舌尖上的航海丨第5集 救生艇里的“寶貝”

“海豚王”號貨船在比斯開灣遭遇了罕見的風(fēng)暴。

比斯開灣是世界聞名的風(fēng)暴區(qū)，常年的颶風(fēng)使這個海灣，終日波濤滾滾。

經(jīng)過一天一夜的擊風(fēng)博浪，“海豚王“號終于駛出了這個使人難忘的海區(qū)。平安抵達(dá)了德國的漢堡港。

“海豚王”號的桅索和救生艇，不同程度受到了損壞。

“海豚王”號仃靠在碼頭旁進(jìn)行檢修。救生艇完整無損，艇上的帆布罩被風(fēng)浪撕了個大口子，艇里積滿了海水。

大廚羋罡協(xié)助水手靳海，更換艇里的設(shè)備；信號彈，淡水桶，應(yīng)急藥箱，備用風(fēng)帆…。最后羋罡抱出一個大鐵桶：“這是救生艇里的《寶貝》！”

羋罡邊說邊把鐵桶小心翼翼地放置在甲板上

救生艇里的寶貝？靳海是位剛上船不久的年青水手，對船上一切都感到新奇：“咋回事！”

羋罡仔細(xì)地打開封閉鐵桶的蓋子，一塊塊包裝完好的餅干，發(fā)出誘人的香味。

“壓縮餅干！“靳海不禁驚叫起來。

靳海是地道的餅干“粉絲”，從小到大未離開過餅干；撒琪瑪，曲奇，桃酥，奧利奧，巧克力派…而且知道這些糕點的原始產(chǎn)地。外號叫“餅干王子”。

但是，鐵桶里類似磚頭的餅干還第一次見到，只知道是船舶遇難時，海員的救命糧食。記得在航海學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)時，老師講起一個海難事故，說一艘英國的商船在大洋里遇上風(fēng)暴翻沉。船員登上救生艇，在茫茫大海里漂流了二十多天，除了在海里捕捉魚蝦充饑外，每天每人分得救生艇里一小塊壓縮餅干。壓縮餅干是由多種營養(yǎng)材料制成的食品，使這批海員度過了艱難的海上歲月。海員對救生艇里的餅干“獨有情鐘”。

靳海拿起一塊鐵桶里的壓縮餅干，仔細(xì)端祥著，爰不釋手。

望著靳海好奇的眼神，羋罡神秘地說了句：“它不僅是海員的救命恩人，還是餅干的祖先哩！”

靳海早就聽說羋罡是有名的海上美食專家，肚里有許多與航海有關(guān)的美食故事。

靳海希望知道”餅干祖先“的故事。

由于“海豚王”號即將移泊裝貨，這個故事暫時“擱淺”了。

“海豚王”號移泊裝貨開始，救生艇的維修工作也接近尾聲。

靳海將更新的“壓縮餅干”按標(biāo)號和順序放進(jìn)救生艇。

羋罡望著靳海認(rèn)真仔細(xì)的樣子，講述了一個鮮為人知的，有關(guān)餅干產(chǎn)生的奇妙故事。

大約在二百多年前，一艘英國的多恑帆船《環(huán)大西洋》號，在比斯開灣遭遇風(fēng)暴，觸碓沉沒。幸存的水手們被圍困在一個無人的荒島上。面對饑餓和死亡的威脅，水手們想起了沉船里的面粉，砂糖和奶油。他們費盡周折和全力，潛回沉船。誰料，這些救命的食物被海水淹成了“糊槽“。饑腸轆轆的水手，把這些“蝴糟”搬到荒島。面對這些無法進(jìn)食的“糊糟”，人們仰天長嘆：”主啊，難道我們就這樣走進(jìn)天堂！“望著大伙絕望的樣子，一名水手突發(fā)奇想；將這些“糊糟”制成薄餅，放置在荒島的礁石上灼烤?；膷u上的陽光火棘灼人，很快這些”小餅”被烤成一塊塊香甜誘人的小餅。

人們吃著這些被太陽烤熟的，香甜可口的“小餅”，在荒島上生存了三十多天！

當(dāng)這些遇難的水手被營救上岸，這種奇特的被水手被為“比斯開灣小餅“的食物，首先被船東發(fā)現(xiàn)，制成塊狀食品，做為應(yīng)急食品，放置在救生艇里。但是，沒多久，“比斯開灣小餅”很快風(fēng)靡世界，成了世界上最早的餅干，並登上了”餅干祖先”的寶座。

The cargo ship King Dolphin encountered a vicious storm on the Bay of

Biscay.

The Bay of Biscay is a well-known stormy region in the nautical world.

Hurricanes and tsunamis roll around the bay and its surroundings all year

long, making it extremely difficult to traverse.

After a whole day and night of battling the violence of the swelling

waves and violent winds of the Bay of Biscay, the King Dolphin ultimately

escaped the dangerous area, and docked at the harbor in the German city of

Hamburg.

However, different components of the King Dolphin were left with

various amounts of damage. The King Dolphin rested on the pier as it

awaited repair. Upon investigation, the crew found that although the body

lifeboat was generally unscathed, a hole was scratched into the sails and

canvas of the ship, allowing the seawater to fill the raft up to the brim.

The head chef of the ship, Mi Kang, helped crew member Jin Hai fix the

lifeboat and replace the parts that were damaged beyond repair: Flares,

water buckets, emergency kits, and spare sails… Until Mi Kang took out a

large barrel, held it in front of Jin Hai, and said, “This is the most

precious item on the lifeboat!”

He placed the barrel carefully on the floor, and went back to the other

components of the raft.

“The most precious item?” Jin Hai wondered. He was a young sailor and

quite new to nautical life, so he was easily fascinated by anything he

wasn’t familiar with. “How could that be?”

Mi Kang cautiously lifted the lid of the barrel, releasing a subtle

aroma. Jin Hai peered inside, and discovered packets of perfectly packaged

biscuits.

“Compressed biscuits!” Jin Hai exclaimed. He had been a huge fan of

all sorts of biscuits and cookies ever since he was a kid: caramel treats,

butter cookies, peach crisps, Oreos, chocolate pies, and more - and he

could always recount exactly where these snacks originated from. When he

was a kid, his friends even went as far as to call him the Prince of

Cookies.

But the biscuits that Mi Kang showed him were unlike anything he had

ever seen before. At first glance, they looked a little like concrete

bricks, stacked on top of one another in large chunks. He only knew that

they were the biscuits that shipwrecked sailors had to rely on as their

only source of food. He remembered a story that his teacher in nautical

school once told him about a British merchant ship that encountered a

fierce thunderstorm at sea. The crew of the merchant ship boarded the

lifeboat and drifted on the ocean for over twenty days, relying on small

portions of biscuits and the fish and shrimp they managed to catch to stay

alive. Surprisingly, compressed biscuits were very nutritious and easy to

store, allowing seafarers to survive harsh conditions for long periods of

time. Some sailors owe their lives to these unassuming biscuits.

Jin Hai reached his hand into the barrel and picked out a biscuit. He

held it in his hand and inspected it, turning it over and to the side.

Mi Kang noticed Jin Hai’s curiosity and fascination, smiled, and told

him, “Not only has these biscuits saved the lives of any seafarers, it’s

also the ancestor of many cookies you see today!”

Jin Hai had heard that Mi Kang was an expert on maritime cuisine, and

knew he had a lot to learn from the chef. He wanted to know this obscure

story about the “ancestor of cookies”.

However, Mi Kang’s story was put on hold as the Dolphin King finished

its repairs and was once again ready to take out a new freight and set out

for another voyage. Jin Hai packed up the compressed biscuits back into the

barrel, loaded it up onto the reconditioned lifeboat, and stowed it away

onto the ship.

Watching Jin Hai’s serious and careful approach to his work, Mi Kang

decided to share with him the tale of compressed biscuits.

Around two hundred years ago, a British tall ship named the Atlantic

Rim sank into a storm near the Bay of Biscay. The surviving sailors were

stranded on an unknown island. Faced with the threats of death and

starvation, the sailors recalled the flour, sugar, and cream from their

wrecked vessel. Summoning all their strength, they dived back to their

sunken ship and tried to retrieve the ingredients, only to find them soaked

together into a soft, squelchy dough. As a last ditch effort, the sailors

dragged the dough through the harsh waters back to the island, but the

dough was nowhere near edible for these sailors.

Just as the sailors were about to lose hope, one crew member came up

with the idea of trying to make pancakes out of the batter, and to place

them on the scorching, sunlit rocks on the island. Soon enough, the batter

was baked into crispy, crunchy pancake-like biscuits.

Using this unique new baking method, the sailors survived on the island

for more than 30 days, eating mainly nothing but “pancakes”.

When they were finally rescued, these “pancakes” were given the name

Biscay Biscuits by the sailors. The captain of the rescue ship was

immediately fascinated by these peculiar biscuits, and asked the sailors to

teach him how to make more. He cut the newly baked biscuits into blocks and

placed them into the emergency compartment of his lifeboats, and made more

to share with other shipowners.

Before long, the Biscay Biscuits became the world’s first cookie, and

were given the honor of being the ancestors of all cookies and biscuits we

know and love today.