India's 'superfood' jackfruit goes global

印度“超级食物”菠萝蜜走向全球

Thrissur (India) (AFP) - Green, spiky and with a strong, sweet smell, the bulky jackfruit has morphed from a backyard nuisance in India's south coast into the meat-substitute darling of vegans and vegetarians in the West.

特里苏尔（印度）法新社：菠萝蜜表面呈绿色、带尖刺，味道非常甜，在印度南部海岸这种硕大的水果成了后院的麻烦，但在西方却成了素食者的肉类替代品。

Part of South Asia's diet for centuries, jackfruit was so abundant that tonnes of it went to waste every year.

几个世纪以来，菠萝蜜一直是南亚人的日常饮食，由于菠萝蜜的产量非常大，每年都会浪费好几吨。

But now India, the world's biggest producer of jackfruit, is capitalising on its growing popularity as a "superfood" meat alternative -- touted by chefs from San Francisco to London and Delhi for its pork-like texture when unripe.

如今，全球最大的菠萝蜜生产国印度，正利用这种“超级食物”作为肉类替代品日益流行的优势。从旧金山到伦敦和德里的厨师们都在吹捧菠萝蜜，因为菠萝蜜在未成熟时的口感像猪肉。

"There are a lot of enquiries from abroad... At the international level, the interest in jackfruit has grown manifold," Varghese Tharakkan tells AFP from his orchard in Kerala's Thrissur district.

瓦尔盖塞·塔拉肯在喀拉拉邦特里苏尔区的果园里告诉法新社记者：“有很多来自国外的询盘……在国际上，人们对菠萝蜜的兴趣与日俱增。”

The fruit, which weighs five kilogrammes (11 pounds) on average, has a waxy yellow flesh when ripe and is eaten fresh, or used to make cakes, juices, ice creams and crisps.

这种水果平均重5公斤(11磅)，成熟后果肉呈蜡黄色，可以鲜食，也可以用来制作蛋糕、果汁、冰淇淋，也可以炸片吃。

When unripe, it is added to curries or fried, minced and sauted. In the West, shredded jackfruit has become a popular alternative to pulled pork and is even used as a pizza top.

未成熟时，可以加咖喱拌着吃或油炸，或者切碎炒着吃。在西方，菠萝蜜已经成为一种受欢迎的猪肉替代品，甚至用作披萨的配料。

"People love it," Anu Bhambri, who owns a chain of restaurants in the US and India, explains.

在美国和印度开连锁餐厅的Anu Bhambri解释道:“大家都喜欢吃菠萝蜜。”

"The jackfruit tacos have been a hit at each and every location. The jackfruit cutlet -- every table orders it, it's one of my favourites!"

“菠萝蜜玉米卷在每个地方都很受欢迎。每个人都爱点菠萝蜜肉排，它是我的最爱之一!”

James Joseph quit his job as a director at Microsoft after spotting Western interest in jackfruit "gaining momentum as a vegan alternative to meat".

詹姆斯•约瑟夫注意到西方对菠萝蜜的兴趣，辞去了微软董事一职。菠萝蜜“正逐渐成为素食者的肉类替代品”。

The COVID-19 crisis, Joseph says, has created two spikes in consumer interest.

约瑟夫说，新冠危机使消费者对菠萝蜜的兴趣出现了两次飙升。

"Coronavirus caused a fear for chicken and people switched to tender jackfruit. In Kerala, lockdown caused a surge in demand for mature green jackfruit and seeds due to shortage of vegetables due to border restrictions," he explains.

他解释说：“新冠病毒引发了人们对鸡肉的恐惧，人们转而食用鲜嫩的菠萝蜜。在喀拉拉邦，由于边境限制导致蔬菜短缺，对菠萝蜜及其种子的需求激增。”

Global interest in veganism was already soaring pre-pandemic, buoyed by movements such as Meat Free Mondays and Veganuary, and with it the business of "alternative meats".

在大流行之前，全球对纯素食主义的兴趣已经在飙升，这受到“无肉星期一”和“素食一月”等运动的推动，同时也伴随着“肉类替代品”业务的发展。

His firm sells jackfruit flour which can be mixed with or used as an alternative to wheat and rice flour to make anything from burger patties to local classics such as idli.

约瑟夫的公司出售菠萝蜜粉，这种粉可以与小麦和米粉混合，也可以作为小麦和米粉的替代品，用来制作当地经典食品，从汉堡馅饼到蒸米浆糕等等。

"When we did a nutritional analysis, we found jackfruit as a meal is better than rice and roti (bread) for an average person who wants to control his blood sugar," he adds.

“做营养分析时，我们发现对于想要控制血糖的普通人来说，吃菠萝蜜比吃米饭和面包更好。”他补充道。

India has one of the highest diabetes rates in the world and is expected to hit around 100 million cases by 2030, according to a study by The Lancet.

根据《柳叶刀》的一项研究，印度是世界上糖尿病发病率最高的国家之一，预计到2030年糖尿病患者将达到1亿左右。

As global warming wreaks havoc on agriculture, food researchers say jackfruit could emerge as a nutritious staple crop as it is drought-resistant and requires little maintenance.

随着全球变暖对农业造成严重破坏，食品研究人员表示，菠萝蜜或会成为一种营养丰富的主食作物，因为它耐旱，几乎不需要管理。

In Tamil Nadu and Kerala alone, demand for jackfruit is now 100 metric tonnes every day during the peak season yielding a turnover of $19.8 million a year, says economics professor S. Rajendran of the Gandhigram Rural Institute.

Gandhigram农村研究所的经济学教授拉金德兰称，仅在泰米尔纳德邦和喀拉拉邦，在旅游旺季，菠萝蜜的需求量为每天100公吨，每年的营业额为1980万美元。

But there is rising competition from countries such as Bangladesh and Thailand.

但来自孟加拉国和泰国等国的竞争日益激烈。

Jackfruit's newfound international fame is a massive turnaround for a plant that while used in local dishes, has long been viewed as a poor man's fruit.

菠萝蜜最近在国际上名声鹊起，这对一种长期以来被视为穷人的水果的植物来说是一个巨大的转变。菠萝蜜虽然用于当地菜肴中，但长期以来一直被视为穷人的水果。

Each tree can yield as 150-250 fruits a season.

每棵菠萝蜜树一季可结出150-250个果实。

And while India's jackfruit growers -- like the wider agriculture sector -- have been hit as the nationwide coronavirus lockdown causes a shortage of labour and transport, international demand shows no sign of slowing.

尽管由于全国范围内的封锁导致劳动力和运输短缺，印度菠萝蜜种植户也受到了影响，但国际需求没有放缓的迹象。

以下是美国雅虎读者的评论：译者：Jessica.Wu

larry

When one tree can produce 150-250 fruits with an average weight of 11 pounds I can see easy money being made. Cant get that kind of production from apples or oranges.

一棵树能结出150-250个菠萝蜜，平均重量为11磅，这钱很好赚啊。苹果和橙子的产量都没这么大。

MaLa

I grew up in a tropical place. My favorite fruits have always been things like jackfruit, lychee, rambutan and longan. I pray this doesn't go the way of quinoa and start to cost an arm and a leg due to a fad.

我在热带地区长大。我最喜欢的水果是菠萝蜜、荔枝、红毛丹和龙眼。我祈祷菠萝蜜不会走藜麦的老路，一开始流行就涨价。

Renato

I love ripe Jackfruit.

Delicious in Filipino dish when unripe and cooked with coconut milk....very savory.

我喜欢成熟的菠萝蜜。在菲律宾菜中，将未成熟的菠萝蜜和椰奶一起煮很美味，很好吃的。

Krishna

Growing up in a Vegetarian Family in India we loved to eat Jackfruit often. Interestingly while ripe jackfruit can be eaten as a fruit, however the unripe jackfruit is cook as a vegetable more often. For my Vegan friends my question is, if you are eating jackfruit because it tastes like Pork, then why not to eat pork?

我出生在印度的一个素食家庭，我们喜欢菠萝蜜，经常吃。有趣的是，成熟的菠萝蜜可以作为水果食用，而未成熟的菠萝蜜则可以作为蔬菜烹饪。对于素食朋友们，我想问的是，如果你吃菠萝蜜是因为它尝起来像猪肉，那为什么不干脆吃猪肉呢?

PlantBasedPolitics

It's good stuff. I've been buying jackfruit lately. Mixes with everything.

菠萝蜜是好东西，我最近一直在买菠萝蜜，很百搭，和什么都可以拌着吃。

xuan

You can boil the seeds to eat also. The larger one has thicker meat and crunchy, with large seeds. The smaller type is more sweet, thin meat and chewy. I grew up with this, durian, and ranbutan.

菠萝蜜的核也可以煮来吃。大个的菠萝蜜，肉更厚，核更大，小个的菠萝蜜更甜，肉薄，有嚼劲。

Ashok

Kenya has Jack fruit too. I used to eat it as a child and liked it, eaten ripe and fresh and uncooked. Haven't eaten it in 50 years. would love to try it again and also as a cooked dish.

肯尼亚也有菠萝蜜。我小时候吃过，很喜欢吃，成熟的菠萝蜜鲜食，不用煮。我已经50年没吃过了，很想再尝尝，也可以拿来做菜。

Jazzman

Jackfruit is really healthy. It has a moderate amount of calories, but lots of fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxdants; and pretty rich in protein, too; I find it to be too sweet

菠萝蜜真的是有益于健康的水果，含有适量的卡路里，但含有大量的纤维、维生素、矿物质和抗氧化剂，蛋白质也很丰富;但我觉得它太甜了。

Dallas

It's not India' super food. It's found throughout SE Asia. It is delicious but there are different kinds. Some are good to use in cooking and others aren't. The others are good for eating as a fruit.

菠萝蜜不是印度的“超级食物”，整个东南亚都有这种水果。菠萝蜜很美味，但有不同的种类。有些可以用来烹饪，有些则不行，有些则可以作为水果食用。

Tracy

A food truck here in central Virginia offered jackfruit bbq. I could not tell it wasn't pulled pork.

在弗吉尼亚州中部，看到一辆快餐车卖菠萝蜜烧烤，很像猪肉片，几乎难以分辨。

Tear you apart

Possibly one of the most delicious fruits ever.

菠萝蜜可能是有史以来最美味的水果之一。

maiya

so darn delicious.

菠萝蜜太好吃了

Sand Of Times

Used to eat that when I was a kid. A common backyard fruit trees in Philippines..

我小时候常吃菠萝蜜。菲律宾人的后院通常都会种菠萝蜜。

robo

Tastes like pork if cooked, but sweet if uncooked. Weighs a whole lot more than 11 pounds!

煮熟的菠萝蜜味道像猪肉，生吃味道很甜。一个菠萝蜜不止11磅，比这重多了!

Rusty

Just went to the store today...pork chops are selling for $1.59 a pound.

今天刚去商店，猪排的售价为每磅1.59美元。

thesky

Delicious.

菠萝蜜很好吃

Steve at

Indian Subcontinent is where this fruit is most popular it seems! I'm going to get some at an Indian grocery store here in California...

这种水果最受欢迎的地方似乎是印度次大陆!我要去加州的一家印度杂货店买一些菠萝蜜……

George

almost completely unknown here in America. I tried to grow it in my yard in north Florida, but was unsuccessful.

在美国，菠萝蜜几乎完全不为人知。我住在北佛罗里达，我曾试着在院子里种菠萝蜜，但是没成功。

ST

When ripe, very sweet. When raw and cooked appropriately, texture and taste like meat.

成熟的时候，很甜。如果生食和烹饪得当，口感和味道就像肉一样。

Timothy

I love jackfruit. But those with latex allergies beware, jackfruit contains natural latex. I am surprised the article did not mention this.

我喜欢菠萝蜜。但是对乳胶过敏的人要注意了，菠萝蜜含有天然乳胶。我很惊讶这篇文章没有提到这一点。

H

It is the Vietnamese Americans that brought this fruit to America.

是越南人把这种水果带到了美国。