Asafetida: India’s Odorous Taste of Home 阿魏：印度人的家乡臭味

玛杜尔·贾弗里/文　修文乔/译

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

究竟是什么讓这种古老的香料如此令人魂牵梦绕？

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！”

在印度的欧洲人称阿魏为“魔鬼的粪便”。阿魏可能是世界上最臭的香料，连它的名字（asafetida）也含“恶臭”（fetid）之义，以示合理警告。然而，自古以来，印度人就热衷于食用阿魏，他们会用一小撮阿魏来帮助自己消化豆类和蔬菜。在《霍布森-乔布森》这本重要的英印词汇和短语词典中，记录了一个16世纪的印度故事。国王想从一个葡萄牙人手中购买一匹价值连城的马，但是这匹马有严重的肠胃胀气。马的主人用阿魏治愈了这匹马，国王惊呼：“这没什么好惊奇的，因为你给他喂了神的食物。”葡萄牙人不喜欢这种含硫香料，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，印地语叫heeng，是一种呈黄白色的黏稠树脂。块状的阿魏能让我联想到松香。我的小提琴家丈夫会在琴弓上涂松香，让琴弦能更好地拉出声音。不过，松香是从普通的松树上采割下来的，而用于制作阿魏的树胶脂则提取自一种稀有的伞形科野生植物的下茎和根。这种植物需要在寒冷、干旱，但阳光充足的环境下生长，主要分布在阿富汗、哈萨克斯坦、乌兹别克斯坦和伊朗等国干燥荒凉的高海拔地区。这种植物非常挑剔，并且顽强地自行生长。许多人认为，早在公元前 600 年印度就已引进阿魏。

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，阿魏树脂通过添加小麦粉或大米粉等可食用物质来“定型”，然后做成块状、颗粒状、粉末状。我记得母亲以前只买“纯度最高”的阿魏块。她砍下一小块，盖上棉絮，再用钳子夹着放在火上烤（燃烧的棉花有助于控制褐变过程），然后碾成粉末。我的姥姥和太姥姥此前都做过同样的事情，她们还把阿魏的药用知识传授给了我母亲。在民间传说和神话中，阿魏可以驱除邪魔。在现代医学中，阿魏用于治疗溃疡、哮喘和支气管炎。我母亲知道，这种香料中的硫化物可以用作防腐剂、镇痉剂、消化剂、利尿剂、祛痰剂、镇静剂和通便剂。

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.

對我们这些孩子而言，最重要的是母亲的信息储备能让她烹制出最美味的食物。我20岁出头离开印度，前往伦敦学习戏剧，那时我根本不会做饭。我很想家，而我的思乡之情表现为对印度美食的深切渴望。我给母亲写信索要食谱，我问的第一道菜就是阿魏和莳萝籽煮土豆。放了西红柿的肉汤也极其美味。于我而言，这就是家的味道。表妹来探望我时，我母亲让她捎了一块阿魏，装在一个密封的盒子里。差不多50年后，我仍然保存着那个盒子，它仍然散发着阿魏的臭味。

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.

阿魏为什么会如此让人魂牵梦绕？许多香料和佐料经过烘烤会发生变化。莳萝籽会有坚果的味道。辣椒皮会变成暗红色，味道也会加重。然而，阿魏一旦碰到热油或印度酥油，会发生近乎奇迹的变化。印度北部的人们通常会将一小撮阿魏连同其他调味料一起在油中煸炒。为了制作我的独家版本，我把两大汤匙印度酥油倒入一个小煎锅中加热至高油温。然后，放入一大撮碾碎的阿魏，锅里立即散发出像硫磺和屁一样的恶臭。我迅速加入四分之一茶匙未碾碎的莳萝籽和一整根干辣椒。接着，我转了转平底锅，立即把锅里的混合物倒进一锅刚做好、还热乎的豆子或小扁豆里。我赶快盖上锅盖，想锁住所有的香气和味道。接下来的状况竟像一个讨厌鬼放完屁以后，狡猾地离开了厨房。空气里弥漫着臭味，但锅中阿魏的气味消失了，取而代之的是诱人的新气味。

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·比尔德年纪大了，在他离我只有一个街区远的西村家里，我帮他给学生上最后几次课，主题是“味道”。我们摆出各种食物，有鱼子酱、肉类、油、盐，让学生们都戴着眼罩品尝，看看他们能识别出什么、喜欢什么。有一次课后，我和比尔德与朋友们一起休息时，我让他闻一闻、尝一尝刚刚放入热油中的阿魏。他嗅了嗅，立刻说：“松露！是松露。”

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，随着主要出口到印度的阿富汗的贸易路线中断，印度人开始考虑以前想都不敢想的事情：他们要自己种植阿魏。整个周期需要四五年时间。这种植物一有不快，就会休眠。印度人从伊朗购买种子，选中印度境内喜马拉雅山区西部寒冷的荒凉地区试种。种下的植物现在正处于生长期的第二年，印度人祈祷他们心爱的“松露”终会开花。

［译者单位：中国石油大学（北京）］

* 玛杜尔·贾弗里生于1933年，是印度裔美国演员、导演、厨师、作家，人称“为世界带来印度菜的女人”。她编写的食谱曾多次获奖。

1印度料理中用热油脂煸炒香料的方法。这种方法能最大限度地释放出香料的味道，让油和食物充分入味。

2詹姆斯·比尔德（1903—1985），美国烹饪专家，曾出版一系列烹饪书籍。他开设的烹饪学校培养了一代又一代烹饪大师。以他名字命名的美食奖“詹姆斯·比尔德奖”（James Beard Award）有“餐饮界奥斯卡”之称，是美国餐饮界每年最盛大的活动之一。