A brief?history of cheese

奶酪簡史

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Before empires and royalty,

before pottery and writing,

before metal tools and weapons –

there was cheese.

在王國與皇室存在之前，

在陶器與文字存在之前，

在金屬工具與武器存在之前，

奶酪就已經(jīng)存在了。

As early as 8000?BCE,

the earliest Neolithic farmers ?living in the Fertile Crescent

began a legacy of cheesemaking

almost as old as civilization itself.

早在公元前?8000?年，

新石器時代早期， 居住在新月沃土的農(nóng)民

就開始了奶酪制造的傳承，

幾乎和文明一樣久遠。

The rise of agriculture led to ?domesticated sheep and goats,

which ancient farmers harvested for milk.

But when left in warm conditions ?for several hours,

that fresh milk began to sour.

Its lactic acids caused proteins to ?coagulate, binding into soft clumps.

農(nóng)業(yè)的崛起使農(nóng)民們 開始圈養(yǎng)綿羊和山羊，

以獲取羊乳。

當他們把羊乳放在 高溫的環(huán)境數(shù)小時后，

新鮮羊乳開始發(fā)酸。

這是因為羊乳里的乳酸使蛋白質凝結， 變成柔軟的半固體結塊。

Upon discovering this ?strange transformation,

the farmers drained the remaining liquid –

later named whey –

and found the yellowish globs could be ?eaten fresh as a soft, spreadable meal.

當發(fā)現(xiàn)這個奇怪的現(xiàn)象后，

農(nóng)民們把剩余的液體倒掉——

后稱乳清——

然后發(fā)現(xiàn)這些柔軟，可涂開的黃色結塊 可以新鮮食用。

These clumps, or curds, became ?the building blocks of cheese,

which would eventually be aged, pressed, ?ripened, and whizzed

into a diverse cornucopia ?of dairy delights.

The discovery of cheese gave Neolithic people an enormous survival advantage.

Milk was rich with essential proteins, ?fats, and minerals.

But it also contained high ?quantities of lactose –

a sugar which is difficult to process for ?many ancient and modern stomachs.

這些結塊，或稱凝乳，能用來做奶酪，

而奶酪經(jīng)過陳化、壓榨、 成熟和攪拌等加工處理后，

便能制成各種各樣的乳制品。

奶酪的發(fā)現(xiàn)給了新石器時代 人類巨大的生存優(yōu)勢。

奶中含有豐富的蛋白質、 脂肪與礦物質，

但同時也含有大量的乳糖——

而乳糖不耐癥是過去到現(xiàn)代 很多人的通病。

Cheese, however, could provide all of ?milk’s advantages with much less lactose.

And since it could be preserved ?and stockpiled,

these essential nutrients could be eaten

throughout scarce famines ?and long winters.

然而，奶酪不但能提供 所有奶中含有的營養(yǎng)，且乳糖含量較低。

由于奶酪可以長期儲存，

這些營養(yǎng)可以隨時被食用，

無論是在饑荒時期或是寒冬。

Some 7th millennium BCE pottery fragments ?found in Turkey

still contain telltale residues of ?the cheese and butter they held.

By the end of the Bronze Age,

cheese was a standard commodity ?in maritime trade

throughout the eastern Mediterranean.

在土耳其出土的前 7?千紀時期的陶器碎片上，

仍含有奶酪和黃油的殘留物。

在青銅時代末期，

奶酪已是整個地中海東部地區(qū)

港口貿(mào)易的常見貨物。

In the densely populated city-states of ?Mesopotamia,

cheese became a staple ?of culinary and religious life.

Some of the earliest known writing

includes administrative records ?of cheese quotas,

listing a variety of cheeses for different rituals and populations

across Mesopotamia.

在人口密集的美索不達米亞城市，

奶酪是人們的料理和宗教生活中 很重要的一部分。

已知最古老的文獻當中

包含奶酪配額的行政記錄，

詳細記載了美索不達米亞地區(qū) 不同人群和祭典的奶酪配額。

Records from nearby civilizations ?in Turkey also reference rennet.

This animal byproduct, produced in the stomachs of certain mammals,

can accelerate and control coagulation.

Eventually this sophisticated cheesemaking tool spread around the globe,

giving way to a wide variety of new, ?harder cheeses.

And though some conservative food ?cultures rejected the dairy delicacy,

many more embraced cheese, and quickly added their own local flavors.

附近土耳其文明的記錄中 也提到凝乳酶。

這是某些哺乳動物胃中 生產(chǎn)的一種酶，

可用來加速和控制 乳汁內(nèi)蛋白質的凝結。

最終，這種先進的奶酪制造技術傳遍全球，

推進了各種全新的，更硬的奶酪的發(fā)明。

雖然一些比較保守的飲食文化 拒絕了這種美味的乳制品，

但更多接受了奶酪， 并添加了他們本土的風味。

Nomadic Mongolians used yaks’ milk to create hard, sundried wedges of Byaslag.

Egyptians enjoyed goats’ milk cottage ?cheese, straining the whey with reed mats.

In South Asia, milk was coagulated with a variety of food acids,

such as lemon juice, vinegar, or yogurt

and then hung to dry into loafs of paneer.

This soft mild cheese could be added to ?curries and sauces,

or simply fried as a ?quick vegetarian dish.

蒙古的游牧民族用牦牛的奶， 曬干變硬后制成蒙古奶酪。

埃及人喜歡吃山羊奶制成的白軟干酪， 利用蘆葦制成的奶酪席來排除乳清。

南亞地區(qū)的居民使用多種酸性食品 來促進乳汁的凝結，

其中包括檸檬汁、醋或酸奶，

隨后掛起來風干制成印度奶酪。

這種奶酪較松軟且味道較淡， 因此能加到咖喱和調(diào)料當中，

或者直接煎制， 做成一道快速的素食料理。

The Greeks produced bricks of salty brined feta cheese,

alongside a harder variety similar to ?today’s pecorino romano.

This grating cheese was produced in Sicily

and used in dishes all across the ?Mediterranean.

希臘人把磚塊狀的奶酪 浸泡在鹽水里制成菲達奶酪，

和其他更堅硬的種類， 類似于現(xiàn)今的羅馬諾奶酪。

這種能刨成絲的奶酪生產(chǎn)于西西里島，

整個地中海地區(qū)都會用到它來制做料理。

Under Roman rule, “dry cheese” ?or “caseus aridus,”

became an essential ration

for the nearly 500,000?soldiers guarding the vast borders of the Roman Empire.

And when the Western Roman ?Empire collapsed,

cheesemaking continued to evolve

in the manors that dotted the medieval European countryside.

在羅馬的統(tǒng)治下，干奶酪

是一種非常重要的軍需，

供給約 50?萬名守衛(wèi)著 羅馬帝國邊界的軍人。

而在西羅馬帝國消亡時 的中世紀時期，

奶酪的制造技術

仍然在歐洲郊區(qū)各地散布的莊園中 持續(xù)的進化。

In the hundreds of Benedictine monasteries scattered across Europe,

medieval monks experimented endlessly ?with different types of milk,

cheesemaking practices,

and aging processes that led to many ?of today’s popular cheeses.

Parmesan, Roquefort, Munster ?and several Swiss types

were all refined and perfected ?by these cheesemaking clergymen.

在遍布歐洲的幾百個本篤會修道院中，

僧侶們沒日沒夜的研究著不同種類的乳汁，

奶酪制造方法，

和陳化奶酪的過程， 研發(fā)出了現(xiàn)今非常受歡迎的多種奶酪。

帕爾瑪奶酪、羅克福奶酪、 芒斯特奶酪和幾種瑞士的奶酪，

都是因為這些牧師的研究而得到改良和完善。

In the Alps, Swiss cheesemaking was particularly successful –

producing a myriad of cow’s milk cheeses.

By the end of the 14th century,

Alpine cheese from the Gruyere region of Switzerland had become so profitable

that a neighboring state invaded the ?Gruyere highlands

to take control of the growing ?cheese trade.

在阿爾卑斯山脈， 瑞士的奶酪制造尤其成功——

研發(fā)了無數(shù)的牛乳奶酪。

在 14?世紀末，

瑞士格魯耶爾地區(qū)的 高山奶酪變得非常賺錢，

因此鄰國的軍隊侵占了此地，

以便控制迅速發(fā)展的奶酪貿(mào)易。

Cheese remained popular through ?the Renaissance,

and the Industrial Revolution took ?production out of the monastery

and into machinery.

Today, the world produces roughly 22?billion kilograms of cheese a year,

shipped and consumed around the globe.

But 10,000?years after its invention,

local farms are still following in the ?footsteps of their Neolithic ancestors,

hand crafting one of humanity’s ?oldest and favorite foods.

在文藝復興時期，奶酪依舊十分受歡迎，

而工業(yè)革命把奶酪的制造移出了修道院，

進入了工廠。

現(xiàn)在，全世界一年共生產(chǎn)約 220?億公斤的奶酪，

出口至全球并被食用。

但在奶酪被發(fā)明 1?萬年后的今日，

本地的農(nóng)場依舊追隨著 新石器時代先祖?zhèn)兊哪_步，

手工制造人類文明中 最古老也最受歡迎的食物。