World in a dish

食界

Some like it hot

有些人喜歡辣的

The rise of chilli crisp is a case study in how foods become fads

辣椒酥的興起是食品如何成為時尚的一個案例研究

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FOR SOME, cooking during lockdowns was a chance to try out the kind of time-consuming, intricate food preparation that the rush of ordinary life makes impossible. Endless loaves of sourdough were produced, along with bubbling kombucha. For others, it was an experience of drudgery. Making three meals a day, especially if your diners included small children, was tedium defined—an endless loop of eggs and beans and eggs and toast and beans and toast and eggs.

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對一些人來說，在疫情封鎖期間可以嘗試制作耗時和復雜的食物，這在匆忙的日常生活不可能做到。在平時只有無窮無盡的發(fā)面面包和冒泡的紅茶菌。對其他人來說，這是一場苦差事。一日三餐，尤其是當你的食客中有小孩時，飲食將變得單調(diào)乏味——陷入雞蛋配豆子、雞蛋配烤面包、豆子配烤面包和雞蛋的無盡循環(huán)。

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Enter condiments. They satisfied both tribes. For the enthusiasts, it was a chance to make the dips and drizzles usually provided by the local deli. For the weary, a jar of something spicy or sour was an easy way to enliven the umpteenth cheese toastie. Chilli crisp—a glowing red oil, heady with chilli and heavy with crisp fragments of garlic and shallots as well as fermented black beans and sesame— became the sauce of the moment. The place it has secured in many fridge doors since then hints at how foods become fashionable.

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調(diào)味品滿足了兩種人。對于烹飪愛好者來說，這是一個制作通常由當?shù)厥焓车晏峁┑恼横u的機會。對于厭倦烹飪的人來說，一罐辛辣或酸的東西是為無數(shù)奶酪吐司注入活力的簡單方法。辣椒酥——一種發(fā)光的紅油，辣椒味濃郁，富含大蒜和脆蔥片以及發(fā)酵的黑豆和芝麻——成為了當下流行的醬料。從那以后，它出現(xiàn)在許多冰箱門上，這暗示了食物是如何成為一種時尚。

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People in China may have been bemused by the revelatory joy with which those in countries such as America seized on chilli crisp. They have been eating varieties of the stuff for centuries. Lao Gan Ma, made in the south-western province of Guizhou, is the most famous brand. Its founder, Tao Huabi, started selling noodles coated with the sauce in 1989, setting up a factory a few years later. Her face peers out sternly from every label on the 1.3m bottles the company says it now produces a day. (Heinz’s plant in the Netherlands makes about 10m bottles of ketchup a week.)

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中國人可能對美國等國家的人喜歡辣椒酥這件事感到困惑。幾個世紀以來，他們一直在吃各種各樣的辣椒。產(chǎn)于西南省份貴州的老干媽是其中最著名的品牌。它的創(chuàng)始人陶華碧在1989年開始銷售蘸有這種醬的面條，幾年后建立了一家工廠。她那嚴肅的臉出現(xiàn)在每一瓶辣椒酥的標簽上，老干媽聲稱每天可以130萬瓶。(亨氏在荷蘭的工廠每周生產(chǎn)大約1000萬瓶番茄醬。)

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It took a pandemic to bring the delicacy to the rest of the world’s attention. Chilli crisp had many of the necessary characteristics to be a hit. It is spicy, but not overly so. It is delicious slathered on noodles, as originally intended, but it can also be added to fried eggs and other dishes familiar to Americans. It satisfies humans’ love of crispy foods, rooted in an evolutionary preference since crunchiness is often an indicator of freshness.

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疫情讓這種美味引起了全世界的關(guān)注。辣椒酥具有許多成功的必要特征。它很辣，但不過分。它與面條搭配十分美味，就像一開始售賣老干媽的時候，但它也可以被添加到煎蛋和美國人熟悉的其他菜肴中。它滿足了人類對松脆食物的熱愛，這種熱愛根植于進化的偏好，因為松脆通常是新鮮度的指標。

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Usually tastemakers visit restaurants and interview chefs to immerse themselves in what people are cooking and eating, says Kevan Vetter of McCormick’s Flavour Forecast, which predicts and influences which tastes become popular. In lockdown that was no longer possible. Instead they had to watch what cooks, both home and professional, were making via social media. The answer, along with banana bread, was chilli crisp.

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凱旺·維特說，通常，食品研發(fā)會去餐館拜訪大廚，讓他們沉浸在人們烹飪和食用的食物中。味可美口味預測師的職責是預判并影響哪種口味會變得流行。已經(jīng)不可能了。相反，他們不得不通過社交媒體觀看家庭和專業(yè)廚師在做什么。答案和之前的香蕉面包一樣，辣椒酥。

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Today’s question is not whether people will keep eating it. The liberation of post-pandemic dining has not dulled the delight of the condiment. The East Asian population in America and Britain is growing. Many new brands have joined Lao Gan Ma. Like salsa, which once seemed exotic, chilli crisp is set to become a pantry staple.

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今天的問題不是人們是否會繼續(xù)吃它。疫情后餐飲的解放并沒有減弱調(diào)味品的樂趣。美國和英國的東亞人口正在增長。很多新品牌都加入了老干媽。就像曾經(jīng)看起來充滿異國情調(diào)的辛香番茄醬一樣，辣椒酥也將成為食品貯藏柜的常客。

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The question is whether amateurs will keep making it. Nobody bothers making ketchup: as a condiment is assimilated, people develop a taste for the mass-produced version. And in the case of chilli crisp, Ms Tao might argue that the commercial option is as authentic as it gets.

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問題是那些民間廚師是否會堅持制作新產(chǎn)品。沒人會費心制作番茄醬:隨著調(diào)味品被同化，人們喜歡那些批量生產(chǎn)的版本。在辣椒酥的例子中，陶女士可能會說商業(yè)化是最真實的發(fā)展路徑。