Beth Anderson: 'I’m one of a small percentage of the population who are born with twice as many taste buds as the rest.' Photograph: Joel Redman for the Guardian
贝丝·安德森：“我是一个为数不多出生时便带有常人两倍味蕾的人。”
When I brush my teeth each morning, I catch a glimpse of my tongue and feel slightly amazed that it's going to be insured for £1m. Sometimes I stick it out in the mirror and study it; it seems an unbelievable amount for something you barely notice. I never really paid much attention to it until I became a baby-food tester. Now, my tongue – specifically, my ability to determine tiny changes in flavour – is the primary tool of my job. The company I work for believes I'm such a valuable asset in terms of getting the balance of tastes in baby food just right that it's worth getting me insured.
每天早上刷牙的时候我都会看一看我的舌头，然后对于这条保额将为100万英镑的舌头略感微妙。有时候我会在镜子里把它拉出来好好研究一番，对于某些你平常压根不会去注意的东西，100万真是一个不可思议的数字。在我成为一名婴儿食品试味员前，我对我的舌头从来没有报以多大的关注。现在，我的这条舌头
I'm what you call a "supertaster" – one of a small percentage of the population who are born with twice as many taste buds as the rest. Babies are typically born with more than 10, 000 taste buds, but in later life they decrease to as few as 5, 000. At 24 I should really be at the height of my tasting powers.
我就是你们所说的“超级品尝师” — 为数不多出生时便带有常人两倍味蕾的人。一般婴儿出生时的味蕾多达10 000个不止，不过后期就会减少至仅有5 000个左右。24岁应该是我味觉能力达到巅峰的时期。
Growing up, I was never a fussy eater or aware that my palate was unlike other people's, but at university I began to notice I was sensitive to different flavours. A friend was also studying nutrition, and her dissertation was on the baobab fruit. She used me as a guinea pig for her baobab smoothies and was surprised I was able to detect the exact concentration in each glass.
从小到大，我都不挑食，也没觉得自己的味觉跟别人的有什么不同。不过大学那会儿，我注意到了我对不同的味道特别的敏感。我的一个朋友也是学营养学的，她的论文是研究猴面包树果实。她就把我当成她的小白鼠，吃她用猴面包树果实做成的各种沙冰，神奇的是我居然能分辨出每一杯沙冰里猴面包树果的准确含量。
I became more aware that I could taste even the subtlest differences in ingredients when I was doing my work placement for a food testing department. During my training I was given flavoured waters and asked not only to identify what they were, but also to order them by concentration, which I found I could do very easily.
后来我在一个食品试验部实习的时候，发现我甚至可以尝出成分间最细微的差别。在训练期间，他们给我尝试不同味道的水，不仅要喝出里面含有什么，还要根据含量多少来排列，我发现这对我来说非常地简单。
At first, baby food did taste alien to me – it took a while to get used to eating a square meal reduced to a paste. Also, I have to make a real effort to get into the mindset of a baby – to imagine that each time I put a spoonful of pureed shepherd's pie in my mouth, I am six months old again. Babies wince at flavours we love, beacuse they have many more working taste buds than adults, on their tongue, on the roof of their mouth and also on the inside of their cheeks. So flavours that taste bland to us are much more intense to them. I still draw the line at sampling baby fish pie after breakfast.
— 每次我把一勺肉馅土豆馅饼泥放进嘴里时，想象自己就是一个6个月大的婴儿。我们大人喜欢的味道，宝宝们可能望而生畏，因为他们调用的味蕾比大人们多得多，舌头上的，嘴巴根处的，还有脸颊里面的。所以对大人们来说平淡无味的味道对宝宝们来说就是超级重口味的。早餐后我一贯坚持不试吃婴儿鱼肉馅饼。
I am more aware of protecting my tongue these days, particularly before a tasting session, and avoid any strong tastes or smells, such as coffee and perfume. I also drink plenty of water during the day to cleanse my palate.
这些天我都很注意保养我的舌头，尤其是在品尝大会开始前，拒绝吃或者闻任何具有刺激性味道的东西，比如咖啡和香水之类的。同时那天我还喝了大量的水来清洁我的口腔。
As well as taste, I focus on all the organoleptic or sensory qualities of the food – it's very important for it to look and smell appealing as well as to taste good. So when I sample a jar of Sunday lunch, I ask myself, can I taste the carrots? Can I taste the potato? Can it be improved?
除了味觉，我同样也关注食品的所有感官品质 — 除了要好吃，好看和好闻也同样重要。所以当我试吃周日午餐的一个罐头时，我问自己：你能吃出胡萝卜吗？你能吃出马铃薯吗？这个罐头还能做得更好吗？
At first my heart sank if I was confronted with a recipe containing peas – I wasn't a fan of them – but I have discovered that if you try something enough, you can train yourself to enjoy it. This gives hope to parents of fussy children – keep serving them broccoli and eventually they'll learn to love it. I'm living proof – peas are now on the menu at home as well as at work.
— 一直给孩子吃西兰花，最后他们就会学着喜欢上它的。我就是活生生的例子，现在不管是在家里还是公司，豌豆已经成了我菜单上的常客了。
It's not really something that affects my personal life. My boyfriend hasn't worried that I'm more able to smell his breath, although I can't help noticing that he does get through a lot of toothbrushes.
不过这些并不会影响到我的私人生活。我男朋友一点儿也不担心我能闻到他的呼吸，虽然我每次都会忍不住地注意到他用了一堆牙刷。
Outside work it's a joy to be able to taste everything so intensely. One consequence is that eating is a much richer experience, as is smelling. If I take one bite of a salad, I can tell immediately what's in the dressing: olive oil, lemon juice, garlic – the ingredients are clear to me. I like the challenge of guessing what's in anything I eat, and the satisfaction of rarely getting it wrong.
工作之余，每种食品都能品尝出浓郁的味道对我来说也是一件开心的事。吃对我来说变成了一个丰富多彩的体验，闻同样也是。吃一口沙拉，我就能立马分辨出里面放了什么调料：橄榄油、柠檬汁、蒜泥
I tend to steer clear of anything too strongly flavoured, though. Not because it would affect my palate, just because my taste buds are so sensitive. If I'm going to have a curry, then it's got to be a korma. I never add hot condiments such as mustard or horseradish sauce to my food, because it's actually painful to eat them. It feels as if they're burning my tongue, something I really can't afford to do these days.
我一般都会避开那些味道太强烈的东西，倒不是因为怕影响我的味觉，而是我的味蕾太敏感了。如果我吃了一份咖哩粉，那么到嘴里后吃起来它肯定就变成咖喱酱了。我的食物里从不添加辣味品比如芥末或者辣根酱，因为吃起来实在太痛苦了，感觉好像我的舌头在燃烧。这几天我实在经不起这种折腾。
• As told to Emily Cunningham.
这是艾米丽·坎宁安听到的一个经历。
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