美國準第一夫人鬥廚藝 麥凱恩妻子領先

The heat is on, and the stakes are high, with the potential first ladies' bake-off underway and organizer Family Circle magazine looking to see which way the cookie is going to crumble.

In the past four presidential elections, readers of the magazine have successfully predicted who would be America's next first lady by favoring her recipe in the magazine's competition.

Something with chocolate has melted the hearts of readers in the last four elections. So both Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain might be taking a risk by eschewing everyone's favorite treat.

Instead, Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Obama, has put forward a recipe for shortbread cookies with zest of lemon and orange, and a cheeky kick of almond liqueur Amaretto.

The recipe comes courtesy of Mama Kaye, the godmother of both her daughters, Sasha and Malia.

Cindy McCain, who earlier this year had to apologize for plagiarizing a recipe for passion fruit mousse from Food Network, went for oatmeal butterscotch cookies.

They are "an absolute must whenever the whole family gets together," says the multi-millionaire heiress to a large beer distribution firm, married to Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.

Readers can vote online at the magazine's website with the results to be published in mid-October, just ahead of the November 4 elections.

At the end of the week, Cindy McCain's recipe seemed to be slicing through the competition, with one online reader complaining that he had had to go out specially to buy Amaretto so his wife could bake Michelle Obama's treats.

If history is anything to go by, Obama might be in for a rough ride. In 2004, Teresa Heinz Kerry's pumpkin spice cookies failed to beat off the competition from Laura Bush's oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies.

Four years earlier the first lady had already set the bar high with her Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy cookies made with chocolate chips and coconut, which proved more popular than Tipper Gore's ginger snaps.

Hillary Clinton won in 1992 and in 1996 with the same recipe for chocolate chip cookies, whipping the competition from Barbara Bush and then Elizabeth Dole.

This year former president Bill Clinton got a chance to show off his culinary talents, choosing a recipe for oatmeal cookies from long time Clinton cook, Oscar Flores.

戰火已經點燃，賭注也在加大，《家庭》雜誌主辦的準第一夫人烘烤大比拼正在進行，結果如何需拭目以待。

在過去四屆總統選舉中，《家庭》雜誌讀者的“口味”竟與大選結果不謀而合。

在這四屆選舉中，帶有巧克力的配方都深受讀者喜愛。不過本屆大選的兩位準第一夫人——米歇爾•奧巴馬和辛迪•麥凱恩可能會避開人們最喜愛的這一口味，來點新花樣。

民主黨總統候選人、伊利諾伊州參議員巴拉克•奧巴馬的夫人米歇爾•奧巴馬提交的參賽作品是檸檬柑橘口味的奶油甜酥餅，她還大膽地在其中加入了意大利苦杏酒。

該配方是米歇爾兩個女兒薩沙和瑪麗亞的教母凱伊友情提供的。

辛迪•麥凱恩則選擇了燕麥黃油甜曲奇參賽。今年早些時候，辛迪因剽竊“食品網”上的一個西番蓮慕斯配方而公開道歉。

共和黨總統候選人約翰•麥凱恩的夫人、辛迪•麥凱恩表示，這種曲奇是“家庭聚會時必不可少的食品”。辛迪是一家大型啤酒銷售集團的繼承人，身家上千萬。

參評讀者可登陸《家庭》雜誌的網站在線投票，投票結果將於10月中旬，即11月4日大選之前公佈。

單看上週賽情，辛迪•麥凱恩似乎略勝一籌。一位投票的讀者抱怨說，如果他的妻子要烤米歇爾•奧巴馬的那種酥餅，他還得特地出去買意大利苦杏酒。

按照“歷史經驗”，奧巴馬可能要打場硬仗。參照以往的戰果，2004年，特麗莎•海茵茨•克里的南瓜香料曲奇不敵勞拉•布什的燕麥巧克力餅。

四年前，現任第一夫人憑藉其“德州府大廈牛仔曲奇餅”讓對手難以望其項背，當時這款碎巧克力椰香酥餅比蒂帕•戈爾的薑汁脆餅更受歡迎。

希拉里•克林頓在1992年和1996年均憑碎巧克力曲奇戰勝了芭芭拉•布什和伊麗莎白•多爾。

今年，美國前總統比爾•克林頓也獲得了一次展示廚藝的機會，他選用了自家御用廚師奧思卡•弗洛爾斯提供的燕麥曲奇餅配方。