I was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal, and through a combination of accidents and cosmic justice, became a chef in the US.
我在塞內加爾的達卡出生和長大, 經過了許多意外與宇宙正義的結合, 我在美國成了一名主廚。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
When I first arrived in New York, I began working in these restaurants -- different types of restaurants -- from French bistro to Italian, global ethnic to modern American. At the time, New York was already well-established as a food capital of the world. However ... with the exception of a few West African and Ethiopian mom-and-pop eateries, there was no such thing as African cuisine in the entire city.
當我初次抵達紐約時, 我開始在一些餐廳工作, 各種不同的餐廳, 從法國小酒館到義大利餐館, 從全球民族餐廳到現代美式餐廳。 那時, 紐約已經成為了世界的食物首都。 然而, 除了少數西非和衣索比亞的 小型飯館之外, 在整個城市中並沒有所謂的非洲菜。
Early in my life, I was influenced by Senegal's first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, nicknamed, "the poet president," who talked about a new humanism, a universal civilization, in which all cultures would come together around a communal table as equals, each bringing its own beautiful contribution to share. He called it "the rendezvous of giving and receiving." That concept resonated with me, and it has guided my career path.
在我人生的前期, 我受到塞內加爾第一任總統 利奧波德·塞達爾·桑戈爾的影響, 他的綽號叫「詩人總統」, 他談到新人文主義, 全體的文明, 在這種文明中,所有文化能平等地 圍繞著一張共有的桌子而坐, 每個文化帶著它自己的 美麗貢獻來分享。 他稱之為「施與受的幽會」。 那概念讓我產生了共鳴, 它一直引導著我職涯的道路。
After years of working in restaurants, I yearned for my work to have a deeper impact that would go beyond the last meal I had served. I wanted to give back, both to New York -- the city that allowed me the opportunity to follow my calling -- but also to my origins and ancestors in Senegal. I wanted to contribute to that universal civilization Senghor had described. But I didn't know how to make a measurable impact as a cook and writer.
在餐廳工作多年之後, 我很渴望能做具有 更深刻影響力的工作, 影響力能超過我端上的上一道菜。 我想要回饋,回饋給紐約, 提供我機會讓我能追隨使命的城市, 也回饋給我在 塞內加爾的根源及祖先。 我想要對桑戈爾所描述的全體文明 做出貢獻。 但我不知道身為廚師及作家, 要如何做出重大影響。
While I was writing my first cookbook, I often traveled to different regions of Senegal for research. During one of those trips, in the remote, southeast region of Kédougou I rediscovered an ancient grain called fonio that had all but disappeared from the urban Senegalese diet. It turns out that fonio had been cultivated for more than five thousand years and is probably the oldest cultivated cereal in Africa. Once a popular grain on much of the continent, fonio was grown all the way to ancient Egypt, where archaeologists found grains inside pyramids' burial grounds. Today it is mostly cultivated in the western part of the Sahel region, from Senegal to Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Nigeria. The Sahel region is that semiarid area south of the Sahara desert that extends from the Atlantic in the west to the Red Sea in the east. I became more interested in this grain that was deemed worth taking to the afterlife by early Egyptians.
當我正在撰寫我的第一本食譜時, 我常旅行到塞內加爾的 不同地區去做研究。 在那些旅程當中,有一次, 是前往凱杜古東南方的偏遠地區, 我重新發現了一種古早穀物, 叫做非洲全小米, 它什麼都有,但卻從都市的 塞內加爾飲食中消失了。 結果,非洲全小米已經被耕作了 超過五千年, 可能是非洲最古老的農耕穀類植物。 它曾經是這塊大陸上 大部份地方的熱門穀物, 被一路種植到古埃及, 考古學家在古埃及的金字塔中 發現有穀物被埋在地下。 現今,它大多被種植在 薩赫爾地區的西部, 從塞內加爾到馬利、 布吉納法索、 多哥、奈及利亞。 薩赫爾地區是半乾旱的區域, 在撒哈拉沙漠南邊, 從西邊的太西洋延伸到東邊的紅海。 我對這種穀物變得更感興趣了, 古埃及人認為它是值得帶到來世的。
As I continued my research, I found out that fonio was actually -- wherever it was cultivated -- there was always some myth, or some superstition connected to it. The Dogon, another great culture in Mali, called it "po," or, "the seed of the universe." In that ancient culture's mythology, the entire universe sprouted from a seed of fonio.
隨著我繼續進行研究, 我發現非洲全小米其實 ──不論它被種在哪裡── 總是與某種神話或是迷信有所連結。 多貢, 馬利的另一個偉大文化, 稱它為「po」, 意思是「宇宙的種子」。 在古文化的神話中, 整個宇宙是從一顆 非洲全小米種子萌生出來的。
Aside from its purported mystical properties, fonio is a miracle grain in many aspects. It is nutritious, particularly rich in methionine and cysteine, two amino acids that are deficient in most other major grains: barley, rice or wheat to name a few. In addition, fonio cultivation is great for the environment. It tolerates poor soil and needs very little water, surviving where nothing else will grow.
除了傳說神秘特性之外, 非洲全小米在許多層面上 也是種奇蹟穀物。 它很有營養, 特別富含甲硫胺酸與半胱胺酸, 大部份的主要穀物 都缺少這兩種胺基酸: 大麥、米、小麥是其中幾個例子。 此外, 耕種非洲全小米對環境有益。 它能容忍貧脊土壤, 需要的水也非常少, 能在沒有其他植物 能存活的地方生存。
As a chef, what first struck me was its delicate taste and its versatility. Similar to couscous, fonio has a delicious, nutty and earthy flavor. It can be turned into salad, served as noodles, used in baking or simply as a substitute for any other grains in your favorite recipes. I am happy to share some of my fonio sushi and sweet potato sushi with some of you right now.
身為一名主廚, 首先引起我注意的是 它的細緻口味以及多變性。 和非洲古斯米類似, 非洲全小米的味道很可口、 有堅果味及土味。 它可以用來做沙拉、 做麵條、 用來烘焙、 或是很單純地用來取代 你最愛的食譜中的其他穀物。 我很高興現在能與各位分享 我的一些非洲全小米壽司 以及甘薯壽司。
(Audience) Oh!
(觀眾)喔!
(Applause)
(掌聲)
And okra.
還有秋葵。
(Audience murmurs)
(觀眾低語)
In Kédougou it is also nicknamed "ñamu buur," which means "food for royalty," and it's served for guests of honor.
在凱杜古, 它還有個暱稱叫「ñamu buur」, 意思是「皇室食物」, 它是為貴賓所準備的。
Located at the border with Guinea and Mali, Kédougou first strikes visitors with its stunning vistas and views of the Fouta Djallon Mountains. Sadly, it is also one of the poorest regions of Senegal. Because of desertification and lack of job prospects, much of Kédougou's young population has left. They chose the deadly path of migration in search of "better" opportunities. Often, they risk their lives trying to reach Europe. Some leave by crossing the Sahara desert. Others end up on inadequate wooden canoes in desperate attempts to reach Spain. According to a recent "Guardian" article, by 2020 more that 60 million people from sub-Saharan Africa are expected to migrate due to desertification. This is the biggest global wave of migration since the Second World War, and it's only set to grow. So far this year, more that 2,100 migrants have lost their lives on their way to Europe. This is the reality of Kédougou and of much of the Sahel today. Scary future, scarce food and no opportunities to change their situation.
凱杜古位在幾內亞和馬利的邊界, 它給訪客的第一印象是絕色美景 以及富塔賈隆山脈的景觀。 令人難過的是,它也是 塞內加爾最貧窮的地區之一。 因為沙漠化以及缺乏工作遠景, 凱杜古大部份的人口都離開了。 他們選擇遷涉這條死亡之路, 為了尋求「更好」的機會。 通常, 他們冒著生命危險試圖前往歐洲。 有些人是穿越撒哈拉沙漠離開, 其他人則是靠著很不適合的獨木舟, 孤注一擲試圖前往西班牙。 根據近期「衛報」的一篇文章, 到 2020 年,撒哈拉以南的 非洲預期會有六千萬人 因為沙漠化而遷涉。 這是第二次世界大戰之後 最大一波的全球遷涉, 且它只會增不會減。 今年目前, 超過 2,100 名遷涉者 在前往歐洲的路上喪命。 這就是凱杜古的現實, 且薩赫爾現今大多也是如此。 令人害怕的未來, 稀少的食物, 且沒有機會能改變他們的狀況。
If life in your village weren't so precarious, if there was a way to having enough food to get by, or having a paying job -- if you and your sisters didn't have to spend 30 percent of their waking hours fetching water, if conditions were just a little more hospitable ... could the solution be right here in our soil? Could bringing fonio to the rest of the world be the answer?
如果你村子中的生活是這麼不安穩, 如果有方法可以得到 足夠生存下去的食物, 或是找到一份有薪的工作── 如果你和你的姐妹 不需要把 30% 醒著的時間 花在取水上, 如果條件只要能稍微好一點點…… 有沒有可能解決方案 就在我們的土壤中? 有沒有可能把非洲全小米 帶給全世界, 就是我們在找的答案?
Ancient grains are getting more popular, and sales of gluten-free items are growing in the US -- 16.4 percent since 2013, making it a 23.3-billion-dollar industry. How could fonio partake in this market share?
古老的穀物越來越熱門, 且無麩質的東西在美國越賣越好── 2013 年銷售就成長了 16.4%, 讓它成為 233 億美元的產業。 非洲全小米要如何參與這個市場?
There are many challenges in turning fonio into food. Traditional processing is laborious and time-consuming, especially when compared to other grains. Well, thankfully, technology has evolved. And there are now machines that can process fonio in a more efficient way. And as a matter of fact, a few years ago, Sanoussi Diakité, a Senegalese engineer, won a Rolex prize for his invention of the first mechanized fonio processor. Today, such machines are making life much easier for producers around the whole Sahel region.
要把非洲全小米轉為 食物,有許多挑戰。 傳統加工要耗很多人力和時間, 相較於其他穀物更是劣勢。 謝天謝地,科技進化了。 現在有機器 可以用更有效率的方式 來做非洲全小米加工。 事實上, 幾年前, 山諾西迪亞基泰, 一位塞內加爾的工程師, 贏得了勞力士獎, 得獎作品是他發明的第一台 機械化非洲全小米加工機。 現今,這類機器讓整個 塞內加爾地區的生產者 能輕鬆許多。
Another challenge is the colonial mentality that what comes from the west is best. This tendency to look down on our own products and to see crops like fonio as simply "country peoples' food," therefore substandard, explains why even though we don't produce wheat in Senegal traditionally, it is far easier to find baguettes or croissants in the streets of Dakar than it is to find any fonio products. This same mindset popularized the overprocessed, leftover rice debris known as "broken rice," which was imported to Senegal from Indochina and introduced by the colonial French. Soon, broken rice became a key ingredient in our national dish, thiéboudienne, replacing our own traditional, more nutritious African rice, Oryza glaberrima. Ironically, the same African rice despised at home was hailed abroad. Indeed, during the Atlantic slave trade, this rice became a major crop in the Americas ... particularly in the Carolinas where it was nicknamed, "Carolina gold."
另一個挑戰是殖民心理, 覺得來自西方的才是最好的。 這種看輕我們自己產品的傾向, 只將非洲全小米這類作物 視為「鄉下人的食物」 覺得它不夠格的傾向, 說明了為什麼雖然 塞內加爾傳統不產小麥, 在達卡街頭,要找到法式麵包 或可頌,遠比找到任何 非洲全小米產品要容易許多。 同樣的心態導致過度加工剩餘的 稻米殘碎變得很普遍, 被稱為「壞掉的稻米」。 它們是從印度支那 進口到塞內加爾的, 由殖民的法國人所引進。 沒多久,壞掉的稻米就成了 我們國家菜餚 thiéboudienne 「魚肉燉飯」的主要成份, 取代了我們自己傳統的 營養非洲稻米, Oryza glaberrima(非洲稻)。 諷刺的是,在家鄉中 被鄙視的同樣非洲稻米, 卻在國外受到歡迎。 的確,在跨大西洋奴隸貿易時, 這種稻米變成美洲的主要作物, 特別是在卡羅萊納州, 在那裡,它的暱稱是 「卡羅萊納黃金」。
But let's return to fonio. How can we turn its current status of "country-people food" into a world-class crop? Last year, a business partner and I secured a commitment from Whole Foods Market, the US's largest natural food store chain, to carry fonio. And we got a large American ingredient importer interested enough to send a team of executives to West Africa with us to explore the supply chain's viability. We found ourselves observing manual operations in remote locations with few controls over quality. So we started focusing on processing issues. We drew up a vision with a beneficial and commercially sustainable supply chain for fonio, and we connected ourselves with organizations that can help us achieve it.
但,回到非洲全小米。 我們要如何把它目前身為 「鄉下人的食物」的狀況, 轉變成世界級的作物? 去年, 我和一個商業伙伴得到了 美國最大的天然食物連鎖店 「全食超市」的承諾,它們會銷售 非洲全小米。 我們也讓一家大型美國 原料進口商感興趣, 願意派一個主管團隊與我們 一起到西非, 來評估供應鏈的可行性。 我們去觀察了偏遠地區的 人工作業, 發現品質管制做得很少。 所以我們開始把焦點放在 加工處理的議題上。 我們擬了一個遠景, 內容包括了一個有利益且 有商業永續性的非洲全小米供應鏈, 我們將我們自己 與能協助我們達成這個 遠景的組織做連結。
Walking backwards from the market, here is what it looks like. Imagine that fonio is consumed all across the globe as other popular ancient grains. Fonio touted on the levels of cereals, breads, nutrition bars, cookies, pastas, snacks -- why not? It's easier to say than quinoa.
從市場反向走回來, 看起來是這個樣子的。 想像非洲全小米在全球 都像其他熱門 古老穀物一樣地被消費。 非洲全小米被販售的層級 提高到如穀類加工食品、麵包、 營養棒、 餅乾、義大利麵、 零食──為什麼不? 這比藜麥還容易發音。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
To get there, fonio needs to be readily available at a consistent quality for commercial users, such as food manufacturers and restaurant chains. That's the part we're missing. To make fonio available at a consistent quality for commercial use, you need a commercial-scale fonio mill that adheres to international quality standards. Currently, there is no such mill in the whole world, so in our vision, there is an African-owned and operated fonio mill that processes efficiently and in compliance with the requirements of multinational food companies. It is very difficult for the fonio producers today to sell and use fonio unless they devote a huge amount of time and energy in threshing, winnowing and husking it. In our vision, the mill will take on those tasks, allowing the producers to focus on farming rather than processing.
為了做到那樣, 非洲全小米需要準備好能夠以 一致的品質供應給商業使用者, 比如食品製造商、連鎖餐廳。 那是我們缺少的部份。 要讓非洲全小米能夠以一致的品質 供應做商業使用, 你就需要一個商業規模的 非洲全小米磨坊, 它要能遵守國際品質標準。 目前,全世界並沒有這樣的磨坊。 所以,在我們的遠景中, 有一間非洲擁有並經營的 非洲全小米磨坊, 能很有效率地加工, 並且符合多國食物公司的要求。 現今,非洲全小米製造商很難去 銷售和使用非洲全小米, 除非它們投入大量的時間和心力, 去打穀、簸選、除去外殼。 在我們的遠景中, 磨坊會接手做這些工作, 讓製造商能專注在農業而非加工。
There is untapped agricultural capacity in the Sahel, and all it takes is changing market conditions to activate that capacity. By relieving fonio producers of manual operations, the mill will free up their time and remove the production bottleneck that limits their output. And there are other benefits as well in using Sahel land for agriculture. More benefits, higher employment, climate change mitigation by reversing desertification and greater food security. Nice vision, right? Well, we are working towards getting it done. Last month we introduced fonio to shoppers in New York City and online, in a package that makes it attractive and desirable and accessible.
薩赫爾還有未被 開發利用的農業能力, 需要做的只是改變市場條件, 來啟動那能力。 透過讓非洲全小米製造商 不用再做人工作業, 磨坊將它們的時間釋放出來, 也能除去限制它們產出的瓶頸。 用薩赫爾土地來做農業, 還有其他的益處。 更多的福利, 更高的就業率, 透過逆轉沙漠化來緩和氣候變遷, 食物安全也更有保障。 很好的遠景,對吧? 我們正在努力實現它。 上個月,我們向紐約市的 顧客介紹了非洲全小米, 也在線上介紹, 做了包裝讓它更有吸引力、 更讓人中意、更容易取得。
(Applause)
(掌聲)
We are talking with operators and investors in West Africa about building a fonio mill. And most importantly, we have teamed with an NGO called SOS SAHEL to recruit, train and equip smallholders in the Sahel to increase their fonio production.
我們正在和西非的業者和投資者談, 希望能建立非洲全小米磨坊。 最重要的是, 我們與非政府組織 SOS SAHEL 合作, 來徵召、訓練薩赫爾的小農 並提供裝備給他們, 來增加他們的非洲全小米產量。
Hunger levels are higher in sub-Saharan Africa than any other place in the world. The Sahel population is set to grow from 135 million to 340 million people. However, in that drought- and famine-prone region, fonio grows freely. This tiny grain may provide big answers, reasserting its Dogon name, "po," the seed of the universe, and taking us one step closer to the universal civilization.
在撒哈拉以南非洲,飢餓的問題 比世界其他地方都嚴重。 預期薩赫爾的人口還會成長, 從 1 億 3 千 5 百萬人 成長到 3 億 4 千萬人。 然而,在那有乾旱及 饑荒傾向的地區, 非洲全小米能自由生長。 這微小的穀物可能 可以提供巨大的答案, 再次稱聲它的多貢名稱: 「po」,宇宙的種子, 讓我們與宇宙文明 更靠近一步。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)