怎么给食物分门别类？食物界的“立方法则”出动！

美式热狗属不属于三明治呢？答案是：不！也许你会觉得很奇怪：为什么呢？它不是和三明治长得差不多吗？食物界的立方法则可以轻松解决你的疑惑。今天，就让Quriosity带你一探究竟吧！

Since the beginning of time, philosophers have debated the questions that define us as humans: Where did our universe come from? What is the meaning of life? Is a hot dog a sandwich?

自世界伊始，哲学家苦苦求索困扰人们的很多问题：宇宙的源头是什么？生命的意义何在？以及——热狗属于三明治吗？

We’re still trying to answer the first two, but we can definitively answer the third question.

A hot dog is not a sandwich.

前两个问题仍然没有确切答案，但是我们能够信心满满地回答第三个：热狗不是三明治。

A hot dog is a taco.

热狗是卷饼类食物。

Let me explain.

且请我娓娓道来。

Whether a hot dog is a sandwich is a problem that has long divided people who like to get into meaningless arguments on the Internet. Some say that a sandwich is anything in between bread, which would make a hot dog a sandwich. But some say bread that is not in two distinct slices is different — and that tubular meat within it deserves its own distinct category. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council does not call a hot dog a sandwich: “It's limiting the hot dog’s significance by saying it’s ‘just a sandwich’ , ” says its website. But the Merriam-Webster dictionary disagrees. New York and California tax law say a hot dog is a sandwich. And Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, when asked by comedian Stephen Colbert, issued this ruling:

网友们已经对热狗是不是三明治的问题进行了一番激烈的讨论，但并无结果。有人认为三明治无非指中间有夹东西的面包，因此热狗应该被归入其阵营。但有人说，热狗的面包层不是完完整整切开的两块，而是连在一起的，并且其中夹着的是一长条的肉，所以热狗应该自成一家。全国热狗与香肠委员会并不赞同将热狗看做三明治，其官网上写道：“觉得热狗‘不过是三明治’，无疑消解了它的独特性。然而韦氏字典不甚同意。纽约和加州的税法规定热狗即三明治。被喜剧演员问到这个问题时，最高法院法官Ruth Bader Ginsburg就提及了这一规定。

Enter the Cube Rule, a simple way to categorize What Foods Are and What Foods Aren’t. According to the Cube Rule, there are eight categories of food, each defined by the placement of starch. Use a cube as your guideline for where the bread or starch goes, and it will determine what a food truly is — and whether it is a sandwich. Starch only on the bottom? It’s a toast. Starch on the top and bottom that is not connected is, obviously, a sandwich. But starch on the bottom and two opposing sides is a taco. Therefore, a hot dog is a taco. And, to correct RBG, a sub is also a taco. Rolled starch on the top, bottom and two opposing sides is, according to the Cube Rule, maki roll sushi. Therefore, an enchilada is sushi. Starch on every side except the top, like a quiche, is a bread bowl. Any food fully enclosed in starch is a calzone. A corn dog is a calzone. A Pop-Tart is a calzone. A bean pupusa is a calzone.

走进食立方法则，你就能轻松将食物分门别类。根据这个法则，淀粉或者面包所在的位置将世界上的食物分为八种。把食物当做立方体，观察哪个面上是面包，就能轻松分辨究竟是什么类别的食物。只有底部有面包？这就是吐司类食物。顶层和底层分别有面包片，这显然是三明治。底层和两个对立的面上是面包，这就是卷饼。因此，热狗属于卷饼类食物。顺带纠正一下Ruth Bader Ginsburg，潜艇三明治并不算是三明治，而属于卷饼。四个相邻面上都是面包，这被定义为卷筒寿司。因此，墨西哥肉末卷就属于卷筒寿司类食物。除了顶部，每个面都有面包，就是面包碗，例如乳蛋饼。如果是完完全全裹在面包里，这就是馅饼。所以，玉米热狗、波普挞、普普沙都是馅饼类食物。

The handy diagram below, created by Twitter user @Phosphatide, makes it easy to understand the Cube Rule and issue decrees on other dishes. He drew it after the hot dog debate came up on a video game stream he was watching, and another user outlined the basis of the Cube Rule. His name is Brandon, but the 25-year-old student declined to give his last name because he didn’t want to be seen as taking credit for the theory, even though the diagram and many of the clarifications and rulings on particular food items are his. 

下面展示的图片，是由推特用户@Phosphatide首次发布的，能让你更加理解如何用食立方法则来作出判断。他看别人直播打游戏的时候，正好有人提出这个经久不衰的关于热狗到底是不是三明治的问题。有位玩家列出了食立方法则的基本内容。他就是Brandon，一位25岁的学生。但由于不想让人觉得他对这个理论洋洋得意，他没有公开自己的全名。事实上，这个示意图和详细的理论阐述和特殊规定都是他的想法。

“I like the idea of having clarity in how we talk about food,” Brandon told The Post. “I would be very amused to see the Cube Rule start taking off.”

“我喜欢在我们讨论食物的时候，能清楚地知道它们的类别，” Brandon告诉华盛顿邮报记者，“看到食立方法则逐渐为人们所接受，我感到非常欣慰。”

A piece of fried chicken, if it has a nice, crunchy breading on it, would technically be a calzone. A shepherd’s pie or a chicken pot pie, with crust only at the top, is another difficult categorization. “By the nature of the starch location, I would also rule them as toasts with the jam side down,’ ” Brandon said.

一块炸鸡，如果裹着酥脆可口的面包层，那么理论上说它应属于馅饼。牧羊人派和鸡肉派，都只有顶部有脆皮，那么这又另当别论。“根据淀粉实际上所在的位置来看，我觉得把它们当做果酱涂在底下的吐司比较合适。”

After Brandon posted his illustration, thousands of people chimed in with other applications of the Cube Rule. Nigiri sushi, with the starch at the bottom, is a type of toast, one user pointed out. A Twinkie is a calzone, and a Swiss Roll is sushi. Pigs in a blanket are sushi. Some posited that a multi-decker sandwich is an additional category — a cake — which makes lasagna a meat-and-cheese cake.

Brandon提出见解之后，成千上万的人都开始运用食立方法则。有人说，淀粉层在底部的握寿司，是吐司类食物。奶油夹心蛋糕是馅饼，瑞士卷是寿司。猪包毯是寿司。有人假设，如果多层三明治是另一种类别——蛋糕，那么千层面就是肉和乳酪做的蛋糕。

How seriously you decide to take any of this is up to you. But it is very amusing to look at, say, a piece of Gushers candy and declare it a calzone or to call a meatloaf a salad. Because, yes, for the record: It is a salad of meat and vegetables and bread crumbs that has been cooked. Unless you make it an open-faced meatloaf sandwich. Then, it’s actually a toast.

对食立方法则怎么看，完全取决于你自己。不过，把裹着糖衣的糖果称作馅饼，或者把烘肉卷称作沙拉，这无疑是很有趣的事情。当然，准确来说，烘肉卷是一种由肉、蔬菜和面包屑做成的“沙拉”。如果你把这“沙拉”放在一块面包片上，那它就成了吐司。