As a child, Chris Cosentino loved using the simple wooden nutcrackers his grandfather made to separate nuts from their shells. And there were always plenty of bowls of nuts sitting around his grandparents’ homes.
克里斯·科森蒂诺(Chris Cosentino)从小就喜欢用他祖父做的那个简单的木质胡桃夹子剥坚果。那时候，他祖父母的家中各处总有一碗碗的坚果。
“Walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds in the shell,” he said. “It was a very Italian thing.”
“那些带壳的核桃、榛子还有杏仁，”他说，“都是很有意大利味道的东西。”

Mr. Cosentino, 42, is now a chef who has been a winner on the Bravo series “Top Chef Masters” and who has a new restaurant called Cockscomb opening in San Francisco in a few weeks. These days, he uses a marble mortar and pestle or a woodworking mallet when he needs to crack nuts. But he had a number of suggestions for those who prefer traditional nutcrackers.
今年42岁的科森蒂诺已经成为了一名厨师，他曾经是Bravo系列节目“顶级大厨”(Top Chef Masters)中的赢家，而且再过几星期，他的新餐厅Cockscomb就将在旧金山开业了。现在，他在剥坚果的时候会使用一台大理石臼及一把捣杵，或是一把木质锤子。但是他有许多建议，可供那些喜欢用传统胡桃夹子的人参考。
At Zinc Details, in the Lower Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, he found several appealing options, including an Andrea Branzi design for Alessi called Scoiattolo (or squirrel). It was heavy, which is a good thing in a nutcracker, he explained, because it means “the nut will give before the nutcracker itself will.”
他在旧金山下太平洋高地(Lower Pacific Heights)的Zinc Details商店里，找到了几件很有吸引力的产品，其中包括安德烈亚·布兰奇(Andrea Branzi)为艾烈希(Alessi)设计的一款胡桃夹子，名为Scoiattolo（或“松鼠”）。这件产品非常沉，但对于胡桃夹子来说却是件好事，他解释道，因为这意味着“坚果在这样的夹子面前会自暴自弃。”
It was also functional, he said (“It has two sections for different-size nuts”), and aesthetically pleasing. “You’ve got a squirrel sitting on what looks like a branch cracking a nut. It makes sense and it looks good enough to keep out on the counter.”
而且这款产品也很好用，他说（“它有两个部分可以用来夹大小不同的坚果”），而且设计美观，令人愉悦。“就像一只松鼠正坐在树枝一类的地方，剥开一枚坚果。这件产品不但很实用，而且摆在台面上也很好看。”
Looks are important to Mr. Cosentino, who has done a certain amount of designing: of clothing (Chef jeans and Meat Feat socks), sporting equipment (a limited-edition skateboard) and kitchenware (a line of knives). “If it’s something that sits out,” he said, “I want people to look at it and think it’s really beautiful.”
科森蒂诺非常看重外观，他之前曾做过各种各样的设计：有服装类的（Chef牛仔裤和Meat Feat袜）,有运动器材类的（一款限量版的滑板），还有厨房用品类的（一系列的刀具）。“如果这件东西是要摆在外面的，”他说，“我希望人们看见它会觉得非常美丽。”
The Nusskubus, which he found online from Connox, more than fit that criteria. “If you put it on your counter,” he said, “they’ll think it’s a sculpture.”
他上网在Connox商店里找到的一款Nusskubus夹子，则更加符合这一标准。“如果把它放在台面上，”他说，“人们会以为这是一尊雕塑。”
He also liked a mushroom-like wooden nutcracker from Stone Creek Trading, which he thought resembled a porcini. “You can hold the top or the bottom to twist it together,” he said. “That’s nice, elegant and simple.”
他还喜欢Stone Creek Trading商店里的一款木质胡桃夹子。它的样子像个蘑菇，让他联想到牛肝菌。“你可以拿住顶部或底部，这样一起扭动，”他说，“那很漂亮，很优雅，而且很简单。”
No one would describe the brightly colored Robot from SUCK UK as elegant or simple, but Mr. Cosentini was equally enthusiastic about it.
大概没人会用优雅或简单来形容SUCK UK商店里的那款色彩艳丽的Robot夹子吧，但科森蒂诺对这件物品同样推崇。
“I love this,” he said. “It looks like he’s digesting the nut in his belly. You turn the crank until the shell breaks and it spews out all the parts. How cool is that?” RIMA SUQI
“我喜欢这款产品，”他说，“看起来就好像，他正在消化腹中的这枚坚果。你可以转动这个曲柄，直到果壳破开，然后它就会把所有东西都吐出来了。这样很酷吧？”