History through the eyes of the potato - Leo Bear-McGuinness

譯者: Ann Chen 審譯者: Max Chern

Baked or fried,

烘焙或油炸

boiled or roasted,

水煮或烘烤

as chips or fries.

做成薯片或薯條

At some point in your life, you've probably eaten a potato.

在你生命中某些時候 你大概已經吃過了馬鈴薯

Delicious, for sure,

肯定是好吃極了！

but the fact is potatoes have played a much more significant role in our history

然而事實上馬鈴薯在我們的 歷史上扮演更重要的角色

than just that of the dietary staple we have come to know and love today.

不只是現今我們所知 與所喜愛的主食而已

Without the potato,

沒有馬鈴薯

our modern civilization might not exist at all.

我們的現代文明可能根本不存在

8,000 years ago in South America, high atop the Andes,

8000 年前，在南美安地斯山頂

ancient Peruvians were the first to cultivate the potato.

古代秘魯人最早開始種植馬鈴薯

Containing high levels of proteins and carbohydrates,

富含蛋白質及碳水化合物

as well as essential fats, vitamins and minerals,

以及重要的脂肪、維生素和礦物質

potatoes were the perfect food source to fuel a large Incan working class

馬鈴薯為印加的勞工提供了 大量的能量，是完美的食物來源

as they built and farmed their terraced fields,

讓他們開墾種植梯田

mined the Rocky Mountains,

挖採洛磯山礦產

and created the sophisticated civilization of the great Incan Empire.

以及開創偉大印加帝國的先進文明

But considering how vital they were to the Incan people,

鑒於它們對印加人民是如此重要

when Spanish sailors returning from the Andes

當西班牙水手自安地斯山脈返國時

first brought potatoes to Europe,

首次將馬鈴薯引進歐洲

the spuds were duds.

但它們卻變得一文不值

Europeans simply didn't want to eat

歐洲人根本不想吃它

what they considered dull and tasteless oddities from a strange new land,

只是把它視為平淡、食之無味 來自陌生異地的怪東西

too closely related to the deadly nightshade plant belladonna for comfort.

又因它的品種太近於有毒的 茄科植物 --顛茄-- 而感到不安

So instead of consuming them,

他們不吃馬鈴薯

they used potatoes as decorative garden plants.

反而將它做為觀賞用植物

More than 200 years would pass before the potato caught on

經過了 200 多年後

as a major food source throughout Europe,

馬鈴薯才開始變成整個歐洲的主食

though even then,

即使那個時候

it was predominantly eaten by the lower classes.

它主要還是被下層社會人們所食用

However, beginning around 1750,

然而，大約從 1750 年起

and thanks at least in part

部份原因多虧於

to the wide availability of inexpensive and nutritious potatoes,

便宜又營養的馬鈴薯隨處可得

European peasants with greater food security

歐洲農民有了這個更好的食物保障

no longer found themselves

發覺到他們自己

at the mercy of the regularly occurring grain famines of the time,

不再受制於那時 經常發生的穀物饑荒了

and so their populations steadily grew.

所以他們的人口數也穩定地成長

As a result, the British, Dutch and German Empires

結果，英國、荷蘭以及德國帝國

rose on the backs of the growing groups of farmers, laborers, and soldiers,

在農民、勞工及軍人族群成長下 隨之崛起

thus lifting the West to its place of world dominion.

因而提升了西方國家 在世界統治權的地位

However, not all European countries sprouted empires.

然而，並非所有歐洲國家 都發展成為帝國

After the Irish adopted the potato,

愛爾蘭在種植馬鈴薯之後

their population dramatically increased,

人口數急劇攀升

as did their dependence on the tuber as a major food staple.

他們對這個做為主食的塊莖 依賴性也增加

But then disaster struck.

但是，隨後災難發生了

From 1845 to 1852,

從 1845 到 1852 年

potato blight disease ravaged the majority of Ireland's potato crop,

馬鈴薯晚疫病蹂躪了愛爾蘭 大多數的馬鈴薯農作物

leading to the Irish Potato Famine,

導致了愛爾蘭馬鈴薯大饑荒

one of the deadliest famines in world history.

這是史上死亡率最高的饑荒之一

Over a million Irish citizens starved to death,

超過一百萬愛爾蘭老百姓飢餓致死

and 2 million more left their homes behind.

超過兩百萬人遠離家園

But of course, this wasn't the end for the potato.

但是當然，馬鈴薯並沒有就此絕跡

The crop eventually recovered,

作物最後恢復正常了

and Europe's population, especially the working classes,

而歐洲人口，特別是勞工階級

continued to increase.

持續增加

Aided by the influx of Irish migrants,

得力於愛爾蘭移民的湧入

Europe now had a large, sustainable, and well-fed population

現在歐洲擁有一個龐大、 持續成長且豐衣足食的人口

who were capable of manning the emerging factories

能提供新興工廠充足的勞工

that would bring about our modern world via the Industrial Revolution.

經由工業革命後 也因而創造了我們現代化的世界

So it's almost impossible to imagine a world without the potato.

所以幾乎無法想像 沒有馬鈴薯的世界

Would the Industrial Revolution ever have happened?

工業革命會發生嗎？

Would World War II have been lost by the Allies

第二次世界大戰會不會因為

without this easy-to-grow crop that fed the Allied troops?

沒有這易栽種的作物來供養盟軍 而使盟軍戰敗呢？

Would it even have started?

會不會第二次世界大戰 根本不會開始呢？

When you think about it like this,

當你以這觀點來思考

many major milestones in world history can all be at least partially attributed

史上許多重大事件，多少歸功於

to the simple spud from the Peruvian hilltops.

這來自秘魯山頂不起眼的土豆吧！