10種擁有美妙歷史的現代食物(4):披薩

2. Pizza

2.披薩

Any time anyone mentions the dish, the image of black-haired, rotund Italian chefs kissing their fingers comes to mind. The 'traditional' image of the dish consisting of bread, tomatoes and cheese did, in fact, originate from Naples. The food was easy to make with little cost, and was regarded as something that the poor could eat to keep themselves going. It contained cheese, tomatoes and basil - very similar to the kind we consume today. The idea of placing food on top of flatbread, however, dates before the Italian invention.

任何時候想起這個食物，人們腦海中就會浮現出黑頭髮圓滾滾的意大利廚師親吻自己手指的畫面。這款食物包含着麪包、土豆和奶酪的"傳統"形象實際上起源於那不 勒斯（意大利西南部港市--譯者注）。這種食物容易製作，成本低，被認爲是窮人也能吃得起的東西。 它包括奶酪、土豆和羅勒（調味品--譯者注）-- 與我們今天食用的很相似。但是，將食物鋪在麪餅上的主意最早由意大利人發明。

A lot of cultures - including the Romans and the Egyptians - came up with the concept of meal on top of flatbread, but the Persians were the first recorded case. When King Darius the Great ruled the Persian Empire, it is thought that his soldiers baked flatbreads on their shields, and added cheese and dates for flavouring. Ordering Dominos while in enemy territory just isn't ideal.

很 多文化--包括羅馬與埃及--都給這種麪餅上面的食物下過定義，但波斯人最先進行了記錄。在大流士一世統治波斯帝國的時候（波斯帝國是公元前6世紀興起於 伊朗高原西部的奴隸制國家，大流士一世是其第三代君主--譯者注），他的士兵就在盾牌上烤制面餅，並添加上奶酪和棗椰子調味。在敵人領地裏要求吃上達美樂 披薩可不太現實。（達美樂比薩，是一家國際的比薩餅外送餐廳連鎖店，總部在美國密歇根州的安娜堡，於1960年由湯姆·莫納根創立--譯者注）