无肉不欢者的最爱：牛肉巧克力

 Red meat hardly seems like the perfect ingredient for delicious chocolate, but a New Zealand-based food scientist is willing to bet that his high-protein, 50% beef chocolate recipe is going to be a hit.

红色肉类似乎不可能是美味巧克力的完美配方，但是新西兰的一位食品学家认为他研制出的高蛋白、含50%牛肉的巧克力将受到欢迎。

Mustafa Farouk, Senior Food Technologist at Ag Research has partnered with Auckland boutique chocolate maker¹ Devonport Chocolates to bring meat chocolate to the masses. The quirky idea of combining the two very different ingredients came to Dr. Farouk one day, while looking at ways of adding value to beef and pondering ways the staple² food might be consumed in the future. Mixing beef and chocolate seemed like the perfect way for people to get proteins and other nutrients³ in meat, because chocolate is such a popular dessert.

穆斯塔法?法鲁克是农业研究所的高级食品工艺师，他与奥克兰市的精品巧克力生产商德文波特合作来向大众推广肉类巧克力。一天，法鲁克博士正在研究给牛肉增值的方法并考虑未来人们摄入主食的方式，这时他想到了这个将两种截然不同的食材混合在一起的古怪的点子。由于巧克力是十分受大众喜爱的甜品，将牛肉和巧克力混合在一起似乎是让人们摄入肉类中蛋白质和其他营养成分的极佳办法。

无肉不欢者的最爱：牛肉巧克力

So Farouk took a very lean cut from the hind⁴ quarter of a Waikato-raised bovine⁵, turned into what he calls "chocolate butter", which I assume is a sort of fine paste, and handed it over to Devonport Chocolates to use in their confectionery. The resulting combination reportedly has a consistency⁶ similar to a Turkish delight, and while the food scientist admits you can tell that it's not regular chocolate, the taste of meat is almost impossible to pick up. In an interview with the New Zealand Herald⁷, Farouk described the taste of beef chocolate as "wonderful", adding that although people are initially⁸ put off by the unique dessert when they here it is 50% beef, once they bite into it and taste the rich chocolate flavor, most agree that it is excellent.

想到这里，法鲁克从一头怀卡托牛后腿那里取了一份极瘦的肉，加工成他所谓的“巧克力黄油”（我猜这是一种细腻的糊状物），并将它交给德文波特巧克力公司来制作糖果。据说，最终的混合物尝起来像土耳其软糖。虽然食品学家承认你可以辨别出牛肉巧克力不是普通的巧克力，但是你很难分辨出肉味。在一次接受《新西兰先驱报》的采访中，法鲁克形容牛肉巧克力的味道“绝妙”。法鲁克还说，尽管人们最初得知这种特别的巧克力含50%的牛肉时会望而却步，但是一旦他们尝了一口，感受到浓烈的巧克力滋味，大多数人都会认为牛肉巧克力非常棒。

"We knew we could turn meat into different forms, but whether we could actually fool people by making it look like chocolate is what we didn’t know," Dr. Farouk said. "When you try it now, you don't know what you're eating." He adds that it's very easy to change the texture⁹ of beef chocolate from very smooth to a dessert that has some body, fiber¹⁰ to it, but from whatever feedback they have released so far, the smooth one is tastier.

“我们知道肉有多种做法，但是能不能把肉做得跟巧克力一样，‘骗过’人，我们也不知道，”法鲁克博士说。“如果你现在尝一口，你都不会知道你在吃什么。”他补充说，要改变牛肉巧克力的口感非常简单，既可以做出非常丝滑的口感，也可以做出较粗的纤维口感，但是从他们目前发布的反馈来看，丝滑的牛肉巧克力更好吃。

Beef chocolate started out as a crazy experiment, but its creator now wants to make it commercially viable¹¹. "Devonport are very excited about it and it's highly likely that we'll partner with them and try to get it into the market," he told Stuff.co.nz. "And once people realise the advantages of having this, I'm sure it will take off." The meat required to make this bizarre treat would cost an estimated $17 a kilogram, and turned into chocolates, it would retail¹² at $2.50 a cube.

牛肉巧克力一开始只是一次疯狂的试验，但是它的发明者现在想要对它进行商业推广。“德文波特对此非常兴奋，很有可能我们还会和他们合作，把牛肉巧克力推向市场，”他对新闻网Stuff.co.nz说道。“一旦人们认识到吃这种巧克力的好处，我肯定它会受到热捧。”据估计，制作一千克这种古怪点心所需的牛肉成本价是17美元，制成巧克力后，每块的零售价格将是2.5美元。

And this is only the beginning, as Farouk is now experimenting with lamb and venison, to see if they'll work as well as beef. In the past, the scientist also created beef ice-cream, a dairy-free dessert he says was very tasty.

并且，这只是个开始，因为法鲁克现在正在用羊肉和鹿肉做实验，来看看它们会不会取得像牛肉一样好的效果。以前法鲁克还制作过一种不含奶的牛肉冰激凌，他说这道甜品味道非常好。

Vocabulary

boutique: 精品店

bovine: 牛的；牛科动物

confectionery: 糕点糖果

lean: 瘦的

venison: 鹿肉

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

3 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 hind   

adj.后面的，后部的

参考例句：

• The animal is able to stand up on its hind limbs.这种动物能够用后肢站立。
• Don't hind her in her studies.不要在学业上扯她后腿。

5 bovine   

adj.牛的；n.牛

参考例句：

• He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass andand munching,like some bovine creature.他丢开包袱，爬到灯心草丛里，像牛似的大咬大嚼起来。
• He was a gentle,rather bovine man.他是一位文雅而反应迟钝的人。

6 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

7 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

10 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

11 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

12 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。