Asafetida: India’s Odorous Taste of Home 阿魏：印度人的家鄉臭味

瑪杜爾·賈弗里/文　修文喬/譯

What is it about this ancient spice that so haunts the senses？

究竟是什么讓這種古老的香料如此令人魂牽夢繞？

Europeans in India called it Devils Dung. It is perhaps the most stinky spice in the world. Even its name includes “fetid，” as fair warning. Yet Indians have been devoted consumers of asafetida since ancient times， using pinches of it to aid in the digestion of beans and vegetables. There is a story from sixteenth-century India—found in “Hobson-Jobson，” an essential glossary of Anglo-Indian words and phrases—about a Portuguese man who had a horse of great value that the king wanted to buy， except that the animal had a bad case of flatulence. When the owner cured the horse by feeding it asafetida， the king exclaimed， “Tis nothing then to marvel at for you have given it to eat the food of the gods.” To which the Portuguese man， no fan of the sulfurous spice， replied， “Better call it the food of the devils！”

在印度的歐洲人稱阿魏為“魔鬼的糞便”。阿魏可能是世界上最臭的香料，連它的名字（asafetida）也含“惡臭”（fetid）之義，以示合理警告。然而，自古以來，印度人就熱衷于食用阿魏，他們會用一小撮阿魏來幫助自己消化豆類和蔬菜。在《霍布森-喬布森》這本重要的英印詞匯和短語詞典中，記錄了一個16世紀的印度故事。國王想從一個葡萄牙人手中購買一匹價值連城的馬，但是這匹馬有嚴重的腸胃脹氣。馬的主人用阿魏治愈了這匹馬，國王驚呼：“這沒什么好驚奇的，因為你給他喂了神的食物?！逼咸蜒廊瞬幌矚g這種含硫香料，于是回答：“不如叫它魔鬼的食物！”

Asafetida， or heeng in Hindi， is a resin， yellowish-white and sticky. A lump of it reminds me of the rosin that my violinist husband uses on his bow to help draw out the sound of his instruments strings. But， whereas rosin comes from tapping common pine trees， the gum resin for asafetida is extracted from the lower stem and roots of a rare wild member of the carrot family. The plant requires a cold climate， arid but sunny. It is found mostly in the desert-like higher regions of Afghanistan， Kazakhstan， Uzbekistan， and Iran. It is very finicky and grows stubbornly on its own. Many believe that it was being imported to India as early as 600 B.C.

阿魏，印地語叫heeng，是一種呈黃白色的黏稠樹脂。塊狀的阿魏能讓我聯想到松香。我的小提琴家丈夫會在琴弓上涂松香，讓琴弦能更好地拉出聲音。不過，松香是從普通的松樹上采割下來的，而用于制作阿魏的樹膠脂則提取自一種稀有的傘形科野生植物的下莖和根。這種植物需要在寒冷、干旱，但陽光充足的環境下生長，主要分布在阿富汗、哈薩克斯坦、烏茲別克斯坦和伊朗等國干燥荒涼的高海拔地區。這種植物非常挑剔，并且頑強地自行生長。許多人認為，早在公元前 600 年印度就已引進阿魏。

In India， asafetida resin is “stabil-ized” with the addition of an edible substance， such as wheat or rice flour， and then formed into lumps， granules， and powders. I remember my mother would buy only the “purest” lump of asafetida. She would hack off a tiny piece， cover it with cotton wool， hold it with tongs over a flame to roast it—the burning cotton helped control the browning process—and then crush it into a powder. My mothers mother and grandmother had done the same before her， and had passed down knowledge of the resins medicin-al aspects. In folklore and mythology， asafetida can chase away evil spirits. In modern medicine， it is used to help treat ulcers， asthma， and bronchitis. My mother knew the spices sulfur compounds as an antiseptic， an antispasmodic， a digestive， a diuretic， an expectorant， a sedative， and a laxative.

在印度，阿魏樹脂通過添加小麥粉或大米粉等可食用物質來“定型”，然后做成塊狀、顆粒狀、粉末狀。我記得母親以前只買“純度最高”的阿魏塊。她砍下一小塊，蓋上棉絮，再用鉗子夾著放在火上烤（燃燒的棉花有助于控制褐變過程），然后碾成粉末。我的姥姥和太姥姥此前都做過同樣的事情，她們還把阿魏的藥用知識傳授給了我母親。在民間傳說和神話中，阿魏可以驅除邪魔。在現代醫學中，阿魏用于治療潰瘍、哮喘和支氣管炎。我母親知道，這種香料中的硫化物可以用作防腐劑、鎮痙劑、消化劑、利尿劑、祛痰劑、鎮靜劑和通便劑。

What mattered most to us children was that my mothers store of information led her to prepare the most luscious of foods. When I left India and went to London as a drama student， in my early twenties， I did not know how to cook at all. I was homesick， and my homesickness took the form of a deep longing for Indian food. I wrote to my mother for recipes， and among the first I asked for was potatoes cooked with asafetida and cumin. The broth， which included tomatoes， was heaven. To me， that was the taste of home. When a cousin came to visit， my mother sent her with a lump of asafetida in a tightly sealed box. I still have it， almost fifty years later， and it still smells.

對我們這些孩子而言，最重要的是母親的信息儲備能讓她烹制出最美味的食物。我20歲出頭離開印度，前往倫敦學習戲劇，那時我根本不會做飯。我很想家，而我的思鄉之情表現為對印度美食的深切渴望。我給母親寫信索要食譜，我問的第一道菜就是阿魏和蒔蘿籽煮土豆。放了西紅柿的肉湯也極其美味。于我而言，這就是家的味道。表妹來探望我時，我母親讓她捎了一塊阿魏，裝在一個密封的盒子里。差不多50年后，我仍然保存著那個盒子，它仍然散發著阿魏的臭味。

What is it about asafetida that so haunts the senses？ Many spices and seasonings change when they are toasted. Cumin seeds turn nutty. Chili skins turn dark red and deepen in flavor. But something almost miraculously transformative happens to asafetida when it hits hot oil or ghee. It is generally combined， always in small amounts， with other seasonings in a cookery step known in northern India as tarka1. To make my version， I put two tablespoons of ghee into a small frying pan and let it get really hot. Then I put in a generous pinch of ground asafetida， which sends up its sulfurous and fart-like funk. Within seconds， I add a quarter teaspoon of whole cumin seeds and a whole hot dried chili. Then I swirl the pan around and immediately pour the mixture into a pot of freshly cooked， still-hot beans or lentils. I put the lid on quickly to entrap all the aromas and flavors. What happens next is as if some pesky person had farted and then slyly left the kitchen. The smell may linger， but inside the pot the asafetida odor vanishes and is replaced by something tantalizing and new.

阿魏為什么會如此讓人魂牽夢繞？許多香料和佐料經過烘烤會發生變化。蒔蘿籽會有堅果的味道。辣椒皮會變成暗紅色，味道也會加重。然而，阿魏一旦碰到熱油或印度酥油，會發生近乎奇跡的變化。印度北部的人們通常會將一小撮阿魏連同其他調味料一起在油中煸炒。為了制作我的獨家版本，我把兩大湯匙印度酥油倒入一個小煎鍋中加熱至高油溫。然后，放入一大撮碾碎的阿魏，鍋里立即散發出像硫磺和屁一樣的惡臭。我迅速加入四分之一茶匙未碾碎的蒔蘿籽和一整根干辣椒。接著，我轉了轉平底鍋，立即把鍋里的混合物倒進一鍋剛做好、還熱乎的豆子或小扁豆里。我趕快蓋上鍋蓋，想鎖住所有的香氣和味道。接下來的狀況竟像一個討厭鬼放完屁以后，狡猾地離開了廚房?？諝饫飶浡粑?，但鍋中阿魏的氣味消失了，取而代之的是誘人的新氣味。

When James Beard2 was getting old， I helped him teach his last classes， at his house in the West Village， down the block from me. The subject was “taste.” We sampled all sorts of foods—caviars， meats， oils， salts—with students wearing blindfolds to see what they could identify and what they liked. After one class， when Beard and I were relaxing with friends， I asked him to smell and taste asafetida， freshly dropped into hot oil. He sniffed the air and said immediately， “Truffles！ Its truffles.”

詹姆斯·比爾德年紀大了，在他離我只有一個街區遠的西村家里，我幫他給學生上最后幾次課，主題是“味道”。我們擺出各種食物，有魚子醬、肉類、油、鹽，讓學生們都戴著眼罩品嘗，看看他們能識別出什么、喜歡什么。有一次課后，我和比爾德與朋友們一起休息時，我讓他聞一聞、嘗一嘗剛剛放入熱油中的阿魏。他嗅了嗅，立刻說：“松露！是松露?！?/p>

A few years ago， with trading routes in Afghanistan， Indias main exporter， disrupted， Indians began to consider the unthinkable： they would grow asafetida on their own. The process takes four to five years. The plants go dormant at the first sign of unhappiness. Seeds were bought from Iran. Cold， desert-like regions of Indias western Himalaya mountains were selected for trials. The plants are now in their second year of growth. Indians are praying that sooner or later their beloved “truffles” will bloom.

幾年以前，隨著主要出口到印度的阿富汗的貿易路線中斷，印度人開始考慮以前想都不敢想的事情：他們要自己種植阿魏。整個周期需要四五年時間。這種植物一有不快，就會休眠。印度人從伊朗購買種子，選中印度境內喜馬拉雅山區西部寒冷的荒涼地區試種。種下的植物現在正處于生長期的第二年，印度人祈禱他們心愛的“松露”終會開花。

［譯者單位：中國石油大學（北京）］

* 瑪杜爾·賈弗里生于1933年，是印度裔美國演員、導演、廚師、作家，人稱“為世界帶來印度菜的女人”。她編寫的食譜曾多次獲獎。

1印度料理中用熱油脂煸炒香料的方法。這種方法能最大限度地釋放出香料的味道，讓油和食物充分入味。

2詹姆斯·比爾德（1903—1985），美國烹飪專家，曾出版一系列烹飪書籍。他開設的烹飪學校培養了一代又一代烹飪大師。以他名字命名的美食獎“詹姆斯·比爾德獎”（James Beard Award）有“餐飲界奧斯卡”之稱，是美國餐飲界每年最盛大的活動之一。