舌尖上的航海丨第8集 水手“雞尾酒”

今天是冬至，馬騰的生日。

在家鄉(xiāng)過生日，“餃子酒”是少不了的，熱騰騰的餃子就著“老白干”，“驅(qū)寒氣，祝吉祥”。

馬騰望著艙壁上的日歷出神，大廚興致勃勃地闖了進(jìn)來：“生日快樂！”

大廚是馬騰的老鄉(xiāng)，馬騰的“生辰八字”記得清清楚楚，貼著馬騰耳根悄聲說：“船長特批，今晚靠上碼頭，讓你唱‘特別酒’?！?/p>

沒等馬騰追問，大廚扮個(gè)鬼臉溜走了。

遠(yuǎn)航多年，馬騰三次喝“特別酒”：赤道的“鬼酒”，荷蘭的“黑酒”，日本秋夕的“水酒”。

喝赤道“鬼酒”，正值船跨越赤道。附近居民的在過“鬼節(jié)”。扮成各類鬼神的島上居民擁上甲板，把各種油彩涂抹在船員臉上。瞬時(shí)被涂抹的人“面目全非”；面目猙獰的“小鬼”，怒發(fā)沖冠的“海獅”，嬌美靚麗的“月亮娘娘”……。隨著激昂的鼓聲，高歌狂舞，熱鬧異常。

接著，在一陣刺耳的海螺聲中，扮做鬼神的島上居民手持各式各樣的器皿，把用椰子釀制的“鬼酒”，劈頭蓋腦潑向涂滿油彩的船員，酒香和油彩順著臉頰流進(jìn)嘴里…...。

第二次喝荷蘭“黑酒”是個(gè)特殊的日子。

船靠在歐洲最大的港口——荷蘭的鹿特丹港。船舶代理利用裝貨空間組織船員到首都阿姆斯特丹觀光。

阿姆斯特丹享有“北方威尼斯”之稱。木靴、風(fēng)車、郁金香譽(yù)稱“三大國寶”。

參觀這天，是荷蘭偉大愛國女作家安妮·弗蘭克的紀(jì)念日。

安妮故居是座運(yùn)河旁極普通的十七世紀(jì)建筑。二戰(zhàn)期間，安妮被德國蓋世太保禁錮在這里二年之久。

紀(jì)念人群端著荷蘭特產(chǎn)“黑酒”（黑啤）邊喝邊灑，故居前濃濃的酒香沁人心肺。

懷著敬仰的心情，馬騰加入長長的紀(jì)念隊(duì)伍…...。

最值得記憶的是在日本喝的秋夕“水酒”。

船在日本堺市。船舶供應(yīng)商星野邀請船員到家做客。這天是日本的“秋夕” ，也是中國的中秋節(jié)。

餐桌上擺放一只碩大的酒瓶，已經(jīng)十分陳舊，上面還用日文寫的標(biāo)簽。

望著大家詫異地樣子，主人說，這酒并是他的“媒人”。

原來，十多年前，單身的星野在遠(yuǎn)航船上做水手。漂浮不定的海上生活，錯過了許多“喜結(jié)良緣”的機(jī)會。一次酒后望著空蕩的酒瓶并突發(fā)奇想，把“征婚啟事”塞進(jìn)密封的酒瓶拋進(jìn)大海。這只漂流的酒瓶終于為他找到了另一半；一位美麗善良的漁民姑娘。“秋夕”之夜，他們走進(jìn)了婚姻的殿堂，每當(dāng)“秋夕”星野都會將酒瓶盛滿水酒接待遠(yuǎn)來的船員兄弟…...。

今晚，船長說的“特殊酒”是啥樣？船長詹姆斯是位美籍歐洲移民，人緣極好，出身于釀酒世家。

晚餐時(shí)，餐廳里聚滿了人。熱騰的水餃已經(jīng)端上餐桌，最后，船長捧著一只插著雞尾羽毛的酒并走了進(jìn)來：“祝賀生日快樂！”

大廚接過酒瓶，斟滿一大杯，舉到馬騰面前；“這是船長對你的特殊待遇?！?/p>

馬騰端起酒杯一飲而盡。

船長詹姆斯講述了這瓶酒的歷史。

二百多年前，紐約州埃爾姆斯福一家用雞尾羽毛作裝飾的酒館，來了幾個(gè)水手買酒喝。當(dāng)天酒館的酒快賣光了。望著客人急迫的樣子，一名叫弗拉納根的女侍者，無奈將剩下的幾種酒統(tǒng)統(tǒng)倒在大容器里，隨手用根雞尾毛攪勻端到客人面前?？腿藗兺频某缮凡怀鼍频奈兜?，紛紛詢問女侍者。女侍者指著插在上面的雞尾毛，隨口答道：“雞尾酒哇！”

水手們高興地舉起酒杯，高聲吶喊：“雞尾酒萬歲！”

從此，“雞尾酒”風(fēng)靡世界各地，各種配方應(yīng)運(yùn)而生；其色、香、味兼?zhèn)洌半u尾酒館”成了酒文化博物館享譽(yù)世界。由于最初由水手們喊來的，所以人們稱為“水手雞尾酒”。

這家酒館最早由船長祖父開設(shè)的。

喝著船長的特殊“雞尾酒”，吃著家鄉(xiāng)的餃子，馬騰過了一個(gè)終身難忘的生日，并知曉了“雞尾酒”的來歷。

The first day of winter was Ma Teng’s birthday.

Back home, his favorite birthday meal was dumplings with a side of Lao

Bai Gan liquor. The warmth of his steamed dumplings coupled with the heavy

taste of alcohol always filled him with comfort, driving away the cold air

of winter and replacing it with good luck.

This year, Ma Teng was away at sea on his birthday. He stared blankly

at the calendar on his wall, thinking of home, as the head chef stormed

into his room and shouted, “Happy Birthday!”

Ma Teng and the head chef were especially close as the two of them

hailed from the same hometown. The chef remembered exactly when Ma Teng was

born, and made an important note to himself to make Ma Teng’s birthday as

memorable as possible. “The captain gave us permission to serve you

special wine on the dock tonight!”

Before Ma Teng could answer, the head chef slipped away mysteriously.

Throughout the many years he’d been at sea, Ma Teng had only had

special wine three times: ghost wine in Africa, black wine in the

Netherlands, and sake in Japan.

He had ghost wine when his ship passed by an African town on Halloween.

The local residents dressed up as all sorts of monsters and ghosts, and

swarmed onto the ship to celebrate. Some locals brought face paint onto the

ship and drew patterns on the sailors’ faces, disguising them as

grim-faced ghosts, frowning, majestic lions, and beautiful, magical

fairies. The crew forgot all about their lives at sea for a night and

celebrated with the locals to the beat of the drums.

As they danced into the night, the horn-like sounds of a conch shell

marked the passing of midnight. The local townspeople took out cups and

pots of all shapes and sizes, filled them with a dark “ghost wine” made

of coconut and oil, and splashed it onto the crew. Drenched in this special

drink, the sailors tasted its distinct sweetness, and got caught up in a

water fight.

The time Ma Teng had black wine was also on a notable occasion.

His ship was docked on the largest harbor in Europe - the Rotterdam

Port in the Netherlands. The port manager invited everyone on the ship to a

sightseeing trip in Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ capital city.

To some, Amsterdam is romantically nicknamed “The Venice of Northern

Europe”. Its peculiar wooden boots, breathtaking windmills, and heavenly

tulips were known as the treasures of Holland.

The day that Ma Teng visited Amsterdam, happened to be the anniversary

of Dutch author Anne Frank’s death.

Anne Frank’s house was situated in a very ordinary 17th century

apartment building. During the Second World War, Frank lived in the small

flat with her family for over two years while hiding from the Nazi Party.

A crowd stood outside of her house to pay their tributes to the young

author. They raised their glasses to the sky, as if proposing a toast to

Frank, who was now in heaven. The smell of Dutch wines and beers took hold

of the historic streets, igniting a bittersweet sense of respect and

longing inside of Ma Teng’s heart.

With admiration and wonder, Ma Teng joined the groups of people and

silently honored the remarkable Dutch author…

But for Ma Teng, the most unforgettable moment was when he had sake on

an Autumn day in Japan.

His ship docked at the Japanese city of Sakai, and he was invited into

the home of the ship supplier, Hoshino. It was the day of the Autumn Eve in

Japan, which took place on the same day as the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

Hoshino lived in a modest home in Sakai, but what caught Ma Teng’s

attention was the bottle of wine that sat quietly on his table. Though it

looked old and worn out, the Japanese label on the bottle was still clearly

intelligible.

Ma Teng inspected the bottle carefully, trying to understand its

significance. When Hoshino noticed his visitors’ confusion, he explained

that this unsuspecting bottle of wine had once helped him propose to his

wife.

Ten years ago, when Hoshino was still a bachelor, he worked as a

shiphand on a steamliner that travelled thousands of miles away from Japan.

As he floated adrift on the ocean, he rarely ever got to spend time with

the girl he had fallen in love with, separated by the vast ocean between

them. Once, after a night of drinking, he came up with the nonsensical idea

of folding a marriage proposal into the empty wine bottle and tossing it

into the ocean, in the hope that it would somehow reach the love of his

life.

As if by miracle, the floating bottle eventually found its way to

Hoshino’s other half: a kind, beautiful girl from a small Japanese fishing

village. The two of them got married on Autumn Eve, and ever since that

day, Hoshino prepared a bottle of wine to serve to all his fellow sailors

who had left their homes and families behind to end up in Sakai on the day

of his wedding anniversary.

So on Ma Teng’s birthday, he was curious to see what kind of “special

wine” will be served for him and his crew, and whether or not its story

will be as heartwarming as the ones he’d heard before. Ma Teng knew that

the captain of the ship, James, was a European-American immigrant whose

family had a history in brewing wine, so Ma Teng’s expectations were

secretly quite high.

The entire crew gathered on the terrace at dusk and awaited dinner. As

the head chef served dishes of dumplings on the table, Captain James

carried a bottle of wine and a wine glass decorated with a cocktail feather

out from the kitchen, and handed it to Ma Teng. “Happy Birthday!” He said

excitedly.

The head chef poured the glass to the brim with the Captain’s

mysterious wine, and told Ma Teng, “The Captain prepared this especially

for you.”

Ma Teng lifted the glass to his lip, and tasted the curious cocktail.

Captain James began to recite the history of this fascinating drink.

Around two hundred years ago, a few sailors walked into a tavern

decorated with cocktail feathers in Elmsford, New York, and demanded to be

served some wine. But they had arrived too late into the night, and the bar

had already run out of any one kind of wine that was enough to serve a few

people.

Sensing the distress of her customers, a waitress named Flanagan had no

choice but to mix portions of all the remaining kinds of alcohol into a

large glass, stir it with a cocktail feather, and set it down in front of

the sailors.

The boisterous seamen stared at the dark hue of the drink before them

and found themselves unable to decipher exactly what kind of wine they were

served. Confused, they begged for the waitress to tell them what she had

put into their drinks. Flanagan pointed at the feather that she mixed the

drink with, and replied confidently, “It’s a cocktail!”

The three sailors emptied their glasses down to the last drop, and

exclaimed, “This cocktail is delicious!”

From that day onwards, the legend of the cocktail was spread across the

globe. Bartenders from all over the world tried to replicate the taste of

the original cocktail from Elmsford, experimenting with all sorts of

alcohols and spices and mixing different colors and tastes. Because they

had heard of the strange liquor from sailors, the drink became known as

“the sailor’s cocktail”.

It turns out that the tavern in Elmsford was opened by Captain James’s

grandfather, and Flanagan was none other than James’s aunt.

As Ma Teng sipped Captain James’s special cocktail and paired it with

the familiar dumplings from his hometown, he thought deeply about the

history of “the sailor’s cocktail”, and celebrated a birthday he would

remember for the rest of his life.