哥伦布之前的印度咖喱:辣椒到来之前印度调味料阿魏的悠久历史
2021-11-18 yzy86 13242
正文翻译


(《植物学杂志和开花植物名录》中刊载的辣椒,1838 年,约瑟夫·帕克斯顿爵士)

Curry Before Columbus

(题)哥伦布之前的咖喱
(作者)美国作家尼尚特·巴沙,印度移民后代

I have a confession to make: I can’t eat spicy food.

我有件事情要坦白:我吃不了辛辣的食物。

As a person of South Asian descent, it’s incongruous, I know. I’m left adrift with the certain type of person who orders food Indian spicy. While my dining companions make an effort to signal their identity as capsaicin-consuming, I wonder if I should order my food white-guy mild. It’s not like I don’t enjoy the stinging heat or the bleary-eyed trip of something made extra hot—it’s just that I can’t digest it.

我知道,作为一个南亚裔,这样会显得格格不入。我和那种会点印度辣味菜肴的人在一起时,会感到茫然无措。虽然和我一起用餐的伙伴已经很努力地在表明自己嗜辣星人的身份了,我还是会犹疑该不该点供应给白人的不辣版食物。我也不是不喜欢针刺般的辣感,或是重辣菜肴导致的视线模糊,我只是无法消化这类东西。

I blame dysentery. A bout of it when I was three left two lasting effects on my life: it introduced me to my oldest friendship through a circuitous game of chance (a story for another time), and it rendered my digestive system subject to pains that feel like someone is reaching into me to wring out my guts like wet laundry.

我会把它归咎于痢疾。我三岁时的一次发病对我的生活产生了两个持久的影响:它通过一个赌运气的迂回游戏让我收获了一段持续时间最长的友谊(这是另一个故事了),它还让我的消化系统在痛苦中煎熬,那种痛感觉就像是一个人把手伸进了我体内,像绞干湿衣服那样绞干我的内脏。

I’m often told by well-meaning people how much they love Indian food, and then asked if I cook it at home. I never know quite how to respond. But their question isn’t an interrogation of the narrowness of national cuisines. Their question isn’t a question at all—it’s a chance to share. The woman who loves her corner Indian restaurant. The man who just took an Indian-cooking class through adult education. The reasons are usually the same: they love the heat, the fieriness, the spice.

有些人经常会出于善意告诉我他们有多喜欢印度菜,然后就会问我是否会在家做饭。我向来都不知道该如何回答。但他们的问题不在于诘难民族美食的狭隘。他们的问题根本就不成其为问题,这是一个分享的机会。那个喜欢街角印度餐厅的女人。那个刚刚通过成人教育去上印度菜烹饪课的男人。个中原因通常都是一样的:他们喜欢的就是这种辣、这种猛火属性以及那些香料。

All the things I’m doomed to avoid.

全都是我必须避开的东西。

This all had me wondering: what’s Indian food without the heat? The historian in me has an answer: spiciness is historically contingent. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue and the entire world changed: slavery, war, disease, colonization, and an immense transfer of wealth to Europe. And with that wealth too came New World nightshades—potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, peppers of all kinds. It took some time for these fruits and vegetables to plant themselves into European cuisine. The tomato, for example, wasn’t widely used in Italian cuisine until the eighteenth century.1 But what about food further out from Europe? What about India?

这一切让我心生疑惑:不辣的印度食物是什么呢?我的历史学家分身给出了一个答案:在历史上,辣不辣是依情况而定的。1492 年,哥伦布漂过蓝色的大海,整个世界为之大变:奴隶制、战争、疾病、殖民化以及巨量的财富向欧洲转移。伴随着这些财富而来的还有来自新世界的茄属植物:土豆、西红柿、烟草、各种各样的辣椒。这些水果和蔬菜需要一段时间才能融入欧洲菜系。比如说,西红柿一直到十八世纪才被广泛用于意大利菜。但是远离欧洲的食物呢?印度的情况又如何呢?

Soon after Columbus’ first expedition, the treaties of Tordesillas and Saragossa divided the oceans of the newly-known world. The Portuguese effectively took the Atlantic and Indian oceans, while the Spanish took the Pacific. With that, the Portuguese established forts and trading posts along India’s Malabar coast. In time, aloo (potato), tamātar (tomato), and mirchī (chilies) were available on the western coast of the Indian subcontinent. Later, the English set up their first trading posts in India in the eastern Gangetic plain, bringing these same staples into North India.2

在哥伦布第一次远征后不久,《托德西利亚斯条约》和《萨拉戈萨条约》将新世界的海洋作了分割。葡萄牙人实质上占领了大西洋和印度洋,而西班牙人则占领了太平洋。于是葡萄牙人就沿着印度马拉巴尔海岸建立了堡垒和贸易站。随着时间推移,在印度次大陆的西海岸也能找到aloo(土豆)、tamātar(西红柿)和 mirchī(辣椒)了。后来,英国人在恒河平原东部建立了他们在印度的第一批贸易站,将这几种食物引入了北印度。

So what was curry like before Columbus? Well, curry didn’t exist.

那么在哥伦布之前,咖喱是什么样子的呢?好吧,那时咖喱还不存在。

In these cases, I find it useful to consult my Hobson-Jobson, the nineteenth-century dictionary of Anglo-Indian loan words. According to that source, curry comes from the Portuguese word karil (caril) via the Tamil word kari (sauce, relish for rice). In the sixteenth century, this was transliterated into English as caril, but by the 1680s entered English as carrees, perhaps from caris, an Anglicized plural form of the Portuguese.3 It’s a circle: I’m back to Tordesillas and Saragossa.

在这些案例中,我发现查阅我的《霍布森-乔布森:十九世纪英印外来语词典》很有用。根据该信息来源,curry(咖喱)源自葡萄牙语单词karil (caril),经由泰米尔语单词kari(酱汁,搭配米饭吃的小菜)变化而来。十六世纪时,这个词被音译成了英语词caril,但到了十七世纪八十年代,是以carrees的形式进入英语词库的,这个词可能源自caris,是这个葡萄牙词的英语化复数形式。这样一圈就又转回来了:我又回到了《托德西利亚斯条约》和《萨拉戈萨条约》。

It looks like the curry too came after Columbus. And not only that: it’s a meaningless word in the context of daily life. Indian food is cipher, built upon a matrix of regionalism, religion, and caste. A Dalit from Mararashtra’s Marathwada region might mix bovine blood with yesur (a local spice mix) to make lakuti, while a Tamil Brahmin might mix eight spices with tur dāl and onions to make a sambar.4 Beyond the hyper-regionalism is a blunt truth as well: there are actual words for the plethora of regional dishes that can be reduced to a curry.

看起来咖喱也是在哥伦布之后出现的。而且不仅如此:它在日常生活语境中是一个毫无意义的词。印度菜是密码,是在地域性、宗教和种姓的母体之中创生的。来自马哈拉施特拉邦马拉特瓦达地区的达利特人(即贱民)可能会将牛血与yesur(一种当地产的香料混合物)混合制成lakuti咖喱,而泰米尔人中的婆罗门可能会将八种香料与木豆还有洋葱混合制成桑巴汤(即南印度酸豆汤)。除去超级地域主义,还有一个直截了当的事实:那些数量过于多的地方菜都有真实存在的词可以指称它们,而这些词可以被简称为咖喱。



(译注:图为桑巴汤;lakuti咖喱为达利特人菜肴,往往以动物血为基础)
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Still, curry can be a somewhat useful concept. It’s an outsider’s perspective, a shorthand glossing over an entire subcontinent’s worth of food. It’s the type of concept that takes what it wants from the original, and mixes in whatever else is ready-to-hand.

尽管如此,咖喱还算是个有点用的概念。这是局外人的观点,是草草概括整个次大陆食物的一张速写。这种类型的概念从原版的事物中汲取了它想要的部分,然后与其他任何方便获取的东西混在了一起。

I went to the source: the first example of a curry recipe found in a Western cookbook. Hannah Glasse’s 1747 bestseller, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, featured a recipe “To make a Currey the Indian way”.

我还作了溯源:也即在西方烹调书中发现的第一个咖喱食谱的例子。出版于1747年的汉娜·格拉斯畅销书《简单明了的烹饪艺术》,其中一个主打菜谱就是“以印度做法制作咖喱”。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Upon first glance, I can’t tell how this recipe differs from a fricasseed chicken. But it’s there: “an ounce of Turmerick [turmeric], a large spoonful of ginger and beaten pepper.” What makes this curry in an Indian way is not the chicken or the cream, but these three spices taken mixed together and served.

乍一看,我分不出这个食谱和白汁鸡块有什么不同。但它就是这么说的:“3一盎司姜黄粉,一大勺生姜和胡椒粉。” 在这道咖喱菜中体现印度路数的不是鸡肉或奶油,而是将这三种香料混合在一起,并且吃下去。

Before spicy came spice: the history of curry before Columbus is a history of spice. And so I wonder: what spices were used? In what quantities?

在辣味到来之前就有香料了:哥伦布之前的咖喱史就是一部香料史。所以我就想知道:用了哪些香料?用量又是多少?

The best spice to help answer these questions might be asafetida (also spelled asafoetida). Known in Hindi as hīng, it’s the dried resin taken from the root of the Ferula herb, and is used throughout Indian cuisine in nearly all Indian regions. When fried in oil, it adds a lovely umami flavor to any dish, one reminiscent of garlic or onions.

能帮助回答这些问题的最理想香料可能是 asafetida(即阿魏,也拼写为 asafoetida)。它在印地语中称为hīng,是取自阿魏属植物根部的干燥树脂,差不多印度所有地区的印度菜都会用到它。拿去油中煎炸时,它能为任何一道菜增添一种可爱的鲜味,会让人联想到大蒜或洋葱。



(图解:新鲜的阿魏树脂)

I’ve also known it as an extremely smelly spice.

我也已经知道它是一种极为刺鼻的香料。



(“Ferula assa-foetida”,阿魏植株,威廉·伍德维尔《药用植物学》第一卷,1790年)

I had never heard of it until I was an adult. Family lore says that my father hated the smell so much, he told my mother early in their marriage to keep it out of the spice cabinet forever. But it wasn’t just him—the smell has a noxious reputation across the world, going back centuries. The Portuguese physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta wrote in his sixteenth-century Colóquios that “the nastiest smell in the world for me is Assa-fetida [sic].” But he also wrote that “the thing most used throughout India, and in all parts of it, is that Assa-fetida.”6

我在成年之前从来没有听说过它。家族里的人传说我父亲痛恨这种气味,他刚结婚就嘱咐我母亲永远不要把它放进香料柜。但不仅仅是他,这种气味在世界各地都恶名昭著,这种名声可以追溯到几个世纪以前。葡萄牙医生兼博物学家加西亚·德·奥尔塔在他写于十六世纪的《Colóquios(座谈)》中说,“对我来说,世界上最难闻的气味就是阿魏了[原文如此]。” 但他也写道,“在整个印度的所有地区,最常用的东西就是阿魏了。”

This was as true in the twelfth century as it was in the sixteenth. One of the earliest South Asian texts that featured non-medicinal recipes was the Sanskrit Mānasollāsa. Written in 1129 CE by Someshvara III, king of the Western Chalukya Empire in the western Deccan and South India, the book is an encyclopedic treatise on all aspects of life in his kingdom. One of those most common ingredients found in its chapter on the enjoyment of food is asafetida.7

无论是十二世纪还是十六世纪,情况都是如此。梵文的《Mānasollāsa》(译注:意为“悦心”)是以非药用食谱为特色的南亚最古老文本之一。该书由位于德干高原西部和南印度的西查鲁克亚帝国国王萨姆什瓦拉三世于公元 1129 年写成,是一部谈论其王国生活方方面面的百科全书式著述。在书中谈论享受美食的章节中,你会发现最高频出现的成分之一就是阿魏。

Various other recipes, including those for dāl, meat dishes, and fish were also spiced with asafetida. My first inclination when I saw this was to question it: of course a king would spice his food. Spices were a luxury, and it goes without saying that a king could afford to command his kitchen to use whatever spices were available to him.

而其他各种食谱,包括各种豆类、肉菜和鱼类的食谱,也加入了阿魏,以此增香。当我看到这些时,生出的第一个念头就是去质疑它:国王当然会在他的食物加入香料增味。当时,香料是一种奢侈品,而不言而喻的是,国王可以命令他的厨房使用他能得到的任何香料,他也负担得起。

Asafetida too made an appearance in recipes dating from the Sultanate era. From 1206 to 1526, a succession of Islamic dynasties known as the Delhi Sultanate ruled northern India. Nasir ud-Din Shah, a ruler of the Malwa Sultanate (a breakaway state from one of the Delhi Sultanate dynasties) produced the Ni’matnama (“The Book of Delights”). The book contained some of the recipes loved by his father, the Sultan Ghiyath Shah. Interestingly enough, the book contains a handful of recipes considered rustic or common—food for the common folk.

阿魏也出现在了可追溯到德里苏丹国时代的食谱中。从 1206 年到 1526 年,被称为德里苏丹国的一系列伊斯兰王朝统治着印度北部。纳赛尔·乌德丁·沙是摩腊婆苏丹国(从其中一个德里苏丹国王朝中分离出来的国家)的统治者,他编著了Ni'matnama(《欢乐之书》)。这本书包含了他父亲苏丹吉亚斯·沙钟爱的一些食谱。有趣的是,这本书收入了几个被认为是乡村/家常的食谱,也就是普通老百姓吃的食物。



(吉亚斯·沙在观看绿色蔬菜的烹制过程,大英图书馆藏)

One recommends to:
take root vegetables and boil them well, then take them off and fry them in ghee flavoured with sesame and asafetida.
Add lime juice, salt and burned vegetable oil and mix it as explained above. Take some of it, flavor it and cook it.10

其中有一个的推荐做法是:
-将根菜类蔬菜煮沸,然后取出,并用经芝麻和阿魏调过味的印度酥油煎炸。
-加入酸橙汁、盐和烧过的植物油,并按照上述说明混合。取出一部分,调味,然后烹饪之。

I’m not sure how burned vegetable oil would taste, but I’m sure the asafetida would make up for it. Maybe.

我不确定烧过的植物油是什么味道,但我敢肯定阿魏会为它添彩。也许吧。

Humble hīng too made an appearance in the royal accounts of the Mughals. The Mughal Emperor Akbar reigned from 1556 to 1605. His court historian, Abu’l-Fazl ‘Allami, dutifully chronicled his reign in Ain-i-Akbari (“Administration of Akbar”). The work remains a quintessential source for the workings of Akbar’s government. It also contains a repertoire of recipes.

低调的阿魏也出现在了莫卧儿帝国王室的记载中。莫卧儿皇帝阿克巴1556 年至1605 年在位。他的史官阿布·法兹尔·阿拉米尽职尽责地记录了他在Ain-i-Akbari(“阿克巴一朝”)的统治。该作品一直都是阿克巴一朝事迹的信息来源。其中也包含了全套的食谱。

The history of curry before Columbus is truly a history of spice. There are, of course, more spices to find in the archives: turmeric, coriander, and cumin come to mind. These are spices that cross region and class, the staples thrown into the pot in meal after meal. But ubiquitous, smelly, resinous hīng gives a chance to take a peek into the flavors of Indian food prior to the Columbian exchange. Perhaps there should be a new way to order something, not Indian spicy, but Indian spiced, with plenty of asafetida. I’ll hold my nose and ask for a generous portion, just like all those food chroniclers over the past millennium.

哥伦布之前的咖喱史真的是一部香料史。当然,在档案中可以找到更多的香料:姜黄、香菜和孜然。这些是跨地域、跨阶级的调味品,是吃饭时或饭后扔进锅里的重要产品。但是无处不在的刺鼻的树脂味阿魏让我们得以一窥哥伦步大交换之前印度菜的风味。也许应该出现一种新的点菜方式,不是印式辣味版,而是印式香料版,其中会加入很多阿魏。我会捂着鼻子点个一大份,就像过去的千年中所有那些食物编年史家一样。
(译注:哥伦布大交换即东半球与西半球之间生物、农作物、人种、文化、传染病、甚至思想观念的突发性交流)



(图解:块状/研磨成分的阿魏)

评论翻译
Vyzantinist
Oh neat, I didn't realize hing's use in Indian cuisine was that old. I finally got my hands on some the other day after being told it would give my curry an 'authentic' taste, but I'm not sure how much/how to use it.

哇是干货,我都没意识到在印度菜中使用阿魏的历史那么的漫长。前几天我终于弄到了一些,因为之前有人告诉我它能让我的咖喱产生“正宗”的味道,但我不确定它的用量和具体用法。

liltingly
Nowadays it’s used to replace garlic and onions in veg dishes. It used to be used in many other dishes, including meat, but now it’s only used in a subset of veg dishes. South Indian dishes and Gujarati veg dishes rely on it heavily as a garlic/onion replacement, for example.

现如今,它被用来替代素菜中的大蒜和洋葱。它曾被用于其他很多菜肴,包括肉菜,但现在它只用于素菜中的一个子集。比如,南印度菜和古吉拉特人的素菜就很依赖它,会用它来替代大蒜或洋葱。

As for use: SPARINGLY. I usually poke a knifes tip into the bottle to make a 3/4cm slit into the bottle, and then use 3-5 shakes in an entire dish. A ridiculously tiny amount (1/16 of a tsp might be too much). You need to bloom it in oil, but add it just at the end before you add the main veg. So you dash it into the oil, it foams and fizzes a bit and you stir for 5 seconds, then toss in your veg to bring the temp down in the pan.

说到用法用量:须微量使用。我通常会用刀尖在瓶子上开一个0.75厘米的口子,然后在整道菜的烹饪过程中往里摇甩个3到5次。那量少到不像话(放十六分之一茶匙都有可能过量)。你必须先让它在油中爆开花,然后再加一次,紧跟着就加入蔬菜主材。你就用点力把它摇进油里,它会起泡并发出嘶嘶声,然后你搅拌个5秒钟,然后把你那些蔬菜倒进去,这样就能降低平底锅里的温度。

Blackflash07
As an Indian when I make curries, I add a pinch of hing for a curry. And 2 pinches if it is for more than 2 people. Don't add too much hing as it will ruin the smell and taste of the dish, that's what I was told. You add it in the beginning when you start adding the first batch of ingredients in hot oil. I would also recommend you to check recipes of basic Indian dishes on YT to get to know the quantity of the hing as I am not an expert and everyone has different methods to use it.

作为一个印度人,我在做咖喱的时候,会捏一小把阿魏撒进去。如果是准备两个人以上的饭菜,就加两小把。别加太多了,因为它会破坏这道菜的气味和味道,反正别人就是这么嘱咐我的。当把第一批食材加入烧热的油时,一开始就加入它。我还想建议你们去油管上查看最基本的印度菜做法,这样就能了解阿魏的用量了,因为我不是专家,而且每个人都有不同的用法。

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