By+Justin+Demetri

1. integrant [??nt?ɡr?nt] adj. 構(gòu)成整體所必需的

2. staple [?ste?pl] n. （人們或某種動物的）主食

3. cuisine [kw??zi?n] n. （飯店中的）飯菜，菜肴

Nothing says Italy like its food， and nothing says Italian food like pasta. Pasta is an integrant1） part of Italy's food history. Wherever Italians immigrated they have brought their pasta along， so much so that today it can be considered a staple2） of international cuisine3）. Unlike other ubiquitous4） Italian products like pizza and tomato sauce， which have a fairly recent history， pasta may have a much older pedigree5）， going back hundreds—if not thousands—of years. To unravel6） the long and often complex history of this dish， we have to look at its origins and some of the myths surrounding it.

Many school children were taught that the Venetian7） merchant Marco Polo brought back pasta from his journeys to China. Some may have also learnt that Polo's was not a discovery， but rather a rediscovery of a product once popular in Italy among the Etruscans and the Romans. Well， Marco Polo might have done amazing things on his journeys， but bringing pasta to Italy was not one of them： noodles were already there in Polo's time.

There is indeed evidence of an Etrusco-Roman noodle made from the same durum wheat8） used to produce modern pasta： it was called "lagane" （origin of the modern word forlasagna9））. However this type of food， first mentioned in the 1st century AD， was not boiled， as it is usually done today， but ovenbaked. Ancient lagane had some similarities with modern pasta， but cannot be considered quite the same. The country will have to wait a few centuries for its most popular dish to make a further culinary leap forward.

Like so much of southern Italian life， the Arabic invasions of the 8th century heavily influenced regional cuisine. Today， the presence of Arabic people in the south of thepeninsula10） during the Middle Ages is considered the most likely reason behind the diffusion11） of pasta.

The modern word "macaroni" derives from the Sicilian term for kneading12） dough with energy， as early pasta making was often a laborious， day-long process. How these early dishes were served is not truly known， but many Sicilian pasta recipes still include typically middle eastern ingredients， such as raisins13） and cinnamon14）， which may be witness to original， medieval recipes.

This early pasta was an ideal staple for Sicily and it easily spread to the mainland since durum wheat thrives in Italy's climate. Italy is still a major producer of this hard wheat.endprint

By the 1300's dried pasta was very popular for its nutrition and long shelf life， making it ideal for long ship voyages. Pasta made it around the globe during the voyages of discovery15） a century later. By that time different shapes of pasta had appeared and new technology made pasta easier to make. With these innovations pasta truly became a part of Italian life. However the next big advancement in the history of pasta would not come until the 19th century when pasta met tomatoes.

Although tomatoes were brought back to Europe shortly after their discovery in the New World， it took a long time for the plant to be considered edible. In fact tomatoes are a member of the nightshade16） family and rumors of tomatoes being poisonous continued in parts of Europe and its colonies until the mid-19th century. Therefore it was not until 1839 that the first pasta recipe with tomatoes was documented. However， shortly thereafter tomatoes took hold17）， especially in the south of Italy. The rest of course is delicious history.

It is estimated that Italians eat over 60 pounds of pasta per person， per year easily beating Americans， who eat about 20 pounds per person. This love of pasta in Italy faroutstrips18） the large durum wheat production of the country； therefore Italy must import most of the wheat it uses for pasta. Today pasta is everywhere and can be found in dried and fresh varieties depending on what the recipes call for. The main problem with pasta today is the use of mass production to fill a huge worldwide demand. And while pasta is made everywhere， the product from Italy keeps to19） time-tested production methods that create a superior pasta.

Pasta： The Story of a Universal Food

如今想吃意面已經(jīng)不用專門去意式餐廳，只需去超市購買一包意面，自己調(diào)好味道濃郁的醬汁，便可以享用一頓美餐。卷型、螺旋型、長條型、彎管型、蝴蝶型、貝殼型……意面的形貌之多，足夠讓你連續(xù)好幾百天早餐不重樣。不過飽餐之余，你是否想過，稱霸全球的美食的那么少，究竟是什么讓這道極具地方特色的主食在全球美食界穩(wěn)占一席之地呢？

4. ubiquitous [ju??b?kw?t?s] adj. 無所不在的；隨處可見的

5. pedigree [?ped?ɡri?] n. 背景；出身；家史

6. unravel [?n?r?vl] vt. 揭開；揭示

最能代表意大利的莫過于其美食，而最能代表意大利美食的莫過于意面。意面是意大利餐飲史中不可或缺的一部分。意大利人無論移居到哪兒都會帶上他們的意面，以至于如今意面也被視為國際餐飲中的一道主食。不像其他隨處可見的歷史相對較短的意大利美食，如披薩和番茄醬，意面的家族史可能要久遠得多，即使沒有上千年，也有上百年。要揭開這道美食漫長而又通常很復雜的歷史，我們必須去看看它的那些起源以及關(guān)于它的一些傳說。

許多學生在學校學到的是威尼斯商人馬可·波羅從中國游歷歸來，帶回了意面。 也有的學生可能了解到馬可·波羅之舉并不是一項新發(fā)現(xiàn)，而只不過是重新發(fā)現(xiàn)了一種曾在意大利的伊特魯里亞人和羅馬人中流行的美食。嗯，馬可·波羅可能在他的游歷中做了許多令人驚嘆的事，但把意面帶到意大利這件事卻并不是其中一件——在馬可·波羅的時代，意大利就已經(jīng)有面條了。

伊特魯里亞-羅馬面條和現(xiàn)代意面都是同樣的硬質(zhì)小麥制成的，這一點確實有據(jù)可查。這種面條被稱為lagane，現(xiàn)代詞語lasagna （意為“千層面”）就是由該詞衍生而來。然而，不同于面條現(xiàn)在的通常做法，這種公元1世紀時首次被記錄下來的食物不是煮著吃的，而是烤著吃的。古代的lagane面條與現(xiàn)代的意面確有相似之處，但并不能混為一談。意大利還要等上幾百年才讓這道最受歡迎的美食在烹調(diào)工藝上躍進一步。endprint

一如公元8世紀阿拉伯人的入侵大大影響了意大利南部地區(qū)人們的生活，阿拉伯人的入侵對當?shù)仫嬍骋伯a(chǎn)生了深遠影響。如今人們認為中世紀時期來到意大利半島南部的阿拉伯人很有可能是意面得以傳播的原因。

現(xiàn)代詞語macaroni源自西西里語，意思是用力揉捏生面團，因為早期的意面制作通常是一項費力的工作，需要花上一天的時間?，F(xiàn)在人們并不真正了解這些早期的美食如何烹制，但許多西西里的意面食譜中仍舊包含典型的中東調(diào)料，比如葡萄干和肉桂，這些可能都是那些中世紀時期意面原始配方的見證。

這種早期的意面是西西里人的理想主食，由于意大利的氣候十分適宜硬質(zhì)小麥生長，因此這種主食輕而易舉就傳到了意大利大陸地區(qū)。意大利現(xiàn)在仍是這種硬質(zhì)小麥的主要生產(chǎn)國。

到了14世紀，干意面因營養(yǎng)豐富且保質(zhì)時間長而倍受歡迎，成為長途航海旅行的理想食物。一個世紀之后的地理大發(fā)現(xiàn)使意面遍布世界各地。那時已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了不同形狀的意面，而新的工藝使意面更加容易制作。隨著這些創(chuàng)新到來，意面真的成了意大利生活的一部分。然而直到19世紀，意面與番茄相遇，才成就了意面發(fā)展史上的下一個重大進步。

雖然新大陸的番茄在被發(fā)現(xiàn)不久后就被帶到了歐洲，但是經(jīng)過很長時間人們才認定它是可以吃的。實際上，番茄屬于茄屬植物，直到19世紀中期之前，歐洲的一些地方和殖民地地區(qū)都一直流傳著番茄有毒的說法。因此，直到1839年，才有了第一份有文獻可考的含番茄的意面食譜。不過此后不久，番茄就確立了其地位，特別是在意大利南部地區(qū)。接下來的當然就是人人皆知的美味歷史啦。

據(jù)估計，每個意大利人每年要吃掉60多磅意面，輕松擊敗美國人每人每年大約20磅的記錄。意大利人對意面的熱愛使這個國家的硬質(zhì)小麥需求量遠超其生產(chǎn)量，于是意大利大多數(shù)用來制作意面的小麥都必須依靠進口。如今意面的身影隨處可見，根據(jù)不同食譜的需求分為不同種類的干面和鮮面。現(xiàn)在意面的主要問題在于利用規(guī)?；a(chǎn)來滿足全球的巨大需求。盡管意面到處都有人做，但這道來自意大利的美食仍舊遵循著那些經(jīng)受了時間考驗、創(chuàng)造了優(yōu)質(zhì)意面的烹制方法。

這幅14世紀的微型畫描繪了當時制作意面的家庭作坊

19世紀，人們在

街頭曬意面

7. Venetian [v??ni??n] adj. 威尼斯的

8. durum wheat： 硬質(zhì)小麥

9. lasagna [l??z?nj?] n. 千層面，一種傳統(tǒng)的意面

10. peninsula [p??n?nsj?l?] n. 半島

11. diffusion [d??fju??n] n. （人類學用語）（風俗習慣等跨文化群落的）傳流

12. knead [ni?d] vt. 揉，捏（面團或其他食物）

13. raisin [?re?zn] n. 葡萄干

14. cinnamon [?s?n?m?n] n. 桂皮；肉桂

15. the voyages of discovery： 地理大發(fā)現(xiàn)，指15～17世紀時期，歐洲許多國家進行遠洋探險，期間不僅發(fā)現(xiàn)了美洲大陸，還發(fā)現(xiàn)了通往亞洲的多條新航線。這次航海之旅不僅讓歐洲控制了整個大海，更讓人類對地球的認識掀開了嶄新的一頁。

16. nightshade [?na?t?e?d] n. 茄屬植物。這類植物很多都有毒，只有少數(shù)可以食用。

17. take hold： 生根；固定下來；確立

18. outstrip [?a?t?str?p] vt. 超過；勝過

19. keep to： 遵守；固守endprint