麻是不是一种味道

这家饭馆的麻婆豆腐放了很多花椒，吃第一口，舌头麻麻的，我觉得这个麻的感觉才是今天这顿饭最好吃的部分。

This restaurant's mapo tofu is loaded with Sichuan peppercorn. The first bite leaves your tongue tingly and numb, and honestly I think that numbness is the best part of the whole meal.

我不同意。那根本不是一种味道，是一种麻木，是你的舌头被花椒弄得没感觉了。你说它'好吃'，这个标签用得不诚实。

I don't agree. That's not a taste at all, it's numbness, your tongue going blank because of the peppercorn. Calling it 'delicious' is a dishonest label.

为什么不是味觉？麻真的是一种很特别的感觉，我们吃饭不就是为了这种感觉吗？

Why isn't it taste? Numbness really is a very distinctive sensation, and isn't chasing that sensation the whole point of eating?

我看书上说，甜、酸、苦、咸这几种，才是真正的味觉，是舌头上专门的地方把信号传给大脑，才有的感觉。可是麻不一样，麻是花椒里的东西让舌头上的神经短时间不能好好工作，你感觉到的不是新的味道，是感官出了问题，是一种麻木，不是味觉。

I read that sweet, sour, bitter and salty are the real sense of taste, picked up by dedicated spots on the tongue that send a signal to the brain. Numbness is different. It's something in the peppercorn stopping the nerves on your tongue from working properly for a while. What you feel isn't a new flavor, it's your senses malfunctioning, it's numbness, not taste.

可是甜、酸这些，最后也是信号传到大脑才变成'好吃'的，对不对？如果最后都是大脑在算，那你凭什么说舌头上那几个地方感觉到的才算味觉，神经感觉到的就不算？这条线是谁画的？

But sweet and sour also end up as signals reaching the brain before they become deliciousness, right? If it all comes down to the brain doing the counting in the end, what gives you the right to say only the tongue's spots count as taste and the nerves don't? Who drew that line?

这条线不是我画的，是我看的那本书上画的。花椒用的是神经，不是舌头上那几个专门的地方。不过你说的也有点道理，感官最后都要靠大脑处理，这样看的话，舌头跟神经也没有那么大的区别。

I didn't draw that line, the book I read did. The peppercorn works through the nerves, not those specialized spots on the tongue. But you do have a point. In the end all the senses have to go through the brain, and looked at that way, the tongue and the nerves aren't so different after all.

那我们试试别的菜。你尝尝这个辣子鸡，辣算不算味觉？

Let's test it against the other dishes then. Try this spicy chicken. Does spicy count as taste?

我尝尝……辣好像也是神经感觉到的疼，不是舌头上甜酸苦咸那几个专门的地方感觉到的。这么说的话，辣其实应该跟麻是一类，也不是标准的味觉。

Let me try... spicy also seems to be pain that the nerves pick up, not something felt by those specialized sweet, sour, bitter and salty spots on the tongue. If that's true, spicy should really be in the same category as numbness, not standard taste either.

对啊！可是从来没有人说辣的东西不好吃，大家都说'这个菜很辣，很好吃'。所以你说的那条线，其实没有你想的那么清楚。

Exactly! But no one has ever said spicy food isn't delicious, everyone says 'this dish is really spicy and really good.' So that line you're talking about isn't as clear as you think.

好，那我们再试试这个酸辣汤。你尝尝，酸和咸，这两个总该是真正的味觉了吧？

Fine, let's test it against this hot and sour soup too. Try it, sour and salty, these two should at least be real taste, right?

这个我同意，酸和咸，我一喝就知道是舌头上感觉到的，跟麻、跟辣完全不一样，没有疼，也没有安静，就是很清楚的一种味道。

This one I agree with. Sour and salty, I can tell right away they're picked up by the tongue, completely different from numbness or spicy, no pain, nothing going quiet, just a clear flavor.

所以味觉和感官之间，好像真的有一条线，只是这条线不在'好吃'和'不好吃'那里，是在舌头专门的地方和神经之间。

So it seems like there really is a line between taste and the senses in general, it's just that the line isn't between 'delicious' and 'not delicious', it's between the tongue's specialized spots and the nerves.

可是这条线在哪儿，对我们点菜有什么关系？我还是觉得麻婆豆腐最好吃，辣子鸡也好吃，酸辣汤也好吃。

But where that line actually is, what difference does it make to what we order? I still think the mapo tofu is the best, the spicy chicken is delicious too, and so is the hot and sour soup.

关系不大，我也觉得都好吃。算了，反正我们俩说不清这条线到底在哪儿，不如再点一份麻婆豆腐吧？

Not much difference, honestly, I think they're all delicious too. Forget it, since neither of us can pin down exactly where that line is, why don't we just order another mapo tofu?

好，服务员，麻烦再来一份麻婆豆腐！这条线你画不清楚也没关系，麻木也好，味觉也好，我的舌头已经决定了。

Deal. Waiter, one more mapo tofu please! It's fine if you can't draw that line clearly. Numbness or taste, either way, my tongue has already made up its mind.