ALL IN GOOD TASTE

　　一切尽在美味中

　　by Natalie M. Rosinsky

　　Ready for breakfast? How about some nice juicy raw or pickled herring, or some toasted seaweed in a bowl of rice? Losing your appetite? Maybe a spicy sauce made of lentils could wake up your taste buds!

　　These dishes may seem strange to a North American, but they are typical morning meals in other parts of the world. Young, fresh raw herring, known as “green herring”, is enjoyed in the Netherlands. Dried seaweed, called “nori”, is a popular food in Japan. Lentil sauces, called “dal”, are eaten along with fresh fruit and bread for breakfast in India. Kids in these countries might be astonished to hear that an American, on average, eats about 5 kilograms a year of our favorite breakfast food－dry cereal. What tastes good to people, as well as what is tasteful to offer as refreshment to guests, can be very different from one culture to another.

　　“Bird’s-nest” soup is a Chinese delicacy. This rare and expensive food is actually made from the jellylike saliva that swifts (a type of bird) secrete as they line their nests. It is really “bird’s-spit” soup! If you are sure you would say “No, thanks!” to this dish, think again. You already may have eaten a sweet treat from just as strange a source. Many Americans enjoy honey, which is produced inside the bodies of bees. We may not think often of the insects that secrete this sticky fluid, but Ethiopians do. They believe that the best honey is crunchy, and proudly offer their guests honey filled with fragments of waxy honeycomb and bits of dead baby bees.

　　Insects are eaten in several parts of the world. Termites are a gourmet treat in Africa. In Asia, the Japanese eat locusts and the Thais enjoy crickets. (In case you’re curious, dry-roasted crickets are supposed to taste like smoke-flavored nuts!) But many Africans and Asians who snack on insects consider shellfish inedible. They would never have the bad taste to offer a guest lobster stew or steamed crab legs－dishes that appear on many American tables.

　　Tastes in food also change over time. Rabbit was once a dish fit for medieval English kings, and American colonists often ate robins. Nowadays, neither of these meats is a frequent menu item in the English-speaking world. Vegetables have also gone in and out of fashion. Baked, stuffed, or fried potatoes are a “hot” food item today. But when explorers first brought this South American vegetable back to Europe, peasants feared it would cause leprosy.

　　Many people would only feed spuds to pigs. In the 18th century, Scotland even passed a law against potatoes, because this supposedly poisonous, “ungodly” vegetable was not mentioned in the Bible!

　　Still hesitating about having some seaweed for breakfast? Don’t worry, you can always have a tasty mouthful later in the day. “Carageenan,” an ingredient in many brands of ice cream, comes from a type of seaweed called “Irish moss.” The alginates used to stabilize and thicken other frozen foods, cakes, and pies are also derived from seaweed. Now, are you ready for some dessert?

　　准备好吃早饭了吗？要不要来点美味的多汁生鲱鱼，或者来一碗烤海草拌米饭。你失去胃口了吗？也许加一点扁豆做的辣酱会唤起你的食欲。

　　这些菜对北美人来说好像有些奇怪，但在世界的某些地方，它们确是当地特有的早餐食品。又嫩又新鲜的生鲱鱼在荷兰被人们称为“绿鲱鱼”，并深受人们的喜爱。干海草，被称为海苔，是日本人的流行食品。豌豆酱在印度被称为“dal”，人们经常在吃早饭的时候拿它就着面包和新鲜水果吃。这些国家的孩子们听到美国人平均每年要吃掉五公斤的干麦片一定会感到惊奇，而这正是我们最喜欢的早餐食品。人们认为好吃的东西或者款待客人的美味点心，随着文化的不同而可能非常不一样。

　　“燕窝汤”是中国的美味。这种稀有而昂贵的食品实际上就是由燕子搭建鸟巢时分泌出的晶状唾液制成的。它实际上就是“燕子口水”汤。如果你知道了，别人请你吃时，你一定会对这道菜说：“不，谢谢。” 再想想。你可能早已吃过如此奇怪但香甜可口的食物了。许多美国人喜欢吃蜂蜜，而蜂蜜是在蜜蜂的体内形成的。我们可能并不经常去想分泌这种粘稠液体的昆虫，但埃塞俄比亚人却对此十分关注。他们认为最好的蜂蜜是嚼起来嘎吱作响的那种，因此，自豪地给客人拿出的蜂蜜里面都是蜡状蜂窝的碎片和死幼蜂的尸体。

　　在世界的一些地方，人们会吃昆虫。白蚁是非洲人的美味佳肴。在亚洲，日本人吃蚂蚱而泰国人喜欢吃蟋蟀（你若好奇，烤蟋蟀的味道应当同烟熏干果的味道差不多）。但许多把昆虫当零食吃的非洲人和亚洲人却认为贝类不能吃。他们从不会没有品味地去给客人上炖龙虾或蒸蟹腿，而这些菜在很多美国人的餐桌上是常见的。

　　人们的口味随时间而改变。兔肉在中世纪的时候还是英国国王吃的菜，而美洲殖民者经常吃知更鸟。如今，这些肉食在讲英语的国家的菜单上已不多见。蔬菜也同样经历了从流行到不流行的过程。烤土豆、加填料的土豆和炸土豆在今天是十分“热门”的食物。然而，当探险者当初把这种南美洲的蔬菜带回欧洲时，农民害怕吃了它后会得麻风病。

　　许多人只是用土豆喂猪。到了18世纪，苏格兰甚至通过了一项法律禁止食用土豆，因为《圣经》中没有提到过这种被认为有毒和“不圣洁”的蔬菜。

　　你还在犹豫早饭该不该吃海草吗？不要担心。你在一天之中总会有机会美美地吃一口的。因为在许多品牌的冰激凌当中都有角叉胶这种配料，它来自一种被称为是“爱尔兰苔藓”的海草。用来使食物冷冻、蛋糕变稠、变凝固的褐藻盐也提炼自海草。好了，你现在要吃一些饭后甜点吗？

　　Leprosy －A chronic, mildly contagious disease found in tropical and subtropical regions, characterized by ulcers of the skin and bone that lead to loss of sensation and paralysis, and sometimes to the actual loss of flesh itself.

　　Alginate －A salt of alginic acid, such as sodium alginate.