5 Things You Didn’t Know About Bacon 關于培根 你所不知道的五件事

by Kathryn Whitbourne 陳佳

編者注：

我們在餐桌上常會遇到一種名為“培根”食物，它究竟是什么呢？培根是由英語中的“Bacon”一詞音譯而來，是一種經過腌熏等工序加工出來的豬肉。下面我們一起來看看，關于培根，還有哪些事情是你不知道的吧！

1 Bacon enhances1 everything.

培根能增強食物的風味。

We know that bacon （or bacon flavoring） has been added to tons of products. But why？ Apart from simply being a newfound fad2， the truth is bacon is loaded3 with two ingredients4 that enhance the flavor of almost all foods： salt and fat. “Salt brings out flavor and fat carries flavor to our taste buds5，” Sara Perry wrote in her book Everything Tastes Better with Bacon. “But not only that—bacon has bite. Its chewy6 and crunchy7.” In other words， its hitting all our flavor receptors at once.

我們知道，很多產品添加了培根（或培根口味）。但為什么呢？事實上，培根除了是一種新的流行之外，還含有兩種能增強幾乎所有食物風味的成分：鹽和脂肪。“鹽能提味，而脂肪能將味道帶給我們的味蕾。”薩拉·佩里在她的書《培根配啥都美味》中寫道，“但不僅如此，培根還夠味。它既有嚼勁而又脆。”換句話說，它同時影響了我們所有的味覺感受器。

2 Its more than 4，000 years old.

它有4000多年的歷史了。

Bacon is basically cured8 pork， and in the days before refrigeration9， the only way to pre-serve10 meat was to cure it. The Chinese had techniques for curing pork 4，000 years ago and until the 16th century， all pork was referred to as “bacon”. However， “real” bacon comes from the side or belly of the pig. Canadian bacon is closer to ham and comes from the loin11 of the pig.

簡單地說，培根是腌制過的豬肉，在能冷藏之前，保存肉類的唯一方法就是腌制。中國人在4000年前就有了腌制豬肉的技術，而直到16世紀，所有的豬肉都被稱為“培根”。但是，“真正的”培根是由豬的肋條或豬腹部的肉制成的。加拿大培根更接近火腿，是用豬的背脊肉做的。

3 Its not so bad for you.

對你來說也不是那么糟糕。

Were not going to say bacon is a healthy choice， but its not the worst thing you can eat， either. Bacon is a processed meat， which means its been treated with nitrites12 for preservation13. Eating lots of processed meats has been linked to an increased risk of cancer， as well as heart failure and other diseases. However， two strips of bacon—along with a fried egg once a week is probably OK. Speaking of which...

我們不會說培根是健康的選擇，但它也不是你能吃的最糟糕的東西。培根是一種加工處理過的肉，也就是說它是經過亞硝酸鹽處理來保存的。大量食用加工處理過的肉類會增加患癌、心力衰竭和其他疾病的風險。不過，每周吃一次，兩條培根再加上一個煎雞蛋，是沒關系的。說到這里……

4 Marrying bacon with eggs was a PR14 stunt15.

培根和雞蛋的搭配是公關的把戲。

Edward Bernays was the person responsible for pairing bacon with eggs on American breakfast tables. Hed been hired by a producer of bacon in the 1920s， to increase demand for the porky product. At the time， Americans ate a light breakfast—maybe coffee and a roll. Bernays asked a physician16 whether a heavy breakfast was better than a light one since “the body loses energy in the night and needs it in the day”. Unsurprisingly， the company physician agreed.

“We asked him if hed be willing—at no cost—to write to 5，000 physicians and ask them whether their judgments were the same as his. He said hed be glad to do it，” reminisced17 Bernays in an interview decades later. “Obviously， all of them concurred18.” This news was reported in newspapers throughout the country， many of which added that bacon and eggs should be part of the “healthier” breakfast. Sales of bacon went up and bacon became embedded19 with eggs.

愛德華·伯尼斯是使人們在美國的早餐桌上把培根和雞蛋搭配起來的那個人。