By Tejal Rao
Jan. 20, 2021
新冠毁食欲 麻辣来雄起
-----新冠败胃奈之何？ 唯有川味！
【美】德金·饶 （译音） 摘译自《纽约时报》
When I got sick and lost my sense of smell — a common neurological symptom of Covid-19 — the foods I loved became muddled and ugly. My brain was incapable of interpreting the delicious information floating around me, unable to detect, let alone identify, any of the aromas I took in through my nose. Without smells to guide me, my sense of taste faded and food flattened out, going gray and muted, dull and lifeless. Cheese became rubber and paste. Popcorn turned into thorny foam. The bland squish of a roast-chicken breast made me recoil. My appetite dwindled, until I was brought back to the pure pleasures of eating by a classic Sichuan flavor: mala.
罹患新冠后，典型神经系统症状使我丧失了嗅觉——爱吃的东西吃起来变了样，不堪入口。我的大脑已经无法解读周围弥漫的美味信息，闻不到，更别说识别出扑鼻而来的任何一种香味。气味一失，味觉则弱，美食成了果腹之物，全无色香味形 可言。奶酪入口像橡胶加浆糊。爆米花吃起来像粗糙的发泡泡沫。烤鸡胸肉嚼起来如同嚼蜡，令我反胃。眼看胃口日减，一款经典川味却让我重新享受到用餐的乐趣-------这就是麻辣。
The word translates to numbing (ma) and spicy (la), and it’s a result of a partnership between Sichuan peppercorns and chiles. “Flavorwise, it’s so intriguing,” said Jing Gao, who was born in Chengdu and now owns the Chinese food company Fly by Jing, which specializes in Sichuan ingredients like chile crisp and dried peppers. Mala is just one of many flavors in Sichuan cuisine, but it’s immensely popular, in part because it’s unlike any other. “That’s because there’s a texture to the flavor,” she said.