为什么要腌菜

奶奶，你怎么又开始腌菜了？这些罐子摆了满满一柜子，冰箱都用了几十年了，现在谁家还需要腌菜来保存东西啊？

Grandma, why are you pickling again? These jars are filling up a whole cabinet, we've had a refrigerator for decades, who still needs to pickle vegetables to preserve food?

以前没有冰箱的时候，家里每年秋天都要腌好几罐菜，不然冬天真的没什么新鲜蔬菜可吃，腌菜在那个年代，是让全家人能撑过冬天的办法。

Before we had a refrigerator, the family had to pickle several jars of vegetables every autumn, otherwise there really wasn't much fresh vegetable to eat in winter. Back in those days, pickling was how the whole family made it through the winter.

可现在冰箱什么都能放，超市里一年四季都有新鲜蔬菜卖，你说的那个撑过冬天的理由，是不是早就不存在了？

But now the fridge can hold anything, and the supermarket sells fresh vegetables all year round. That reason you're talking about, getting through the winter, hasn't it long since stopped existing?

你说得对，为了保存食物才腌菜，这个理由确实早就没有了。可我每年秋天还是要腌，说实话，这已经跟保存没什么关系了。

You're right, the reason of pickling in order to preserve food really has been gone for a long time. But I still pickle every autumn, and honestly, it no longer has much to do with preserving anything.

那到底是为什么呢？如果不是为了保存，你图什么，天天弯着腰洗菜、切菜、装罐子，多麻烦。

So what is it for, then? If it's not for preservation, what are you after, bending over every day washing vegetables, cutting them, packing jars, it's such a hassle.

图的就是这个味道。腌菜靠的是盐和时间，把菜放进罐子里密封起来，让里面的细菌慢慢发酵，那种又酸又香的味道，是别的办法给不了的。

What I'm after is exactly this taste. Pickling relies on salt and time, you seal the vegetables inside a jar and let the bacteria inside ferment slowly, and that sour, fragrant taste is something no other method can give you.

可是超市卖的咸菜也是酸的啊，跟你腌的到底有什么不一样？

But the pickled vegetables sold at the supermarket are sour too. What's actually different about yours?

超市里卖的，很多是拿醋泡出来的，几天就能上架卖，快是快，但那个酸是醋的酸，不是发酵出来的酸，吃着味道差得很远，也没有那种脆脆的口感。

A lot of what the supermarket sells is soaked in vinegar, it can go on the shelf in a few days. Fast, sure, but that sourness is vinegar's sourness, not sourness that came from fermenting, it tastes very different, and it doesn't have that crisp texture either.

我还有点担心，你腌的这些菜盐放得多不多？我看你血压也不低，天天吃这么咸，对身体真的没事吗？

I'm a bit worried too, is there a lot of salt in the vegetables you pickle? Your blood pressure isn't low either, eating this salty every day, is it really okay for your health?

你说得对，盐确实不能少放，少了菜容易坏，但也不能放太多。这些年我一直在调整盐的分量和发酵的时间，比你爷爷那时候放的盐已经少了不少，我自己也会注意，不会天天当饭吃。

You're right, you really can't use too little salt, too little and the vegetables spoil easily, but you can't use too much either. Over the years I've kept adjusting the amount of salt and the fermenting time, it's already a fair bit less than back when your grandfather was alive, and I'm careful myself too, I don't eat it like a meal every day.

那你图这个味道，值得每年花这么多功夫吗？现在什么都买得到，方便多了。

So going after this taste, is it worth spending this much effort every year? These days you can buy anything, it's a lot more convenient.

方便是方便，可有些东西，方便换不来。我腌了一辈子的菜，那个味道我闻一下就知道对不对，这是我自己的手艺，我舍不得让它断在我这儿。

Convenient, sure, but some things convenience can't buy you. I've pickled vegetables my whole life, I can smell it once and know whether it's right, this is my own craft, and I can't bear to let it end with me.

那我今年跟你一起腌吧，我想尝尝，你说的那种别的地方吃不到的味道，到底是什么样的。

Then let me pickle with you this year, I want to taste it, this flavor you say you can't get anywhere else, what it's actually like.

好啊，正好这几个罐子还没腌满，你来帮我一起把菜放进去，封好口，剩下的，就交给时间和发酵了。

Good, these jars here still aren't full yet, come help me put the vegetables in, seal them up properly, and the rest we'll leave to time and fermentation.