文/肯德拉·皮埃爾-路易斯 譯/喬虹

Consider the mushroom.Whether it’s a squat button or a broad portobello1portobello 一種蘑菇，西餐中常見。學(xué)名為雙孢蘑菇，可稱為波托貝洛蘑菇、霸王菇、褐蘑菇等。, many people would rather skip a meal than chow down on spongy fungi.Others may like mushrooms just fine,but recoil at the slippery innards of a fresh tomato.

想一想蘑菇。無論是矮胖的小草菇，還是肥厚的褐蘑菇，許多人寧舍一頓飯，也不愿吃這種海綿般的真菌。有的人可能挺喜歡蘑菇，但不敢嘗試新鮮番茄滑溜溜的內(nèi)瓤。

2What these foods share is that a hater’s dislike is rooted in texture.“What I noticed and also learned by talking to chefs is that most complaints about food are about texture,” says Ole Mouritsen,a professor of gastrophysics2gastrophysics 美食物理學(xué)。指將物理理論和試驗方法應(yīng)用于食物、烹飪和飲食方面的學(xué)問。該詞由gastronomy（美食學(xué)，烹飪法）和physics（物理）縮合而成。at the University of Copenhagen.People may grumble that a dish has too little or too much salt, he notes, but that’s generally where discussions of taste end.It’s more typical for diners to bemoan that a piece of meat isn’t as tender as they’d hoped,or that their fries are soggy instead of crisp.

2這些食物的共同點是：厭惡者的反感源自其質(zhì)地。哥本哈根大學(xué)的美食物理學(xué)教授奧勒·莫里特森說：“根據(jù)我自己的觀察，以及同主廚們的交談，大多數(shù)關(guān)于食物的抱怨其實都跟食物質(zhì)地有關(guān)?！彼赋?，人們可能會抱怨一道菜太淡或太咸，但通常關(guān)于味道的討論也就到此為止了。更有代表性的是，食客們會抱怨一塊肉不像希望的那樣嫩，或是薯條受潮變得軟趴趴，不松脆了。

3Other culinary traditions have long embraced variations in texture, from the sticky to the slimy.Italians cook pasta al dente so it retains a bit of firmness when bitten.In Taiwanese cuisine, diners applaud a springiness known as Q or QQ—the bouncy chew of savory fish balls and the tapioca pearls in bubble tea.

3其他的烹飪傳統(tǒng)長期以來一直嘗試不同質(zhì)地的食材帶來的各種口感，從黏膩到黏滑不一而足。意大利人將意面做得很有嚼勁，這樣咬起來會有緊實感。在中國臺灣的美食中，食客們喜愛一種被稱為Q 或QQ 的彈性口感，比如美味魚丸和奶茶中木薯珍珠的彈牙感。

4According to one 2008 paper inThe Journal of Texture Studies, English has only slightly more than 130 words to describe the way foods feel in our mouths.Japanese has more than 400 such terms, most of which are onomatopoeic.There’s hoku-hoku, or the starchy, dense sensation one gets when biting into a steamed sweet potato, and fuwa-fuwa for the structure of light,fluffy treats like marshmallows.English has far fewer descriptors, and most—like crackle, crack, crisp, crunch, and snap—refer to the sensation of biting into something firm.

4根據(jù)2008 年發(fā)表在《質(zhì)構(gòu)研究》上的一篇論文，英語中描述食物口感的單詞只有130 掛零。而日語中有400 多個這樣的詞，大多數(shù)是擬聲詞。比如：hoku-hoku，形容蒸熟的甘薯那種淀粉含量高、密實的口感；還有fuwa-fuwa，形容像棉花糖那種結(jié)構(gòu)輕盈、蓬松食物的口感。英語中這樣的描述詞少得多，大多是指咬到硬東西的感覺，像“噼啪（crackle）”“啪嚓（crack）”“咔滋（crisp）”“嘎 吱（crunch）”和“咔嚓（snap）”等。

5After years of neglect by American gourmands, the rise of meat alternatives is pushing mouthfeel to center stage.

5在被美國饕客忽視多年后，肉類替代品的興起將口感推向中央舞臺。

6A 2020 Gallup poll found that a quarter of US adults had eaten less meat in the previous year than they had in the year before that, with most citing health and environmental concerns.As more folks look to reduce consumption, companies are cropping up to help them do so without sacrificing flavor.According to data from the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that encourages the production of meat alternatives, the industry grew roughly 70 percent between 2018 and 2020, from $811 million to $1.4 billion.Fast-food chains including Qdoba,White Castle, and Burger King now sell the beef like morsels of brands like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat.

62020 年的一項蓋洛普民意調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國四分之一的成年人去年吃的肉比前年少，其中大多數(shù)人是出于健康和環(huán)境方面的考慮。由于更多人希望少吃肉，突然冒出來多家公司幫助他們在這樣做的同時享受到肉味。根據(jù)鼓勵肉類替代品生產(chǎn)的非營利組織好食品研究所的數(shù)據(jù)，這項產(chǎn)業(yè)在2018年至2020 年間增長了約70%，產(chǎn)值從8.11 億美元增長到14億美元。包括Qdoba、白色城堡和漢堡王在內(nèi)的多家快餐連鎖店現(xiàn)在都出售Impossible Foods 和別樣肉客等品牌的類似牛肉的小塊人造肉。

7But getting something to feel like flesh isn’t easy.The folks at Wildtype,a startup in San Francisco, ran into this problem when they first tried growing salmon in a lab.Their early attempts were “pretty far off,” says co-founder Aryé Elfenbein.They had tested real fish with a machine that analyzed resistance and stretch in an attempt to quantify texture, but “there was a lot that the data just wasn’t capturing.”

7不過，要讓什么東西嘗起來像肉并不容易。舊金山食品科技初創(chuàng)公司W(wǎng)ildtype 的工作人員第一次嘗試在實驗室中培育三文魚時就遇到了這個難題。聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人阿里耶·埃爾芬拜因表示，他們早期的嘗試結(jié)果“差得非常遠”。他們用一臺分析阻力和彈性的機器檢測了真魚，試圖量化其質(zhì)地，但“很多東西是數(shù)據(jù)表達不出來的”。

8To understand why, says CEO Justin Kolbeck, think about what happens when you bite into a piece of sashimi.At first, he says, you notice a touch of fibrousness.But that’s not the whole story.“As you’re chewing, it has that initial give,” he says.“And then when your teeth start to bite into it, there’s almost different layers ripping apart.”Making something taste fishy is one thing; giving people fish flavor means getting that multifaceted chew just right.Once Wildtype figures out what shape cells need to take in order to produce the perfect bite, it can steer its process accordingly.

8該公司首席執(zhí)行官賈斯汀·科爾貝克表示，要想了解其中的原因，可以想想吃生魚片時的感覺。他說，一開始，你會注意到一種纖維感。但這不是全部?！熬捉赖臅r候，魚肉最初會帶給人這種感覺?！彼f，“牙齒咬進魚肉后，魚肉幾乎是一層一層被撕開?！弊屖裁礀|西吃起來像魚是一碼事；而讓人們嘗到魚的風(fēng)味就意味著要恰到好處地再現(xiàn)那種全方位的咀嚼感受。一旦Wildtype 弄清楚細胞需要做成什么形狀才能產(chǎn)生完美口感，它就可以相應(yīng)地控制制作過程。

9Companies starting sans animal cells have a tougher time.They’ve got to break down the structure of a plant protein and use it to mimic the shape of an animal protein.That’s one reason Beyond and Impossible began by replicating patties and sausages—not filet mignon.In a 2019 interview, Impossible Foods founder Pat Brown claimed the company would eventually tackle“whole cuts” of ersatz beef, but vegan T-bones have yet to hit the market.

9從一開始就棄用動物細胞的公司更不容易。他們必須分解植物蛋白的結(jié)構(gòu)，并利用其模仿動物蛋白的形狀。這是別樣肉客和Impossible 以復(fù)制肉餅和香腸而非菲力牛排為起點的原因之一。在2019 年的一次采訪中，Impossible Foods 創(chuàng)始人帕特·布朗稱，該公司最終將研制出“整塊”人造牛肉，但素食T 骨迄今仍未上市。

10Meanwhile, Mouritsen notes that another growing group of Americans may push for more interesting textural experiences: those who’ve lost their sense of smell.This phenomenon,known as anosmia, has always affected a small number of people—some estimates put it at roughly 3 percent of adults over age 40—because of genetics, illnesses such as Parkinson’s, or radiation treatment.But the condition is becoming more common because of COVID-19.According to one estimate,more than 40 percent of patients experience some loss of taste and/or smell.While research on long-term COVID effects is still scant, it seems this dulling of the senses may be permanent in a small percentage of the population.

10同時，莫里特森指出，還有一類美國人在逐漸增加，他們可能會追求更有意思的質(zhì)地體驗，即那些失去嗅覺的人。這種被稱為嗅覺缺失癥的病癥一直影響著一小部分人——據(jù)估計，在40 歲以上的成年人中，大約3%患有該癥——致病原因是遺傳、帕金森癥等疾病或放射治療。但是，新冠肺炎的暴發(fā)讓這種病癥變得更加常見。據(jù)估計，超過40%的患者經(jīng)歷了味覺和/或嗅覺某種程度的喪失。盡管關(guān)于新冠肺炎長期影響的研究仍然很少，但似乎這種感官遲鈍對一小部分人來說可能是永久性的癥狀。

11People with anosmia often report finding food less pleasurable.This can lead them to opt for more hyperprocessed grub—such products are easier to sense because they tend to contain a lot of salt and sugar—or to suffer from nutritional deficiencies.Shifting the focus to texture can make eating more pleasant.That’s why Ben and Jerry’s ice cream has so many chunks: The eponymous Ben has suffered from anosmia since childhood.

11患有嗅覺缺失癥的人經(jīng)常說，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)食物不那么誘人了。這可能導(dǎo)致他們選擇更多過度加工的食品——這類食品更容易嘗出味道，因為往往含有大量的鹽和糖——或?qū)е滤麄儬I養(yǎng)不良。將注意力轉(zhuǎn)移到食物質(zhì)地上可能讓進食更加愉快。這就是為什么本杰瑞品牌的冰淇淋大多做成厚實的大塊：品牌同名創(chuàng)始人本從小患有嗅覺缺失癥。

12In the case of people who develop the condition later in life, as is the case with COVID patients, Mouritsen says,cranking up the volume of one sensory experience can trigger memories of another.“Mouthfeel stimulates the brain,”he says, “so you sort of remember what the taste and odor used to be like.” ■

12莫里特森說，對于長大后出現(xiàn)這種癥狀的人，就像新冠患者一樣，增加一種感官體驗的強度可能觸發(fā)對另一種感官體驗的記憶?！翱诟袝碳ご竽X，”他說，“所以人們會依稀記起以前的味道和氣味?！?□