舌尖上的中国第1季 第31期:转化的灵感(5)

 Cooked soybeans failed to whet¹ people's appetite and, to make matters worse, caused flatulence. 煮熟的大豆无法引起人们的食欲并且使肠胄大量胀气。

People urgently needed to find the best way to consume soybeans. 迫切的需要就是寻找到进食大豆的最佳方式。

The white powder on the scale is gypsum, the key to turning soy milk into tofu. 秤盘里的白色粉末是石膏，它是把豆浆点化成豆腐的关键。

Hu Xuebin can use gypsum as skillfully as his ancestors. 胡学兵对于石膏的纯熟运用和他的祖先如出一辙。

One more time? 再来一次？

No, it would be overdone². 不行，再来豆腐就老了。

When the denatured protein meets with gypsum, the boiling soy milk quickly coagulates. 在煮沸的豆浆中，变性的蛋白质和石膏相遇后迅速发生胶凝作用。

The change is so drastic that it can be seen in the blink of an eye. 这种变化如此巨大以至于在瞬间就可以觉察到。

In ancient days, gypsum often appeared in secret scriptures³ of Chinese warlocks. 遥远的年代里石膏常常出现在中国术士们的秘笈之中。

It's said that was how the relation between gypsum and tofu started. 而它和豆腐的渊源据说也恰恰与此相关。

Over 2,000 years ago, Liu An, the King of Huai-nan, was addicted⁴ to alchemy. 很多人相信，两千多年前正是热衷炼丹的淮南王刘安。

When nurturing⁵ immortal⁶ pills in soy milk, he happened to add some gypsum in it. 在八公山中用豆浆培育丹苗时，碰巧加入了石膏。

Many people believe that's how tofu was invented. 于是无意间促成了豆腐的诞生。

Regardless of whether the reality was as dramatic as the story, the Chinese must have been groping for a long time before finally making tofu a great food of China. 不管事实是不是真的，那么富有戏剧性中国人必定经历了漫长的摸索才让豆腐最终成为一种了不起的中国食物。

The invention of tofu, however, completely changed the fate of soybeans. 无论如何，豆腐的诞生彻底改变了大豆的命运。

With great flexibility⁷, tofu offered a huge space for the imagination of the Chinese, well-known for culinary skills. 豆腐无限包容的个性给擅长烹饪的中国人创造了极大的想像空间。

1 whet   

v.磨快，刺激

参考例句：

• I've read only the fIrst few pages of her book,but It was enough to whet my appetIte.她的书我只看了开头几页，但已经引起我极大的兴趣。
• A really good catalogue can also whet customers' appetites for merchandise.一份真正好的商品目录也可以激起顾客购买的欲望。

2 overdone   

v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• The lust of men must not be overdone. 人们的欲望不该过分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The joke is overdone. 玩笑开得过火。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 scriptures   

经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典

参考例句：

• Here the apostle Peter affirms his belief that the Scriptures are 'inspired'. 使徒彼得在此表达了他相信《圣经》是通过默感写成的。
• You won't find this moral precept in the scriptures. 你在《圣经》中找不到这种道德规范。

4 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

5 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

6 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

7 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。