你所不知道的“面条文化”

Ask about the foods that have conquered the world and youre likely to hear about Coca-Cola and McDonalds Big Macs. But think again， because the most successful industrial food ever produced flies far under the radar — its cup noodles.

A new book， The Noodle Narratives， written by three US anthropologists 55 years after the birth of instant noodles in Japan， reveals that there were more than 100 billion servings of instant noodles worldwide in 2012 — thats about 14 servings for every single person on Earth. As for noodles themselves， they emerged more than 2，000 years ago to become a worldwide staple.

Given the fact that many instant noodles are MSG-enhanced junk food， not to mention the health risks associated with the paper cartons theyre served in， lets talk about noodles in terms of a culture you may not know.

要问哪种食物征服了世界，你很可能会听到可口可乐和麦当劳巨无霸这样的答案。但仔细想想，要说目前为止最成功、最低调的工业食品非碗装方便面莫属。

方便面在日本诞生56年之后，美国的三位人类学家撰写了一本名为《面条的故事》的书。书中指出，2012年全球方便面销量突破千亿大关，相当于全球人均消费14包左右。面条起源于两千多年前，是全球范围的主食。

虽然许多方便面都是含有大量味精的垃圾食品，更不用说其包装纸的健康隐患问题了，我们还是可以从文化方面来谈谈你可能有所不知的面条文化吧！

Earliest Noodles

面条始祖

The oldest historical mention of noodles according to Jen Lin-Liu， a columnist for The New York Times and author of the book On the Noodle Road： From Beijing to Rome， with Love and Pasta， appears in a dictionary from the third century AD in China. The earliest Chinese noodles， however， did not appear in strands as they do today. They were little pieces of bread dough thrown into a wok of boiling water. These kind of noodles， called mianpian， are still eaten in China.

Another early mention of noodles has been traced back to the fifth century AD in Jerusalem， when they were referred to as itrium. Several centuries later， a string-like pasta called itrium， made of semolina and dried before cooking， was described by Syrian physicians.

Of course， these documented mentions of noodles only came after noodles had already been developed — and unlike other inventions， like the telephone for example， its rather difficult to pinpoint exactly when and where noodles came from， given that they relied on the innovation of cooks.

《纽约时报》专栏作家、《面条之路：北京到罗马，爱与意面同在》一书的作者林留清怡写道：历史上第一次提到面条是出自公元3世纪中国的一本字典。然而，最早的中式面条形状与如今的形状截然不同。那时的面条是扔进锅中用沸水煮的小面片。这种面条叫面片，目前在中国，人们还在食用。

另一个早期提到面条的地方可以追溯到公元5世纪的耶路撒冷，当时这种面被称作“itrium”。几个世纪以后，一位叙利亚医师描述道：一种由粗面粉做的串状面食也被称作“itrium”，这种面条在烹调之前需要晒干。

当然，这些提到面条的文献要滞后于面条真正诞生的时间。与电话等发明不同，由于面条的发展依赖于厨艺创新，所以很难准确指出面条发明于何时何地。

Humanitarian Food

人道主义食品

Instant noodles were invented by Momofuku Ando in Japan in 1958. But few people know that instant noodles play an important role in hunger and disaster relief. While not exactly nutritious， instant noodles are a “hunger killer”， as US anthropologist Sidney Mintz would say.

According to the NPR， a US-based online news outlet， the fat in instant noodles， which are made with wheat flour fried in palm oil， combined with the soup， keeps one feeling full for longer. And that helps explain why noodles have become a staple in the worlds humanitarian food aid packages.

方便面诞生于1958年，由日本人安腾百福发明。很少有人知道它在赈饥与救灾方面发挥着多么重要的作用。正如美国人类学家悉尼·明茨所说，“方便面虽然没什么营养，却能‘遏制饥饿”。

美国国家公共电台NPR报道称：方便面由面粉经棕榈油炸制而成，它的油脂再加上汤，容易让人有持久的饱腹感。这就不难理解，为何面条能够成为世界人道主义食品援助中的主食了。