Nathan Myhrvold: Cut your food in half

譯者: Joyce Chou 審譯者: Yakun Li

So I'm going to tell you a little bit

我想和各位談談

about reimagining food.

有關食物的新思維

I've been interested in food for a long time.

我對食物感興趣有很長一段時間了

I taught myself to cook

我用了一大批這樣厚的書

with a bunch of big books like this.

來自學烹飪

I went to chef school in France.

我到法國的烹飪學校進修

And there is a way

但是世界對於事物的認知

the world both envisions food,

對食物的描寫方式以及對於食物的研究方式

the way the world writes about food and learns about food.

都有一個既定的概念

And it's largely what you would find in these books.

然後大家這些書上看到的都基本上是這樣的

And it's a wonderful thing.

這些都很好

But there's some things that have been going on

但是在這些概念被定義之後

since this idea of food was established.

有些事情變得不一樣了

In the last 20 years,

過去二十年裡

people have realized that science

人們意識到科學

has a tremendous amount to do with food.

對食物有著很深的影響

In fact, understanding why cooking works

實際上要了解烹飪的機理

requires knowing the science of cooking --

必須要知道烹飪的科學

some of the chemistry, some of the physics and so forth.

需要化學，物理等等的知識

But that's not in any of those books.

但是這些並沒有出現在任何一本書裡

There's also a tremendous number of techniques

很多大廚研發出了

that chefs have developed,

眾多的烹飪技巧

some about new aesthetics, new approaches to food.

包括關於食物的新美學，新的烹調食物的方法

There's a chef in Spain named Ferran Adria.

有位西班牙的廚師Ferran Adria

He's developed a very avant-garde cuisine.

他研發出了一套非常前衛的佳餚

A guy in England called Heston Blumenthal,

在英國的Heston Blumenthal

he's developed his avant-garde cuisine.

他也研發出自己的一套前衛美食

None of the techniques that these people have developed

而這些人在過去二十年來

over the course of the last 20 years

研發的烹飪技術沒有記載在

is in any of those books.

任何一本烹飪相關的書籍裡

None of them are taught in cooking schools.

這些技術也沒有在烹飪學校教授

In order to learn them, you have to go work in those restaurants.

想要學習這些技術，你必須在這些餐廳裡工作

And finally,

還有就是

there's the old way of viewing food

對於食物的傳統概念

is the old way.

產生出傳統的烹飪方式

And so a few years ago -- fours years ago, actually --

幾年以前--事實上就是四年前--

I set out to say, is there a way

我試問我們是否有一種

we can communicate science and technique and wonder?

能將科學、烹飪技術和好奇心三者結合的方法？

Is there a way we can show people food

是否能以一種前所未見的方式

in a way they have not seen it before?

讓我們將食物呈現在眾人眼前？

So we tried, and I'll show you what we came up with.

而我們嘗試了，待會兒我會展現成果給各位看

This is a picture called a cutaway.

這張圖片叫做剖面圖

This is actually the first picture I took in the book.

這也是我書裡的第一張圖

The idea here is to explain what happens

這張圖說明了

when you steam broccoli.

水蒸花椰菜時的實際情況

And this magic view allows you to see

這神奇的視角讓人能看清楚

all of what's happening

水蒸花椰菜時的

while the broccoli steams.

所有情形

Then each of the different little pieces around it

圖片周圍的文字方塊

explain some fact.

給予一些解釋

And the hope was two-fold.

我們希望做到兩點

One is you can actually explain what happens when you steam broccoli.

其一是能真的解釋水蒸花椰菜的情況

But the other thing is that maybe we could seduce people

另一點就是說不定我們可以引起人們對於

into stuff that was a little more technical,

和他們平常的做法比起來

maybe a little bit more scientific, maybe a little bit more chef-y

更技術化，比較科學，比較專業的

than they otherwise would have.

烹調的興趣

Because with that beautiful photo,

因為利用這美麗的圖片

maybe I can also package this little box here

也許我還能利用這裡的文字方塊

that talks about how steaming and boiling

來描述蒸和煮

actually take different amounts of time.

實際上會用上不同的時間

Steaming ought to be faster.

用蒸的應該會快些

It turns out it isn't because of something called film condensation,

原來這不是叫做薄膜凝結

and this explains that.

這可以說明一切

Well, that first cutaway picture worked,

而第一張剖面圖奏效了

so we said, "Okay, let's do some more."

所以我們決定「好，我們多做一點」

So here's another one.

這是另一張

We discovered why woks are the shape they are.

我們發現為什麼炒菜鍋是這樣的形狀

This shaped wok doesn't work very well;

這樣形狀的鍋子不是很好用

this caught fire three times.

這鍋子起火了三次

But we had a philosophy,

不過我們有一個原則

which is it only has to look good for a thousandth of a second.

就是只要東西能有千分之一秒好看就行了

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And one of our canning cutaways.

我們其中一個罐頭的剖面圖

Once you start cutting things in half, you kind of get carried away,

一旦你開始把東西都切成兩半，你就停不下來了

so you see we cut the jars in half as well as the pan.

所以各位看到我們把酒瓶及鍋子都切成兩半

And each of these text blocks

裡面每個文字方塊

explains a key thing that's going on.

解釋了每個發生的關鍵事物

In this case, boiling water canning

這裡是煮沸罐裝食品

is for canning things that are already pretty acidic.

來罐裝已經是醃漬過的事物

You don't have to heat them up as hot

你就不需要把它完全加熱到

as you would something you do pressure canning

像你要製作壓力罐頭那樣高溫

because bacterial spores can't grow in the acid.

因為細菌孢子無法在這樣(酸)的環境中生長

So this is great for pickled vegetables,

所以這種灌裝方式適合醃製的蔬菜

which is what we're canning here.

我們這裡展示的就是罐裝蔬菜

Here's our hamburger cutaway.

這是我們的漢堡剖面圖

One of our philosophies in the book

我們在書中提到的一個理念是

is that no dish

沒有哪一道菜餚

is really intrinsically any better than any other dish.

是真的從根本上比其他菜好

So you can lavish

所以你可以大展身手

all the same care, all the same technique,

用相同的方式，相同的技術

on a hamburger

來製作漢堡

as you would on some much more fancy dish.

如同你烹調出其他豐盛的美饌

And if you do lavish as much technique as possible,

如果你使用越多的豪華的烹調技術

and you try to make the highest quality hamburger,

來試圖烹煮出最高級的漢堡

it gets to be a little bit involved.

這就需要投入更多心思

The New York Times ran a piece

紐約時報在我的書延期時

after my book was delayed

寫了一篇報導

and it was called "The Wait for the 30-Hour Hamburger

標題叫做「費工三十小時的漢堡

Just Got Longer."

又得等更久了」

Because our hamburger recipe, our ultimate hamburger recipe,

因為我們的漢堡配方，我們的終極漢堡配方

if you make the buns and you marinate the meat and you do all this stuff,

如果一個人要自己做出麵包和醃漬肉和其他所有的事情

it does take about 30 hours.

這的確需要花上三十個小時

Of course, you're not actually working the whole time.

當然你並非真的三十個小時都在煮菜

Most of the time is kind of sitting there.

大部分的時間都是在等待

The point of this cutaway

這幅剖面圖的重點是

is to show people a view of hamburgers they haven't seen before

要呈現一個前所未見的漢堡樣貌給眾人

and to explain the physics of hamburgers

並解釋有關漢堡的物理資訊

and the chemistry of hamburgers,

和漢堡的化學資訊

because, believe it or not, there is something to the physics and chemistry --

因為信不信由你，這當中的確有物理和化學的事

in particular, those flames underneath the burger.

特別是，烤漢堡肉的火焰

Most of the characteristic char-grilled taste

大多數的炭烤香味

doesn't come from the wood or the charcoal.

並非來自木材或木炭

Buying mesquite charcoal will not actually make that much difference.

即便買豆蔻灌木的木炭實際上也不會有太大的差別

Mostly it comes from fat pyrolyzing, or burning.

香味主要是因為脂肪高溫分解或燃燒

So it's the fat that drips down and flares up

肉裡的脂肪滴下來經過火烤

that causes the characteristic taste.

才造就出如此特殊的風味

Now you might wonder, how do we make these cutaways?

各位也許想知道我們是如何製作這些剖面圖的？

Most people assume we use Photoshop.

大部分的人以為我們運用Photoshop編輯影像

And the answer is: no, not really;

但答案不是這樣

we use a machine shop.

我們使用機器來製作這些影像

And it turns out, the best way to cut things in half

事實證明，要做出東西變成兩半的樣子的最好的方法

is to actually cut them in half.

就是你真的得把他們都切成兩半

So we have two halves of one of the best kitchens in the world.

所以我們有"一半"世界上最好的廚房之一

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

We cut a $5,000 restaurant oven in half.

我們把一個價值五千塊的專業烤箱也切對半

The manufacturer said,

製造商問說

"What would it take for you to cut one in half?"

「你把烤箱切成兩半要做什麼用？」

I said, "It would have to show up free."

我說「因為要讓拍攝沒有阻礙。」

And so it showed up, we used it a little while,

所以就像這樣，我們有使用一會兒

we cut it in half.

我們把東西切一半

Now you can also see a little bit how we did some of these shots.

各位可以看到我們是如何拍攝這些影像的

We would glue a piece of Pyrex

我們會粘上一塊

or heat-resistant glass in front.

耐高溫玻璃在前面

We used a red, very high-temperature silicon to do that.

我們使用了紅色耐高溫的矽膠做到這一點

The great thing is, when you cut something in half,

優點是，當你把東西切一半

you have another half.

你有另一半的部分

So you photograph that in exactly the same position,

然後就能在相同的位置拍攝

and then you can substitute in --

然後把東西替代進去

and that part does use Photoshop -- just the edges.

這部分有使用Photoshop，但只有邊緣的部分

So it's very much like in a Hollywood movie

這和好萊塢的電影非常相似

where a guy flies through the air, supported by wires,

像人要利用鋼索從空中飛越

and then they take the wires away digitally

利用數位編輯把鋼索的部分修飾掉

so you're flying through the air.

就變成真的從空中飛越

In most cases, though, there was no glass.

大部分的圖是沒有使用到玻璃的

Like for the hamburger, we just cut the damn barbecue.

像剛才的漢堡圖，我們就只是把烤爐切半

And so those coals that kept falling off the edge,

所以木炭就不斷從邊緣的部分掉落

we kept having to put them back up.

我們必須不斷把木炭再放回去

But again, it only has to work for a thousandth of a second.

不過同樣的，照片只要千分之一秒看起來好看即可

The wok shot caught fire three times.

炒菜鍋則起火了三次

What happens when you have your wok cut in half

當我們把鐵鍋切半後

is the oil goes down into the fire

油不斷流到火裡

and whoosh!

然後霍地大火起來

One of our cooks lost his eyebrows that way.

我們其中一位廚師因此失去他的眉毛

But hey, they grow back.

但還好，眉毛後來長回來

In addition to cutaways,

除了剖面圖外

we also explain physics.

我們也解釋了物理現象

This is Fourier's law of heat conduction.

這是傅立葉的熱傳導定律

It's a partial differential equation.

這是一個偏微分的方程式

We have the only cookbook in the world

我們有了世界上唯一一本

that has partial differential equations in it.

刊載偏微分方程式的烹飪書

But to make them palatable,

為了符合整體

we cut it out of a steel plate and put it in front of a fire

我們像這樣用鋼板剪出形狀

and photographed it like this.

放在火焰前面拍攝

We've got lots of little tidbits in the book.

我們在書裡也寫了很多的小花絮

Everybody knows that your various appliances

大家都知道

have wattage, right?

各種電器都有瓦數，是吧？

But you probably don't know that much about James Watt.

但你可能不知道太多關於James Watt的事

But now you will; we put a biography of James Watt in.

但你現在會知道；我們把James Watt的生平也放進書裡

It's a little couple paragraphs

只是幾段文字敘述

to explain why we call that unit of heat the watt,

解釋為什麼我們把熱的單位叫做瓦特

and where he got his inspiration.

還有他是從何處得到靈感

It turned out he was hired by a Scottish distillery

原來他受僱於蘇格蘭的酒廠

to understand why they were burning so damn much peat

明白他們為什麼燃燒如此多的泥炭

to distill the whiskey.

來提煉的威士忌

We also did a lot of calculation.

我們也做了很多的計算

I personally wrote thousands of lines of code

我自己為了這烹飪書

to write this cookbook.

寫了上千行代碼

Here's a calculation

這裡有一個計算式

that shows how the intensity of a barbecue,

顯示了燒烤強度

or other radiant heat source, goes

或其他輻射熱源

as you move away from it.

依照不同距離列出數據

So as you move vertically away from this surface,

所以當表面垂直移開

the heat falls off.

熱能就會減低

As you move side to side, it moves off.

當您移動一邊到另一邊，就離開熱源

That horn-shaped region

這喇叭形區域

is what we call the sweet spot.

就是我們所說的熱點

That's the place where the heat is even to within 10 percent.

這地方的熱能變化能保持在10％以內

So that's the place where you really want to cook.

這地方是你真的想用來做飯的

And it's got this funny horn-shaped thing,

而且它有這個有趣的喇叭狀的東西

which as far as I know, again,

這據我所知

the first cookbook to ever do this.

也是首次有烹飪書紀錄這件事

Now it may also be the last cookbook that ever does it.

也可能是最後一次有烹飪書這麼做

You know, there's two ways

各位知道，有兩種方式

you can make a product.

可以做出產品

You can do lots of market research

可以做大量的市場調查

and do focus groups

鎖定關鍵族群

and figure out what people really want,

了解大眾真正要的

or you can just kind of go for it

或者就是直接去做

and make the book you want and hope other people like it.

做一本你想要的書，然後盼望別人也喜歡這本書

Here's a step-by-step that shows grinding hamburger.

這裡有詳細的步驟說明如何磨碎漢堡肉

If you really want great hamburger,

如果你真想要做出一個美味的漢堡

it turns out it makes a difference if you align the grain.

只要把絞肉做的平整就能有所改變

And it's really simple, as you can see here.

如同各位所見，這相當簡單

As it comes out of the grinder, you just have a little tray,

絞肉從磨碎機出來，你只需要一個小托盤

and you just take it off in little passes,

然後慢慢的拿出來就好

build it up, slice it vertically.

接著疊起來，垂直地切片

Here's the final hamburger.

最後的漢堡成品在此

This is the 30-hour hamburger.

這是費時三十小時的漢堡

We make every aspect of this burger.

我們製作出漢堡所需要的每一種材料

The lettuce has got liquid smoke infused into it.

生菜也用煙熏調味料熏過了

We also have things about how to make the bun.

我們也有做漢堡麵包所需的材料

There's a mushroom, ketchup -- it goes on and on.

有蘑菇，番茄醬 --還有很多別的

Now watch closely. This is popcorn. I'll explain it here.

現在仔細看，這是爆米花，我待會兒會解釋

The popcorn is illustrating

爆米花在物理學上

a key thing in physics.

可以說明很關鍵的事

Isn't that beautiful?

這漂亮吧

We have a very high-speed camera,

我們用高速攝影拍攝

which we had lots of fun with on the book.

這也讓我們從這本書上獲得許多樂趣

The key physics principle here

這裡的關鍵的物理原則

is when water boils to steam

是當水變成蒸氣

it expands by a factor of 1,600.

會膨脹1,600倍

That's what's happening to the water inside that popcorn.

所以玉米粒裡頭水分是這麼變化的

So it's a great illustration of that.

這是一幅很精彩的插圖

Now I'm going to close with a video that is kind of unusual.

最後我要用一段特別的影片做結尾

We have a chapter on gels.

我們的書裡有一個篇章在談凝膠

And because people watch Mythbusters and CSI,

因為大家會看流言終結者和CSI犯罪現場的節目

I thought, well, let's put in a recipe

於是，我們也把這放進食譜裡

for a ballistics gelatin.

這是彈道明膠

Well, if you have a high-speed camera,

如果你有高速攝影機

and you have a block of ballistics gelatin lying around,

然後又有一塊彈道明膠

pretty soon somebody does this.

很快就有人拿來實驗了

(Gasps)

(喘氣)

Now the amazing thing here

驚人的事發生了

is that a ballistics gelatin is supposed to mimic

彈道明膠能模擬出

what happens to human flesh when you get shot -- that's why you shouldn't get shot.

人體肌肉受到槍擊的模樣 -- 這是為何我們不能受到槍擊

The other amazing thing is, when this ballistics gelatin comes down,

更驚人的是，當這塊彈道明膠落下時

it falls back down as a nice block.

還是完好如初像磚塊一樣

Anyway, here's the book.

總之，書在這裡

Here it is.

就在這兒

2,438 pages.

有2,438頁

And they're nice big pages too.

裡面有精美的大圖片

(Applause)

(掌聲)

A friend of mine complained

我的一位朋友和我抱怨

that this was too big and too pretty to go in the kitchen,

這書太大本也太漂亮不適合拿進廚房

so there's a sixth volume

所以這一套共有六冊

that has washable, waterproof paper.

還是用可清洗的防水紙印製的

(Applause)

(掌聲)