For ages, diners have been told that drinking red wine while eating seafood can produce an unpleasant fishy aftertaste. The rule of thumb has been red wine with meat, white wine with fish. But the rule is not hard and fast. Seafood can taste fine with some reds, whereas some whites can ruin the meal. What's the common factor?
一直以来，食客们都知道吃海鲜不宜喝红酒，因其会产生很重的鱼腥味。经验常识告诉我们，红酒应与肉类搭配食用，而白酒则与鱼类搭配。但是，这一规则并不是一成不变的。海鲜同某些红酒搭配食用会为美食增味，而同某些白酒搭配只会令食物不堪入口。这是为什么呢？
Researchers at Mercian Corp. in Fujisawa, Japan, a division of which produces wine and spirits, decided to find out. They conducted an experiment with seven experienced wine tasters who were offered 38 varieties of red and 26 types of white. Over four sessions, the volunteers tasted the samples, along with pieces of scallops, the seafood most likely to produce the fishy effect. Then the researchers chemically analyzed the wines for a possible link to the aftertaste.
日本藤泽莫西亚公司，一家红酒和烈酒生产分部，他们的研究人员决意找出答案所在。他们挑选了7名经验丰富的品酒师，让其品尝38种红酒和26种白酒。四轮下来，品酒师们就着扇贝品尝了所有准备好的酒样。之所以选择扇贝，是因为它的腥味最重。随后，研究人员化验了每种酒，试图将其与饭后的余味联系起来。
The culprit appears to be iron, the team reports in a recent issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. When the element's content rose above 2 milligrams per liter or so, the seafood-dining experience turned sour. The team double-checked their results by soaking pieces of dried scallops in samples of wine. Scallops dunked in vino with low iron content smelled normal, but pieces soaked in samples with high iron content reeked of fish.
在近期的农业与食品化学杂志上，研究小组公布了研究报告，称原来是红酒中的金属在作怪。当金属含量达到2毫克/升左右时，搭配红酒食用的海鲜味道就会变酸。为了证实这一点，研究组又一次将几片干扇贝浸入酒样中。放入金属含量低的红酒中的扇贝此时味道正常，而金属含量高的红酒中的扇贝则散发出难闻的鱼腥味。
The researchers report that they haven't yet isolated the compound in the scallops that reacts with the wine, but they suspect it's an unsaturated fatty acid, which could be breaking down rapidly and releasing the decaying fish smell when exposed to iron. How much iron a wine contains depends on the amount in the soil where the grapes were grown, as well as other factors such as how the grapes are harvested and processed. Red wine tends to have a higher iron content, hence the admonition against mixing it with seafood.
研究人员说道，目前他们还不能排除是否因扇贝中的成分与酒作用而致此。但他们猜测这种成分应是一种不饱和脂肪酸，一旦接触金属物质，就会迅速分解从而散发出类似烂鱼的臭味。葡萄酒中的金属含量取决于种植葡萄的土壤中的金属含量，以及其他诸如葡萄收获方式和加工方式等方面的因素。红葡萄酒的金属含量通常偏高，因此我们在食用时，最好不要把它和海鲜搭配在一起。
"We were surprised in our finding, " says research chemist and lead author Takayuki Tamura, "because we thought that polyphenols or sulfur dioxide [produced] the unpleasant sensation." These components represent a larger percentage of wine content than does iron. He explains that because iron does not "induce color change, accelerated oxidation, or cloudiness, " vintners tend to ignore its potential role as a meal-spoiler. But the new findings, he says, offer winemakers the opportunity to reconsider the downside of iron contamination.
这项研究的主要负责人—化学家Takayuki Tamura说道：“我们对实验结果感到很吃惊，本来以为是茶多酚或二氧化硫引起的。”因为葡萄酒中这类物质的含量高于金属含量。他解释道：“金属不存在'变色、快速氧化和易混浊'等问题。酿酒人通常都没意识到自己的行为很可能毁掉了人们餐桌上的美食。通过这项新发现，酿酒商应该重新考虑一下金属物质会给红酒质量带来的负面影响。
The paper's science is sound, says enologist Gordon Burns of ETS Laboratories in St. Helena, California. Still, he says, there are better reasons to avoid red wine with fish: Any robust red wine, regardless of iron content, would likely overwhelm the delicate, subtle flavor of many seafood dishes. Red wine, he says, often pairs better "with a big stew or a hearty chunk of meat."
美国加州圣海伦娜教育考试服务中心实验室的酿酒师戈登·彭斯说这项研究有着健全的科学依据。其实我们有足够的理由不把红酒与鱼搭配食用：任何一种烈性红葡萄酒，不论其金属含量高低，若与肉质细嫩、味道清淡可口的海鲜搭配，便也吃不出什么味道了。因此，红酒最好是与“一大锅炖肉或大块肉”搭配食用。
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