仅此一家！腌制15年的肉，你敢尝试吗？

中等

高中二年级

记叙文

健康与饮食

一般来说，吃好几天前的肉是很不可思议的一件事，但法国的屠夫Alexandre Polmard却让人们品尝几十年前被屠宰的牛肉。

Polmard, a small farm in Saint Mihiel, France, produces the world’s most special meat using a process called hibernation. It allows the meat to be stored and cured (加工贮藏) for up to 15 years with no loss of quality.

波尔玛德是法国圣米耶勒的一个小农场，使用一种叫做休眠的过程生产世界上最特别的肉。它允许肉储存和固化长达15年，而不会损失肉质。

Alexandre Polmard is a sixth-generation farmer, and butcher in a family that has been producing beef cuts since 1846. How did their meat become increasingly well-known? The business rose to prominence in the 1990s, after Alexandre’s grandfather and father invented a new meat treatment they called “hibernation”. Cold air is blown at speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour over the meat in a -43℃ environment at the farm’s state-of-the-art laboratory in Saint Mihiel and this allows the meat to be cured for over a decade, with no loss of quality. If anything, the longer the curing time, the higher the quality, and the price, with one kilogram of 15-year-old hibernated rib steak selling for an eye-watering $3,200.

Alexandre Polmard是第六代农民，也是一个来自从1846年就一直生产牛肉切块的家庭的屠夫。他们的肉是如何变得越来越出名的？在亚历山大的祖父和父亲发明了一种新的肉类疗法之后，这项业务在20世纪90年代上升到了突出地位，他们称之为 “休眠”。在圣米耶勒农场最先进的实验室里，在-43 ℃ 的环境下，冷空气以每小时120公里的速度吹过肉，这使得要腌制十多年的肉，没有质量损失。如果有的话，固化时间越长，质量就越高，价格也越高，1千克15岁的休眠肋骨牛排的售价高达3,200美元。

To create the world’s most special meat, Polmard begins with Blonde d’Aquitaine cattle which are raised free-range on the Polmard family’s farm to reduce stress. Then comes the hibernation process which allows the meat to mature (发酵成熟) over much longer periods than usual. Dry-aged beef is typically matured for a few weeks, while the Polmard hibernation makes it possible to mature it for 15 years, maybe even indefinitely.

为了创造世界上最特别的肉，Polmard从阿基坦牛肉开始，这些牛在Polmard家族的农场自由放养，以减轻压力。然后是休眠过程，它允许肉在比平时更长的时间内成熟。干龄牛肉通常成熟几周，而Polmard休眠使其可以成熟15年，甚至无限期。

Polmard’s hibernated meat is the stuff of legends among restaurant owners, few of which can actually say they serve the world’s most special steaks in their restaurants. Apparently, customers have to put their names down months in advance to reserve Polmard beef cuts, but Alexandre only entrusts his hibernated meat to a handful of trusted restaurants around the world. He even pays them a visit beforehand to make sure they understand the subtleties of hibernated meat.

Polmard的休眠肉使他成为餐馆老板中的传奇人物，实际上很少有人能说他们在餐馆中提供世界上最特别的牛排。显然，顾客必须提前几个月写下自己的名字才能预定阿基坦牛肉切块，但亚历山大只将他休眠的肉委托给世界各地少数值得信赖的餐馆。他甚至事先拜访了他们，以确保他们了解休眠肉的微妙之处。