At $8.97 a head, vegetable climbs the food chain to favored status
随着大白菜售价8.97美金一棵，蔬菜成了食物链中最受欢迎的食材。
A type of "cabbage de terroir" now selling for 59 yuan ($8.97) a head in Qingdao, Shandong province, has quickly become a sought-after ingredient for home chefs here and abroad.
山东青岛有一种“胶州大白菜”现在卖到了59元（8.97美金）一棵，迅速成为在国内外大厨中都很吃香的食材。
As a staple in East China, nappa cabbage, or Chinese cabbage, usually equals inexpensive food, hence the expression, "as cheap as a cabbage".
大白菜，或者中国白菜，作为中国东部地区常见的蔬菜，通常等同于便宜菜。所以就有了这个短语：“白菜价”（形容便宜）。
But the Jiaozhou nappa cabbage, with a long history of cultural significance, and grown by modern farmers with improved technology, classical music and elaborate care, is winning fans as a gourmet vegetable.
但是，具有重要的文化意义的、历史悠久的胶州大白菜，由现代化的农民利用改良技术，播放古典音乐，精心护理后，作为一种美味蔬菜，赢得了食客的追捧。
Farmers in Jiaozhou, a county 50 kilometers northwest of downtown Qingdao, have grown the cabbage for hundreds of years. Many Chinese writers and artists have praised Jiaozhou cabbage in their work. Lu Xun, a Chinese writer and thinker active in the early 20th century, wrote in a famous story Mr Fujino that nappa cabbage tied with red ribbon, hanging upside-down in a vegetable store, was revered in the 1920s.
胶 州是距青岛市区西北部约50公里的一个县城，那里的农民几百年来都种植大白菜。许多中国的作家和艺术家在他们的作品中赞美胶州大白菜。活跃在上世纪初期的 中国作家和思想家鲁迅先生，将在20年代就被尊崇的、系着红丝带，倒挂在蔬菜店里的胶州大白菜，写入了他著名的故事《藤野先生》一文。
It is also a favored vegetable of many politicians.
它也受许多政治家所喜爱。
Yuan Shikai, the formal president of the Republic of China in the 1910s, is said to have craved Jiaozhou cabbage. Mao Zedong, founding father of the People’s Republic of China, presented 2,500 kilograms of Jiaozhou cabbage as a birthday gift to Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin in 1949.
袁世凯，1910年中华民国时期的总统，据称也喜欢胶州大白菜。毛泽东，中华人民共和国的开国元勋，在1949年曾将2500公斤胶州大白菜作为送给苏联领导人斯大林的生日礼物。
Although nappa cabbage is now widely grown in China, the Jiaozhou cabbage remains a distinctive regional product and is often exported to Japan and South Korea as an upscale ingredient.
尽管现在大白菜在中国随处可见，但胶州大白菜仍是一个鲜明的区域性产品，常常作为高端食材出口到日本和韩国。
Sun Haitao, a chef, said there are more than 50 recipes involving Jiaozhou vegetables in Shandong cuisine. "Its crispy texture and fruit-like taste make it great for cold salad," Sun said. "When cooked, an umami taste is generated."
孙海涛厨师说，鲁菜菜系中50多个菜谱都含胶州大白菜，他表示， “胶州大白菜脆嫩的质地和水果一样的鲜甜口味，使其非常适合冷盘沙拉，”孙说。 “烹调时，它又散发出一种鲜香。”
Zhang Jubo, chairman of the Jiaozhou Cabbage Association, said that growing attention to food quality and safety has also helped the Jiaozhou cabbage gain popularity and a good price in the domestic market.
胶州大白菜协会会长张居波说，对食品质量安全越来越高的重视，也有助于胶州大白菜受欢迎，以及在国内市场上卖个好价钱。
"We grow it strictly in accordance with organic standards, with soybean cake and chicken manure instead of chemical fertilizers, and we never use pesticides," Zhang said.
他说，“我们严格按照有机标准种植，以豆饼和鸡粪代替化肥，我们从来不使用农药。”
In addition, Jiaozhou farmers play classical music in the farm fields, which the growers insist helps the vegetables to grow "in a happy mood".
此外，当地的农民们还在田地里播放古典音乐，他们坚信这样能帮助白菜“心情愉快”的成长。
Zhang also cited the level of selenium, a mineral with antioxidant properties, in Jiaozhou cabbage, saying it is helpful in preventing diseases of the heart and prostate.
张会长还表示胶州大白菜富含硒——具抗氧化特性的一种矿物质，称它对预防心脏和前列腺疾病有好处。
Apart from cabbage, Jiaozhou also boasts an award-winning pig species: the Licha black pig. "Stir-fried Jiaozhou cabbage with Licha pork as well as bean starch vermicelli is a real delicacy," Zhang said.
除了大白菜，胶州还自称拥有一种备受赞誉的猪：里岔黑猪。 他说，“里岔黑猪肉和胶州大白菜炖粉条才是真正的美味佳肴。”
