文/丹尼·海特曼 譯/修文喬

German chocolate cake has nothing to do with Germany; it’s named after a British chocolatier. 德國巧克力蛋糕與德國毫無關(guān)系，它以一名英國巧克力師的名字命名。

Early Christians focused on birth as the arrival of yet another soul tainted by original sin—hardly a cakeworthy event. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the birthday cake tradition matured through the German kinderfest1kinderfest〈德語〉兒童節(jié)。, with candles thrown in to ward off evil spirits. With increased availability of ingredients in the 18th century, birthday cakes really caught on. This is some of what readers learn in “Cake: A Slice of History,” Alysa Levene’s survey of what could be the most popular dessert on Earth.

[2] Ms. Levene notes, cake slowly evolved as a fancier form of bread, and the dividing line between the two could get murky. It is clear that while their base ingredients are the same, cake was soon differentiated2differentiate產(chǎn)生差別；分別。into something

在早期基督教徒看來，出生意味著另一個(gè)受到原罪玷污的靈魂到來，這件事根本不值得用蛋糕慶祝。直到中世紀(jì)人們借鑒德國兒童節(jié)的做法，把蠟燭扔進(jìn)蛋糕以辟邪，生日蛋糕的傳統(tǒng)才逐漸成熟起來。由于18世紀(jì)更容易獲得蛋糕原料，生日蛋糕逐漸流行。這些就是讀者從《蛋糕簡史》一書中了解到的部分知識，該書作者阿麗莎·萊文在書中對這個(gè)地球上最受歡迎的甜點(diǎn)進(jìn)行了研究。

[2]萊文女士寫道，后來蛋糕逐漸演變?yōu)橐环N特別的面包，而兩者的分界線也變得模糊?？梢悦鞔_的是，二者的基本原料雖然相同，但蛋糕很快變成more luxurious, and something which denoted3denote意味著。specific occasions—generally ones which involved ritual, feasting and communal44 communal（尤指居住在一起的人）共享的。ties, she writes. The lsraelites, for example, used cakes to consecrate5consecrate （用宗教儀式）授予……以某種職位newly ordained66 ordain任命（牧師、圣職）。priests. For Ms. Levene, a social historian at England’s Oxford Brookes University, the meaning of cake rests not only in how it’s made, but how it’s shared. Although bread is also broken among friends and family, “cake is a treat in some way, not often part of a meal, but central to the ties that bind...,” Ms. Levene observes.“It signals hospitality and welcome;not offering cake to a guest is a way of keeping a visit short.”

[3] Pound cake, Ms. Levene explains,got its name because early recipes called for a pound each of butter, fl our,sugar and eggs. German chocolate cake has nothing to do with Germany and is really named after a British chocolatier,Sam German. The Chinese serve cakes when an infant is a month old, the treat shaped like a tortoise shell to express hopes for a long life. The Spartans of antiquity7antiquity古代（尤指古希臘和古羅馬時(shí)期）。made cakes in the shape of women’s breasts, perhaps an early recognition of cake as a sensual experience.

[4] Despite Ms. Levene’s academic更奢侈的食品，而且代表了特殊的時(shí)刻，通常用于舉辦儀式、宴請親朋，同時(shí)也是連接群體的紐帶。比如，以色列人用蛋糕慶祝新任命的牧師就職。萊文女士是英國牛津布魯克斯大學(xué)的社會歷史學(xué)家，對她而言，蛋糕的意義不僅在于它的制作過程，更在于它的分享方式。雖然朋友和家庭成員之間也會共同分享面包，但“在某種程度上，蛋糕意味著款待，它不僅是餐食的一部分，更是一種關(guān)系的紐帶，”萊文女士如此評價(jià)?！八頍崆楹每汀⒄\摯歡迎。不給客人上蛋糕是縮短客人拜訪時(shí)間的一種方法。”

[3]萊文女士解釋道，磅餅之所以得名，是因?yàn)樵缙诘氖匙V需要黃油、面粉、白糖和雞蛋各一磅。德國巧克力蛋糕與德國毫無關(guān)系，它其實(shí)是因英國巧克力師薩姆·杰曼而得名。中國人在嬰兒滿月宴上用蛋糕招待客人，這款甜點(diǎn)外形像烏龜殼，表達(dá)了人們希望孩子長壽的心愿。古代斯巴達(dá)人把蛋糕做成女人乳房的形狀，或許他們很早就意識到，品嘗蛋糕會帶來愉悅的感官體驗(yàn)。

[4]盡管萊文女士具有學(xué)background, “Cake” is, for the most part, about cake, not paradigms8paradigm范式；范例。, social constructs9social construct社會建構(gòu)，由一個(gè)社會或社會群體發(fā)展出來并維持著的對事物的共同認(rèn)識或概念。or dialectics100 dialectics辯證法。. Still, she can’t avoid some of the pitfalls1111 pitfall易犯的錯(cuò)誤；隱患。of pedagogical122 pedagogical〈教〉教學(xué)的。prose, like using “we” as a chummy13chummy非常友好的；親切的。collective of lecturer and students. This can make “Cake” feel less like a book than a fi eld trip, but perhaps there are worse fates than a class tour of such wonders as madeleines, Ho Hos,Ding Dongs and singing hinnies—a specialty of Northumberland so named because its fat content makes it “sing”on the griddle.

[5] “Cake” tries to cater to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic; there is,for example, an extensive treatment of American Southern delights like the Lane cake, a whiskey-spiked sponge dessert, the Robert E. Lee cake, fl avored with orange and lemon, and the hummingbird cake, fi lled with bananas and pineapples. But Ms. Levene’s narraive is, perhaps inevitably, an Anglocentric affair.

[6] On the first page, she introduces cake as an “established teatime treat,”and at one point mentions, for example,“the iconic Victoria sandwich cake,”which is no doubt iconic to her, but術(shù)背景，但《蛋糕簡史》大部分內(nèi)容還是與蛋糕相關(guān)，而不是闡釋研究范式、社會建構(gòu)或辯證法。即便如此，她還是避免不了運(yùn)用教學(xué)散文體的某些套路，比如使用“我們”作為對老師和學(xué)生的集體友好稱呼。這令《蛋糕簡史》更像是一場實(shí)地考察，但這樣的班級旅行不容錯(cuò)過，能欣賞到以下幾種美妙絕倫的蛋糕：瑪?shù)铝盏案狻⒑鸷鸬案?、叮咚蛋糕和歌唱騾子蛋糕——一種源自英國諾森伯蘭郡的特色蛋糕，之所以如此命名，是因?yàn)樗闹竞孔屗诳炯苌稀俺琛薄?/p>

[5]《蛋糕簡史》試圖滿足大西洋兩岸讀者的需求，比如，該書進(jìn)一步談及美國南部的糕點(diǎn)，如夾心白蛋糕，一種摻了威士忌的海綿甜點(diǎn)，用橘子和檸檬調(diào)味的羅伯特·E.李蛋糕，還有夾了香蕉和菠蘿的蜂鳥蛋糕。但是不可避免地，萊文女士的敘述以英格蘭為中心。

[6]她在該書第一頁將蛋糕介紹為“有口皆碑的下午茶款待品”，又在另一處提到“代表性的維多利亞三明治蛋糕”，這種蛋糕在她看來無疑具有標(biāo)likely won’t ring a bell among many sweet tooths in the U.S. The same goes for casual references to other English confections14confection糖果蜜餞（或點(diǎn)心）。, such as the lardy cake,named after its prominent ingredient.And in an earnestly appreciative chapter on fruitcake15fruitcake水果蛋糕，美國圣誕節(jié)時(shí)特色食品，用很多堅(jiān)果和果脯制作而成。, she makes passing mention of an old Johnny Carson quip about the yuletide16yuletide圣誕節(jié)期間。staple—that there is really just one fruitcake, sent around like a chain letter17chain letter連鎖信（收信人復(fù)印多份寄出）?！猙ut she doesn’t appear to grasp the true depth of derision188 derision揶揄；奚落。visited19visit施加。on fruitcake during the U.S.holiday season.

[7] If Ms. levene is sometimes challenged in understanding the intricacies20intricacy錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的事物。of global cake culture, it’s perhaps because her topic is so vast. Cake, after all, has an abiding211 abiding 持久的；永久的。presence around the world—and, as she hints, maybe even beyond this earthly veil. Ms. Levene notes that ancient Egyptians sometimes made cakes sweetened with honey or dried fruits for the departed22departed去世者；亡故者。to bring into the afterlife. Cake for eternity,as her chronicle23chronicle記錄。of this culinary indulgence244 indulgence享受。demonstrates, will surely strike255 strike 給（某人以……）印象；讓（某人）覺得。many as the perfect de fi nition of heaven. ■志意義，但對于大愛甜食的美國人來說似乎并不熟悉。隨便談及其他英國甜點(diǎn)也大致如此，比如豬油蛋糕以其著名的原料而得名。她在其中一章對水果蛋糕表達(dá)了由衷的欣賞之情，同時(shí)順便提到美國著名節(jié)目主持人約翰尼·卡森關(guān)于圣誕主食的昔日妙語：實(shí)際上只有一種水果蛋糕，其余都像是它發(fā)出的連鎖信。但她似乎沒有體會到美國圣誕節(jié)期間品嘗水果蛋糕時(shí)這一笑柄的深意。

[7]如果說萊文女士無法做到徹底了解全球蛋糕文化，那或許是因?yàn)樗脑掝}過于寬泛，畢竟蛋糕長久存在于世界各地。而且，正如她所提示的那樣，揭開其世俗的面紗，蛋糕可能還有更深的含義。萊文女士寫道，古埃及人有時(shí)用蜂蜜或果脯增加蛋糕的甜味，用于祭祀逝者，讓他們把蛋糕帶到來世。正如她在這本美食記錄中所示，肯定會有許多人覺得寓意永恒的蛋糕完美地詮釋了天堂的概念。 □