Germán Santillán: A taste of Mexico's ancient chocolate-making tradition | TED

翻译人员: George Sze 校对人员: Helen Chang

This is Villa de Tamazulapan del Progreso,

这里是 Villa de Tamazulapan del Progreso，

a beautiful little village in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca.

一个位于瓦哈卡州米斯特克地区的 美丽小村庄。

My village,

我的村庄，

and the surrounding 154 villages of the region,

以及周边 154 个村庄，

have a population of about 400,000 people.

总计大约有 40 万人口。

For many centuries,

许多世纪以来，

our culture has retained its mysticism,

我们的文化一直延续着 神秘主义和仪式，

rituals

and many culinary traditions.

以及许多烹饪传统。

And one of those culinary traditions is our special connection with chocolate,

其中一项烹饪传统 是我们与巧克力的特殊羁绊，

dating back 800 years.

可以追溯到 800 年前。

Our ancient, indigenous communities were among the first cultures in the world

我们古老的祖先们

是世界上最早使用巧克力 作为社会联盟象征的文明之一。

to use chocolate as a symbol for a social union.

This image was made between the 13th century

这幅图绘制于 13 世纪至 16 世纪初，

and the early 16th century,

and it is part of the “Zouche-Nuttall Codex.”

来源于《苏支-纳托尔手抄绘本》（Codex Zouche-Nuttall）。

The codex is composed of 47 painted deer skins,

该绘本由 47 张彩绘鹿皮组成，

all of which represent the history of the Mixtec region.

代表了米斯特克地区的历史。

There are many social dynamics taking place in this picture,

这幅图片中展示了许多社会动态，

which specifically showcases the marriage between the Mixtec King and Queen.

特别是米斯特克国王 和王后的婚姻故事。

And notice the cup of hot chocolate between them

注意中间的那杯热巧克力，

that they are sharing to seal their marital bond.

用来供他们彼此分享 以巩固婚姻关系。

This tradition is still alive today,

这一传统如今仍然还保留着，

with chocolate front and center

在我们社区最重要的活动中， 巧克力仍然是必不可少的，

during the most important events of our communities,

like births, weddings and even funerals.

比如出生、婚礼甚至葬礼上。

But even though Oaxaca has a rich history of chocolate,

然而即使瓦哈卡州 拥有丰富的巧克力历史，

and even though people enjoy chocolate all around the world,

尽管世界各地的人们都喜欢巧克力，

ancient Mixtec traditions around how to grow cocoa,

但在如何种植、加工和制备可可方面， 古老的米斯特克传统正在逐渐消失。

process it and prepare it are fading away.

Mexico is considered the cradle of chocolate,

墨西哥被称为巧克力的摇篮，

but four out of five chocolates made in Mexico are made with foreign cocoa.

但在墨西哥生产的巧克力， 五分之四是用外国可可制成的。

Meanwhile, the average age of a Mexican farmer is 63 years old.

与此相对应， 墨西哥农民的平均年龄为 63 岁。

So we need to train a new generation of farmers

因此，我们需要培训新一代农民，

in order to keep our land fertile

来保持我们土地的肥沃和庄稼的生机。

and our crops alive.

I wanted to do something about this,

我想为此做点什么，

and given that I truly believe in preserving and spreading the wisdom

我崇尚保护原生社区的智慧

from indigenous communities to modern life,

并将其传播到现代生活中，

I turned my attention back to Oaxaca’s rich history of chocolate.

因此我将注意力转向了 瓦哈卡州丰富的巧克力历史。

And also, I wanted to try to support economically in my region,

此外，我还想试着 在米斯特克地区提供经济支持，

which has been considered one of the poorest regions of Mexico.

这里被认为是墨西哥 最贫穷的地区之一。

So I teamed up with a tenacious team of local people

因此，我与一个坚定的当地团队合作，

to embrace our regional chocolate culture

去拥抱我们的地区巧克力文化，

and make it a sustainable industry by its own right.

并力图凭借文化自身的力量 使其成为可持续发展的行业。

We call it Oaxacanita Chocolate,

我们称它为“小小瓦哈卡” （Oaxacanita）巧克力，

and it’s unlike a mass-marketed bar of chocolate.

它与大众销售的巧克力棒不尽相同。

That’s because we rescued two native cocoa bean species.

因为我们使用了两种本地可可豆。

We started by growing 20 trees on a rooftop,

我们最开始的 20 棵树 是种在屋顶上的，

and we’ve expanded our tree growth to five towns,

而现在范围已经扩大到了五个城镇，

cultivating 5,000 cocoa trees and counting,

可可树规模达到了 5,000 棵，

with the help of professionals like engineer Iván García,

这要感谢很多专业人士的帮助， 比如工程师伊凡·加西亚，

who was a gardener in the United States

他曾是一名在美国的园丁，

and has decided to come back to his community

后来决定回到他的社区，

to be part of this taste movement.

助力这场品味盛宴运动。

We also talked with traditional cooks of the region

我们还与当地的老厨师交谈，

to learn about the regional recipes.

了解当地的食谱。

There were many different ways

关于如何制作热巧克力， 他们的祖先有很多种方法，

that their ancestors used to prepare hot chocolate,

starting from how the cocoa beans were roasted using clay comales

从使用粘土玉米烤可可豆的方法

to the many methods for stone grinding the paste.

再到石头研磨可可膏的多种方法。

And now with this ancestral knowledge,

现在，凭借这些古老的知识，

we make a hot chocolate that uses spices like cinnamon,

我们制作了一种热巧克力， 它使用肉桂等香料生产，

flavors like almonds

杏仁口味，

and less sugar than most people are used to tasting,

而且糖分比大多数人习惯的要少，

and that is a faithful representation for this millenary tradition.

这是对千年传统的忠诚坚持。

This recipe creates a rich, smooth, velvety flavor

这样的食谱造就了 一种丰富、光滑、天鹅绒般的味道，

that warms not only your heart,

温暖你的心，

but your soul.

也温暖你的灵魂。

And we, of course, wanted to engage the very communities

当然，我们希望与社区合作，

whose wisdom and skills have been passed down over generations,

特别是那些智慧和技能代代相传，

but are in danger of disappearing.

但却正面临消失危险的社区。

Our employees are mostly women,

我们的员工大多是女性，

some of whom are having their first financial opportunities

其中一些人是第一次 有挣钱养家糊口的机会。

to support their families.

People like Doña Rocío,

人们很喜欢多娜·罗乔，

who is our roast master,

她是我们的烘焙大师，

and who already knows the importance of tatemado,

并已经明确了“tatemado”的重要性，

which means over roasting in traditional cuisine.

这个词在传统美食中 是“深度烘焙”的意思。

Over roasting allows the cocoa beans to develop a stronger flavor

深度烘培可以让可可豆味更浓郁，

while enabling us to more easily clean the husk off the bean.

我们也能更轻松地去除可可豆的外壳。

And then there is Doña Maricruz,

然后是马尔克鲁兹夫人，

whose knowledge about cocoa beans has taught all of us

她关于可可豆的知识 教会了我们所有人

how to screen cocoa beans for quality,

如何筛选可可豆的质量，

classify the different varieties

如何对不同品种进行分类，

and mix certain bean species together

以及如何将某些豆类混合在一起，

to create subtle but distinctive flavors in the chocolate.

从而在巧克力中创造出 微妙而独特的风味。

And we engage in local artisans

我们与当地工匠合作，

to create our packaging with sustainable materials

使用他们已经在用的可持续材料 来制作我们的包装，

that they are already working with,

like woven baskets, clay cups and molinillos.

例如编织篮子、粘土杯和莫利尼洛。

Together, we cultivate the cocoa from the trees,

我们一起从树上收获可可，

produce the chocolate

生产巧克力并包装成品。

and package the final product.

We started operations on a tiny scale

我们最初在我祖母家的一个空房间里 开始了小规模的试运作。

in an empty room of my grandmother’s house.

In 2015, we sold about 50 kilograms of chocolate.

2015 年， 我们卖出了约 50 公斤巧克力。

By 2020, we sold over 1,800 kilograms of chocolate,

而到了 2020 年，我们累计卖出了 超过 1,800 公斤巧克力，

and our work has been recognized by the US government,

我们的工作得到了美国政府、 国际青年基金会和 Facebook 的认可，

the International Youth Foundation

and Facebook,

leading us to be the first Mexican chocolate company

这使我们成为第一家因社会影响 而获得国际奖项的墨西哥巧克力公司。

to be awarded internationally for social impact.

Working with a community for a community has taught me

与社区合作，为社区工作， 这让我认识到

that we can simultaneously preserve traditions,

我们可以同时做到 保护传统，

economically boost the region,

促进地区经济发展，

employ people locally

雇用当地人员，

and sell a delicious product

以及在全球范围内 销售历史悠久的美味产品。

with a history that people care about on a global scale.

That potential lies in local communities around the world,

这样的潜力蕴藏在 世界各地的土著社区，

so let’s invest in our indigenous history.

所以让我们投资于我们的当地历史吧。

That history is full of wisdom,

这样的历史充满智慧，

and who knows,

说不定也很美味。

it may also be delicious.

Cheers.

干杯！