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【新译 X 世界】NO.15：圣诞布丁

新译科技订阅号

2021-12-20

导读：圣诞布丁几个世纪以来一直是节日的主食，其历史和味道一样丰富。

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If you needed an emblem for a typically British Christmas, the plum pudding would probably be it. Love it or hate it, this currant-freckled sphere — better known as Christmas pudding, and often adorned with holly — is an instantly recognisable festive icon. The British have a sentimental attachment to this dessert. A dark, sticky mass of dried fruit, suet, breadcrumbs and spices, it’s a proper rib sticker; Christmas just wouldn’t seem right without its solid, reassuring presence on the table. Perhaps one of the reasons the dish remains so popular — despite many professing not to like it — is the fact we have such a longstanding relationship with it. Plum pudding can trace its origins back to at least the Middle Ages, when it had a less sturdy consistency. This thick, porridge-like mixture contains ground almonds, wine, figs, raisins, ginger and honey, and while the end result looks fairly unappetising to the modern eye, it does actually taste like Christmas pudding.

如果你需要一个典型的英国圣诞节代表物，李子布丁可能是最佳选择。不管你喜不喜欢，这款葡萄干色斑球——俗称圣诞布丁，通常用冬青树装饰——是一个可以立即识别的节日标志。英国人对这种甜点怀有感情。这是一种由黑色、粘稠的干果、板油、面包屑和香料，制成的美食。如果圣诞餐桌缺少了它、仿佛就少了令人安心的气氛。也许这道菜仍然如此受欢迎的原因之一是我们与它有着如此长久的关系。李子布丁的起源至少可以追溯到中世纪，当时它的稠度较低。这种粘稠的粥状混合物含有磨碎的杏仁、葡萄酒、无花果、葡萄干、生姜和蜂蜜，虽然那时的它在现代人看来相当不讨人喜欢，但实际上尝起来确实像圣诞布丁。

Elizabeth David, the doyenne of post war food writing (who, incidentally, believed plum pudding to be ‘a pretty awful concoction’) suggested it may hark back as far as ancient Greece. In Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen, she writes that a French historian called Bourdeau ‘says that it is precisely described by Atheneus in a report of the wedding feast of Caranus, an Argive prince’.

伊丽莎白·大卫（Elizabeth David）是战后食品写作的元老（顺便说一句，她认为李子布丁是“一种非常糟糕的混合物”），她认为它可能要追溯到古希腊。在《英国厨房的香料、盐和香料》一书中，她写道，一位名叫布尔多的法国历史学家“说，阿瑟纽斯在一篇关于阿尔盖夫王子卡拉纳斯的婚宴的报告中准确地描述了这一点”。

Dried-fruit porridges continued to be eaten at all manner of celebrations, including Christmas, and were enjoyed by historical figures, including the 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys. This dish was given the catch-all name ‘plum pudding’, despite containing a variety of dried fruits, from prunes to currants.

干果粥继续在各种庆祝活动中被食用，包括圣诞节和一些历史纪念日，包括17世纪的日记作家塞缪尔·佩皮斯都喜欢吃干果粥。这道菜被称为“李子布丁”，尽管里面有各种各样的干果，从李子到醋栗。