, and they generally spend more on groceries. They often feel guilty relying on frozen foods or boxed meals, but a busy day can back them into a prepared-food corner.
它的目标市场颇有利可图。各食品企业称，它们的目标客户为女主人（以及越来越多的男主人）喜欢有在时间时亲自下厨的家庭，而他们在食品杂货上的花费一般都比较高。依靠冷冻食品或盒饭填饱肚子往往会让他们觉得内疚，但是一天忙下来，他们只好退而求其次地选择预制食品。
To pull off this tricky task, companies are working to identify subtle cues that signal cooking, even in convenience foods. In many cases, scientists at major food companies have found ways to make quick meals that involve only one step. But to these consumers, that ease translates as culinary cheating.
为了完成这项棘手的任务，食品企业努力寻找起有烹饪象征意义的微妙要素，连方便食品也成了它们的调研对象。有不少大型食品企业的科研人员找到了只需一个步骤的快捷烹饪方法。但是，对这些消费者而言，简单也就意味着烹饪过程中的投机取巧。
Kraft Foods Group Inc. spent about 18 months developing its new Recipe Makers product. During tests, researchers showed moms versions with one or two sauces. The women liked the two-sauce option better because more steps felt closer to homemade, says Risa Schwartz, associate director of consumer insights and strategy for Kraft. Other research showed these women wanted to spend at least 15 to 30 minutes peeling, chopping or doing other meal preparation 'to have it count,' Ms. Schwartz says.
卡夫食品集团(Kraft Foods Group Inc.)花了约18个月的时间研制其新推出的Recipe Makers产品，研究人员在试验过程中向妈妈们展示了配备一或两种酱汁的产品。该公司负责消费者洞察及策略事务的副总监里莎?施瓦茨(Risa Schwartz)称，妈妈们更喜欢配备两种酱汁的选择，因为步骤更多感觉更像是自己亲自下厨。她还指出，其他研究表明，妈妈们希望至少花上15至30分钟时间做些削皮、切菜或其他烹饪准备工作“以让这顿饭显得有价值”。
Recipe Makers, rolling out on grocery shelves now, comes in nine flavors such as Asian Fish Tacos and includes at least two sauces that are mixed with fresh ingredients like meat, pasta and vegetables. The Verde Chicken Enchilada version has one bottle of creamy ranchero 'filling sauce' to mix with shredded chicken before wrapping it in tortillas. A packet of tomatillo 'finishing sauce' is poured over the tortillas before topping with cheese and baking in the oven. Kraft created recipes for the oven, slow cooker and skillet. 'The microwave doesn't feel good to this consumer,' to cook a whole meal, says Ms. Schwartz.
Recipe Makers产品现已在各商店上架，它有亚洲风味墨西哥玉米饼包炸鱼等九种口味，包括至少两种与肉、意大利面和蔬菜混拌在一起的酱汁。绿辣椒酱墨西哥鸡肉卷配搭一瓶浓稠的由西红柿和青椒制成的“拌馅酱”，先把它与切碎的鸡肉搅拌在一起，再把鸡肉卷进玉米粉圆饼。另外，一种袋装的粘果酸浆“装饰酱”则用于淋在圆饼上，再在其上点缀些奶酪便可把饼放入烤箱中烘烤。卡夫设计了用于烤箱、电炖锅和煎锅的食谱。施瓦茨说：“对此类消费者来说，使用微波炉（做一整顿饭）让他们感觉不好。”
Bumble Bee Foods talked to more than 25,000 consumers before rolling out its Bumble Bee SuperFresh frozen seafood last month, including a parchment paper pouch for steam-cooking the fish in the oven. Consumers said they fear overcooking fish and don't like the odor. 'At first we wondered, does it need to come already wrapped in parchment' to cut down on work, says Suzanne Stites, senior vice president and general manager of Bumble Bee Frozen. Instead the additional step-taking fish out of a vacuum-sealed bag and putting it in parchment-helped cooks 'feel involved,' she says.
食品公司Bumble Bee Foods在8月份推出了Bumble Bee SuperFresh冷冻海鲜产品，它配备一个用于在烤箱中蒸鱼的仿羊皮纸纸袋。在此之前，该公司对25,000多名消费者进行了调查。消费者称他们怕把鱼做老了，而且不喜欢鱼腥味。Bumble Bee Frozen的高级副总裁兼总经理苏珊娜?斯蒂茨(Suzanne Stites)说：“一开始我们在想，是否有必要把鱼包在仿羊皮纸中（以减少麻烦）”。她说，多出的步骤──将鱼从真空密封袋中取出，然后把它放在仿羊皮纸上──有助于让下厨者“有参与感”。
For Holly MacMillan of Athens, Ga., the weekday dinner crush often kicks off with a dreaded phone call at work from her husband at around 4:45 p.m. 'Have you had a moment of inspiration about dinner?' she says he asks.
对乔治亚州阿森斯(Athens)的霍莉?麦克米伦(Holly MacMillan)来说，上班时间接到丈夫在下午四点四十四五分左右打来的令人心惊的电话时，工作日晚餐的烦恼往往也就开始了。她说丈夫总是在电话中问：“你对晚饭吃什么有想法了吗？”
'It's awful,' says Ms. MacMillan, 41, vice president of marketing for a money management firm and the mother of three children ages 7, 5 and 1. 'I'm like, 'I'm in the middle of a meeting, no,' ' she says. Planning dinner is the most stressful part of the day, she adds.
麦克米伦说：“那太糟糕了，我会说，‘我正在开会，还没想法。’”她今年41岁，是一家资金管理公司的营销副总裁，也是三个年龄分别为七岁、五岁和一岁的孩子的妈妈。她说安排晚饭是一天当中让人压力最大的事情。
On weekends, Ms. MacMillan serves dishes such as scallops breaded in panko and wrapped in bacon. On Sundays, she sometimes cooks ground beef for pasta sauce and tacos during the week. But by Wednesday, meal planning often 'goes sideways,' she says. Out comes the microwavable Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese and frozen peas, a meal that takes minutes to prepare and that her kids love.
在周末，麦克米伦会用裹以面包粉的扇贝和培根做些培根扇贝卷这样的菜。有时候，她还会在周日做些牛肉末用于配搭平日的意大利面酱和墨西哥卷饼。她说，尽管如此，到了周三晚饭的安排常常会“出偏差”。最后想出的就是可用微波炉烹制的Bob Evans通心粉、奶酪和冷冻豌豆，这顿饭只要花几分钟时间准备，而且孩子们都很喜欢吃。
'My mom was a stay-at-home mom and cooked everything from scratch, so in my mind I should be doing it,' Ms. MacMillan says.
麦克米伦说：“我的母亲是一位全职妈妈，她样样亲力亲为烹制每一道菜，所以我就认为我也应当这么做。”
Midweek is the cooking-from-scratch low point for most households. Last year ConAgra Foods Inc. bought Bertolli and P.F Chang's brand frozen skillet meals from Unilever PLC. 'The most popular day of the week to use these brands is Wednesday' because you pour the complete meal into a pan and heat, says Jen Wulf, consumer insights manager for the brands at ConAgra. Still, because consumers warm them in a skillet, 'they feel a little bit more engaged' than heating a frozen meal in the microwave, she says.
对大多数家庭而言，周三是样样亲力亲为下厨的最糟时刻。食品公司ConAgra Foods去年从联合利华(Unilever PLC)手中收购了Bertolli and P.F Chang的冷冻便餐品牌。ConAgra公司负责这些品牌消费者洞察事务的经理珍?伍尔夫(Jen Wulf)称：“一周当中吃这些食品最多的日子是周三”，因为你可以把一整顿饭倒进平底锅中加热即可。尽管如此，由于消费者使用煎锅加热这些食品，所以与用微波炉加热冷冻食品相比，“它们会让你多一些参与感”。
Weeknight dinner is 'a bit like Groundhog Day. You solve for it and then you think about it again the next day. That amplifies the stress,' says Darren Serrao, vice president and general manager of innovation and business development for Campbell Soup Co.
Campbell Soup公司的副总裁兼创新与商务拓展事务总经理达伦?塞劳(Darren Serrao)说，平日里每晚的晚饭“有些像‘土拨鼠日’。你解决了问题，第二天你又要接着考虑它，这加剧了压力”。
Recently Campbell introduced Slow Cooker Sauces and Skillet Sauces. The products, such as Toasted Sesame with Garlic and Ginger, flavor meat as it cooks in a pan or slow cooker. The sauces aim to please home cooks who avoid 100% prepared meals and want to feel involved in the cooking process, Mr. Serrao says.
Campbell于不久前推出了电炖锅酱汁与煎锅酱汁。这些产品，比如加入蒜和姜的烤芝麻，可用于给在煎锅或电炖锅中烹制的肉类调味。塞劳称，推出此类酱汁旨在取悦那些不想完全亲手准备食品，但又希望感觉参与了烹饪过程的家庭下厨者。
Campbell's dubs about 25% of consumers 'constrained wishful eaters,' says Charles Vila, vice president of customer and consumer insights for Campbell. 'These are the folks that have incredible time pressures, but they are trying to get a good, tasty, convenient meal on the table,' he says. For many, cooking can mean as little as turning on the oven or pouring a can of soup over rice, he says.
Campbell负责客户与消费者洞察事务的副总裁查尔斯?维拉(Charles Vila)称，该公司把大约25%的消费者戏称为“被迫一厢情愿的食客。他们都是些时间极为紧张的人，但又想在餐桌上吃一顿营养、美味又方便的饭”。他说，对他们许多人而言，下厨就只不过是打开烤箱或浇一罐汤汁在米饭上。
Papa Murphy's is a 1,360-location pizza chain where customers add ingredients to an uncooked pizza on site and then cook it in their own oven. It shuns pizza boxes, instead wrapping the pizzas in cellophane in a subtle bid to make it more like a meal. 'If you pull something from the refrigerator it wouldn't be in a box,' says Ken Calwell, chief executive of Papa Murphy's International. When consumers 'actually turn on and preheat the oven, there is something that reminds them of their grandma or mom,' he says.
Papa Murphy's是一家拥有1,360家分店的匹萨连锁企业，顾客可在未烘烤的匹萨上现加食材，然后把它放在他们自己的烤箱中烤制。该公司没有使用匹萨盒，而是采用玻璃纸包装匹萨，这一巧妙的小举动是为了使它更像一顿像模像样的饭。Papa Murphy's International的首席执行长肯?卡尔维尔(Ken Calwell)说：“当你从冰箱中拿出食品，它不会是装在盒子中的。”他说，当消费者“打开烤箱预热时，有些东西会让他们想起他们的祖母或母亲”。
Katherine Wintsch, founder of The Mom Complex, a consulting firm that studies moms, has found mothers like meals that are about 75% already prepared. The firm asks moms to download a cellphone app, then input 'high passion or pain points' throughout the day. Dinner planning is 'the highest intensity pain point' during the week, says Ms. Wintsch. 'Usually around 4 p.m.'
研究妈妈们的咨询公司The Mom Complex的创始人凯瑟琳?温彻(Katherine Wintsch)发现，妈妈们喜欢准备工作已经完成了大约75%的食品。该公司让妈妈们下载了一个手机程序，输入在一天当中“高度热情或极其痛苦的时段”。温彻说，安排晚饭是一周当中“最为痛苦的时段，通常为下午四点左右”。
Because weekend cooking behavior is so unlike weekdays, General Mills Inc., makers of brands from Hamburger Helper to Green Giant, doesn't tend to study it, says Judy Bowman, global consumer insights director for General Mills. 'We focus on Monday through Thursday dinners.'
食品公司通用磨坊(General Mills Inc.)负责全球消费者洞察事务的总监朱迪?鲍曼(Judy Bowman)称，由于周末的烹饪行为与平日大为不同，该公司一般不会去研究它。她说：“我们主要关注周一至周四的晚餐。”通用磨坊是Hamburger Helper与绿巨人(Green Giant)等品牌的生产商。
For most consumers, a convenient weekday meal means cooking with about three ingredients for around 20 minutes, Ms. Bowman says. Later this summer General Mills plans to introduce Old El Paso Mexican Cooking Sauce in three flavors intended to be combined with fresh ingredients to please 'semi-experienced' cooks who need an easy weeknight dinner, she says. 'The sauce is the tough part for people. They don't know what to put in, they don't know what to make and it's really hard to get the flavoring just right.'
鲍曼指出，对大多数消费者来说，平日里的一顿方便餐意味着三种左右的食材和大约20分钟的烹饪时间。她说，通用磨坊今年推出三种风味的老埃尔帕索墨西哥风味烹饪酱汁，并把它们和新鲜食材搭在一起，以取悦需要简便平日晚餐的“半生不熟的”烹饪者。她说：“调制酱汁对大家来说很有难度，他们不知道要放入什么，不知道要做什么，而且要调配出恰到好处的味道非常难。”
Still, some 'people want to put their own touch on things,' and control flavor, especially experienced cooks, says Jason Lepes, kitchen category merchant for FreshDirect, a New York City-based grocery-delivery business. He says their meal kits, including chopped meat, vegetables, and a cooking sauce, are 'for someone who is OK with us taking the creativity out of it,' like a busy parent.
贾森?莱佩什(Jason Lepes)在纽约市食品杂货配送商FreshDirect负责餐厨类产品批发业务。他说：“（有些）人想在事物上留下他们自己的烙印。”他说，他们的配餐包包括切好的肉、蔬菜和烹饪酱汁，“适合对我们去除创造过程的做法没意见的人”，比如说忙碌的家长。