Why pasta comes in all shapes and sizes | Small Thing Big Idea, a TED series

Transcriber: TED Translators admin Reviewer: Krystian Aparta

翻译人员: Wanting Zhong 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

Food is design.

食物即设计。

It is design when you compose plates,

当你构思菜谱时就是在设计，

but it is amazing, even better and most delightful design

但令人惊叹的、更上一层的、 最为赏心悦目的设计

when it's about the units.

则是关乎食物的小组件。

[Small thing.]

【小事物】

[Big idea.]

【大道理】

"Pasta" comes from Latin,

“Pasta”（意大利面）一词 来源于拉丁语，

and it means "paste."

意思是 “paste”（糊状物）。

It's about putting together water and some powder,

也就是把水和粉末混合，

so that you can actually shape it.

以便对其进行塑形。

There are cultures in the world that use rice powder,

世界上的文化有的使用米粉，

others use soy powder.

有的使用豆粉。

In Italy, we tend to use durum wheat.

在意大利，我们一般 使用的是硬质小麦粉。

Pasta existed for centuries,

意式面食已存在数世纪，

but it really blossomed during the Renaissance.

但它真正发扬光大 是在文艺复兴时期。

And it's only later on in the 17th century

到了后来的 17 世纪，

that it became more mass produced.

它才被投入大规模生产。

Whenever you design an object of any kind,

在设计任何种类的物件时，

you think of how you want it to perform.

你都会根据它的作用进行考虑。

So think about the same for pasta.

那么让我们也对意大利面 进行同样的思考。

Do you want it to be ribbed

你想让它布有纹路，

or you want it to be smooth?

还是平整光滑？

The ribbed ones absorb the sauce better.

有纹路的意面能更好地吸收酱汁。

Do you want them to be round

你想让它们呈圆形，

or do you want them to be square?

还是方形？

They have a different feel on the palate.

它们的口感并不一样。

Everything is for a reason.

一切设计都有理由。

In the amazing taxonomy of the pasta species,

在令人惊叹的意面品种分类学中，

there are many different ways to divide it,

有许多不同的划分方法，

but one of the basic divisions is between fresh pasta and dry pasta.

但最基本的分类是 新鲜意面和干意面。

Dry pasta is always durum wheat flour and water.

干意面全都是由 硬质小麦粉和水制成。

Fresh pasta could be either that

新鲜意面可以是同样的制法，

or it could be flour and eggs.

也可以是面粉加鸡蛋。

Just think of having a dough

想想可以拥有这种面团，

that you can shape in any way you want.

能够随心所欲地捏成任何形状。

I mean, really, wouldn't you go crazy?

我是说，讲真的， 你不会欣喜若狂吗？

So fresh and dry, but then, there's also long and short.

于是有新鲜意面和干意面， 同时，也可分为长意面和短意面。

And then within those families, there's even more diversity.

而在这些品类之中， 还有更丰富的多样性。

Let's talk about some really classical types of short pasta.

让我们谈谈一些 非常经典的短意面品种。

Penne -- we all know them, right?

斜管面（Penne）—— 大家都熟悉，对吧？

They are cut at a slanted angle,

它们由筒状面斜切而成，

perfect to pick up some of the sauce.

可以完美地挂住酱汁。

"Farfalle" means "butterflies," or how do you call it here,

“蝴蝶面（Farfalle）” 意思是蝴蝶， 或者以这边（美国）的叫法，

bow ties, because they are, like, pinched in the middle.

“领结面”，因为它们中间是捏起来的。

"Orecchiette" means "little ears,"

“猫耳朵（Orecchiette）” 意思是“小耳朵”，

and they're typical from Puglia, and they are delicious.

它们是普利亚的特产，非常美味。

And "conquilla," shells, and of course, they look like shells.

还有 “贝壳面（conquilla）”， 即贝壳，自然长得和贝壳一样。

They are ribbed, so they scoop up the sauce on the outside

它们有刻纹， 因此可以在外侧裹上酱汁，

and they are smooth on the inside.

而内侧则是光滑的。

Pasta is definitely gorgeous,

意面确实多姿多彩，

but the form also is about how it touches the palate,

但它的形态也是关于在嘴里的口感，

how it touches the tongue,

在舌上的触感，

so it's never just about giving it a shape.

所以它从来不只是关乎赋予形状。

When you hone one object across centuries,

当你花费几个世纪的时间 精心锤炼一种事物，

standards become really, really high.

你的标准就会变得特别特别高。

Many so-called great designers failed miserably,

很多所谓的大设计师 都悲惨地败下阵来，

because they tried to impose a shape onto pasta.

因为他们试图将某种形状 强加于意面之上。

The great Philippe Starck tried mandala.

伟大的菲利普·斯塔克 （法国知名设计师）

尝试了曼荼罗形。

Some parts of it, the walls, were very thick,

其中一些部位，如外壁，非常厚实，

and the others were thinner,

而别的部位则更加细薄，

so when you would boil the pasta,

因此在煮这种意面时，

some of it would be completely mushy

有的部分会变得烂糊，

while part of it was too crunchy and uncooked.

而别的部分则没有煮熟， 过硬过脆。

So really wrong, but they were not women from Bologna,

问题很大，但他们不是博洛尼亚的妇女， 【注：肉酱意面的故乡】

they were not chefs from Naples,

不是那不列斯的大厨， 【注：那不列斯风味意面发源地】

they were not centuries of families of grandmothers

他们不是延续数个世纪的 世世代代的祖母，

that were trying to improve on the thinness of the walls of the pasta.

试图改进意面纤细的外壁。

There's no way to trace pasta back to one designer, one inventor,

没有办法将意面溯源至 某一位设计师，一名发明者，

and that's the beauty of it.

而这正是意面的美丽之处。

It belongs to the people.

它属于人民。

And if you think about it,

如果你仔细想想，

this simple mixture of a carbohydrate and water

这种碳水化合物和水 组成的简单混合物

becomes the scaffold for a whole culture to be built.

搭起了构筑整个文化的支架。