Pepper The King of Spices

Pepper. The King of Spices. Written by Joan Link. Illustrations by Len Epstein.

胡椒。 香料之王。 琼·林克 撰文。 莱恩·爱泼斯坦 绘图。

Introduction. What is black and wrinkled like a tiny raisin? What has sent men sailing across the ocean and was once used as money? It's pepper. You may have seen pepper in a shaker. You may have sprinkled it on your food. But do you know what it is? Do you know where it comes from. The pepper you eat comes from a dried up berry called a peppercorn. If you have ever seen a peppercorn, you might have thought it was a pebble. But it is not. It is a berry that grows on a vine. People use the whole peppercorn or crush it into tiny They use it to add flavor to food. Plant parts that are used to flavor food are called spices.

介绍。 什么东西黑黑皱皱，像一颗小小的葡萄干？ 什么引得人们扬帆跨洋，还曾被当作钱币使用？ 它就是胡椒。 你可能见过调味瓶里装的胡椒。 你也可能往食物上撒过它。 可你知道胡椒到底是什么吗？ 你知道它来自哪里吗？ 我们吃的胡椒来自一种叫做胡椒粒的干浆果。 如果你见过胡椒粒，说不定会把它当成小石子。 可它并不是小石子哦。 它是长在藤蔓上的浆果。 人们可以整颗使用胡椒粒，或是把它磨成碎末，加进食物增添风味。 用来给食物增添风味的植物部位就叫做香料。

Pepper is a spice with a very strong flavor. People use it on meat and vegetables. You can mix it with other flavors to make plain foods taste better. Eating too much pepper can be bad for you. If you eat plain pepper, your tongue will feel like it is on fire. You might even feel hot inside. Some people can get sick if they eat too much pepper. Pepper is known as the king of spices. This is because it is used more than any other spice in the world. As you read, you will find out that pepper was once even used as money.

胡椒是一种风味非常浓郁的香料。 人们会把它加在肉和蔬菜上。 把它和其他调料混合，就能让清淡的食物更好吃。 吃太多胡椒对身体不好哦。 要是直接吃纯胡椒，你的舌头会像着了火一样辣。 你甚至会觉得身体里发烫。 有些人吃太多胡椒还会生病呢。 胡椒被称为香料之王。 这是因为它是全世界使用最广泛的香料。 往下读你就会发现，胡椒过去甚至还被当过钱使用呢。

How Pepper Grows. The pepper plant grows as a long vine. The vines often wrap around a tree. Groups of round berries hang down from the vines. Each group can have 30 to 70 berries. When the berries dry out, they turn black and hard. They become wrinkled like a raisin. The dry berries are called peppercorns. Each peppercorn is smaller than a pea. Usually, people do not eat whole peppercorns. Instead, they use the type of pepper you see in a shaker. People use tools to grind peppercorns into tiny flakes. This makes pepper easier to eat.

胡椒的生长方式。 胡椒植株是长长的藤蔓。 藤蔓通常会缠绕在树上生长。 一串串圆圆的浆果垂挂在藤蔓上。 每一串可以结30到70颗浆果。 浆果晾干后，会变成黑色，质地变硬。 它们会变得皱巴巴的，和葡萄干一样。 这种晾干的浆果就叫做胡椒粒。 每一颗胡椒粒都比豌豆还要小。 通常人们不会整颗吃胡椒粒。 我们一般用的是调味瓶里那种磨好的胡椒。 人们用工具把胡椒粒磨成细小的碎末。 这样胡椒吃起来会更方便。

Where Pepper Grows The pepper plant needs a lot of water to grow. This is why it is found in places that get a lot of summer rain. To dry out the berries, farmers also need a place with a warm, sunny autumn. By winter, the peppercorns can be used as a spice. One good place to grow pepper is the southwestern part of India. The weather is perfect for growing pepper vines. Farmers have grown pepper in India for thousands of years. The people of India used pepper to trade for things they wanted or needed.

胡椒的产地 胡椒植株生长需要大量水分。 所以胡椒多生长在夏季多雨的地区。 要晒干浆果，种植地还需要有温暖晴朗的秋季。 到了冬天，胡椒粒就可以作为香料使用了。 印度西南部是种植胡椒的优良产地。 那里的气候非常适合胡椒藤蔓生长。 印度农民种植胡椒已经有几千年的历史了。 印度人会用胡椒交换他们想要或需要的物品。

A Popular Spice Pepper has been used in many ways. Long ago, people used it to make meat taste better. Some people thought eating pepper could help them when they got sick. They also used it to make their homes smell good. One place where pepper is popular is Europe. Hundreds of years ago, it was very hard to get this spice there. It did not grow in Europe, but many people still wanted it. There was a very small supply of pepper, but a big demand for it. This meant that people who had pepper could sell it for a high price. Peppercorns were in such demand that they were sometimes used as money. People might get paid in peppercorns. They could use their peppercorns to buy things they needed. They could even pay their rent with peppercorns.

广受欢迎的香料 胡椒的用途十分广泛。 古时候，人们会用胡椒让肉变得更美味。 有些人认为吃胡椒能缓解生病的不适。 他们还用胡椒让家里的气味变香。 胡椒在欧洲非常受欢迎。 几百年前，欧洲很难得到这种香料。 欧洲本地不产胡椒，但很多人都想要它。 当时胡椒供应量极少，需求量却很大。 也就是说，拥有胡椒的人可以把它卖很高的价钱。 胡椒粒供不应求，有时甚至会被当成钱使用。 人们可以用胡椒粒当工钱发放。 还可以用胡椒粒买到需要的东西。 甚至可以用胡椒粒来交房租。