好英语网我们是否应该勇于接受新奇食物？
Sitting down in this small Hong Kong restaurant, I assume that the white chest of drawers behind me are filled with tea leaves, herbs, and fungi. So I’m rather perturbed when my guide Cecilia Leung tells me that they are not filled with dried plant life – but live snakes.
坐在香港的一间小餐厅里，我以为身后白色抽屉里装满了茶叶、草药和菌类植物。所以当导游塞西莉亚·梁（Cecilia Leung）告诉我，抽屉里装的并非干燥的植物而是活蛇时，我大吃一惊。
If the owner were here, Cecilia says, he would happily bring one out for me to inspect. Indeed, the “snake king’s” talents are so famous that he is sometimes called out in the middle of the night to capture and relocate venemous specimens blocking public rights of way.
梁小姐说，如果店主在这里，他会很高兴的取一条出来给我看。事实上，这位"蛇王"非常出名，有时候甚至在半夜都有人找他捕捉并移走马路上挡道的毒蛇。
Luckily for me, the only serpent I see is skinned, sliced, and served up in a thick, gravy-like broth with pork, chicken, mushrooms, and lemon grass. The snake meat itself is greyish with a slightly pink blush – and what appear to be the imprint of its scales still marking its delicate surface.
我很幸运，看到的唯一的蛇已经是剥了皮，切成薄片，并用猪肉、鸡肉、蘑菇和香茅制成浓厚的像肉汁一样的肉汤。蛇肉本身偏灰色，有一点点粉红色——而且它的鳞片仍然在其细嫩的表面留下印记。
The rich fumes of the broth are undoubtedly appetising, but I let my spoon hover nervously over the edge of the bowl – not quite sure whether I dare to dig in. Intellectually, I know that snake meat is really no different from eating fish, or squid, or chicken. And yet my brain can’t quite seem to communicate that message to my mouth or to my stomach.
肉汤丰富的香气毫无疑问非常开胃，但是我紧张的握着勺子在碗的边缘游移——不确定敢不敢伸进去。从知识角度，我知道蛇肉与鱼肉、鱿鱼、鸡肉没有什么不同。然而，我的大脑似乎不能将这个信息传达到我的嘴和胃。
I’m in Hong Kong on a reporting assignment – and part of my mission is to understand the territory’s rich culinary history. But as a science journalist, I’m also interested in what experiences can tell me about the psychology of eating, including the somewhat arbitrary mental barriers that determine what we will and won’t eat – and the surprising benefits of overcoming those boundaries.
我来香港是完成报道任务。我的部分任务是了解这里丰富的烹饪历史。但作为一名科学记者，我也有兴趣了解关于饮食心理学的体验，包括决定了我们吃什么和不吃什么的偶然形成的心理障碍，以及克服这些界限的令人惊奇的好处。
As I hesitate, Cecilia tells me that about half the people she brings on this tour are willing to overcome their aversion and eat the snake. Will I be one of them?
当我犹豫的时候，梁小姐告诉我，她带来的人中大约有一半愿意克服厌恶心理，品尝蛇肉。我会不会成为他们中的一员？
蛇的质感可能会让许多较为习惯于西餐的人倒胃口
I first meet Cecilia and her sister Silvana at a bakery and café in the working-class district of Sham Shui Po. Together, they run Hong Kong Foodie Tours, and over breakfast they offer me a crash course in the history and culture of Hong Kong cuisine. “I hope you’ve got a big appetite,” Silvana asks me, before ordering me a huge pineapple bun, made from a sweet, airy dough and covered in a cracked yellow topping. It is served with a mug of steaming Hong Kong-style milk tea, made by repeatedly drawing water through a huge “stocking” filled with tea leaves, which helps release the tannins and the caffeine for a ‘smoother’ flavour, and mixed evaporated milk.
我初见梁小姐和她妹妹西尔瓦娜（Silvana）是在工薪阶层聚居的深水埗的一间面包咖啡厅里。她们一起负责"香港风味行"的导览旅游活动。她们在早餐的时间给我上了一堂香港美食历史和文化的速成课。"我希望你有个好胃口，"西尔瓦娜对我说，然后点了一个巨大的菠萝包，它是用蓬松的甜面团制成，顶部的口子里放了黄色的酱料。配了一杯热气腾腾的港式奶茶，是用一只巨大的装满茶叶的"丝袜"反复冲滤制成，这有助于释放单宁和咖啡因，产生"更平滑"的风味，然后与淡奶调和。
We next stop for a bowl of wonton noodle soup, topped with shrimp roe. Many of the wonton restaurants came via mass migration from mainland China many years ago, Cecilia and Silvana tell me – but like those Western dishes, the locals have now made it their own. “These people, when they came here, they had no skills, they were not educated – but they could make food for a living,” explains Silvana. For lunch, we taste the city’s famous roast meats, dripping with a glaze that turns my rice gold in the bowl – with a few detours into the markets and dried seafood shops selling shark fins and fish bladders eaten at important banquets.
我们的下一站是云吞面汤，有很多虾子的浇头。许多云吞餐厅都是通过多年前大规模大陆移民而来到香港，梁小姐和她妹妹对我说。但是像西餐一样，当地人已经把它变成自己饮食的一部分。西尔瓦娜解释说："这些人来到这里时没有技能，他们没有受过教育，但是他们可以开餐馆赚钱生活。"午餐时间，我们品尝了这座城市著名的烤肉，油亮的酱料滴下来把我碗里的米饭变成了金黄色。我们经过几条曲折的路线来到市场和一些海鲜干货商店，这里售卖在重要的宴会上享用的鱼翅和鱼鳔。
Many of the local foods are thought to have medicinal value, and along the way I stop off at a stall to buy a cup of kuding, or “bitter nail tea”. According to traditionalists, it is meant to disperse excess fire in the body, soothing the digestion, and sharpening the mind. I found its bitterness to be surprisingly invigorating – like a square of dark chocolate – though it is not always a hit with Cecilia’s tour groups. “You’re the first foreigner who’s ever told me that it’s refreshing!” she tells me.
许多当地的食物被认为具有药用价值。我在路上的一个摊位前停下来，买了一杯苦丁茶。根据传统观点，它是为了去除体内过多的火气，帮助消化，提神醒脑。我发现它的苦涩具有惊人的振奋精神的作用——就像一方块黑巧克力一样——尽管它在梁小姐带的旅游团里并不总是受到欢迎。她说："你是第一个告诉我它让人神清气爽的外国人！"
My first real test comes a little later with a bowl of a black jelly called guilinggao, made from ground-up turtle shells, which is meant to reduce acne and improve circulation. I had been too nervous to try it on my first trip to Hong Kong, but like my cup of kuding, it is pleasingly bitter, and slides soothingly across the tongue and down the throat. As I leave, I notice an Uber Eats sign at their entrance, offering home delivery – a sign of the ways that even the most traditional foods are being incorporated into the modern lifestyle.
随后我迎来了第一个真正的考验，一碗名叫"龟苓膏"的黑色果冻，它由磨成粉的乌龟壳制成，有着减少青春痘和改善循环的功效。在我第一次来香港时，我太紧张了，没敢吃它。但是它和苦丁茶很像，有一种让人愉悦的苦味，舒缓地滑过舌头和喉咙。在我离开的时候，我注意到门口有优步外卖的标识，它提供外卖服务——这标志着连最传统的食物也已经融入现代生活方式。
By the early afternoon, I’m already beginning to feel that I’ve at least caught a glimpse of the amazing fusion of culinary influences that have shaped Hong Kong’s diet today. And it seems to serve them well: with its emphasis on balance and moderation, the territory has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
到下午早些时候，我已经开始感觉到，我已经至少初步领略了形成香港今日饮食文化的各种餐饮文化的融合。他们似乎对此非常受用：由于香港强调平衡和温和，这里也是世界上预期寿命最高的地方之一。
But I’m intrigued to hear how new expats, unused to living in such a rich melting pot of cultures, adapt to the choice. Do they all learn to take advantage of the foods on offer? Cecilia says that most people tend to fall to the two extremes: she even knows one couple where the wife will eat everything, and the husband will try nothing new.
但是我很有兴趣了解新来的外籍人士在这个丰富多彩的文化染缸里如何生活，如何适应各种选择。他们都学会了享用这里提供的食物吗？梁小姐说，大多数人会陷入两个极端。她甚至知道一对夫妇，妻子什么都吃，但是丈夫决不会尝试新的东西。
Looking into the scientific literature, I found that psychologists describe those two “food personalities” as neophilia and neophobia. Studies have shown that neophobics exhibit significant signs of stress when facing unfamiliar foods, including increased pulse, fast breathing, and increased skin conductance from sweating.
我在科学文献中发现心理学家将这两种"饮食人格"称为 neophilia（对新食物的好奇）和 neophobia（对新食物的恐惧）。研究表明，对新食物恐惧的人在面对不熟悉的食物时表现出压力的迹象，包括脉搏加快，呼吸急促，以及出汗导致的皮肤导电反应加剧。
By influencing the variety of our diet, that fear of new foods may damage our overall health and wellbeing. Neophobics are more likely to be overweight, for instance, perhaps because they tend to opt for blander, more calorific foods. They also tend to show deficits in key nutrients, including proteins, monounsaturated fats, and minerals like magnesium.
对新食物的恐惧可能会通过影响膳食的丰富程度损害我们总体的健康。例如，新食物恐惧者更有可能出现肥胖，也许是因为他们倾向于选择比较清淡的、热量较高的食物。他们的关键营养物质也常常不足，包括蛋白质、单不饱和脂肪和镁等矿物质。
Such preferences may partly be down to our genes. Food neophobes tend to be more sensitive to a particular chemical, phenylthiocarbamide, that gives many foods their bitter tastes (and which, in nature, may have been a way of judging a plant’s toxicity). Such variation may explain why I find the kuding, guilinggao and stir-fried bitter melon to be pleasantly refreshing, while other visitors claim that the flavours are over-powering to the point of being revolting.
这种偏好有可能部分归因于我们的基因。新食物恐惧者往往对一种特定的化学物质——苯硫脲——较为敏感，它给许多食物带来苦味（本质上说可能是一种判断植物毒性的方法）。这种差异可能解释了为什么我觉得苦丁茶、龟苓膏和炒苦瓜让人舒爽，而其他来访者觉得味道太过强烈，以至于想要呕吐。
But our food personalities may also be determined by a range of psychological factors. One study by Laith Al Shawaf, then at the University of Texas in Austin, found that food neophobic people seem to be more fearful of diseases and pests in general – suggesting it may be part of an overall heightened disgust response. An evolved fear of infection may be the reason that we are particularly suspicious of new types of meat, given that they may carry the greatest risk of food poisoning, he says.
但我们的食物个性也可能由一系列心理因素决定。莱斯·阿勒·沙瓦夫（Laith Al Shawaf）曾在德克萨斯大学奥斯丁分校（University of Texas in Austin）进行一项研究，他发现新食物恐惧者似乎更加害怕一般的疾病和害虫——这表明这是整体较强的恶心反应的一部分。他说，人类进化得到的对感染的恐惧可能是我们特别怀疑新型肉类的原因，因为它们带有极大的食物中毒的风险。
Intriguingly, Al Shawaf found that food neophobia also seemed to correlate with self-reported disgust in other domains – including sex – and it even appeared to be related to the kinds of relationships they preferred. “Those who are more oriented toward short-term mating and casual sex tend to be more food neophilic than those who are more inclined toward monogamy and committed mating,” says Al Shawaf, who is now based at Bilkent University in Turkey. Al Shawaf therefore wonders if a tendency to try new foods may also be a way of demonstrating the fact that we have a robust immune system, capable of dealing with the potential pathogens that may come from eating new foods.
阿勒·沙瓦夫发现，有趣的是，新食物恐惧症似乎与其他领域自我报告的恶心反应（包括性行为）相关，甚至与他们喜欢的关系种类有关。目前在土耳其毕尔肯特大学（Bilkent University）的阿勒·沙瓦夫说："那些更倾向于短期、随意性行为的人往往比那些更倾向于一夫一妻制和忠诚性行为的人更爱好新食物。因此，阿勒·沙瓦夫想知道尝试新食物的倾向是否也说明免疫系统十分强健，因此能够应付新食物可能带来的潜在病原体。
Whatever our current food personality, he thinks we can all learn to overcome our disgust response to some degree, through increased exposure to new tastes and textures. “There’s no reason to expect food neophobia to be set in stone,” he says. “It can change across the lifespan, from context to context, and as a function of mood and physiological state.” One study, from Phan Hong at the University of Wisconsin, found that adopting a deliberately attentive, mindful approach (akin to meditation) is best – apparently, the act of calmly observing and savouring the unfamiliar experience helps us to override the initial aversion.
无论我们目前的食物个性如何，他都认为通过多接触新的口味和质感，我们都可以在一定程度上学会克服厌恶反应。他说："没有理由认为新食物恐惧症是不可改变的。它可能在一生中根据环境而发生变化，也会随着心情和生理状态发生变化。"威斯康星大学（University of Wisconsin）的Phan Hong通过研究发现，采取刻意注意的方法（类似于冥想）是最好的——显然，冷静观察和品尝不熟悉的味道的行为有助于我们超越最初的厌恶感。
I experience this myself, once we reach the snake soup restaurant at Tai Po Market in the New Territories. In England, we have been conditioned to fear snakes, and the sight of its scaly flesh swimming in a swampy, viscous broth, would have once been hard for me to stomach. But after my day’s whistle-stop tour through Hong Kong’s culinary highlights, I decide to take my first spoonful. Far from being a trial to eat, the soup felt like a perfect, warming comfort food, with the snake itself offering a subtle fishy flavour, offset by the citric bite of the lemongrass. The locals believe it can improve circulation and fend off illness.
当我们刚到达新界大埔市场的蛇汤餐厅时，我就体会到了这一点。在英国，我们习惯于害怕蛇。它的鳞片状的肉在沼泽般的粘稠的肉汤中游动的景象让我感到反胃。但是，在经历了香港美食一日游之后，我决定喝下第一勺蛇汤。这绝非一场考验，而是一种完美的、温暖的慰藉食物，蛇肉本身带有一种微妙的鱼腥味，被香茅的柑橘味所抵消。当地人认为它可以改善循环，抵御疾病。
It’s our last stop before our final destination – a restaurant on the top floor of the Tai Po wet market. Cecilia tells me that fresh, lightly seasoned seafood is the pride of the region, and so we order a gently steamed fish in black bean sauce, deep fried squid balls, and glutinous rice with a fresh crab. The art is in the precision of the steaming, Cecilia tells me. “If you leave it for just one minute too long it becomes a bit too tough.” Since the Cantonese word for “fish” sounds similar to the word for “leftovers”, the dish is often eaten at New Year’s celebrations to signify abundance and prosperity, she tells me.
这之后，我们来到了最终的目的地——位于大埔菜市场顶层的餐厅。梁小姐告诉我，新鲜、清淡的海鲜是本地区的骄傲，所以我们点了用黑豆酱蒸鱼、油炸鱿鱼丸和糯米螃蟹。塞西莉亚告诉我，精确的蒸法是一门艺术。"如果你多蒸一分钟，就会太老。"因为"鱼"在粤语里的发音和"余"类似，所以在过新年时常常吃这个菜，象征着丰富和繁荣，她对我说。
By the time we’re finished, I’m burning to explore more of Hong Kong’s hotspots on my own. Cecilia, who is a keen traveller herself, compares the process to learning a second language; it can take a while to adjust your mind to the new way of thinking, but once you have begun to absorb its vocabulary, there’s really no better way of getting to know a culture. “It’s really getting to the soul of who we are.”
当我们吃完的时候，我非常希望自己去探索香港更多的热门餐馆。梁小姐自己十分爱好旅行，她把旅行比作学习第二语言。你可能需要一段时间的调整才能适应新的思维方式，但是一旦你开始吸收新语言的词汇，这就是了解一种文化的最佳途径。"它触及的是我们最根本的身份。"